All roads lead to South Plainfield, although many of them are quite confusing, particularly to numbskulls such as myslef trying to get out of South Plainfield and back onto 287...nonetheless, sectionals start this weekend, and everybody is in, including the parochials, non-publics, and so on.  Things are shaping up for an extremely deep, impressive year for distance results from both genders, many of which are still underclassmen...

There are the consistent headline makers, seniors who are big stars, big winners of big races like Pat Schellberberg and Tyler Udland.  Udland has a pair of Meet of Champions titles, but it must seem like a career ago after some injuries last year and the warpath of the Brothers Rosa this year.  Schellberg has wowed the crowds at the biggest of the big spots like Millrose and Penn, but lacks a Meet of Champions win.  DJ Thornton rose to the challenge and took the title that many had figured to be Pat's indoors.  Now this represent Pat's last chance, and a very good chance at that.  The other senior with MoC winning hardware is Haddonfield Jon (not Tim) Vitez.  Dinged up following his stunning 8:58 winner inside at Toms River, if he's right he will be in the mix.  Two Syracuse recruits require some attention, Verona's Dave Oster and WWP-South's Sam Macaluso.  Oster figured to be in the sub-9 hunt this year, but has yet to be healthy consistetnly enough to get there.  Now could be the time.  Macaluso has dropped down and become a very good miler this year, even show good wheels over 800m.
Will Sam now move up and give the deuce a shot?  You could say that he may have a better shot to win there than at 1600 against Schellberg and Thornton and perhaps the Haddonfield contingent.  Then again, you could say he has a coach who knows what he's doing, and only 1 guy is going to win each event and there are a lot of great guys, so get into the best race, run your best, and do what is best for development.  What that means...I don't know.  Other 9:0types are out there like Southern Regional's Matt Valeriani, who is NOT going to Colorado, and the often forgotten Joe Kotran from Toms River North. 


As for some underclassmen, there are these guys.  The Brothers Rosa have two Meet of Champions wins already, outdoor 3200m for Jim last year and x-c for Joe this past fall.  Joe's 14:28 5000m on a hot night shows he is healthy and rounding into sub-9 shape with his twin. 

Perhaps the junior with the most upside right now is Livingston's Jeremy Elkaim.  On a side note, be very careful what you find if you do a google image search for him.  So upsetting were a few of the images that I almost peppered-sprayed myself.  Anyway, his x-c season was not what it could have been, but his monster 9-flat 3200m and NSIC deuce win show where he is headed.  58.point on the end of his Essex County winning 1600 was impressive, as well.  The thing that I like about this guy is the patience to not overrace the 3k/3200 right, work on the 1600, hold off on Penn, and so on.  It looks like he will be very tough in June.  Don't sleep on CBA's Mike Mazzacarro, who's now right and running fast.  Another 9:07 soph, he's shown to be pretty quick for a tall, lanky kid.  As he matures and gets a bit stronger, look out.  Delbarton's Morgan Pearson just didn't look comfortable on the track indoors, literally a fish out of water in his first season out of the pool.  Bad pun, first I wanted to pepper-spray myself, now I might punch myself in the face.  Either way, Pearson has now gotten under 4:20 and run 9:11.  He's a strong kid, aerobically sound and should have a few more ticks in there if he gets into a fast, not too fast race, and runs patiently and even.  Morris County mate Colin Frost of Randolph just missed John Hayes' school record for Holmdel in the fall.  Like Pearson, he had an uneven indoor campaign in comparison to the fall, but appears to have things headed in the right direction running 4:20ish several times.  And what of Red Bank Catholic's Kevin Byrne, jr.?  Is he going to remain an 800 guys?  While he has not run at the highest level with the milers yet, its the end of his junior year, and he has the tools to do so. 

Aside from the obvious choices, a few guys who don't always break the headlines should be looked at as breakout possibilities.  One is North Hunterdon junior Matt McDonald who just ran 9:21 to win Skyland Conference.  McDonald is the type who is quietly improving, maturing, and while may not quite be ready to mix it up with the 9-flat or faster types, don't look past him or be surprised if he winds up running low 9-teens as a junior.  The same could be said about Rahway junior Jeremy Antivo, who's already run 4:13 and 9:23.  Union County foe, Everett Price, a soph from New Providence, has also run 4:14.  Right now, he has not put up a 3200 on that same level, and may need a bit more time to get there.  The other name, on both the boys and girls side, is Ruskan, we'll get to the girls side shortly, but junior Jake is very talented, and could run 9:20ish. 

It is shame that we will not see Chelsey Ley on the track this spring.  I just hope for an excellent recovery, and good summer leading into her career at UVa.  Highland's Megan Venables assumes the role of favorite in Ley's abscence.  She seems capable of running 10:20ish.  Whether Marielle Hall competes for Haddonfield or not, the coverage of events at extremely high levels cannot be ignored.  2:07, mid4:40s, 9:40. sub-17, she's a remarkable talent. 

Indoors, soph Ajee Wilson did not really look like a Meet of Champions winner...until she won the Meet of Champions again.  Given her performances in all track MoC's, you have to figure she'll be ready to run whatever it takes come June.  This year, it might take under 4:50 again to win with Sparta frosh Claudia DiSomma lighting it up.  RBC's Molly McNamara may be ready to step into that low 4:50 or better time range, as well. 

Lenape senior Caitlinn Orr has been quiet outdoors after a mostly great indoor season.  Montgomery's Jillian Prentice has been in the 10:40/50 range often, but also has to double and run hard often.  Skyland Conference cohort Collette Whitney from Voorhees is quietly running very well, and could be a sneaky challenger for the 3200 at the Group and maybe even MoC levels.  Frosh miler Marisa Ruskan from Bridgewater is already under 5:00, will she pull a DiSomma and just keep dropping?  Bernards soph Dana Giordano is another young talent ready to drop under 5:00.

Randolph has shown on the track why it was favored to win MoC in the fall.  Joelle Amaral has been steady and good, several times under 5:00 and 11:00.  Princeton-bound senior Molly Higgins (who has an MoC swim title from junior year) has also run 4:58 and 2:11 on relays.  Two others, Natalie Anthony and soph field hockey player Samantha Jones have also cracked 11:00.  Junior Amaral and Mendham senior Laura Vigilante (if healthy) could both wind up near the 10:30 mark and be in the mix at 3200. 

All in all, great things ahead, with the Meet of Champions 3 weeks from tomorrow...better yet the 2nd Cluck U Run in Morristown 6 days after that on June 9th.