Andrews, Jackucewicz strike X-country gold
At county championships
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
So much for the prerace game plan. Manalapan's Robby Andrews thought he would follow the leaders and look to use his superior 1:52 800 speed to hopefully outkick the other contenders at the Oct. 16 Monmouth County Cross Country Championships held at Holmdel Park.

Once the race started, however, the game plan went out the window as the Brave junior tried something different.

"At the mile, I was feeling pretty good and tried to break it open," he said. "It was a new style."

Andrews surged in front as the runners headed toward the famous bowl section of the course. But, any designs of breaking the race open were quickly put to rest.

"They caught back up to me," he said.

They, were Red Bank Catholic's Bob Mc- Gann and Holmdel's George Galasso.

As the trio exited the bowl on the uphill section, Andrews tried one more time to break it open

"I surged at the top of the bowl," noted Andrews. "It was not a good idea."

Instead of opening up a quick gap while the others recovered from the uphill climb out of the bowl, the effort took its toll on Andrews. It caught up to him, and at two miles he was running behind McGann and Galasso and just trying to hold on.

"I was very worried, I wasn't really catching them," he pointed out.

Circling the tennis courts and then turning left for the downhill descent into the backwoods of the Holmdel course, the chase was on and Andrews trailed the leaders by 10 meters. The good news for Andrews was that he had limited the damage and had fully recovered. His deficit wasn't too much for him to make up if he still had something left in the tank.

As it turned out, Andrews had plenty in the tank. He would catch the frontrunners on the final downhill and then grab the lead before exiting the woods. He was in top gear for the final 150-meter sprint to the line. He didn't dare look back he said for fear that someone might be gaining. But, they weren't. He would stop the clock in a personal best 16:11 for the 5K course.

"I can't believe I ran that fast," said the new county champion, who is now the fourth-fastest Freehold District harrier at Holmdel Park.

He finished 10 seconds up on McGann (16:21) with Galasso (16:22) one second behind.

The significance of the win was not lost on the junior.

"It was the first championship race of the season," said Andrews. "It's great to know that I could come out on top. It was very difficult."

Looking back at the race, Andrews said that he was glad that he put on his surge exiting the bowl even though it almost cost him.

"If I want to do this again, I'll be used to the pain," he explained.

Andrews joined Jim Casey (1976) and Tom Fischer (1980-81) as Manalapan Braves who have won the county championship. His 16:11 was a 21 second improvement over his personal best from last fall.

Colts Neck's Mark Leininger also put down a personal best in fourth place (16:32).

Manalapan was the top local team placing seventh (216) and moving on to the Oct. 27 Shore Conference Championships also at Holmdel. The first 15 teams advanced.

Colts Neck was 10th (290) and Freehold Township, led by freshman Eric Dynarski in 21st (17:18), was 11th (302), while Howell was 15th (384), paced by Mike Roberto in 32nd (17:39).

Freehold Borough's Cody O'Flaherty qualified individually in 26th (17:26).

While Andrews threw away his game plan, Colts Neck's Brianna Jackucewicz was just looking to get to the finish line first.

With the exception of an early-season dual meet, Jackucewicz was making her 2007 debut. Because of tightness in the calf muscle of her left leg, the team had been playing it safe. The county championships were the time to start racing.

"I knew I'd be fine, the calf has been fine," she said. "I didn't have a race plan. I went out a little slower for the first mile."

Jackucewicz took her time threading her way through the field. At the top of the first hill, she could see race leader Lindsey Lambert of Howell. By the half-mile, she was in the lead. She had a two-second margin on Lambert at the mile and then worked on increasing it over the middle mile. She did, and was on cruise control the rest of the way as she captured her first county cross country championship in 19:01.

"I'm glad to be back," she said. "It feels good [winning]. It's the first big race and to go out and run 19:00 feeling good. I know I can go faster."

Lambert was pleased to have Jackucewicz in the race. She had someone to follow and pace off helping her post a personal best 19:17.

"I've been running better times all season," said Lambert. "I finally beat my freshman year time [19:37]."

Lambert edged closer to the school record of All-American Lindsey Gallo, who ran 18:55 at Holmdel.

"I want to beat that record," said Lambert. "I'd love to take it."

It was an All-Freehold Regional District affair at the front as Freehold Township's Janel Parker was third (19:39) and Colts Neck's Allison Linnell was fourth (19:42). It was the fastest time of the year for Parker and a Holmdel personal best for Linnell.

Despite the one-four finish that Jackucewicz and Linnell provided, the two-time defending champion Cougars finished second to Red Bank Catholic, 68-76. The Cougars, still not competing with their full squad, could not overcome RBC's tighter pack. Their runners finished 5-7-14-18-24.

Colts Neck's third runner was Allison Donaghy in 20th (20:32) trailed by Jessica Fasano in 22nd (20:37) and Rachel Morris in 29th (21:14).

The Cougars actually had a faster team average, 20:13.20-20:19.

By making it a three-way race, Howell confirmed that it belongs up there with any discussion on the state's best teams. The former champions rode Lambert's second place to an 82-point total.

Jackie Tillotson (20:28), Sarah Nelson (20:30) and Lauren Rome (20:31) were 16th, 17th and 19th. Fifth score Alyssa Pinney was 28th (21:08).

The Rebels had the second best team average in school history, 20:22.8.

Freehold Township, behind Parker, was seventh (262) and Freehold Borough was 11th. Linnea Lord led the Colonials in 31st (21:16).

Marlboro's Brittany Pietrosh was 30th (21:16).

The Shore Conference Championships will make for some terrific racing.

Not only will RBC and Colts Neck battle again, they will be going up against Ocean County power Southern Regional, which upset Monsignor Donovan at its county meet. Colts Neck, RBC and Mon Don have all been ranked in the Northeast Region during the season. Howell can't be overlooked.

Jackucewicz will meet up with Southern Regional's Jillian Smith, who won the Ocean County title.

The boys' individual race will be a highlight as Andrews will look to get even with Brick Memorial's Andrew Brodeur. Brodeur edged him last month at the Cougars Invitational. They are not only the best runners in their respective counties, but two of the best in the state.

Colts Neck's girls went up to Bowdoin Park in Wappinger Falls, N.Y., Saturday for the Coaches Invitational. Bowdoin will host the Northeast Regional qualifier next month (Nov. 24), and this was the Cougars' first chance to race there. The results were encouraging for the Cougars as they finished third (84) behind Warwick Valley (60) and Arlington (61), both from New York State.

Jackucewicz was second, losing a sprint to the finish to Tappan Zee's Emma Miller- Bedell, 18:48.58-18:48.89.

Linnell was seventh (19:41.44).

Allison Donaghy (20:55.93), Fasano (21:03.04) and Morris (21:03.39) ran together finishing 24th, 25th and 26th.

The Cougar boys were seventh (194), led by Leininger in 15th (16:58.82).