Firedman and Tarlow lead 2007 Westfield Boys XC

Evan Friedman and Alex Tarlow grew up less than a mile from each other on the south side of Westfield, a short jog from Tamaques Park. They each attended Tamaques Elementary School and Edison Middle School as well as belonging to Temple Emanuel.

But it wasn’t until they began attending Westfield High School in the fall of 2004 that they really started to get to know each other as they competed on the cross country and track teams.

Three years later they form the top 1-2 combination in the county and hope to lead another strong Blue Devil cross country team to its third straight county title. Last year at the Union County meet Friedman edged Tarlow 17:07 to 17:12 as they finished fourth and fifth for the top two performances by underclassmen, leading Westfield to a 46-85 victory over Roselle Catholic. They are friendly rivals who appreciate each other’s intensity.

“Evan and I are like running brothers. We are always looking out for each other and thoroughly enjoy one another's company on our long runs. Like brothers do there is a bit of sibling rivalry,” said Tarlow.

“We may be known to push the pace now and again because to us, there is always second place in a recovery workout. We feed off each others running and we look forward to seeing one another succeed in and out of the XC world.”

“We are competitive with each other but we really don’t care who wins as long as Westfield finishes 1-2,” added Friedman.

Martin feels fortunate to have such a talented a motivated trio to lead his team. Senior Brendan Berkowitz, the team’s third runner last year also returns and along with Friedman and Tarlow is a tri-captain.

“They have worked hard all summer and are coming off big track seasons. They are motivated and want to get to the Meet Of Champions. Evan, Alex and Brendan have been solid leaders thus far”.

Martin was also pleased with the condition of most of the team members.

“To be successful in the fall we encourage the boys to run as much as possible. We look at the running as being year round and do not make x-c a do or die situation-there are two more seasons of running left,” said Martin

While both are outstanding cross-country runners, they had different strengths during the track season. Tarlow was one of the county’s top 800 runners (1:55.60) and also ran on the 4 by 400 team as well as the mile. Friedman excelled in the 3200 (9; 49) and 1600.

“Evan is definitely more of a natural cross country runner than me,” said Tarlow.

In addition to Tarlow, Friedman and Berkowitz, Martin also has senior Neil Fitzpatrick returning from his top seven. Depth is never a problem on a team with around 100 athletes and the first few dual meets may determine who runs the championship races that start in late October. In addition to their Union County title the Blue Devils are also defending Watchung Conference champions.

Seniors Gus Gibbons, Tianyou Xu, juniors Josh Einbinder Dennis Elwell, Julian Applebaum, Eric Hagstrom, Andrew Marra, Joey Martoglio, Ross Tucker and sophomores Mike Fietkiewicz, Ryan Scrudato, and Tyler Cusick are all competing

for varsity spots. During a Saturday morning time trial at Tamaques Park it was easy to see why Martin can maintain such a large and enthusiastic squad in such a demanding

sport. The coach as well as assistant Chris Tafelski, a former Blue Devil runner

shouted encouragement to each runner, no matter what their skill level.

“We try to relate to each boy on the team each day. We include the science of the sport and try most all to have fun. We also encourage the boys, above all, to be good citizens,” said Martin.

Westfield 2007 Girls XC Stewart

The Westfield High School girls cross country team showed off their prodigious depth at three big recent meets, edging archrival Scotch Plains Fanwood 26-33 in their annual dual meet, finishing sixth in the prestigious Stewart Invitational and running strong last Saturday at the Shore Invitational.

The Blue Devils withstood a victory by SPF standout junior Brittney Veeck (21:04) and a fourth and fifth by Cathy Harley and Emily Carow by taking the next five scoring places. Senior Rose Driscoll (21:18) led the way with a second, followed by junior Aileen Grogan (21:47) in third. The next five scorers sophomore Meg Pulliam, junior Bridget Grogan, sophomore Becky Castaldo and juniors Alli Lowenstein and Liz McCarthy finished within 20 seconds of each other.

Buccino was worried that the team might still be leg weary from winning the overall team championship at the Bernie Magee Memorial Class Invitational the previous Saturday. In that meet there are separate races for each high school year and Westfield’s dominance in the junior race helped pace the triumph.

