Chargers Cross-Country Teams Have Strong Showing at Greater Middlesex Conference Championships

MONROE TOWNSHIP, NJ - The Spotswood High School cross-country teams had another beautiful day to run on Saturday for the 2024 Greater Middlesex Conference Championships at Thompson Park. The event also celebrated the Chargers cross-country seniors who were participating in their final GMC Championship. Seniors Tyler Andre, Adrian Nieves-Quinones, Jonah Capman, Shyami Craig, Zachary Engstrom, Shawn Dollette, Matt Reed, Ashley Judah, Polina Lazarev, Vanessa Miller, Jada Palacios and Danica Paradiso were recognized for their contributions to the Chargers cross-country program.

The Chargers boys cross-country team finished seventh overall out of a field of 27 Middlesex County high school teams. It was an improvement from last year's 11th place finish.

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“The team was led by senior Shyami Craig (27th place) and junior Anthony Oryniak (28th place), who each received a medal during the awards ceremony for placing in the top 30 in the county,” Spotswood High School Cross-Country Coach Morgan Clark said. “They were joined by senior Tyler Andre (35th place), sophomore David Donovan (41st place), senior Matthew Reed (42nd place), junior Kris Matias (55th place) and junior Noah Rodrigues (70th place) in the boys' championship race of 154 runners.”

Spotswood's boys cross-country team brought the Thompson Park course average down to 17:48, which was 10 seconds faster than last week's Greater Middlesex Conference White Division championships.

“Oryniak, Andre and Donovan all ran new Thompson Park course records,” Clark said. “While Reed and Matias set new 5K personal records with their times. This is also a huge improvement from their team average at last year's GMC's, which was 19:02.”

“It's really exciting to see the boys' team continue to improve this week after all the hard work we've put in,” Clark continued. “We're excited to see what they can do at sectionals this year.”

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The Chargers boys cross-country team had stellar performances at the junior varsity and freshmen levels too. Spotswood's boys junior varsity team was sixth overall. Junior Timothy Uhl was the top JV runner. Uhl finished 34th overall, just missing out on a medal. Nieves-Quinones finished 36th overall in his final GMC championship.

Spotswood's freshmen runners gave a glimpse of a bright future with four Chargers finishing in the top 30 and bringing home medals. Caleb Murphy was the highest freshman finisher, with a 12th place finish. Daniel Loughran was 26th overall. Jude Wilberforce was 29th overall and Joaquim Costa was 30th. The Chargers' four freshmen medal winners set a new personal record with Saturday's race.

“The freshmen boys team had an impressive third place finish of all the freshmen teams in the GMC,” Clark said. “Twenty boys on our team ran either a 5K personal best or a Thompson park course personal best. It is great to see the team having big success on the varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen levels.”

Spotswood's girls cross-country team put in a strong performance at Saturday's Greater Middlesex Country Championships as well. Palacios just narrowly missed out on a medal with a 35th place finish. She did run a new personal record for the Thompson Park Course with a time of 22:13.

“This is more than 45 seconds faster than her time the previous week at the division championship, and almost two minutes faster than her time at GMCs last year,” Clark said. “Senior Ashley Judah (55th place), sophomore Ariel Di Pierro (91st place), sophomore Raeleigh Williams (94th place), junior Jaylee Peralta (95th place) and Junior Allie Anselmo (102nd place) rounded out the girls varsity squad on Saturday.”

“Peralta and Di Pierro both ran new 5K personal records," Clark continued. “The varsity girls had a 13th place finish, up from 14th last year, with a team average of 24:44, which is significantly faster than their team average of 26:54 at GMCs last year. Their team average is also over 20 seconds faster than their 25:08 average at divisions the week before.”

Miller led the Chargers girls cross-country team in her final GMC Championship. Her 52nd place finish was a minute faster than her race at last week's GMC White Division Championships. Complete results for the Chargers cross-country teams from the 2024 Greater Middlesex Conference Championships can be found online at MileSplitNJ .

Next up for the Chargers cross-country teams is the NJSIAA Sectionals on Saturday, November 2. Sectionals will also be held at Thompson Park.

“Both the boys and girls teams improved their team average to the best they've had at Thompson Park in recent years,” Clark said. “I'm excited to see them give it their all at Thompson one more time at sectionals this Saturday.” “It was also a great day to celebrate our 12 seniors, the largest group of seniors we've had in years,” Clark added. “They have such an impact on our team, and it was nice for that to be celebrated at one of the last Thompson Park races of their cross-country careers.”

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