The High School South Boys’ cross country team took the Mercer County cross country championship with five runners finishing in the top 10 on October 28.
The title was the second in as many years for the Pirats’ boys as they blew away second-place Robbinsville 27-85. The team also wom county championships in 1999 and 2005. High School North finished in fourth place with 120 team points.
Meanwhile, High School South placed all seven of its runners in the top 20. A.J. Chavez led the way in second place.
Jake Riff was fourth, Dan Riff fifth, Tom Vinci sixth, and Dan Sheldon 10th.
“We were trying to stay together as a pack out there and once I saw there was an opportunity for me I had to step up to help my team,” said Chavez. “We have high expectations for ourselves. We know we still have to work a lot. We feel like we can do a lot better than we did today. Today was a wake-up call to see that we still have a long way to go. We have more time to work on it and we’ll get better.”
The Pirates have hopes of winning in the NJSIAA tournament, which starts on Saturday, November 5, and ends with the Meet of Champions.
“When it gets really hard you need to turn it to another gear,” Chavez said. “Our coach tells us your last mile should be your fastest mile. It wasn’t our best day, but we’re happy because we got a second consecutive county title.”
South coach Kurt Wayton says his team can perform better, adding that he noted that the team fell short in several instances “in terms of what we had taught them.”
“We’ve got to keep stressing the things that work. If I do, I think clearly we’re one of the best teams out there,” the coach said. “It’s just putting it together on the same day and convincing seven guys that today everyone’s going to run well and we’re not letting any excuses get in the way.”
The Pirates also took the top six spots in the junior varsity race and the times those six runners ran would have all been in the top 32 of the varsity race. “I’m most happy with the strength of our program, especially from the seventh runner on,” Wayton said.
“I wasn’t too happy with the varsity,” he said. “I thought we left some meat on the bone. Each of the next four weeks is pressure, so you want to have teachable moments. If you come away from a performance now and have nothing to work on, then all the times can get stagnant. I believe in my guys and I think we’re the best team out there. We just have to put it together.”
