Montclair High School boys, girls cross country teams win county championships
The Montclair High School boys and girls cross-country teams lived up to their reputations and took home the team titles at the Essex County Championships on Friday, Oct. 21, at Branch Brook Park in Newark.
The Mounties boys and girls had won Super Essex Conference American Division titles the previous Friday, Oct. 14, on the same course. The American is the top cross-country division in the SEC.
Individually, Montclair Kimberley junior Maggie Horn was the highlight at the meet, as she brought home the girls individual title with a time of 19:23.90.
The Montclair boys squad had five of the top nine runners to cross the finish line. The Mounties finished first with a score of 29, far ahead of second-place Newark Academy, which had 103.
Leading the way for Montclair were sophomore Troy Dibble and junior Sean Overton, who were third and fourth in the race with times of 17:01.20 and 17:05.50, respectively. Senior Markus Corredor came in sixth with a time of 17:12.30.
The balanced Montclair Kimberley boys team came in third with a score of 104, just a point away from Newark Academy. Individually, the top Cougars’ boys runner was senior Aidan
Szilagyi, who finished 12th with a time of 17:43.20.
On the girls side, the Mounties had four runners finish in the top 10, led by junior Avery McAdams with a third-place finish. Montclair had a score of 49, beating out Columbia High School, which had 71. The Montclair Kimberley girls took fourth with a score of 80.
Montclair head cross- country coach Daryl Washington said winning the team titles was satisfying, but pointed to the upcoming state tournament that starts Saturday, Oct. 29, in the sectional meet at Garret Mountain in Woodland Park.
“The end result was what we were aiming for as a team,” Washington said about the county team titles. “We are now working towards excelling in state competition.”
For Montclair Kimberley head coach Tim White it was a great result for both teams, especially the Cougars boys, who had not reached a top-three team mark in a couple decades.
“The boys placed third, which is their best team finish in over 20 years,” White said. “The girls placed fourth, but only nine points away from second place. All of the girls on our team had fantastic performances, so there’s nothing to be upset about.”
White was especially satisfied with Horn's strategy in the race.
“Maggie ran a very impressive race,” the MKA coach said. “She went out conservatively and then dropped the pace and was able to put some distance between her and the other runners. I'm very proud of the effort she’s put in and am very excited to see how she progresses as we move forward.”
It was Horn’s first season running cross-country after successful 2022 winter and spring seasons running distance races indoors and outdoors. She did not compete in the dual cross-country meets during the season.
“I was a little worried and a bit nervous before the race,” she said. “My heart rate was high.”
The Cougars junior said that it was a little chaotic at the start of the race, but by the half-mile mark it started to thin out. “There was a lot of elbowing, and one girl fell,” Horn said. “Fortunately she got up.”
She ran in the Super Essex Conference American Division race on Oct. 14 at the same course and won with a time of 19.35.90.
A week later, at the Essex County Championships, she upped it a notch with a time of 19:23.90. She crushed the competition in that meet, with Columbia’s Mae Dowling finishing second, 19 minutes later.
After Horn and Dowling on the girls side was Montclair’s McAdams with a third-place finish at 19:51.60. It was a slower time than her 19:46.10 at the SEC American meet, where she finished second to Horn.
McAdams said she had not been feeling well just before the county meet. “I have been dealing with dead legs the last couple of days,” she said.
She added that she had a different strategy in the county meet. In the SEC American she went out fast, but in the county meet she held back. “I just kept my head up and watched the shoulders of the girls ahead of me,” she said.
McAdams’ goal is to get to the State Meet of Champions. The junior reached the group stage last season. “That would be awesome,” she said about reaching the finals.
On the boys side at the county meet, the Montclair duo of Dibble and Overton topped their times at the SEC American by several seconds.
After the race Dibble said it was good to run with Overton. “Running with a teammate is super-helpful,” he said, though he was a little disappointed with his time. “I was really hoping to break 17.”
Essex County Cross Country Championships results
Branch Brook Park, Oct. 21
Boys
3. Troy Dibble, Montclair, sophomore, 17:01.20
4. Sean Overton, Montclair, junior 17:05.50
6. Markus Corredor, Montclair, senior, 17:12.70
7. Nicholas Maurizi, Montclair, senior, 17:19.00
9. George Maguire, Montclair, senior, 17:28.30
12. Aidan Szilagyi, MKA, senior, 17:43.20
15. Nicholas Snyder, MKA, junior, 17:49.10
20. Stephen Hatfield, MKA, junior 18:12.60
21. Tristan L'Horset, Montclair, senior, 18:15.60
23. Frederick Bishop, MKA, senior, 18:17.60
Girls
1. Maggie Horn, MKA, junior, 19:23.90
3. Avery McAdams, Montclair, junior, 19:51.60
4. Rebecca Herrick, MKA, senior, 10:17.80
7. Maya Kim, Montclair, junior, 21:06.80
8. Corinne Stewart, Montclair, sophomore 21:07.90
10. Madeline Duncan, Montclair, junior 21:25.40
20. Natalie Ewing, MKA, sophomore, 22:18.50
27. Olga Shandarivskam, MKA, junior, 22:36.50