Fueled by a surge of momentum, the Bridgewater-Raritan High School boys’ cross-country team has powered through its season on a stirring note.
Having completed a tough layer of local and regional meets, the boys now eagerly approach the championship portion of their season.
Proving worthy of reaching this point in their season, the cross country team has shown exceptional depth, led by a moderately small but promising lineup of freshmen, junior varsity and varsity runners.
As a returning standout varsity athlete, junior Zachary Urbanowicz has proven to be one of the fastest cross country runners currently in the varsity lineup, breaking into the all-time cross country school records with a stellar 16:03 at the Roxbury Invitational, while earning multiple medals along the way.
Notably, seniors on the cross country team have created a positive and supportive environment, especially for underclassmen on the team.
Senior Anthony Ciminelli has led the team in practice and in competition, while senior Michael Braswell has offered valuable mentorship to runners new to the team, both devoutly building the team towards future success.
Core contributors to the varsity roster include returning juniors Alex Kurasinski, Arjun Prakash, and Paarth Sharma, all having dropped a minute or more from their personal bests since the previous season.
Newcome junior Zane Hoffman has made an immediate mark on the team in his first season, holding the team’s fourth-fastest varsity personal record.
Most impressive are freshman Mateo and Sebastian Vasquez, making varsity in their first year of high school, sharing amazing performances and securing the coveted sub-18 time within their first races.
The junior varsity lineup has shown promising results as well, improving closely alongside the varsity boys.
Thomas Geertsma, the fastest junior varsity runner, has shown immense improvement and future potential, pushing through for a top time at the Ridge JV/Freshman Meet at Pleasant Valley Park.
Pacing closely behind is sophomore Tharun Naguleswaran, who has also shown great improvement, having been a competitor in a few varsity races, showing strong potential for future varsity placement.
Sophomore Tharun Naguleswaran reflected on the performance of the team up to this point as well as his hopes for the upcoming meets.
“I’m really proud of how myself and the team have been working this season,” said Naguleswaran. “Our hard work has definitely been paying off in meets, and I’m excited to see how we perform in these last few races.”
Making up the list of sophomores in the junior varsity lineup are Aidan Plent, Nicholas Martinez and Phil Sushko, having shown great dedication while training. Significantly, Aidan Plent improved by nearly two minutes from his previous personal record, proving to be a true testament to the team’s work ethic.
Making up the final names of the roster, the freshmen lineup has shown remarkable promise this season for their years to come.
Freshmen Kavin Parthiban and Ryan Louie have both shown outstanding performance in meets, Kavin having earned a medal in his very first race at Roxbury Invitational and Ryan having secured a medal at the Skyland Conference Championships.
At the recent Somerset County Championships, freshmen Kavin Parthiban, Ryan Louie and Robert Bosoy placed in the top ten, all earning medals for their success.
Outside of competition, the team hosts frequent pasta parties, keeping morale high and building support before their meets.
Currently, the adept freshmen and junior varsity runners are training intently for the State Meet at Thompson Park, while the seasoned varsity lineup has its sights set on bringing home more medals and setting new records at the rapidly approaching NJSIAA Sectional meet on November 1 in Denville and Group meet at Holmdel Park.
