Sports
Millburn Cross Country Run in Second
In the high school most recent invitational, the cross country team crosses the line in second.
The brisk temperatures and competition did not put a chill on Millburn’s champs at the 5250-meter course in Warinanco Park, Elizabeth.
Millburn took second place overall in the Boys Varsity A Race, their first Invitational on Wednesday, since the graduation the team's former captain and lauded MHS harrier, Blake Udland.
Lead by the tetrad of MHS juniors, Millburn was anticipated to grapple with rivals Morristown and Westfield High Schools for a top position at the state meet.
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Finishing first for Millburn was Robert Stone, returning from an Achilles injury that prevented his participation in several regular season dual meets.
“It’s a good start for the season, but I’m not in peak shape yet,” Stone said about his seventh place finish in 17:05.07.Even with his recent return to racing, Stone lead the way to Millburn placing three runners in the top thirteen, helping propel the team to a second place win, with a comfortable lead over third place team Phillipsburg.
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Millburn’s Chris Shim crossed the finish line immediately behind Stone, delivering a personal best performance and Matt DeShaw followed twelve seconds thereafter. This was also DeShaw’s first invitational since returning to competition after a stress fracture of his ankle during Spring Track, 2012.
After DeShaw, the next Millburn harrier to cross the line was freshman Chris Stone, Rob’s brother, who finished in 28th place in 17:48.21. The fifth and final scorer for Millburn was junior Steven Cohen, coming in 32nd with a time of 17:51.25. Rounding out the Millburn squad were Daniel Altshchuler finishing 37th and team captain and senior, Ethan Kramer, finishing 53rd in the 84-runner field.
The packed field and tight turns set the course for a very exciting race, and somewhat challenging first mile. Initially Millburn was expecting Westfield’s A-team, but they were met at the line by their second line-up.
This greatly reduced their competition and accounted for the wide margin between Millburn’s second place win with 88 points and Phillipsburg’s third place win with 101 points. Morristown claimed the top prize with a comfortable victory with 48 points. Millburn is scheduled to face off again with Morristown at the Shore Coaches’ Invitational next Saturday in Holmdel, New Jersey.
