DENVILLE - Morris Knolls High School seinor Joe Skarbek lowered his own school record time over Freedom Park's 3.1-mile course by 2.46 seconds when the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference completed it four-week dual meet series of racing in Randolph on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
    Skarbek finished with a personal best time of 16:46.86 to place sixth overall in the field of 97 runners.
     Knolls won but one of the five races in which it participated and finished the season with a 5-9 record and a sixth-place finish in the eight-team American Division of the NJAC. Randolph (13-1) and Morristown (12-2) finished 1-2 in the team standings.
     On Tuesday, Knolls beat Sparta (19-42) but lost to Delbarton (23-32), Morristown (21-40), Parsippany Hills (25-30) and Randolph (18-40).
 Junior Drew Reinhardt was the second Eagle to finish, placing 18th overall with a time of 17:31.13. Sophomore Ryan Mariani (32nd, 18:15.02), junior Neil Patel (26th, 18:27.00) and senior Jack Haeberle (39th, 18:30.52) rounded out the team scoring for Knolls.
     Juniors Victor Dziegielewski (44th, 18:57.13) and Bobby Cangelosi (47th, 19:16.10) ran 6-7 for the Eagles while senior Joe Beckmann, junior Hunter Liu, sophomore Vincent Sacco, sophomore Peter Czechowicz, junior Justin Gonzales, junior Matt Ortigas, senior Matt Traflet, sophomore Emilio Eriksen, senior Eric Lum, senior Nick Skarbek, sophomore Niko Kotoulas and sophomore Chrit Kalbfell also competed for Morris Knolls.

Skarbek sets MK record at Freedom Park

      DENVILLE - According to Bill Thalman, Morris Knolls senior Joe Skarbek is now the fastest Eagle to every fly the 3.1-mile course at Freedom Park in Randolph.
      Skarbek turned in a personal-record 16:49.32 at the Week 3 Northwest Jersey Athletic Association racing series on Tuesday, Sept. 29, to not only knock off 8.27 seconds of his previous 5K best but trim .33 of a second off the previous Morris Knolls best turned in by then-freshman Liam Tansey in 2006.
      "This is based on my records," explained Thalman, who provides each of his runners computer spreadsheet breakdowns of their times at the mile, two-mile, three-mile and finish for each race. "This is the best time for a Knolls runner since I've been keeping records."
      Skarbek is moving toward his goal of "... something in the mid 16s" in his final year of high school competition.
      Skarbek finished second overall in the race, trailing only race-winner Hamer Farag of Morristown, another senior who turned in a time of 1:36.02 to finish ahead of the field of 92 runners.
      Morris Knolls split the four races run Tuesday, beating Roxbury (25-31) and Hanover Park (24-31) and losing to sister-school Morris Hills (23-39) and Mendham (22-37).
     Junior Drew Reinhardt was the second Knolls runner to finish, placing 12th overall with a time of 17:50.71. Sophomore Ryan Mariani was 27th in 18:23.14; senior Jack Haeberle was 35th in 18:41.30; and junior Neil Patel was 37th in 18:43.46 to complete the team scoring for Knolls.
     Junior Spencer Severson and junior Victor Dziegielewski finished 6-7 for the Eagles.
     Also competing for Knolls were junior A.J. Wash, junior Bobby Cangelosi, senior Joe Beckmann, sophomore Peter Czechowicz, junior Matt Ortigas, senior Matt Traflet, junior Justin Gonzales, sophomore Vincent Sacco, senior Nick Skarbek, senior Eric Lum, sophomore Emilio Eriksen, senior Neil Chen, sophomore Chris Kalbfell and sophomore Ryan Johnson.
     Joe Skarbek wasn't the only Knolls runner to lower his personal best as his brother Nick lowered his PR by 21 seconds; Severson brought his down by 40 seconds; Dziegielewki improved by 20 seconds; Ortigas was 44 seconds better than his previous best; and Patel, who "... continues to improve week by week," according to Thalman,  knocked four seconds of his previous best time.