“The girls were coming off an exciting weekend at the Class meet with their team title, and really looking forward to our dual meet. We did not take SPF lightly as they are a team we face later in the conference and county meets. The girls did their job, despite the heat and humidity, and made sure that they separated the top SPF girls and packed themselves in together as tightly as possible,” said Buccino.

Veeck ran 20:42.32 for tenth overall to pace the area runners at the Stewart Invitational and Harley edged Aileen Grogan, finishing 22^nd at 21:22. Grogan was 24^th(21:34), followed by Driscoll (21:38), Castaldo (21:54), Bridget Grogan (22:07),

Marissa Mumford (22:26), Pulliam (22:27) and McCarthy (22:47).

“The Stewart meet gave us a chance to see how we stacked up against our Sectional competition...Hunterdon Central, North Hunterdon, and Bridgewater-Raritan. The girls took 6th behind some tough competition and we know we have work to do in the next few weeks,” said Buccino.

Rob Rafferty’s paper-thin team did not have enough runners to get a finishing score as depth continues to be a problem for Scotch Plains. For Westfield, with its plentiful battalion of runners, the front pack is beginning to sort itself out.

“Our top seven has changed every week, and the good news is that we have a good 15 girls in contention for that coveted varsity spot

Buccino was also pleased that the junior varsity team easily won with 31 points and placed five in the top ten overall. The freshmen team also took third.

“What we need to develop is a stronger 1-2 punch in the front to help break up the top runners of our opposition. The girls have their eyes wide open with regards to their competition. They know they have to work very hard over the next few weeks and they are more than willing to do their best to rise to the occasion. There is an incredible chemistry within the team this season and sometimes that can be the difference when the pressure is on,” said Buccino.

At the Shore meet Driscoll, was 39^th in 21:43, followed by 46th place Aileen Grogan, Castaldo in 52^nd in 22:23, Bridget Grogan 74^th in 22:53. Pulliam, 92nd in 23:39, Mumford 93^rd in 23:41 and Tessa Schaaf 100^th in 24:02.

Westfield 2007 Boys XC Stewart

The Westfield and Scotch Plains Fanwood Boy’s cross country teams served up two tasty appetizers last week before they attack the main courses of the Watchung Conference and Union County title meets in late October.

As has been the case in recent years, the Raiders will have some ground to make up if they want to catch the Blue Devils, who easily won their dual meet 23-36 at Warinanco Park. Four days later at the Stewart Invitational also at Warinanco Park Westfield finished fourth with 127 points while the Raiders settled for sixth with 194 points.

Seniors Alex Tarlow and Evan Friedman of Westfield and Patrick Doliber of Scotch Plains Fanwood had two stirring battles with Tarlow outrunning Doliber on an unusually warm early autumn day in the dual meet and Tarlow and Friedman edging Doliber at Stewart. In both meets the Raiders matched Westfield through the first three runners but the Blue Devils dominated after that.

In the dual meet Tarlow broke open a tight race after the two mile mark to win easily at 17:22, followed by Friedman fourth in 17:51 and junior Julian Applebaum fifth in 17:51. Doliber was second in 17:44, Martin Sweeney sixth in 17:50 and Mike Ragan seventh in 18:31 but Westfield runners senior Brendan Berkowitz, sophomores Ryan Scrudato and Tyler Cusick and freshmen Zack Lizmi and Andrew Kirna took the next four places.

“The times were slow all around. It was our first time this season running at Warinanco and the heat was also a major issue. There were several dual meets going on in front of us which not only slowed us down but kicked up dirt and dried us out,” said Tarlow.

“SPF is always a big rivalry meet. The heat was a factor. Alex was pumped and ran that way. There weren't too many close races over the last mile. Julian Applebaum had a big race,” said Westfield coach Jack Martin.

At Stewart, Tarlow was sixth in 17:04.21 (5:14 per mile), with Friedman seventh in 17:04.52 and Doliber next in 17:06.96. Sweeney was 15^th in a personal best 17:29 and senior Mike Ragan was 27^th in 17:49.60, but Westfield runners Scrudato (36^th), Berkowitz (37^th), Applebaum (41^st), Gus Gibbons (46^th), Tianyou Xu (55^th) all finished well before the next SPF runner, sophomore Brandon Wheeler (68^th).

