The Livingston High school girls’ cross country team competed in the Group 4 North 1 State Sectional race, held at Garrett Mountain in Woodland Park, on Saturday, November 2. There were 17 teams present on the Mountain, but there were a total of 80 teams competing across four venues in the first step of the State Meet of Champions Tournament. Only the top five teams and top 15 individual runners at Garrett Mountain would qualify for the state championship.
Sophia Paparsenos, Sarah Nidhan, Lila Maru, Sophie Schumacher, Kiera D’Souza, Avery Lerman, and Annie Ferrans lined up with almost 100 other athletes to take part in the varsity race at Garrett Mountain.
The race began with a group from Ridgewood, Ava Neretic of West Orange (WO), Leslie Munoz of Memorial, and Paparsenos leading the charge, holding the first eight spots through the mile. Close behind was another group of athletes including Schumacher and Nidhan, along with Corrine Stewart (Montclair) and Violet Kohlenstein (WO). A bit further back was Maru, working to take and hold every spot she could. D’Souza was once again the Lancer’s fifth, with Lerman and Ferrans also working hard toward the team goal.
Paparsenos had maintained her spot and finished in seventh place with a time of 20:44. Schumacher earned an individual auto-qualifier with a 13th place finish in 21:29. Nidhan was not far behind in 17th at 21:51. While Ridgewood grabbed seven of the top 18 spots, the LHS team looked in good shape to earn their admittance to the Group 4 Championship. With Maru (23:02; 28th), and D’Souza (23:41; 44th) completing the scoring for Livingston, the girls scored 98 points for third place and secured their trip to the championship at Holmdel on Saturday, November 9. Lerman (24:57; 64th) and Ferrans (25:43: 73rd) rounded out the team and finished well for Livingston High School, with six of the seven running faster times than they had at their prior meet on the mountain.
The LHS girls’cross country team clocked a 22:09 top five average and a 1-5 split of 2:57. This was LHS’ best average at Garrett Mountain since 2011 and its lowest point total at the sectional meet since 2009.
Morristown was fourth with 132 points while Hackensack and Bergen County Tech both scored 159, with Hackensack getting the fifth and final qualifying berth by the sixth runner tie breaker rule. Montclair grabbed seventh place with 181. Neretic (fourth), Stewart (ninth) and Kohlenstein (11th) all advanced individually.
While the team achieved its goal, the season is still not over. The girls’ will next compete in the Group 4 State Championships at Holmdel Park on Saturday, November 9, with their race beginning at 1 p.m.
