#b#South’s Kellner Qualifies for MoC#/b#
High School South girls’ cross country standout Caroline Kellner qualified for her fourth NJSIAA Meet of Champions, finishing third in the Group IV state championship race on November 12 with a time of 18:50.
But injuries that cropped up late in the season — plantar fascitis in her left foot and shin splits in her right leg — have tempered Kellner’s expectations for a Meet of Champions title. The race will be run on Saturday, November 19.
“I’ve been feeling pain in my shin and foot for the last week and a half,” Kellner said. “I’m definitely not where I want to be in my training like I was at this point last year. When it first started hurting, it was very frustrating. But I’ve learned to push through it. When you’ve got obstacles, you just gotta get through it.”
After earning the Group IV title as a sophomore and finishing fourth in Group IV last season, Kellner was thought to be one of the state’s top contenders for the Meet of Champions title.
Kellner said she was going to adjust her training before the race to deal with her level of pain. “My goal is to be with the main pack and see what happens,” Kellner said. “I’d like to get below 18:30 and it would be great to be in the top five. Obviously I want to win but I just don’t know right now.”
On November 5, Kellner won the sectional meet with a time of 18:35, 26 seconds in front of the second-place finisher, South Brunswick’s Cayla Del Piano, to make it the fourth year in a row that a Kellner — after her older sister Katie Kellner won in 2008 — is a Group IV sectional champion.
The South girls’ team finished third and advanced to the state group meet while WW-P North came up just two points short of doing the same, finishing sixth.
#b#South Boys Finish Second#/b#
The High School South boys cross country team came up short in its quest to win a state title, finishing in second place at the NJSIAA Group IV championship on November 12.
Hurt by injuries, the team finished second for the second straight year to Westfield, 85-120. The Pirates were led by junior twins Dan Riff, 16th in 16:31, and Jake Riff, 21st in 16:43, and senior AJ Chavez, 19th in 16:42. The Pirates also received a 33rd from senior George Hamilton (17:03) and a 62nd from senior Alex Maeda (17:30).
The team advanced to the Meet of Champions on Saturday, November 19.
Injured were sophomore Tom Vinci and senior Dan Sheldon, were the sixth and seventh place runner for South. The two, who did not run in the sectional race the previous week due to the injuries, have been among the team’s top performers all season.
Meanwhile, High School North, the Group III champion the previous four years, was 13th in the 20-team race with 323 points. The strongest runner for North was junior Eddie Cunningham, who finished 22nd in 16:46. North was swicthed to Group IV this year.
The previous week, on November 5, placed first in the Group IV sectional race by nine points over Freehold Township. WW-P North also advanced to the finals, finishing fourth.
