Boys Cross Country, Wolf, Run Out

When she took to the course at Holmdel Park on Saturday for the Group III Cross Country Championships, Montville senior Heather Wolf found herself in a very unusual position.

After a season of running with her Mustang teammates, Wolf was the last girl standing against some of the top runners in the state. While she was running against several other complete teams, Wolf said she was happy to look to the sidelines and see that she was not in fact flying solo.

"I had a few girls who came to cheer for me and the boys team was here so I wasn't completely alone," she said. "It was good encouragement to have them out there with me."

Running on one of the toughest courses in the state, Wolf performed well as she finished in the top 40 with a time of 21:14. The showing was good enough for her to finish ahead of more than 100 other runners and feel good about wrapping up her season and her high schol career.

"It was definitely a good season," she said, adding that it was, "the best season I had so far."

After battling injuries for much of her career, Wolf said she is looking forward to running at the college level and taking the momentum she built this year to a still to be determined school.

"I've had a lot of injuries in my past, so to have a season where I'm healthy, it's very encouraging to know that I can go into college and only expect to get better from here," she said.

Before Wolf stepped up to the starting line, the Montville boys team had their chance for their last race of the season. Leading the way was junior Kevin Duffy who finished in 24th with a time of 17:03. The young team continued to show improvement and potential for next year after Duffy as sophomore Andrew Tedeschi ran a 17:50 and freshman Michael Higgins finished the course close behind him at 17:53.

In addition, senior Stephen Marabonda ended his career with the school with a respectable time of 18:08.

The Group III field was one of the most balanced competitions of the day with several teams all in contention for the title. The Montville boys finished 16th out of the 20 teams competing with a total of 325 points.

In the end, the crown went to West Windsor Plainsboro North which finished the day with 85 points. They were followed by a Colts Neck team that combined for 122 points and a Lacey team that put together a 157-point performance.