Cherokee will be better than Ridgewood this year. Ridgewood isn't deep enough to beat them. Colts Neck will be really talented too and may be able to beat Ridgewood at the MOC.
The winners on the team side are pretty much pre determined. CBA for the boys and Union Catholic for the girls. It’s just too hard to match the recruiting going on. I’m more interested in the race for second place. I’m picking Ridgewood to come in second for the boys, and Pingry for the girls. Both teams have returners that had excellent spring track seasons.
So is it a fact that CBA and UC both recruit?
It looks that way, but I've never seen/heard confirmation, and do they give those kids scholarships and everything?
It looks that way? What does that even mean. CBA has proven year after year that they develop athletes, who yes come from various districts so if you want to call a private school enrolling kids from different towns recruiting, then sure. Assuming private schools offer scholarships for xc/tf is absurd frankly. This ain’t football or basketball.
CBA and UC have tremendous coaches, as do schools such as Cherokee, Westfield, Ridge, Haddonfield and various others through the state. These teams are consistently good in the state and across the region/nation.
And also, as of July 2023, schools (private and public) are allowed to “recruit” grade school students by NJSIAA rule. This obviously does not allow for athletic scholarship or money gifts in any way, which once again would be absurd for the sport we are referring to here.
It looks that way? What does that even mean. CBA has proven year after year that they develop athletes, who yes come from various districts so if you want to call a private school enrolling kids from different towns recruiting, then sure. Assuming private schools offer scholarships for xc/tf is absurd frankly. This ain’t football or basketball.
CBA and UC have tremendous coaches, as do schools such as Cherokee, Westfield, Ridge, Haddonfield and various others through the state. These teams are consistently good in the state and across the region/nation.
And also, as of July 2023, schools (private and public) are allowed to “recruit” grade school students by NJSIAA rule. This obviously does not allow for athletic scholarship or money gifts in any way, which once again would be absurd for the sport we are referring to here.
Do you know how much tuition is for these schools?
Do you know how much yearly property taxes are in these counties to support the public schools?
Do you know how long some of these kids are commuting each day to go to these schools?
I don't think it's a reach to assume they are getting all or some of their tuition paid for.
It looks that way? What does that even mean. CBA has proven year after year that they develop athletes, who yes come from various districts so if you want to call a private school enrolling kids from different towns recruiting, then sure. Assuming private schools offer scholarships for xc/tf is absurd frankly. This ain’t football or basketball.
CBA and UC have tremendous coaches, as do schools such as Cherokee, Westfield, Ridge, Haddonfield and various others through the state. These teams are consistently good in the state and across the region/nation.
And also, as of July 2023, schools (private and public) are allowed to “recruit” grade school students by NJSIAA rule. This obviously does not allow for athletic scholarship or money gifts in any way, which once again would be absurd for the sport we are referring to here.
Do you know how much tuition is for these schools?
Do you know how much yearly property taxes are in these counties to support the public schools?
Do you know how long some of these kids are commuting each day to go to these schools?
I don't think it's a reach to assume they are getting all or some of their tuition paid for.
Yes that is publicly available information. And ok, in CBA’s case at least, Monmouth county is fairly wealthy. Private schools cost money. Families deem that worthy for their situation. And yeah, if you’re in the area, CBA is a pretty good option. UC sure has had far more transfer situations I guess, but I’m sure families make similar decisions regarding their children.
Once again, I find it hard to believe schools, especially these days when enrollment is problematic, that schools are giving “scholarships” to xc runners. and until anyone has any facts of that other than assuming that good private school teams recruit and give kids money.
And I would bet if you ask most public school coaches, they would agree with that sentiment, at least when it comes to xc/tf.
Every CBA freshman runs a 1 1/2 mile race at the beginning of the year. That is all they need. You also need to take an entrance examination to enroll. They are getting high achievers, and parents paying that much money for school and going to make sure their children WILLdo an extracurricular activity.
CBA does not recruit. The program recruits for itself. The coaches there are outstanding. UC gets transfers in all the time while CBA actually develops kids.
Ok, shifting the focus back to the upcoming XC season and away from arguing over if teams recruit, who are some runners you see having breakout XC seasons? What about runners who had breakout track seasons, and do you think their success will carry over?
Look out for Ryan Daly of Westfield and Evan Weber of Union Catholic to make some noise as they transition into being the #1 for their respective units.