“Alex and Evan ran together and ran well and both had a bit left at the end. The varsity was solid although a little tired from the dual meet on Tuesday against SPF in the heat. The JV ran well and the freshmen second place was huge,” said Martin.

The usually circumspect Martin could hardly hold back his enthusiasm about his two prized freshman, Lizmi and Kirna.

“They both have been running well-perhaps the best one-two as freshmen in my time. The overall freshmen average at Stewart was about our fastest during my time as coach,” said Martin

“We went into Stewart with a winning mentality. We had a couple of really strong practices, along with the win against SPF that told us we could create some excitement at the meet,” said Tarlow.

Martin is confident that the Blue Devils are on track to repeat their Union County title.

“I like the way things are moving along. They have the hunger and desire to pick up from last year’s team.”

2007 Cranford Girls XC Proeview

For the past four years Laura Gallo was a model of consistency for the Cranford Girls Cross Country team, leading them to two Union County titles, two Watchung Conference titles and a Mountain Valley title. Gallo was a three time county champion and second team all state selection last year and was the leader of an outstanding senior class that also included solid contributors like Joy Hanke, Hannah Van Why and Caitlin Curtis.

But all good things come to an end and third year coach Tim Styler is fortunate to have two key members of the team, senior Erin Hannon and junior Joy Hanke, back to lead a young but talented Cougar team.

“It's not every year when you have a front runner like Laura. She was a
consistent number one over the past few years and when you can count on
finishing with a lead runner in the single digits it helps that ever
important team score. Erin Hannen and Joy Hanke are now going to have
to lead this team while the freshman will be challenging for top honors each meet,” said Styler, who is an expert at getting the team to peak for championship meets.

.Last year at the county meet, despite having their entire team returning from the 2005 championship group, the Cougars were considered underdogs to Summit but led by Gallo, who broke away from the pack in the second mile and breezed in a personal best 19:07, the Cougars defended their title with a 44-65 victory. Always the consummate team player, Gallo, now a freshman at Georgetown, seemed more pleased than the performances of her team mates than her own.

Hanke was fourteenth in 20:42 and has been a scoring member of both Union County championship teams. Hannen ran a personal best (21:16) and enters the season ready to take a leadership role.

“Erin and Joy are our two leaders. They are ready to be in the front of the
conference races and county and then lead us into the state meets,” said Styler.

Styler has a young team with freshmen Alisa Commerato, Julia Langone,
Bridget and Veronica Miller and junior Polly Powasnik.

The Cougars opened their invitational season on September 8 at the Cherokee Challenge.

"This will be the first test for the kids as it is a challenging 2 milecourse. We will get to evaluate where everyone is at early in the season as well as getting to see the South Jersey competition. A lot of the top teams in the state this year are hailing from the south. This gives our kids a chance to run against the best and against their own class,” said Styler.

Styler is confident that the Cougars are well on their way to building a new powerhouse.

“So far we are looking fairly fit. Obviously most of our summer is spent
getting a base. We started some threshold work recently and incorporated other lactate workouts into the training such as tempo runs of four miles,” said Styler.

“You can’t expect every season to be like the last two but we are going to be a much improved team by the end of the year.”

Doliber leads deep talented 2007 SPF Harriers

When the 2006-7 cross country and track season commenced, Patrick Doliber of Scotch Plains Fanwood was not one of the leading names in Union County and among a group of underclassmen vying for second place behind senior Adam Biner, the team’s unquestioned leader. Now, fast-forward a year later. Biner has graduated and Doliber enters this season as one of the favorites to win what should be a wide-open Union County championship race this year. His emergence once again shows how unpredictable high school track can be from one year to the next.

Biner had a memorable senior year. He won the Watchung Conference meet in a personal best time of 17:09 after being hospitalized and missing three days of practice. “Adam really showed what he was made of out there,” said Koegel.

“We have had many champions since I have been here but this one was pretty special.”

