Brevet wins girls group cross-country title
BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer
For the first time in school history, the Metuchen High School girls crosscountry team has a Group I state champion on its roster. Over the weekend, Elise Brevet became the first runner on either a boys or girls team at Metuchen to win the prestigious race when she crossed the finish line at Holmdel Park in 19:47.

"She was hoping to win, and it was a great race for her," Metuchen head coach Kelli Redding said. "The race didn't go as we thought it would, so Elise had to change her plan."

Brevet made a move to separate herself from the pack near the halfway mark, and it paid off, as the second-place finisher Olivia Clyde of New Providence could not catch her and finished in 20:05.

"Elise made her move earlier than planned, but she consistently pushed the pace from that point," Redding said. "The girl from New Providence also ran a good race and made a strong move, but Elise put too much distance between them earlier in the race."

Metuchen's Fiona Weeks accomplished her goal of a top five finish with a fourthplace showing in 20:28.

"Fiona is such a great kid that it feels good when good things happen to her," Redding said. "This was her first race at Holmdel this year, and she was able to get a good position from the beginning and run a smart race."

With the expected strong finishes from Brevet and Weeks, the rest of the team followed suit with four more solid performances to capture third place and advance to the Meet of Champions. The top three teams from all six groups will race Nov. 17 at Holmdel Park.

The third Bulldog to cross the finish line and 30th overall was Michele Yip. Yip crossed the tape in 22:26 and was followed by teammate Amber Michaliszyn in 35th place at 22:44.

"Our three, four and five girls had to run well," Redding said. "We ended up beating the fourth-place team by two points and missing third place by just two points. Group I was more competitive than last year, and it was a pretty unbelievable performance from everybody. If everybody didn't do her part, we wouldn't be racing this weekend."

Metuchen's Rachel Walton was the fifth Bulldog to finish and perhaps the most important, as her time solidified the third-place finish overall.

"Michele, Amber and Rachel are the reason we're moving on," Redding said. "In our last two runs, Amber has been staying with Michele, and that's made her into a better runner. Rachel was just driven and very focused. When she came out of the woods with about 150 meters to go, she just put it on and probably passed four girls, and that was exactly what we needed to advance."

Although their times didn't count toward the third-place finish, coach Redding and the Bulldogs were especially proud of the races Cristina Lombardi and Lindsey Michaliszyn turned in.

"For both, it was their first time running the full course," Redding said. "It can be a challenging course, and they handled it well."