The boys cross country team is off to another great start.
With its three wins in a quad meet on Sept. 27, Hightstown improved to 7-1 on the season. Hightstown defeated Allentown (20-38), Notre Dame (27-30) and Ewing (19-44).
"This is kind of the same place we were last year," Hightstown Coach Tom McCafferty said. "We're 7-1 going into the weekend of the Shore Coaches Invitational."
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The surprising part of Hightstown's success is the Rams have been able to keep winning without Ashwin Narayan in the lineup.
"He figured to be our number two runner and he is still hurt," McCafferty said. "We're hoping to get him back for the championship races."
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Fortunately, not all of Hightstown's luck has been bad.
"Zander Mintz, a junior, is a soccer player that made the switch to cross country," McCafferty said. "He stepped into the number two role."
Luke Dermody (16:04) was the top finisher in the race on Sept. 27 for Hightstown. Mintz (17:39) was second, followed by Kapil Khatri (17:43), Jared Sokoloff (17:44), Steven Vitabile (17:47), Alex Glasser (17:54) and Darren Freedman (18:35).
"Right now we have a very good pack," McCafferty said. "It's nice to see them grouping up together in the races. As the season goes along, we just need to get the times down of the whole pack."
Hightstown will be back in action on Saturday when it takes part in the Shore Coaches Invitational, held at Homdel Park. Since this race is held on the course that also hosts the state championships, it's a big one.
"We want to see how we stack up with all of the other teams in the state," McCafferty said. "Last year we were third [in the division]."
