Patriots' harriers capture A North Division crown
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
The Freehold Township High School boys cross country team's season keeps getting better.

Coach Brian Golub's Patriots had already carted away championships at the Cougar Invitational (Large Schools Division) in Colts Neck and the Freehold Regional High School District Championship, and now they have a third title to add to the trophy case.

On Oct. 13, Freehold Township locked up the Shore Conference A North Division Public Schools crown by out-running defending champion Manalapan High School, 25-33, in the final dual meet of the 2009 season.

Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, won the overall A North title. Freehold Township's only loss in the division was to CBA.

Manalapan's harriers, running on their home course, gave the Patriots all they could handle but could not overcome the advantage the Patriots had in depth.

Freehold Township's Eric Dynarski, the recently crowned FRHSD champion, took first place overall, clocking 16:31 for the 3.1-mile course.

Manalapan's Kingsley Prophete was second (16:42), followed by the Patriots' Keenan Huggins-Filozof (16:47). Manalapan scored in fourth and fifth place with Anthony Silvestri (16:51) and Adam Nilsen (17:01).

But from there Freehold Township's superior depth took over. Graham Huggins- Filozof (17:27), Kevin Summonte (17:28) and Randy Spadola (17:35) finished in sixth through eighth place to clinch the meet and the A North Public Schools title for the Patriots.

Freehold Township's Adam Berkowtiz (17:30) and Mike Meltzer (18:07) were ninth and 10th, respectively.

Golub said the road to this championship season began in the summer when former Freehold Township harrier Jack Tarpey, who is now running in college, gave the Patriots a training schedule for their summer workouts and they followed it.

"The kids worked their tails off," Golub said.

Depth has made the Patriots one of the Shore Conference's best teams this fall. In addition to the seven runners who dominated against Manalapan, James Faith took his turn helping the Patriots out during the season.

Freehold Township's dual meet record was 6-1 in 2009 and the team's only loss was to CBA, which is a national power and has not lost a dual meet in more than 30 years.

The Patriots can further advance their cause with strong performances at the upcoming Shore Conference Championships at Holmdel Park, Holmdel, on Oct. 31 and the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional meet at Thompson Park, Jamesburg, on Nov. 7.