SC Division titles won
by Cougar, Brave harriers
Third straight
for Colts Neck boys
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Divisional championships in cross country are a marathon. Unlike championship and invitational meets that are decided in one day, capturing a Shore Conference Divisional title requires a season-long string of dual meet victories.

Three teams from the Freehold Regional District, Colts Neck’s boys and girls, and Manalapan’s girls won their marathons and won titles this fall.

For the Colts Neck boys, it was their third straight A Central crown, while the girls won for the second straight year; their third time in four.

Manalapan enjoyed an undefeated season and was first in A North.

Both Cougar squads wrapped up the successful defenses of their championships on Oct. 28 at Holmdel Park, winning dual meets against Freehold Borough.

Jim Schlentz’s boys topped the Colonials 24-35.

While the Colonials’ Mike O’Flaherty crossed the line first (17:32), Zach Tedoff (17:45), Craig Forys (17:46) and Jose Melendez (17:55) ran together for most of the race, and placed second through fourth. Joe Schauer (18:24) and Ian Price (18:28) finished eighth and ninth to clinch it.

Cougar head coach Schlentz noted that a divisional title is always something this team is shooting for.

"You start each season with a number of goals," he said. "It’s important each year to win a championship, to get a banner."

The dual meet season provides challenge and opportunity. The challenge is how to pace a team during a long season in which the bigger goals are the state meets.

"It brings importance to dual meets, and that makes it difficult," said Schlentz.

To win, there are always one or two meets that are "big" that a team must win in order to earn a championship banner. For Colts Neck, that was back in September, when the Cougars edged Matawan, 27-28.

In dual meets, coaches learn who runs best under pressure, and it is an opportunity for younger, less experienced runners to make an impression.

"The one or two strong dual meets does prepare you for the big (county, conference and state) meets," said Schlentz. "You find out who can handle the pressure and who gets too wound up."

Runners, he added, can learn from mistakes made in dual meets. They can avoid costly errors in championship races as a result.

Schlentz also pointed out that dual meets are perfect on-the-job training for young and inexperienced harriers.

"The younger kids learn how to run," he said.

During the course of a long season, Colts Neck didn’t have to exclusively rely on Forys, Tedoff and Melendez. Price and Joe Civitano came up with big efforts during the season. Schauer emerged mid-way through the season as one of the team’s top five. Ryan Jagielski, who is more of a 400-meter runner than a distance runner, ran well in his selected races, and sophomore Kenny Liu had his moments.

The Cougars were 7-1 overall on the season and 5-1 in the division, losing only to Red Bank Catholic, who, as a parochial school, couldn’t win the division because it has its own parochial competition.

Colts Neck’s girls topped Freehold Borough, 21-34, with Danielle Plenzo — the top runner throughout the season — taking first (21:00). She led a one-two-three finish by the Cougars, with Kim Lang (21:38) and Melanie Mahoney (21:45) finishing second and third. Amy Karaniewsky (22:53) and Jessi Knapp (24:04) finished sixth and ninth for the Cougars.

This quintet, along with Jessi Knapp and Rachel Grande, formed the nucleus all season of the dual meet squad that was, like the boys, 7-1 overall with the only loss to RBC. The were the class of the A Central public school field with only Holmdel, whom they beat, able to test them.

Manalapan’s A North Division title was actually decided back in September, when the Braves ran past defending champion Howell, 27-29, in Manalapan. Led by a resurgent Laura Saffer and some key newcomers like freshman Kristen Andrews, the Braves made that win over Howell stick, completing the dual meet season undefeated.

The Braves did have one test remaining after Howell — that against Ocean, which featured Monmouth County champion Erin Enderly, whom Saffer beat that day. Manalapan prevailed 25-30 to win the title outright. They finished their undefeated season with a 6-0 mark.

"It’s a feather in our cap," said head coach Dave Hunt. "Beating teams like Howell and Ocean gives us confidence."

The Braves’ confidence resulted in their best finish at the Shore Conference since 1987 — fourth place.

Veterans Sophia Machado and Jenn Barr had solid seasons throughout, and were stars in the win over Howell. Stephanie Augello, Heather Sharkey and Naomi Siegel made contributions through the season.