Old Bridge boys take second in CJ Group IV
BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA
Staff Writer

The Old Bridge High School boys cross country team is busily preparing for the NJSIAA overall Group IV meet on Saturday at Holmdel Park.

Coach Rich Gebauer's Knights are coming off a strong, second-place finish in the Central Jersey Group IV meet, held Saturday at Thompson Park in Old Bridge. That performance, paced by Matt Ciambriello's 15:44 showing (a Thompson Park record) earned the Knights a berth in the overall Group IV meet.

Old Bridge needs to place in the top three on Saturday to qualify for the Meet of Champions (two wild card bids are also available to the fastest team averages for all of the Groups).

"Our goal is to get to the Meet of Champions, so we'll have to be at our best on Saturday," Gebauer explained. "Our guys have worked hard all year to get to this point, so hopefully we'll make the most of the opportunity."

This far it's been quite a successful campaign for the Knights. Gebauer's squad won the Greater Middlesex Conference's (GMC) Red Division for the second time in three years with a perfect 7-0 record. Old Bridge went on from there to take first in the overall GMC meet.

Along the way, the Knights won the Stewart Memorial and finished second in the Shore Coaches Invitational meet. The team also held the first Old Bridge Invitational at Thompson Park, which the Knights won as well.

Ciambriello and fellow tri-captains Nick Carbone and junior Brendan Lyman have been the team's top runners. Ciambriello, a four-year veteran, has steadily lowered his times through his season-best showing at the CJ Group IV meet.

Carbone, who finished seventh at CJ Group IV, has a best time of 16:26, and Lyman, 14th at CJ Group IV, has a best of 16:39.

Several other runners have also contributed to Old Bridge's success. They include junior Travis Mahoney, whose top time is 17:12; James Hauser, 17:21; Kyle Kauth and junior Peter Jodogne, both have best time of 17:25.

"We really have a good group of kids," Gebauer said. "They've worked hard and they're here every day. You certainly expect times to go down during the season, but our guys have made great progress. I'm very pleased with what they have done and the results speak for themselves."

Notes... The top five teams and top 10 individuals all qualified at Thompson Park for the State Group meet this Saturday at Holmdel Park.

In addition to the Old Bridge boys team, the GMC will also be represented by the South Brunswick boys, who finished fifth in CJ Group IV with 136 points. The Vikings were led by Steve Sample's ninth-place finish in 16:31.

Also advancing out of CJ IV was North Brunswick's Ronnie Hall, who took 10th in 16:34, just ahead of East Brunswick's Eric Sorkin, who had the same time.

The Spotswood boys just missed advancing as a team, finishing in sixth place in CJ Group III, led by Kevin VanDerveer's fourth-place finish in 17:03. VanDerveer advanced to Saturday's Group III championship.

South River's boys also captured a sixth-place finish, with 183 points in the CJ Group I race. Junior Antonio Gomes, who took fourth in 17:19, and senior Michael Tarrantino, who was ninth in 17:52, will represent the Rams at Holmdel Park on Saturday.

Among the local girls to advance to the Group championships on Saturday were South Brunswick freshman Sophia Ginez (ninth in CJ IV, 19:01) and Sayreville senior Heather Miara (10th in CJ IV, 19:04).