Cross Country Track Preview: Aviators Still Running Past Competition

The Hasbrouck Heights cross country program is only four years old, but it has enough success to equal some programs which have been running for decades.

That is the case especially for the Heights girls team which has won four league and county group titles in the four years the program has existed. The boys team has also had some success, but not as extensive as the girls.

Last season the girls took first in the new North Jersey Interscholastic Conference with an 8-0 record while also taking its fourth Bergen County Group D championship. The boys finished with a 4-4 record.

Once again head coach Mike Ryan is loaded on the girls side while the boys could surprise with a small team of seven boys, said to be a talented group.

While the Heights cross country teams have done very well in the league and the county, it is a different story in the state tournament.

Unfortunately for the Aviators they are in the stacked Group 1 North 1 state sectional with the likes of Mountain Lakes and North Warren, two powerhouses. For Heights if they were in sections like Group 1 North 2 or even some of the Group 2 sections, they could have some sectional team titles to hang their hats on.

This year the Aviators will run on a different home course. In the past they ran at West Hudson County Park in Kearny, as part of the former Bergen County Scholastic League and the NJIC. but 2011 the location has been moved to Garrett Mountain in Woodland Park (formerly West Paterson).

Of the top seven girls runners from last year, Ryan has six returning led by senior Rebecca Fortoul whose best time came at 19:41 at Darlington in Mahwah. "She's a hard worker and dedicated," said Ryan who pointed out that Fortoul is doing weight training to get ready for her senior year. "She does anything to get better. I'm expecting big things from her."

Ryan expects to have his top runners for at least another year as Fortoul is the only senior top runner.

The second fastest runner could be a newbie to cross country in sophomore Daniella Macera, who played soccer as a freshman. 
 
Along with Macera the other underclassmen runners are juniors Jessie Coffey, Kelly Moran, Ali Robitalle and Jessica Guerra and sophomore Amanda Guerra, who are cousins.

Boys

With the proliferation of boys sports in the fall especially football and soccer, the numbers are not that high for cross country.

"We're looking to move up in the league and have a shot at qualifying for the group meet," said Ryan about his boys team if they improve by the end of the season.

The Aviators boys team graduated a few of the top runners from 2010, but senior Rolando Mendoza is back with a best time of 17:05 at Darlington. "He's improved tremendously over the four years," said Ryan. "He's very dedicated and wants to run in college."
   
The rest of the group is young with the next two top runners are sophomore Marc Mastropietro and junior Connor Gillespie. Senior Mark Monohan comes to the sport for his last year at Heights while there is a trio of sophomores who fill out of the roster in Keefe Doheny, Stephen Hodiluk and Pat McGrath.

For Heights in the league, they will have to beat out another tough Lyndhurst team that has several returning runners despite graduating one of the top runners in the state in Patrick Rono.