Cross-country is a sport that requires the athlete to be in peak physical condition, have the ability to perform under pressure, and have the endurance to run lengthy distances. Contrasting the similar sport of track and field, cross country is raced on natural courses instead of traditional tracks; meaning that there will be stubborn uphills, fast downhills, mud, puddles and more.
The annual New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) group cross-country state championships occurred on Saturday, November 9, at Holmdel Park.
The meet featured 12 runners from Bridgewater-Raritan High School who competed in the Group 4 state race.
Lukas Disko, a senior, landed himself a fourth-place finish with a time of 15:59.00. He raced alongside his other teammates Nikola D’Amico, Zachary Urbanowicz, Michael Braswell, Mukund Vegunta, and Anthony Ciminelli. An impressive feat with the fact that he was in the top five of over 150 participants running this fatiguing course.
Representing the girls’ cross-country team, Sofia Daniels placed 36th out of 146 girls with a time of 20:37 20. Sofia ran alongside her teammates Kaitlyn Chu, Carina Mastropasqua, Sophia Rizzari, Lana Guelich and Stacey Yang.
The Bridgewater-Raritan boys finished the ninth, and the girls place the 10th in the Group 4 final standings.