Believe what you want to as an outsider but do you realistically think these schools just have money to dish out for RUNNING? Obviously they have a fund for their respective sports but they aren’t able to dish out scholarship money just for incoming freshman or transfers… Football or basketball is understood but not running. It’s simple. Some kids want to be a part of strong teams and their families are willing to make the sacrifice. End of discussion.
when the soccer kids move to x-country, watch out.
This girl will win it if she’s running this summer and switches sports
Same for the frosh kid from Voorhees who threw down a sub 4:15 1600 first year ever running track - he’s my pick on the male side - if he’s actually doing x country lol
CBA can throw numbers at you and will coast to team title - but the CBA kids can start in 6th grade and run all the miles in the world, but that won’t beat talent and DNA with special kids - it’s the only high school sport where first time participants can immediately compete for state titles
when the soccer kids move to x-country, watch out.
This girl will win it if she’s running this summer and switches sports
Same for the frosh kid from Voorhees who threw down a sub 4:15 1600 first year ever running track - he’s my pick on the male side - if he’s actually doing x country lol
CBA can throw numbers at you and will coast to team title - but the CBA kids can start in 6th grade and run all the miles in the world, but that won’t beat talent and DNA with special kids - it’s the only high school sport where first time participants can immediately compete for state titles
Soccer kids have many times made big impacts when they make the switch to xc. I thank Peyton Hollis may have switched over from soccer a couple years back.
I can’t find a voorhees frosh running 4:15. They did have a soph run 4:14 first year racing track which is tremendous, but I find it hard to believe you actually think he’s gonna come out and beat Joe Barrett or Luke pash this xc season.
CBA is also a 9-12 school so not sure what that whole paragraph is about.
The state is loaded with individual talent and this should be a tremendous season for NJ
Pash and Barrett can both go sub 15, Pash will win. 1:53 and 4:02 is speed Barrett doesn’t have. Pash was supposed to run the 2 mile at New Balance outdoor but it got rained out and he didn’t come back for it the next morning… he certainly would’ve run in the 8:40s. CBA wins team title easily
Sheppard and UC on the girls side, both unlikely to be challenged.
Pash and Barrett can both go sub 15, Pash will win. 1:53 and 4:02 is speed Barrett doesn’t have. Pash was supposed to run the 2 mile at New Balance outdoor but it got rained out and he didn’t come back for it the next morning… he certainly would’ve run in the 8:40s. CBA wins team title easily
Sheppard and UC on the girls side, both unlikely to be challenged.
I think Liliah Gordon of Northern Burlington could challenge Sheppard for the title. She would need to get a good lead before the final 400 (Sheppard would easily out kick her) but Gordon has good endurance, and her 3200 time is faster than Sheppard’s (10:22 to 10:26), and Gordon has much more experience running Holmdel (she’s going into her senior year)
there are at least 20 soccer-playing high school kids in NJ who would break 16 at holmdel with one full summer of base training and then decent coaching with smart tempo / speed training in the fall
and every now and then one of them realizes it. More often the recipe for the top NJ runners is excessive mileage in HS, then fade to black in college. Refreshing to see some natural talents thrown into the mix - good for the sport..
So you think a frosh who runs sub 4:15 (which is absolutely incredible) will be able to make a large enough jump to beat Joe Barrett who has a 8:43 two mile pr and Luke Pash who runs 4:02 in the mile and could’ve easily ran an 8:40 two mile had he been in a hot race late in the season? Remember this guy from Vorhees also doesn’t have the Holmdel experience that Pash and Barrett do.
This post was edited 25 seconds after it was posted.
So you think a frosh who runs sub 4:15 (which is absolutely incredible) will be able to make a large enough jump to beat Joe Barrett who has a 8:43 two mile pr and Luke Pash who runs 4:02 in the mile and could’ve easily ran an 8:40 two mile had he been in a hot race late in the season? Remember this guy from Vorhees also doesn’t have the Holmdel experience that Pash and Barrett do.
So you think a frosh who runs sub 4:15 (which is absolutely incredible) will be able to make a large enough jump to beat Joe Barrett who has a 8:43 two mile pr and Luke Pash who runs 4:02 in the mile and could’ve easily ran an 8:40 two mile had he been in a hot race late in the season? Remember this guy from Vorhees also doesn’t have the Holmdel experience that Pash and Barrett do.
what frosh went sub 4:15 this year???
None. the kid just finished his soph year. He will be a junior in the fall.