Despite heading into the race with media reports that doubted the North boys’ cross country team’s capabilities, the Northern Knights won the NJSIAA Group III title over Millburn and Morris Hills on November 10 at Holmdel Park. The win got them a spot in the Meet of Champions on Saturday, November 17, and the title itself is the program’s first state championship.##M:[more]##
“It seemed like (in) everything we read, no one was giving us a chance. We were written off,” said Head Coach Brian Gould. “My guys didn’t buy into that at all. They went into that believing they could win, that they should win.”
For a team that has remained undefeated since October 13, when it lost at the Manhattan Invitational, Gould expects the results of the team’s hard work will also pay off in the upcoming meet. Says Gould: “With all the work that these guys have done, they owe it to themselves to go in and try to win this thing.”
And Gould points to strong leadership from the team’s captains — John LiPuma, Steve Au-Yeung, and Sagar Velagala — who he says have done a great job this season in getting their teammates prepared for each match.
Joe Rosa is also one of the team’s main weapons. Says Gould: “Joe is only a freshman and some of the things he’s been doing this year are really remarkable. He put some performances out that have been the best in the history of the state.” Just a week before the November 10 meet, he became the third freshman in the state’s history to win a sectional title with a time of 16:21:1.
“One thing I can say about Joe is a lot of freshmen are intimidated when they come up to the high school level. That’s not been the case with Joe,” he added. He finished six place in the race with a time of 16:16..
Gould emphasizes the work of all the runners. “They’ve done an awesome job this year,” he said.
