A three-mile cross country course has quickly been established at the West Windsor-Plainsboro North campus this fall, with the possibility of continued use for future seasons. The new course at North substitutes for one at Washington’s Crossing, which has been discontinued for this season. Mercer county schools also race at Mercer County Park and Veterans Park.
In a phone interview, North’s varsity cross country coach Brian Gould says the athletic department asked him to prepare a cross country course in lieu of Washington’s Crossing in mid-September. The North cross country team trains on a two-mile course on campus, and the new course adds an additional mile. The course is a series of loops wrapping around the open fields on the campus’ southeast corner and through a wooded area.
Cross country courses are typically five kilometers, or 3.1 miles, but the course at North is exactly three miles, Gould says. Meets are held on Tuesdays, but this season additional meets have been held on Wednesdays at Veterans Park to make up for the closing of Washington’s Crossing.
Uncertainty about courses, however, has not kept the North or South teams from having successful seasons. The North boys’ cross country team climbed into the state’s top-20 rankings for the after a seventh-place showing in the championship race at the Shore Coaches Invitational on October 4 at Holmdel Park. Kian Jackson led the Knights with a 21st place finish. The 18th-ranked South boys’ cross country team finished sixth. Nikhil Pulimood finished second overall for South.
The ninth-ranked South girls’ cross country team finished fourth in the championship race, one point behind Mercer County rival Princeton. Christina Rancan was second overall for South. The girls from North finished 11th in the A division race. The Knights’ top finisher was Jessy Nguyen in 14th place.
The Knights and Pirates will race head to head on Tuesday, October 14, at Mercer County Park. Both schools will also compete at the Mercer County championship on Friday, October 24, at a course to be determined.
Cross Country
On September 23, the North boys beat Hightstown 19-44 and Hopewell Valley 17-44, but lost to Robbinsville 22-43. The North girls lost to Hopewell Valley 27-30 and Robbinsville 23-38, but beat Hightstown 24-31.
North Boys: 3. Kian Jackson, 15:57; 8. Rohan Doshi, 16:16; 9. Nic Stalzer, 16:23; 11. Colin Stern, 16:31; 12. Ian Cunningham, 16:34; 15. Jon Logan, 16:36.
North Girls: 1. Yuzki Oey, 18:40; 6. Jessy Nguyen, 19:07.
On October 7 the South boys defeated Hightstown, 15-50; Hopewell Valley, 15-49; and Robbinsville, 15-49. The South girls defeated Hightstown, 15-50; Hopewell, 15-46; and Robbinsville, 15-50.
South Boys: 1. Tim Bason, 16:10; 2. Nikhil Pulimood, 16:17; 3. Sam Williams, 16:38; 7. Zach Crossey, 16:55; 8. Zabih Kotecha, 17:04; 10.Tom Moxham, 17:13; 14. Will Hesterberg, 17:21; 17. Dexter Benkard, 17:30; 18. Brendan O’Shea, 17:31; 19. Harish Venkatraman, 17:33.
South Girls: 1. Deirdre Casey, 19:12, 2. Edlyn Gulama, 19:52, 3. Alex Hesterberg, 19:53, 4. Haley Rich, 20:08; 6. Christina Rancan, 20:22; 9. Alli Bacher, 21:26; 11. Bernadette Cao, 21:50; 16. Amy Tsai, 22:15. 18. Jess Chen, 22:23.
Shore Coaches Invitational: North Boys. Seventh-place in the championship division. 21. Jackson, 17:06; 33. Stalzer, 17:30; 34. Doshi, 17:30; 45. ShulVing Teoh, 17:53; 53. Logan, 18:03; 55. Vincent Chan, 18:06; 59. Stern, 18:18.
North Girls. An 11th place finish in the Varsity A race. 14. Nguyen, 20:32; 31. Oey, 21:24; 82. Sahana Natarajan, 23:11; 85. Masai Davis, 23:15; 90. Julia Grande, 23:21; 107. Anu Kandasamy, 23:54; 152. Sarah Liu, 26:25.
South Boys. A sixth-place finish in the championship division. 2. Pulimood, 16:01; 14. Bason, 16:43; 32. Williams, 17:29; 48. Kotecha, 17:55; 54. Crossey, 18:05; 56. Moxham, 18:09; 61. Benkard, 18:39.
South Girls. A fourth-place finish in the championship division. 2. Rancan, 19:09; 9. Casey, 20:05; 17. Hesterberg, 20:41; 21. Rich, 20:55; 29. Edlyn Gulama, 21:13; 44. Bacher, 22:46; 45. Cao, 22:59.
