O.B. harriers looking for postseason success
BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA Staff Writer
The Old Bridge High School boys crosscountry team begins the defense of its NJSIAA Group IV title this Saturday at the Central Jersey Group IV sectional at Thompson Park in Jamesburg.

The Knights are coming off a stellar performance in the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) meet, where Old Bridge won the overall title and Travis Mahoney brought home the individual crown with a time a 16:38.

Old Bridge runners dominated the GMC. Junior Billy Crane finished third in 17:00, just eight seconds off his personal best. Sophomore Anthony Branco and senior Billy Baker took sixth and seventh with times of 17:19 and 17:20, respectively.

In addition, Peter Jodogne was 11th in 17:32, freshman Shawn Burke crossed the finish line in 14th place with a time of 17:34, and Matt Iandari was 23rd in 18:02.

"It was a tremendous team performance. I'm very proud of our guys," coach Rich Gebaurer said. "They went out strong and really kept pushing themselves through the course."

Mahoney, meanwhile, is having a stellar senior campaign. He also won the Stewart Invitational earlier in the year (16:26) and has second-place showings in both the Shore Coaches Invitational and the Old Bridge Classic. Both times he finished behind Andrew Brodeur of Brick Memorial.

Nevertheless, the performances of Mahoney and his teammates helped Old Bridge win the Stewart Invitational's A Division and the Old Bridge Classic. The Knights finished third in the Shore Coaches event.

During the regular season, Gebaurer's runners compiled a perfect 7-0 ledger to win the GMC Red Division for the second straight season. He characterized his team as hardworking and deep.

The hard work is certainly paying off, and Old Bridge's victory in the GMC's Junior Varsity race illustrates the team's depth. Old Bridge runners took the first 10 places in that event, led by George Rinaldo, who finished at 17:37, with teammate Corey O'Neill crossing the line just one second later. Sean Lunkenheimer, Andrew Gonzalez, Joe Antonelli, Vincent Vento, Brendan Lyman, Jeff Orsoe, John Giusti and Moheb Thomas rounded out the JV top 10.

Meanwhile, the varsity is looking forward to the CJ Group IV sectional, where the Knights finished second a year ago before going on to win the overall Group IV title, which is their goal again this year.

"We do have to take it one step at a time," the coach cautioned. "We have to do well in the sectionals before we start thinking beyond that. Our guys are aiming high, and that's good, but we just have to concentrate on one thing at a time."