By Bob Nuse
Sports Editor
The Princeton High boys came to the Central Jersey, Group IV state sectional cross-country meet led by a trio of seniors looking to continue the team’s tradition of success.
The Montgomery High girls came to their Central Jersey, Group IV state sectional meet led by a quintet of freshmen and hoping to start their own tradition of success.
For both teams, the mission was accomplished last Saturday at Thompson Park in Jamesburg. T
he Princeton boys, led by the overall first-place finish of senior Acascio Pinheiro, finished second to West Windsor-Plainsboro South in the sectional race to advance to this Saturday’s Group IV meet at Holmdel Park.
The Montgomery girls, led by the overall first-place finish of freshman Caroline Mehlhorn, finished fifth and advanced to the Group IV meet as well.
In the boys’ meet, Pinheiro finished first in 16:07, which was five seconds ahead of Nick Lundberg of Freehold Township. Tucker Zullo finished sixth in 16:36, while Jackson McCarthy was 12th in 16:58. The top five for the Little Tigers was rounded out by Tyler Fu, who was 30th in 17:23, and Jacob Bornstein, who was 56th in 17:55.
Princeton finished second as a team with 103 points, trailing only West Windsor-Plainsboro South, which had 66 points. Montgomery finished 10th as a team. The Cougars were led by James Colagiuri, who was 28th in 17:20, and Nikhil Shukla, who finished 31st in 17:24.
“I was thrilled with what we did,” Princeton coach Jim Smirk said. “Obviously, our 1-2-3 guys ran real strong. Acascio ran tactically a very smart race and we were thrilled to see that. He trusted in is stuff and made a good move when it counted. Backing up him, Tucker finishing in the top 10. I’m not sure anyone a year ago envisioned him as a top 10 finisher at sectionals. That’s a result of consistent, hard work. He took a big jump last year and carried that through into his summer training and fall performance. And then Jackson rounding out the top three with a good, solid effort. He worked hard and put us in a solid position.”
Backing up the top three were Fu and Bornstein, who made a huge difference in helping the team hold off Old Bridge, Freehold Township and Manalapan for second place.
“Our four and five ran great races,” Smirk said. “Tyler Fu was on the correct side of the break of the race and was on the front edge there. And Jacob Bornstein raced hard and put us in a position to finish really nice. A year ago he was on the freshman team and ran hard but he was third or fourth on the depth chart for freshmen. As a sophomore he has become a real standout. He is our security blanket when we need him and it is great for a sophomore to run with that kind of confidence and determination. We’re always pleased to have him on the line.
“It’s not just that he is tough but he has really put in the work. The biggest thing with him is he is swilling to put in the risk and he has done that consistently and had confidence in himself and his teammates.”
The individual win for Pinheiro helped ease the pain of having to miss the Mercer County meet earlier this season.
“We were cautious with that and when push come to shove he probably could have come to counties,” Smirk said. “But we decided to let him make that decision for himself and he opted to focus a little more on sectionals and help with the team advancement and his own individual advancement as well.”
Princeton now heads to the Group IV meet on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. against what figures to be a loaded field.
“It is lining up to be an absolutely tough race,” Smirk said. “It should be a good race. I think it is one of those situations where it looks like conditions will be a little bit rough based on this week’s weather. It should be good, strong racing and things are going to shake out the way they do.”
For the top five runners on the Montgomery girls’ team, running at the Group IV meet will be a new experience. The five freshmen paved the way to a fifth-place finish at the sectional meet to qualify for the Group IV race, which will be run at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Mehlhorn finished first 19:14, leading a group of five freshmen who were the top five finishers for Montgomery. Elizabeth Henderson finished fifth in 19:45, while Annabelle Wong was 28th in 21:10. The next two runners for the Cougars were also freshmen as Skyler Fong finished 58th and Hedy Yang was 66th.
“The girls ran well,” Montgomery coach Tom Huelbig said. “This was their first sectional meet. There were a lot of freshmen at the meet who did well. West Windsor South has a couple that finished high. Hunterdon Central has a couple that finished high. I don’t now what the middle schools are doing but they must be doing something right.”
The win for Mehlhorn continues a strong freshman season that already includes wins at the Somerset County meet. Henderson also had a strong meet, as did the three freshmen behind them.
“You look at how they have raced the last month with the county and conference meets and they have continued to improve,” Huelbig said. “I though they ran okay on a tough course and it was an exciting meet to be a part of. We run against tough teams all year. If you look at the teams in our conference in the big schools part, seven advanced to the Group 4 meet.
“These girls they just go out and run. They have a good time and they enjoy it and just happen to be good at it. My goal is to not get in their way. They work hard. They come to work every day with the right mindset. This week on Monday they were out in the rain and didn’t complain even a little bit.”
While Mehlhorn and Henderson have led the way this season for the Cougars, the next three freshmen have been improving and looking to close that gap with the top two.
“Ultimately, the goal to get them a little closer,” Huelbig said. “When you have two girls you figure have a great shot to run in the top 10 you have to like your chances. That was the goal at the beginning of the season, to get out of sectionals. I thought we did well.
“Caroline is having a fantastic season. Elizabeth ran phenomenal at sectionals. She was 14th or 15th at the mile and then she was 11th at two miles and finished fifth. So she was passing runners from the mike lark on and turned it on at the end. At the same time with Annabelle, Skyler and Hedy, they picked it up as well. At the two-mile mark I was not sure we were getting out but then from the second mile on they picked it up.”
Huelbig didn’t going into the race expecting a win from Mehlhorn, but he wasn’t surprised she finished first.
“It was hard to say because we don’t run some of those teams like South Brunswick and West Windsor South,” Huelbig said. “They run different courses. You try to do due diligence and see how runners ran at Holmdel to have an idea. It doesn’t surprise me that she won. She was a little upset with her time but it was not a great day because the course was a little muddy. I told her that day was not about time it was all about place and she ran well.”
The Princeton girls finished seventh and did not advance. Senior Siena Moran was 12th overall in 20:02 and just missed qualifying as an individual for the Group IV meet.
“Siena took a shot early,” Smirk said. “She knew that our team didn’t have chance without her scoring really high. I give her a lot of credit. She could have been way more conservative and raced for an 8-10 finish and done her thing and be more cautious. But she did what she thought was right to give the team the opportunity to be successful. We generally didn’t live up to our standard there but we had good conversations with the girls about how we’re going to be a better team moving forward.”
Moran was the lone senior to run for the Little Tigers in the meet. Sophomore Charlotte Gilmore was 27th, while sophomore Yana Medvedeva was 46th. Juniors Myla Wailoo an Erika Oake rounded out the top five.
“It is a young team and we understand that and we know we’re not there yet and our goal is to get there moving forward,” Smirk said.