Fifth in the conference race, Doliber kept improving and really hit his stride when he won the Union County indoor 3200 meter title and cracked the coveted 10 minute barrier for 3200 meters when he won the Watchung Conference outdoor 3200 meter title in 9:53.8. Doliber later dropped his time to 9:52.08 when he finished sixth at the sections, qualifying for the state championships.

“I knew if I kept working hard and listening to my coach, my times would eventually start to improve. Breaking 10 was important because I knew it was within my reach,” said Doliber, who had run 10:17 indoors.

Doliber leads one of the deepest and most talented Scotch Plains Fanwood Boy’s teams since the 2001 squad that featured Brian Kopnicki, Mike Dixon, Zack McGuire and Bob Wallden. Senior Dan Sapienza and junior Martin Sweeney, who both missed much of last season with injuries, pushed Doliber last spring in the 3200 and had times of 10:12 and 10:16 respectively. Senior Mike Ragan excelled in the 800 (2:02) and 1600 (4:37) and is also in the front pack

Two other experienced seniors, Adam Horowitz and Greg Bencivengo have each won three letters and will give Koegel the depth and flexibility he has rarely enjoyed in his nine years at the school. Horowitz missed much of last season with injuries. Bencivengo had a breakthrough season in outdoor track, smashing his personal best in the mile with a 4:52.93 at the section meet.

They are facing spirited competition from two talented sophomores, Brian Walsh and Bobby Evans, who both had impressive freshman years and vastly improved sophomore Brandon Wheeler. A pleasant surprise has been, senior Marc L’Heureux, who broke 20 minutes for the first time in the opening meet Providing additional depth are three newcomers senior Mike Bover, junior Erick Walker and freshman Mike Pesin.

The newfound depth gives Koegel insurance against injuries and will also enable him to have a fully stocked junior varsity team. The Raiders looked impressive in sweeping their opening two races against Kearny and Elizabeth.

Koegel has always considered Westfield to be a major bellweather for his team and this year should be no exception. In addition to the natural local rivalry, the Blue Devils defeated the Raiders in a close dual meet last year and also took their measure in the Watchung Conference and Union County meets.

The two teams had the first of three meetings this past Tuesday. Westfiled won 23-36

Cranford Boys 2007 XC Preview

When Joe McKenney graduated last spring it removed the final link to the Cranford High School cross country dynasty that won eight straight Union County titles. between 1997-2004 and were group II champions in 2004. Losing McKenney, who finished first, second and third in the county from 2004-6 and now runs for New York University (NYU), presents challenges for third year coach Tim Styler, a key member of Cougar championship teams in 1997-9.

“Joe was our leader for practically four years,” said Styler who ran for and replaced legendary Cranford coach Ray White, who coached from 1969 through 2004.

“It will be a new era now that Joe is off at NYU. We certainly wish him much success and we will go see some of his races when we can.”

The Cougars also lost, Eddie Baker, an unheralded but consistent runner, and Kevin Boyle, a solid performer the past two years.

“Eddie was a spark for this team last year; he ran some gutsy races and really showed that if you work hard it will pay off. Eddie will be around this season for some runs with the team. Kevin will also be a missed senior as he was a quiet leader of the team, ran hard and improved over his four years,” said Styler.

The Cougars will count on sophomore Will Smith, who showed flashes of brilliance in his first season, while battling through numerous injuries.

“Will will certainly be called upon to lead this team on the course. He showed great promise as a freshman and brings that talent to the line this season,” said Styler.

At the 2006 Union county Championships, Smith, in just his second varsity race opened many eyes with a 12th place finish in 17:26, a time comparable to McKenney’s ninth place finish as a freshman. Another sophomore, Roy Colicchio, hopes to build off a strong spring track season to push Smith.

“Roy finished the track season well and built on that to have a good summer. We are expecting big things from him,” added Styler.

Colicchio combined with Smith and the three seniors to lead the Cougars to a fifth place finish at the county meet with 129 points, three behind fourth place Scotch Plains Fanwood. a marked improvement from their third place finishes at the Mountain Valley Conference championship in early October.

“We did some of our best running later in the year,” said Styler.

The coach looks to experienced seniors Steve Phillips and Billy Albert to provide leadership on and off the track. Styler expects sophomore John Powasnik and

freshmen Michael Cassidy and Kevin Swan to fill out the first seven but depth could be a problem.

