Cross Country Triple Tie

Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey

On Sunday, September 3, 2017

RUNNING COLUMN for the DAILY RECORD

For Sunday, September 3,, 2017

By MADELINE BOST,  973-584-9302

CROSS COUNTRY TRIPLE

The USATF NJ cross country meet that was held last Sunday had a rare tie in the open men’s division.  The Garden State Track Club’s C team placed first.  No surprise there, the club has a large roster of fast young runners.  No, the surprise was the three-way tie for second for their B, A and D teams.  Ties in cross country are not uncommon as the points are assigned by place rather than time, but a three way tie is much rarer.  The Shore Athletic Club took fourth with the Garmin Runners taking sixth out of thirteen teams. 

The Garmin M40 A team won that division, with the Garden State team taking second and the Shore team in third.  The Garmin M50 team also won their division with the Shore in second and the Garden State team in third.   Yes, there were other teams competing but were shut out by those three hot clubs; thirteen open men’s teams, eight M40, and ten M50.

Fourteen  teams competed in the M60 division and six in the M70.  Those divisions require only  three runners to make up a scoring team.  The Shore club took advantage of having a larger squad requiring fewer runners and scored first and second in the M60 division.  Their B team scored 17 points to their A team at 18.  The North Jersey Masters took third.  Clifton won the M70 team division with the Shore team in second and the North Jersey Masters in third.

If the Shore Athletic Club’s open women’s team had not raced, the Garden State women’s teams would have swept that division’s top spots, but the Shore team grabbed second while the Garden State teams placed first, third and fourth.  The Garmin team placed fifth out of ten teams.

The Garmin women were on top in the W40 division, with Clifton second by just one point, with the Garden State team in third out of eleven teams.  The W50 division was the same for the first two spots, with the Shore team taking third.  The Shore team was first in the W60 division with Raritan Valley in second and Clifton in third.

The race was won  by Garden State’s Matt Gillette of Orefield PA in 16:08 and on the women’s side by Emily Rosario of Brooklyn NY in 19:09.

Elena Rozhko of Morristown was the top masters woman to finish and second woman overall in 19:20.   Suzanne LaBurt, 54, of Greenwood Lake NY was the top age graded woman with a 85.10% PLP for her time of 20:17.  Nora Cary, 62, of Morristown was second with an 84.88% PLP for her time of 22:22.  Mary Christian of Flanders and Rozhko were third and fourth in Age Grading.

Brian Crowley, 52,  of Hillsborough topped the men’s age graded chart with an  86.01% for his 17:24.   Reno Stirrat, 63, of Rockaway was next with an 84.47% on his 19:22, and Gary Leaman, 58, of Hardwick finished in 18:50 for an 83.34% PLP.

Labor Day is a day of rest, but for a runner it is a good day to find a Labor Day race to run in and get a start on the fall racing season.  

Verona has hosted their Labor Day Classic 5K for 35 years.  They must be doing something right.  It helps that the Essex Running Club is a co-host of race.  The description states that the course is fast but makes no claim to be flat.  It is an out-and-back course with a cone turn-around and a few corners to navigate.

Pre-registration is closed but race day registration fee is only $25.00.   Age divisions are in five years and go up to 85 +.   The top three in those age divisions win gift certificates to shop at the Fleet Feet store in Montclair.  Top overall man and woman get one better -  free shoes!

Lake Mohawk is the featured site for the Labor Day 5K in Sparta.  If you don’t like to run around corners this is the course to run.  It is a straight out-and-back with the only turn the cone turn-around. It is described as flat with some rolling hills. 

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Race Results can often be found at www.compuscore.com or at www.bestrace.com

A calendar of USATF sanctioned events can be found at www.usatfnj.org or at www.raceforum.com for running and tri and biathlon events.

Contact Madeline Bost at madelinebost@verizon.net