Hot, dusty, and dry – not your normal racing conditions in October, but the Phillipsburg Boys Cross Country team took them on in stride last Saturday, October 4th, at the Shore Coaches 50th Anniversary meet in Holmdel, NJ. This highly anticipated meet welcomed a plethora of teams to Holmdel Park. The infamous Bowl, a notoriously steep, rolling hill section of the course, stood as a daunting challenge for the runners. The Phillipsburg Boys were one of twenty-nine schools that competed in the “B” division race and ran to secure a fifth-place finish.
Freshman Noah Davis shook the Phillipsburg Varsity lineup, delivering a first-place finish out of the team’s seven runners. He completed his first-ever race on the course in a time of 17:43 and placed twenty-eighth in the division.
“Since it is a very hilly course at the start, I went out slower, started kicking it harder on the downhills, slower on the Bowl hill, and then the last mile is basically all downhill, so I just started gunning it,” Davis said. “I’m kind of shocked that I won, but I’ve already said this multiple times–I’m just really happy that I won today, and I hope to go after people at HWS next week.”
Junior Anthony Pettinelli, finishing directly behind Davis, put up a 17:44. He was thirtieth out of 201 runners.
“The course is a little challenging, but it’s not as bad as our course. You just have to get up the hill, and then it’s all downhill from there, so I guess the mental part–that’s more challenging. It can get in your head.” Petinelli informed. “I learned that I’ve got to finish better, and just keep going all the way and not stop once I see the finish line.”
Another ninth grader, Conor Tennant, was the next Stateliner to cross the finish line. With his time of 17:58, he ended up forty-first.
“Everybody made [the Bowl] out to seem terrible, like it was the worst hill ever, but I didn’t even know it was the Bowl when I was running up it. It wasn’t as bad as people described.”
When asked if there was any new knowledge he gained on Saturday that he planned to use in his next race, he shared some useful advice.
“Don’t let people say the course is bad, don’t listen to people. Run your own race, because everybody thinks differently about some things.”
Senior Ryan Pugsley ran a new personal record on the Holmdel course, finishing fourth for Phillipsburg and forty-second overall. His official time was 18:00.
“My race was not as long as I had originally thought. It was kind of quick, dusty, and hot, but pretty good overall–fast,” Pugsley shared. “The big hill that everybody talks about actually wasn’t as bad as I remember it being. I tried to shorten my steps on the hill going up, and it actually worked.
The next Stateliner to follow Pugsley was William Taylor, a sophomore who ran the race in 18:18. This time placed him sixty-first among the runners from the twenty-nine different schools.
“This was my first time on this course, so I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was running with Conor when we reached the Dust Bowl, and I honestly hadn’t even known we were at the hard part.” Taylor laughed. “Our course is a lot harder. Everyone was hyping this course up as being really bad when it wasn’t even.”
Senior Austin Olexa was the next Phillipsburg runner to dart across the finish line. The Holmdel veteran placed seventy-first with a time of 18:27.
“I did not run my best today, but that’s okay. I don’t think that anybody ran their PR, but we are just going to move on from this race, it’s a tough course, and run much better at the Skyland Conference meet next Tuesday,” Olexa assured. “It was hard to get around other people at the start–it was a very crowded race. I was happy with how I did, and I’m proud of how I ran. P’Burg did well as a team–we got fifth overall. I am just going to take this and run harder at the Skyland Conference meet.”
Finishing in seventy-second place, Junior Christopher McGuinness took on the course in 18:28.
“This race gives me confidence that we will do something good at Sectionals. We are definitely going to have some entertaining moments along the way. My knees are really hurting, though,” McGuinness admitted.
William Hurst, the coach of the boys’ team, summed up his thoughts on his athletes’ performance and his hopes for the rest of the season.
“I told the boys the last couple of days that a realistic goal today would be trying to finish in the top five, and I really thought that we would have to have our best game to do that. I really think that this is the first time that we didn’t run our best, and we still finished in the top five. So, it just shows the boys how good they really are.”
“We haven’t been fresh for a race yet; we’ve been beating them up pretty good at practice and kind of making them uncomfortable with some of the workouts because we want to build from there. Next week will be the last week that they really kind of get beat up Monday through Thursday. From that point on, hopefully their legs kind of respond a little bit more on Saturdays.”
“I think they are working very hard. They come every day, they get the job done, and they leave happy. We had everybody really close together again today, and for me, that’s the goal. They all have to realize that on any day, any of those boys could be our number one guy or they could be our number seven guy.”
“I think the boys should realize that they are a good team. I think they shouldn’t worry about getting to States, I think they should think about being very competitive at Sectionals to qualify for States, and I think they should have a legitimate goal of being a top five team at the State meet.”
The girls’ team saw similar success in their efforts at the Bowl, finishing ninth out of twenty-seven teams in the “B” division race. Sophomore Abigail Carrig was Phillipsburg’s first-place runner with a time of 21:10. She placed thirty-second out of 187 athletes.
“My race went pretty well. It was my first time running this course because of an injury last year, so I was just hoping to get through it,” Carrig recalled. “Right before the Bowl, it was very nerve-wracking. I think everybody was a little nervous because we knew that we were about to go uphill. I think the whole team placed really well, and I think we have a good shot at making Groups.”
Freshman Olivia Auriema was the next Stateliner to finish the race in 21:36, earning her a forty-first-place finish.
“This was my first time running at Holmdel. I heard it was a pretty intense course, but my coaches properly trained me for this course. It was a bit rough, but not as bad as I expected. It was on a gravel trail, which I thought was nice. I started out quick but not too fast to avoid running out of energy. The Bowl section was challenging, but it got better after that because there were some downhill stretches. When I finally saw the finish line, I sprinted ahead and saw my time and I was happy because it was the time I was aiming for today. Our team did really well, and I’m really proud of everyone!”
Senior Captain Emily Tennant, sister of Conor, placed third for the Phillipsburg girls. Her time of 22:57 landed her in sixty-eighth place.
“I’m not sure why, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a good race here. It is very hilly, and I always struggle on the Bowl. It is a really big downhill and then a really steep uphill, especially the last twenty meters,” Tennant said. “Honestly, I’m really not happy with my results today, but I am not super worried for the next couple weeks because the next two races are home and I’ve always run decently well there. There is one big hill and I just need to make it up–that’s it.”
More success followed for the Stateliners, with freshman pair Emmery McDarby and Emily Bellfy finishing seventy-fourth in 23:16 and eighty-second in 23:43, individually. Sophomore Quinn Foschetti ran the race in 26:49, earning 156th place.
“The team did great today; we came in ninth out of twenty-six teams, and last year we came in seventeenth, so we had a big improvement,” Jenna Sokolowski, the girls’ team’s coach, remarked. “Abby Carrig did great today; she was number one for our team. She ran a great time for this course. Olivia was very close behind her, which is great to have two newcomers, and the rest of the top six did great.”
“Our goal now is to have a good place at Skylands and Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex, which are on our course, so it’ll be a good place to do well, considering they know the course so well. The main goal for the rest of the season is to place in the top five at Sectionals and get back here to Holmdel for the Group Meet in the second week of November.”
After mixed reactions at the Bowl, the Stateliner Cross Country teams are ready to tackle their championship season! Next up, they host the Skyland Conference Championship meet at the Phillipsburg Athletic Conference on October 14, 2025!