“We certainly are young this year. We have a few seniors but the nucleus of

our team is sophomores and freshman.”

Styler is hoping the team can contend for the Mountain Valley Conference (MVC)

Title and be competitive in the county and state meets but also hopes that the youth and talent can be the springboard for the next Cougar dynasty.

2246 pizza runners

Despite large turnouts the past few years, the question always in the mind of Westfield Downtown 5K and Pizza Extravaganza Race Director Sherry Cronin was what would the turnout be if we ever got excellent weather? The answer was stunning.

Even the normally ebullient Cronin could not have predicted that when the final post entrant signed up at 6:58, two minutes before the scheduled start time,
the entries were an incredible 2226.Nearly perfect weather for the last Wednesday in July helped the runners and volunteers but the huge turnout presented its own challenges. With such a large crowd in a constricted area, safety became a major consideration.

“We want to ensure that all of the runners are safe on the course and a
larger crowd means more volunteers and staff to monitor the race. We have
also communicated with the residents along the race route as we do every
year to ensure that they know when the race will occur in front of their
home. We will also be notifying the parkers on the street along the route
so that they make alternative arrangements tomorrow and move their cars
before the race,” said Cronin.

While there were no major curveballs thrown by Mother Nature, such as excessive heat and thunderstorms, safety was only one of many concerns for the primary organizers.

“The logistical issues are enormous for a race of that size, Everything is harder including setting up water stops, getting all runners to the start and making sure the registration lines move quickly “ noted Mark Zenobia of On Your Mark Productions, who was the chief race organizer for the sixth straight years and has seen the race grow from its initial size of 950.

“It was great night for Westfield and a fantastic chance for us to show off our beautiful town,” said Mayor Andy Skibitsky, who also hosted the telecast for Cable Channel 36.

“I am really proud of the all the Westfield people who helped to pull off such a fantastic event.”

Having managed races in all types of weather over the past decade, Zenobia
was thankful for the best race weather since 2002, the race’s first year.

“Good weather will substantially increase the numbers. It wasn’t only the weather on race day, but it has been nice all winter and spring which got more runners on the road. Most race registrations have increased this year,” added Zenobia, who manages many of the state’s biggest races.

Cronin also realized that the race’s size has an upper limit, although she would not name the breaking point.

“The numbers are wonderful, but it does present some challenges logistically with the space we have on Elm and Quimby Streets for the pre and post run activities. We may also need to order more water and pizza as the event comes together, and possibly pull shirts from previous years for overflow registrations,” aid Cronin.

“We always conduct a feedback session after the event to find out how to improve it for the following year. We may need to make a decision to limit it to 1,800 just because of space constraints but we will not know that until after the race. “

Almost forgotten in the hoopla was the race, won by a familiar face, Gene Mitchell, owner of the Running Company chain of stores won his fourth straight title with a time of 15:21, nine seconds ahead of Chris Heibell of Hillsborough.

Employing the same strategy as last year, Mitchell was content to run behind the leader, Heibel through a 4:56 first mile. Mitchell made a strong move on an uphill just after the mile mark and pulled away from Heibel, hitting 2 miles in 9:52 and he enhanced his lead in the final mile with another 4:56. Mitchell, now 39, has learned to run more controlled races, aiming for an even pace.

“I can’t take it out fast and challenge the younger guys. I just have to try and stay back and grind it out,” said Mitchell.

“There are parts of the course where I know are important to push, especially the final hill just past two miles. I tried to break away from him but he held on really tough. I’m very happy to win four in a row,” added Mitchell who enters a new age group in August.

Brian Harris, who manages the Running Company’s Westfield store, repeated his fourth place finish of a year ago, running one second slower than 2006 in 15:47.

“The legs weren’t there tonight,” said Harris, who won the Cranford Firecracker Four Mile earlier in July.

Amy Van Alstine,19 of Midland Park, won her third straight women’s title in 18:02.

The first town finisher came down to a battle between former Westfield teammates Kris Kagan and Evan Friedman. Kagan, a 2006 graduate edged Friedman, a rising senior, running 16:53 to Friedman’s 16:56.

