TEN MILER WILL DETERMINE GRAND PRIX WINNERS
Next Sunday's ten mile USATF-NJ championship will end the long distance running grand prix, both for the teams and the individuals. While some standings are certain, others will be determined by what happens at the race.
Jeanne Pare of Mendham moved herself into first place by winning the Great Swamp Devil 15K in November and scoring well in the Ashenfelter 8K on Thanksgiving morning. There is no one who can move up ahead of her.
The real drama will rest with Julie Corbin of Mendham, who is sitting in 13th place. Corbin is missing her third Category Three race. She is 695 points away from taking second place from Beth Moras of Ridgewood. To garner that many points Corbin would almost have to win the ten miler as second place would not likely garner that many points. If she does not, she will end in third place overall.
On the men's side, Ben Reynolds of Chatham, must run the ten miler in order to finish his grand prix. He doesn't have to win it, although he has shown that he can win the big ones, but only needs 427 points to move ahead of Ken Rolek of East Stroudsburg.
Some age groups will also be determined by the ten miler. John Sabatino of Cedar Knolls will take the lead in the M35 division with the ten miler. Eric Corbin of Mendham cannot move up but will retain third place.
In the M50 division, Charlie Slaughter of Parsippany has the lead but chasing him down is Dave Hoch of East Brunswick. Hoch will be able to drop a very low score from early last year and replace it with a much higher one at the ten miler. If he does, he can go ahead of Slaughter. Bill Trengove of Wharton will drop down to third.
TEAMS HAVE IT ON THE LINE
Even if the Raritan Valley Road Runners stayed home en-mass, they would still probably hang on to the lead in the Overall Club grand prix. They are 79 points ahead of second place Morris County Striders. So the real contests are within the team divisions.
A major factor for Raritan Valley producing as many points as they have is the lack of competition from running store sponsored teams. When Running Company and Fleet Feet racing teams enter, the non-sponsored clubs are usually running for second or third in the Open Divisions. In 2006 Fleet Feet took another bye, racing only twice. Running Company skipped two Men's division championships. They are now in third, while Raritan Valley holds first and Sneaker Factory has second.
In the women's division, Raritan Valley is in first, with the Morris County Striders in second and Sneaker Factory third, just two points behind the Striders. This one is too close to call. In the W40 division, the same trio are in the same close contest. Sneaker Factory is only one point ahead of the Striders with Raritan Valley unbeatable in first.
In the W60 division Morris County has a four point lead on the Raritan Valley women. Whichever team wins at the ten mile race will be the series winner.
The M60 division is probably the most interesting. The Clifton Road Runners are two points behind Raritan Valley. An unbreakable tie could ensue is Clifton were to win the ten miler and Raritan Valley takes second. Tie break rules count the most number of wins, but both teams would have the same number of wins.
It may not happen, though, and not because Raritan Valley wins. Most likely Raritan Valley will not even be in the top three. Their fastest sixty year olds are going to be competing at the national 10K cross country championship meet next weekend in San Francisco, where they are favored to win. That will leave Raritan Valley with a much weaker team back home in Jersey.
MERCER COUNTY PARK
If there is no snow, the ten miler will use the certified course at Mercer County Park that utilizes park roads and bicycle paths. It is a double loop of the park with only rolling terrain. Last year the organizers were forced to use only the park roads as ice on the bike path made the certified course unusable. More information is at www.usatfnj.org.
Originally published in the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey on Sunday, December 3, 2006
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2006
