Kingsbery, Enderly win
county x-country titles
RBR boys, Shore girls
finish second
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff Red Bank Regional’s Joe Kingsbery and Ocean Township’s Erin Enderly were the top finishers at Saturday’s Monmouth County Championships at Holmdel Park.

Red Bank Regional’s Joe Kingsbery and Ocean Township’s Erin Enderly applied different strategies but came away with similar results.

The seniors captured the Monmouth County cross country championships on Oct. 10 at Holmdel Park.

For RBR’s Kingsbery, it was a change in game plan that helped him join teammate Rob Dennis (2002) and his brother Walton Kingsbery (1999) as Bucs who have won the title. He out-kicked Colts Neck’s freshman sensation Craig Forys and set a Holmdel Park personal best of 16:05. His best previous time at the park was 16:43.

For the county championships, Kingsbery took his foot off the accelerator and followed the advice of teammate Dennis.

"I had to break my habit of going out too fast and dying at the end," he said. "Rob told me to run with him for the first mile."

Kingsbery and Dennis went by the mile in 5:40 with Kingsbery in 50th place.

"Step-by-step I started picking off people," he said. "It was a lot of work but it helps when you start passing people."

While Kingsbery was threading his way through traffic, Forys seized control of the race, running the opening mile in 5:28. Kingsbery said he might have panicked a bit if he had known Forys had such a big lead early. But while Forys was out front pushing it, Kingsbery’s view was of the runners he was slowly passing, until he joined the chase pack.

Ranney’s Alexandra Salani finishes just ahead of Red Bank Regional’s Beth Mazza during Saturday’s meet at Holmdel Park.

At the tennis courts, Red Bank Catholic’s Conrad Laskowski broke from the chase group with Kingsbery in tow and they went after Forys. They caught him as they went into the back woods for the final .6 of a mile to the finish line.

"At the tennis courts, I took it out harder, and in the woods, I made a spurt going downhill," said Kingsbery.

To Forys, Kingsbery’s move was scary.

"He flew by me," said Forys, who finished second in 16:05, breaking the freshman state record of 16:26 held by Westfield’s Matt Elmuccio. "He had so much left at the end."

Ocean’s John Marmora sprints to the finish at Holmdel Park on Saturday.

The surge separated Kingsbery from Laskowski and Forys. Having run the opening mile more conservatively, Kingsbery was enjoying the fruits of having a lot of life in his legs for the homestretch.

"It’s the best I’ve felt at the end of the race," he said. "I felt fresh in the back woods and that was a nice feeling."

After out-kicking Forys over the last half-mile, Kingsbery praised the freshman runner, who seems destined to join Kingsbery as a county champion.

"It took a lot of guts going for it," Kingsbery said.

But the day belonged to Kingsbery, who joined his brother Walton (now running for the University of Virginia) as a Monmouth County champion.

"He’ll be happy for me," said Joe.

Laskowski ended up running fifth (16:26), finishing just ahead of Dennis (16:30) and Steve Waite (16:31) who were sixth and seventh.

The Bucs, ranked fifth in the state, were second to Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, which was second, 36-87. RBR had the lead after three runners but, as expected, CBA’s depth was too much to overcome. The Colts had their five scorers in the first 12.

It has been a great year for the Bucs, who have won three invitationals, including the Manhattan Invitational in New York City, to go along with an undefeated dual meet season and the B Central title. Coach Todd Engle was pleased with the way his team performed.

"We ran very well today," he said. "I told our guys to just go for it."

Ocean Township’s boys finished fifth led by the 21st place of Brian Washakowski (17:18). RBC’s Casey’s were in 10th (277).

Rumson-Fair Haven’s Andy Sharkey finished 14th (17:02).

Enderly took the opposite approach to Kingsbery in claiming her first county cross country championship. The Spartan senior made her move before the mile mark and led the race the rest of the way.

"At the end of the first trail (leaving the woods), I decided to go," said Enderly. "I was feeling good." But not secure.

"I knew they would come back to me in the bowl," she said. "The bowl, espe­cially the uphill, is the weakest part of the race for me. I’ve worked on it men­tally and physically. I was prepared."

The field did come back on the Spartan, but hardly enough to prevent her from running the last 1.1 miles by herself. The title that seemed destined for her after a third place finish as a sopho­more, but eluded her last year when she was on the sidelines recovering from a leg injury, was finally hers.

"It’s awesome," she said. "It’s a great sense of satisfaction. This has been a goal of mine. This was just my year."

Enderly cranked out her best time of the year at Holmdel, 19:42, in besting runner-up Julie Ullmeyer of Shore Regional, a champion in 2000 who ran a 20:05.

Mel Ullmeyer’s Shore Regional Blue Devils were seeking their first county championship, but lost a close competi­tion to another team looking for its first title — Howell. The Rebels edged the Blue Devils, 74-85, on the strength of their fifth runner, who finished 16 places ahead of Shore’s.

Julie Ullmeyer led the Blue Devils with her second-place run. The former county champion clocked 20:05, trailing only Enderly.

Laura Embrey (20:49) and Martine McGrath (21:01) ran 11th and 12th, and Nicole Ullmeyer came in 19th (21:12).

RBC’s girls were fourth (126) led by the 10th place of Lauren Pfeifer (20:47).

The Ranney School’s Alexandra Salani ran individually and proved she is one of the best in the county by finishing sixth (20:26). She is a junior.

RBR’s Beth Mayer, who teamed up last spring with Amanda and Katy Trotter and Christina Nelson to set the national record in the distance medley and win the Penn Relays and Adidas National Scholastic championships, placed seventh (20:28).

Rumson-Fair Haven’s Samantha Marinko finished 20th (21:13) and led the Bulldogs to eighth place (199).

Tomorrow, the county’s best will go af­ter each other again, joined by the best from Ocean County, at the Shore Conference Championships.

On the boys side, Toms River North, the third-ranked team in the state and winner of its fifth straight Ocean title last Friday at Ocean County Park, will pro­vide the team competition for RBR and CBA, making the SC the state’s most competitive conference. Chris Pisano of Toms River North won the individual ti­tle at Ocean County Park.

Jackson’s Jennifer Clausen, who owns the fastest time at Holmdel Park this year (18:26), won the Ocean County title Friday with an Ocean County Park course record of 17:32. Toms River East won the team championship.

After tomorrow’s meet, the road to the Meet of Champions will begin with the NJSIAA state sectionals Nov. 8 at Holmdel Park.