Lady Rebels Shine at Thompson Park

When they made the trip to Thompson Park this weekend, the Howell Lady Rebels were looking for a strong showing in their first big meet of the season.

Unlike other events where they will compete as a team, the Thompson field is broken into classes and the local squad showed that they have a strong group of upperclassmen this year. 

In the senior races, the Howell squad came away with the class title by taking three of the top 10 spots. The top Lady Rebel runner was Naomi Barnett who finished fifth with a time of 20:46. That put here just eight seconds ahead of Jamie Hand. Rounding out the top finishers was Aileen Rivell who ran a 21:00 flat. 

With 15 points, the girls were able to cruise to the class title as the second place Red Bank Bucs had 28 points with two top 10 finishers. Both schools were well ahead of the third place finishing Jackson Memorial Jaguars who had 40 points. 

The individual runner who won the class race came from one of the smallest schools running as Point Pleasant Beach's Brianna Feerst ran a blazing 19:03 to take home the title. Her next closest competitor was Jackson's Ashley Carle who ran a 19:48. They were the only two to finish the course in less than 20 minutes as Red Bank's Lindsey Bellaran who ran a 20:17.

Not to be outdone, the Howell senior boys also won their class at the event with an impressive total of 22 points. Jack McCabe and Drew Kinghorn were the top two finishers with times of 17:47 and 17:48 respectivly which was good enough for seventh and eighth places. Colin Mechanic was the next highest finisher with an 18:29 which was good enough for 16th place. 

After the Rebels, the next closest teams were Mater Dei and Old Bridge who tied for second with a combined score of 31. The Red Bank Bucs were then a distant third with 42 points. 

The Howell junior runners also performed well on Saturday as they took second in their class behind Freehold Township and Red Bank Regional who tied for first. 

Anne Werkley was the best runner for the Lady Rebels on this day in her race as she ran a 20:46 which was good enough for sixth place. Her next closest teammate was Ellie Osborne who ran a 22:27 for 18th place and Melody Walthers ran a 23:38 for 26th place. 

With 40 points, the girls finished just two points behind the co-leaders and two points ahead of third place Holmdel. 

Also for the girls, while they did not place as a team, freshman Francesca Dee finished ninth in her race with a time of 21:11 as her varsity career gets underway. 

The underclassmen boys did take fourth place on the day which was a good start for a young group of runners. Nick Ferraro finished fifth for the Rebels with a time of 17:40. Fellow sophomore Devon Miller finished 28th as the next highest finisher for his team with a time of 19:50.

Winning the race was Freehold Township with a combined score of just 11 with three top 10 finishes while Point Pleasant Borough finished second with 18 points. The Lady Panthers also had three top 10 finishers, but not enough to overcome the Patriots. Rounding out the top three was Old Bridge with 28 points. The Reels still finished 10 points ahead of fifth place finishing Allentown.