Heaton, Hepler Lead Roadrunner Cross Country to Team Triumphs in Jersey Blues Meet

Posted: Sep 22, 2022

The RCSJ Roadrunners cross country teams took a trip to Brookdale Community College for the Jersey Blues Invitational this weekend. The meet served as a chance for the teams to face the majority of their Region 19 competition. The day turned out to be perfect for the Roadrunner squads, as the weather, the course, and the competition ended up being just what we needed for this week.

The women's race was led from start to finish by RCSJ frosh Autumn Heaton, with a dominant showing from the rest of the Roadrunner flock behind her to secure an easy win for RCSJ. Roadrunners fly tougher together as was shown by the teamwork of Susana Serrano, Mackenzie Cochran, and Alyssa Connor who placed 5th, 6th, and 7th to earn medals. Wrapping up the scoring and sealing the win for the Roadrunners was Paige Wodarczyk with her 11th place finish.

The men's race came down to a tiebreaker, with the RCSJ team prevailing thanks to the amazing efforts of our 6th finisher, Mike Abate, crossing the line in 15th place with a minute improvement over last week! Leading the way for the Roadrunners was frosh Charlie Hepler with his 5th place finish. Just like in the women's race, the men relied on their hard to beat flock, with the trio of CJ Gilmore, John Schilling, and Joey Malec coming in 7th, 8th, and 9th. Rounding out the championship team were Derek Wyllie in 14th and Benjamin Kellum in 22nd.

Coach Ryan Hughes was thrilled with the team's efforts this week, stating, "It was great to see how we stand against our Region 19 competitors. I'm very proud of the efforts everyone put in today, we had almost everyone make big jumps in the times from the previous week, and we're looking to keep working hard on fine tuning our training and racing. It was also great to have so much family and spectator support, it feels like every course is our home course thanks to our great Roadrunner family!"

Next up for the Roadrunners is the TCNJ Invitational hosted by TCNJ on Friday 9/23 where the teams will move up in race distance for their first 8k/6k courses.