WOODSTOWN – Matt DiTizio was in a quandary, like every other coach and runner at Wednesday’s NJTAC cross-country meet.
How much do you push your runners today, in a state championship meet for your kind of schools and on your home course, with an even bigger for a bigger opportunity on tap Saturday. If you’re a particularly deep program, how do you choose which runners to send to the line knowing what lies ahead.
Run them hard and risk burning out for getting through the sectionals Saturday. Use it as an extended training day and give up a chance to win the whole tech school title after winning the South Jersey tech meet earlier in the season.
He found a compromise. Run at a pace that makes you comfortable and if you’ve got a shot to win go for it.
The Chargers ran a pace consistent with their season. They placed three runners in the top 10 (all five in the top 20), got a PR out of their seventh man, and finished second to GCIT, which came into the meet with a similar approach as the Chargers.
The Cheetahs had four of the top five finishers and placed all five of their counters in the top 10 for 21 points. The GCIT girls were equally impressive, finishing 1-2-3 and also placing all five of their counters in the top 10 to score 19 points and complete their Senior Day sweep. They also won both JV races and team titles.
“We did the best we could given the situation,” DiTizio said. “It wasn’t ideal, but we did the best we could given the time frame of this week compared to the sectionals.
“It was a feel out the race kind of deal and see what’s going on. If it looks like we’ve got a shot, go for it. If we’re in solid position kind of hold your ground, and I think that’s kind of how it played out today. All things considered I’m really happy how it went today.”
GCIT coach Rob Kijewski said It was no easy decision trying to pick his lineup for the race knowing what was on the horizon. As it was, he sent the seven to the line who’ll run in the sectionals and told them to use their best judgement as the race unfolded. The results spoke volumes.
“We told them to make that decision for yourself on the course,” Kijewski said. “We didn’t know who was running full speed because we’re all in the same boat for Saturday.
“It means a lot to our school and our program to win this and, thankfully, we’re healthy for Saturday, so please with us luck. I hope we do just as well there as we did here. I wanted them to win on Senior Day. They wanted to win it on Senior Day, too. So it was nice to do that, come out and survive.”
GCIT junior Wyatt Evans (16:35.74) edged teammate Shepard Byrnes by two seconds to win the boys race. GCIT’s Jordan Moczydlowski won the girls race (20:28.23).
Levi Seals led the Chargers to the wire, finishing sixth in 17:34.02, followed by teammates Anthony Morano (17:53.61) and Jean-Pierre Pozo (18:05.35) in the next two positions. Seals and Morano went out together and sat in the pack until midway through the race when they started picking off as many runners as they could to reach the top 10. Seals was only five seconds out of fifth, but the other four finishers had just gotten too far out of reach.
“I ran decently hard,” Seals said. “It was definitely harder than a workout practice but it was still a little slower than a full out race (because of sectionals coming up). I don’t know if anyone else did that. I think a few of our guys went all out because this is our home course and this was the last time they were going to be able to run it.”
Evans came into the race expecting to use it as a workout for Saturday, but the pace was easy and he kept pushing. He said he didn’t run 100 percent because Saturday was looming, but it didn’t look like it when was sprinting down the stretch to stay in front of a teammate who had been running faster than him all season. It was his first varsity win.
“Last year I got fourth so I really wanted to win this year, so I really gave it my all at the end,” he said. “I really wanted to win. I know he’s faster than me, so I really gave it my all at the end.“
With a deep roster and a lot of fast runners, the hardest thing for GCIT girls coach Robb Eppolite to do was decide which seven he was going to send to the start line in the varsity race and how to spell his race winner’s last name (which, by the way, he got on the first try).
The Cheetahs put the right combination together for a dominating performance and, wearing custom-made uniforms designed by a classmate that caught the attention of everyone who’ seen them, won the girls race for the first time since 2017. Moczydlowski overtook the two pacesetters in the woods and won the race by more than 30 seconds and three of their top six finishers, two of whom gave up soccer this fall to run cross-country and one a late sub, all delivered PRs.
“This year has been different than any other year in the respect that we have a lot of depth,” Eppolite said. “We’ve never had a program this big,. We’ve never had this many runners for girls (24). It’s definitely grown.
“We had a week probably four weeks ago where we had a batch meet and the next day we had South Jersey TAC. We ran some in the batch and beat Washington Twp., which we’ve never done before, and then we won South Jersey TAC. Going into this the plan was we’re going to kind of split it up and whatever happens. If we go 0-2, were going to have to live with it; if we go 1-1, we’re going to live with it, and if we go 2-0 we’re going to be happy.
“I got them brownies. I ordered them already. We know it’s going to be a tough week so whatever happens; if we win we’ll be happy, if not you’re still getting rewarded because that’s tough. We’ve done it back-to-back before. We may do something different Saturday, but … we have rungs on the ladder for our goals and we keep grabbing for them. This is a big goal.”
NJTAC Cross Country Championship
| BOYS STANDINGS: GCIT 21, Salem Tech 51, Passaic Tech 74, Medford Tech 148, Morris Tech 160, Bergen Tech 178, Payne Tech-Essex 199, East Brunswick Magnet 252, Warren Tech 255, Penn Tech 271, West Caldwell Tech-Essex 281, Cape May Tech 327, Sussex Tech 329, Newark Tech-Essex 352 |
| GIRLS STANDINGS: GCIT 19, Morris Tech 42, Passaic Tech 81, East Brunswick Magnet 104, Medford Tech 109 |
| BOYS TOP 10 | GIRLS TOP 10 | ||
| Wyatt Evans, GCIT | 16:35.74 | Jordan Moczydłowski, GCIT | 20:28.23 |
| Shepard Byrne, GCIT | 16:37.90 | Savannah Vai, GCIT | 21:05.38 |
| Chris Davis, Medford | 16:58.91 | Kelsey Connell, GCIT | 21:30.50 |
| Kevin Whelan, GCIT | 17:15.86 | Maeve McNiel, Morris | 21:41.21 |
| Duke Snyder-Shellito, GCIT | 17:29.24 | Julianna Carroll, GCIT | 21:45.03 |
| Levi Seals, Salem Tech | 17:34.02 | Siddhee Pathak, Morris | 22:31.62 |
| Anthony Morano, Salem Tech | 17:53.61 | Cameron Mikaela Fuerte, Morris | 22:32.84 |
| Jean-Pierre Pozo, Salem Tech | 18:05.35 | Francesca Carnevale, GCIT | 22:41.84 |
| AJ Trampe, GCIT | 18:14.34 | Olivia Davis, Warren | 22:52.41 |
| Lukasz Popa, Passaic | 18:15.36 | Liana Horanic, Morris | 22:58.75 |