Metuchen boys cross country wins title
Fensterheim's individual win leads Bulldogs to team victory
BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer
Following Julian Fensterheim's lead, the Metuchen High School boys cross country team ran to a Central Jersey Group I title over the weekend at Thompson Park in Jamesburg.

Fenterheim outran the entire field on his way to a first place finish in 16:40.82, which beat his previous personal best by 23 seconds.

"Julian ran a great race," Metuchen head coach Tom Yakowenko said. "He was really running to win and keyed off his opponent from New Egypt, Matthew Smith. The conditions were windy, so it was a really gutsy performance from Julian."

Fensterheim's teammate Mark Vorensky was the next Bulldog to cross the finish line in 17:01.98. Vorensky's time was good enough for third place.

"Mark stuck with the lead pack for quite a while," Yakowenko said. "He gained some ground on the big hill and nearly broke 17 minutes. He beat his previous personal best by 30 seconds."

With Metuchen's Brennan Dougherty battling through a leg injury, the rest of the team upped its game to bring the Group I title home to Metuchen. Dougherty, the team's No. 3 runner through most of the season, finished the race in 35th place.

"Just finishing the race was a really big effort," Yakowenko said. "The rest of the team felt better with Brennan in the race and they rose to the challenge."

Derrick Hargwood and teammate Kyle Palmeter both finished the race in the top 20 with Hargwood crossing in 18:00.97 for 17th place and Palmeter at 18:03.15 for 19th place.

"Just about everybody stepped it up," Yakowenko said.

In just his first season running with the team, Metuchen's Chris Lasko crossed the finish line in 18:12.09, which was good enough for a 21st place finish. Sam Kovach- Orr was the fifth Bulldog across the line in 18:21.28 at 24th place.

"Sam was just coming off an illness and he did a really nice job for us," Yakowenko said. "He struggled at the county finals, so it was great for him to run well and get back on track. He should really help us this week."

This week, the Bulldogs will travel to Holmdel Park for the NJSIAA Group I championship race. The top three teams from the group will advance to the Meet of Champions.

"It will definitely be difficult to finish among the top three, but it's a great situation to be in," Yakowenko said. "Haddon Heights, Pennsville, and Verona all have a shot to advance and it should be a good race."

Pennsville is the defending Group I champion and looking for a repeat performance. Verona beat the Bulldogs in a close race earlier in the season and will be hoping to outrun Metuchen one more time.

"I think Haddon Heights and Pennsville are the top two teams," Yakowenko said. "We match up pretty closely to Verona, so we'll be looking to edge them out."