Holmdel Park, home of the New Jersey Meet of Champions. One race to decide the best runners and teams in the state. When all was said and done, Westfield placed fourth; its highest MOC finish since 2014.
Westfield has had nothing short of a tumultuous season. From winning sectionals to coming second in the county and group championships, Westfield capped it all off with a strong fourth-place finish Saturday morning.
Westfield’s Avery Keith finished ninth overall, running a time of 16:02. Keith ran an excellent race, battling with the front pack the whole way. The following two finishers for Westfield, Tage Mehta and Ryan Daly ran 16:42 and 16:44, respectively.
Eamon Mason, running his first varsity race, ran a personal best, beating his old time by nearly a full minute and a half with a time of 16:51. He placed fourth overall for the team. “It was a physically challenging race, but it was crazy fun competing at the highest level,” said Mason. Westfield’s last scorer, Graham Korins, ran 16:54.
A major storyline heading into the race was the benching of senior captain Daniel Cortese. The results from Cortese were “not where we needed them to be,” said head coach Christopher Tafelski. “Eamon [Mason] had been doing quite well, and I felt that the other six guys on the team needed somebody they could rely on.”
Westfield will now shift its focus to the Nike Cross Regionals, held in Wappingers Fall, NY at Bowdoin Park on Saturday, November 26. If the team can place at least second in the race, they will book a trip to Portland for the Nike Cross Nationals.
