Strong End for Raiders Cross Country Season

When the Raiders' Cross Country team stepped off the bus Saturday in Holmdel Park to grey skies and showers, they knew it would be a long day.

The New Jersey Group Championships are always hotly contested and close races, but this year was even more so — a driving rain, wind, and cold temperatures warped an already difficult course into muddy terrain. Still, Scotch Plains finished strong — 8th out of 20 teams in Group III. Though their season is over, they have a great race to look back on, and a strong team to look forward to.

With strong showings from South Jersey heavyweights Ocean City as well as West Windsor-Plainsboro North, the pressure was on for the Raiders to come through. Answering the call was junior Alex Parker — distancing himself from the rest of the pack and bounding down the final stretch, Parker crossed the line at 17:04 with an average mile clocked at a blistering 5:30.

Ten seconds behind Parker were his teammates Vidhan Malik and Brandon Wheeler, who finished at 17:40 and 17:42 respectively. Kyle Mahoney and Bobby Evans followed to round out SPFHS's top five runners for the day.

Parker, who is looking to qualify for the Meet of Champions in a wild card, spoke about the day's events, the season as a whole, and what to expect next year.

"I think we did pretty well," he said, catching his breath. "The conditions were pretty bad for our race, with the rain, and being one of the last races. The times were a little slower, but I think we ran it well. I tried to go out and have a good time."

Having a good "up front," or having top runners perform well, is key to taking home trophies at larger meets, and Parker was pleased with his team's efforts.

"Our times were pretty good," he said. "We had three guys come up in the top 55 or so. Our No. 4 and No. 5 runners were about where they've been all season, so they definitely did well too. We were about where we wanted to be today."

The Raiders may have been about where they wanted to be, but Parker wants to take his team to the next level. "Next year," he said, "I'm looking forward to moving up and making it to the Meet of Champions, and getting in the top ten for Group III. We should have a good team again next year."

Coach Jeff Cagle agreed with his top runner when it came to discussing the team's performance.

"I thought we ran a lot better than we did last week," he said. "We were a little stronger up front. I was very pleased with Alex's race. He ran really smart."

To the average onlooker, it might seem like the gun goes off and everyone starts running, but it is not a sprint: knowing where to save energy and where to start hauling takes patience, training, experience and intelligence. 

"[Alex] asked me what I wanted him to do before the race and he did exactly that, which is good. He was about 24th coming through the two-mile mark, and he passed nine people coming in from there. He is focused and he finished nicely."

In addition to Parker, Coach Cagle got a good day out of his No. 2 runner, Vidhan Malik.

"He ran well, especially for someone who just started running cross-country last year," Cagle said.

The coach summed up his team's, and many other teams' day, in a breath: "We had a couple of slip-and-falls, so it wasn't the best day for things, but it was like that for everybody. I think we did pretty well."