“This is a shorter distance than I am used to running,” said Kagan, who finished his freshman season at The American University in Washington DC.
“The weather was much nicer than I have been used to in Washington,” added Kagan.

“It was a good race. Kris had a little more at the finish,” said Friedman, who is pleased at his fitness level. Friedman’s teammate, fellow rising senior Alex Tarlow was third Westfield finisher in 17:23.

Former Blue Devil star Jeffrey Perrella, the top Westfield finisher in 2005 and 2006 was not able to attempt the three peat because of injuries suffered during the outdoor season at William and Mary.

“My spring season was going alright until i got a femoral stress fracture and
pretty much this whole summer i wont be able to run. i got it in early
April but ran through it until IC4As in May, the last meet of the year for me,” said Perrella had personal bests of 3:57 for 1500 meters and 14:35 for 5k.

“Since then I have been biking, but my leg isn’t doing that great. so now, i
still have probably another month until i can run unless something
miraculous happens.”

Jim Colvin, 58 of Westfield finished in an impressive 18:48 to win the age graded first place

Sheila Courter edged Debby Hall 20:12 to 20:29 for first Westfield female finisher. Hall also finished second in the master’s division.

A race so large could not succeed without dedicated sponsors and volunteers.

“Our race sponsors enable the event to take place since registrations alone
do not cover the cost for running the event,” noted Cronin.

Pacing a wide and varied sponsorship list was Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield that returned to be a Gold Sponsor. Cronin was also pleased that over 75% of the sponsors are located Westfield’s Special Improvement District (the district which is managed by the Downtown Westfield Corporation). Bronze sponsors included Lucky Brand Jeans,Verizon Fios, Lord and Taylor, Citibank, and Westfield Pediatric Dental Group and Rockn' Joes Coffeehouse and Bistro .

Lance Marvin, the owner of Rockn' Joes Coffeehouse and Bistro, was pleased with the exposure his new restaurant received. Marvin and his wife Lisa kept busy handing out over 300 cups of their ice coffee in their post just past the finish line.

“We will be back next year. This is a fantastic event ,” said Marvin, whose restaurant opened last October.

Contributing sponsors include: Rita's of Westfield, Needle Point Homes,
Qdoba Mexican Grill, The Town Bank, North Fork Bank, and Center for
Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, Perla, and Stop and Shop. Supporting
sponsors include: Amper, Politniner and Mattia, Redco Engineering and
Construction, and J. Mark Albertson, DMD.

At any race the unsung heroes are the volunteers who work tirelessly at numerous tasks to assure a good race experience. The Westfield Jaycees handed out the pizza and cookies. Girl Scouts handled the water stops. The Westfield Y brought a crew of volunteers to assist with many jobs. The Westfield Area Chamber of Commerce helped with course marshals. Many volunteers who already serve on the Downtown Westfield Corporation Board of Directors and Committees also assisted. Manny of Westfield Coastal brought his 1957 three-wheeled BMW and Vespa motorcycle for the race beginning and dressed as the Cosimo's chef.David Martone, DWC Chairman and proprietor of Classic Thyme, dressed as the
Ferraro's chef.

Zenobia was assisted by Beth Brenner, DWC Executive Assistant and
Naomi McElynn Executive Director of the Westfield Chamber of Commerce.
Cosimo's Restaurant & Pizzeria and Ferraro's made 550 pizzas for the night. Shop-Rite of Garwood, Xocolatz, and Stop & Shop provided the cookies. The Flower Zone provided the flowers for the female winners. TSS Maintenance provided the clean-up crew during the event. Michael Craig Band and Night Moves DJ provided entertainment. Trader Joe's provided water for the water stops. Brooks Crandall, Tiger Paw Images, and DWC Design Committee Chairperson Karrie Hanson took photographs. The Town of Westfield
provided the stage, garbage removal, chairs and barricades. The Westfield
Police Dept. handled traffic control and road closures during the event.
The Westfield Fire Dept. provided hose-down areas for the runners on the
course. Many Westfield businesses provided goodies for runners in
promotional products and offers.

By 8:15 traffic was flowing smoothly again on Elm Street as the town returned to normal on what was an incredible night.