While South swimmer and basketball players may have made their marks this season, North’s cross country teams and fencers were breaking records and winning championships of their own.##M:[more]##
North Winter Track. The story all year at North has centered around four runners — record-breaking twin brothers Jim and Joe Rosa and seniors Tyler Corkedale and Ryan Sleeper. From cross country to winter track, and now on to outdoor track and field, the four runners have anchored the Knights. And, once again, they have put North’s name on the map — this time by adding a new national record under their belts.
The boys broke the national record in the 4x mile relay by running 17:21.58 at the Nike Indoor Nationals last month in Boston. But the achievement is not surprising.
The brothers have already broken records on a variety of levels. This past fall, during cross country, the Rosas stormed the Shore Coaches Invitational, helping their team take first place in the B Division race, with Joe Rosa’s record-breaking time of 15:38, passing the prior sophomore course record of 15:46. Jim Rosa took fourth place, with a time of 16:17 (he broke a record last season, when he became the third freshman in the state’s history to win a sectional title with a time of 16:21:1, and at the Meet of Champions last year, he placed sixth and broke a freshman record with a time of 9:11.56).
The cross country team then became the first Mercer County team to win the state Meet of Champions, behind great runs by the Rosas as well as Sleeper, Corkedale, Anthony Lee, Stephen Ellwood, and junior Jon Squeri. The team then jumped in national rankings from 19 to 4.
Joe Rosa, along with Corkedale, had an even better performance on November 29 at the Nike Northeast Regional Championships at Bowdoin Park in New York. Corkedale placed 15th with a time of 16:36.3, while Rosa took the individual championship, with a time of 15:56.6 earning North a qualifying spot in the Nike National Championship race at Portland Meadows in Oregon. It was there where they capped off their season with a fifth place finish.
The list of accomplishments grew even larger as the winter track season began. At the Mercer County Championship in February, Jim Rosa won the 800, 1,”600, 3,”200, and was part of the 4×400. He broke the school record in all four events.
The Knights then claimed the Group III title in track, a week after claiming the county championship, At the helm once again were the Rosas, Ryan Sleeper, and Tyler Corkedale.
Then came the Nike Nationals in Boston. The team’s time of 17:21.58 broke record of 17:25.98 set in 2004. Sleeper, who was tripped during his first lap, was still able to run for a time of 4:25.2. Corkedale ran for 4:22.3, and Joe Rosa ran for 4:16.5, while his brother ran for 4:17.5.
Following that, the Rosas, Corkedale, and Sean Reed placed third in the distance medley relay with a time of 10:07.44 — in which Corkedale had a personal best of 1:54.9 — as well as fourth in the 4×800, with a time of 7:51.69.
North Fencing. The track team was not alone in achievement this past winter season, however, as the North girls’ fencing team had its first state champion, after only a few years in existence as a program, under coach Gail Kedoin’s direction.
Junior epee fencer Anjali Baliga claimed the state epee title in the individual championships after fighting her way through a three-way fence-off against two other girls from Voorhees and Hackettstown. Baliga was 6-2. She was one of four North fencers to compete in the state individual championships.
At in the epee at the state championships, Joe Behnke and Hamad Masood placed 10th and 15th, respectively, while, for the girls sabre, Gentley Smith finished 14th.
Following the state championships, two of North’s fencers were selected by New Jersey coaches as top fencers in the state. Baliga was selected for the 1st team All-State for the girls epee, while Joe Behnke was selected for the 3rd team All-State in the boys epee. Having fencers selected for All-State honors is also a first for the fencing program.
Still, there were other fencers that made the “Top 20” list in the state. Smith was 16th in the girls sabre, while Hamad Masood was 16th in the boys epee. Robert Goldhirsch was 18th in the boys foil, while Will Goldhirsch was 19th.
Komal Kumar. There is also another fencer at North who is making her own waves. Senior and Plainsboro resident Komal Kumar took home a gold medal at the National American Cup, a prestigious fencing tournament, where she competed in a Division II Women’s Epee event hosted in Atlanta, GA this year with ninety-six other fencers hailing from every state and including athletes from Puerto Rico and Canada.
Kumar had to win six times tow in the women’s epee gold in the NAC’s ‘E’ Division. In addition to receiving a gold medal, Komal was ranked the number 1 fencer in the event. As a Division II Champion, Komal also raised her national rating to a “B.” Komal is a student at the Medeo Fencing Club & School in Bridgewater.
Kumar was on the fencing team at North for the first three years of high school, but decided to forgo doing so this year so she could focus on being an individual competitor.