Skarbek 9th at Passaic Invite

    DENVILLE - Bill Thalman got a lot of things out of his Morris Knolls boy cross country team's effort in the Passaic County Coaches Invitational at Garret Mountain on Saturday, Sept. 26.
     He got a ninth-place individual finish from senior Joe Skarbek and an 11th-place finish for the team in the Group 4 varsity race, a race that had 20 teams in the field.
     Skarbek ran a 17:01.00, just missing his second sub-17:00 race as he competed against the field of 138 runners in the race.
     Thalman was also pleased with what he saw as his Eagles competed on the 3.1-mile course that the they will be running on in their sectional meet in the post season.
     "The varsity's average time was 18:14, only three seconds slower than our 2007 sectional team time," Thalman explained. "So we're on a good path to the post season.
      "And a lot of runners turned in new personal-best time for the course, too."
      Junior Drew Reinhardt was the second Eagle to cross the line, finishing 43rd in 17:54, 35 seconds faster than he ran the Garret Mountain course last year.
    Sophomore Ryan Mariani was next in 44th place, posting the same 17:54 time that was 53 seconds better than his previous Garret best.
    Junior Neil Patel was 90th in 19:01 (an improvement of 18 seconds); senior Jack Haeberle was 100th in 19:22 to round out the runners who scored for Knolls.
    Juniors A.J. Wash and Bobby Cangelosi were the 6-7 runners for Knolls. Wash was 106th in 19:36, an 83-second improvement in his Garret time; and junior Bobby Cangelosi was 107th in 19:37, an improvement of 81 seconds.
     The Eagles finished eighth in a field of 15 teams in the Group 4 novice race with senior Joe Beckmann the top Knolls runner with a time of 20:02 that put him 48th in a field of 182 runners.
     Junior Hunter Liu was 51st in 20:05; junior Vic Dziegielewski was 60th in 20:23; junior Justin Gonzalez ran a 20:48 to finish 75th; and senior Matt Traflet was 79th with a time of 20:59.00 to round out the Eagles top five runners.
    Also competing in the race for Knolls were sophomore Peter Czechowicz, sophomore Emilio Eriksen, junior Matt Ortigas, senior Eric Lum, senior Neil Chen, senior Nick Skarbek, sophomore Ryan Johnson and sophomore Chris Kalbfell.

Fast times at Morris Knolls High
     DENVILLE - Coach Bill Thalman and his Morris Knolls boys cross country team came back from the Week 2 Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) races at Freedom Park in Randolph with two dual meet losses.
     Yet Thalman had congratulations for all who competed ... the entire team!
     "We had many personal best times recorded all around," the Eagle head coach explained. "And the varsity team's average time was 17:57.71 ... we've never had such a low team time this early in the season."
      According to a computerized chart system Thalman uses to track his teams and runners, only one other Eagle team has recorded a better average time over Freedom Park's 5K course - the team that posted a 17.48.12 in Week 6 of the 2007 racing season.
       As a team, the Eagles lost to Mount Olive (25-33) and Vernon (24-35) and now stand at 2-4 for the young season.
       Individually, senior captain Joe Skarbek was the first Knolls runner to finish, placing second overall in the field of 59 with a time of 16:57.59.
      "This is the first time Joe has run less than 17 minutes," Thalman said. "We also had two runners in the 17s, two in the 18s and five in the 19s.
      "The hard work is paying off!"
       Skarbek's time was only one of the many PRs turned in by the Eagles and, according to Thalman's charting, is the fastest time turned in by an Eagle senior since the conference races have been held at Freedom Park
       Skarbek also knocked 11.41 seconds off his previous best 5K as he continues on his quest of lowering his best time to the mid 16s.
      Skarbec was followed by teammates Drew Reinhardt (17:35.91), Ryan Mariani (17:48.42), Jack Haeberle (18:38.79) and Neil Patel (18:47.83) in determining the duel meet scoring ... and all four runners also recorded personal bests.
      Reinhardt knocked 22:00 off his previous best 5K time; Mariani ran 23.41 seconds faster; Haeberle improved his PR by 24.60 seconds; and Patel lowered his PR by 25.27 seconds.
     Morris Knolls' 6-7 runners - Bobby Cangelosi and Joe Beckmann - also knocked a good chunk off their PRs, as Cangelosi (19:20.49) lowered his best by 33.91 and Beckmann (19:28.19) knocked his down by 62.71.
      Thalman packed his entire team in the varsity race as A.J. Wash, Victor Dziegielewski, Spenser Severson, Peter Czechowicz, Minghanbo 'Hunter' Liu, Vincent Sacco, Emilio Erickson, Justin Gonzales, Matt Traflet, Nick Skarbek, Eric Lum, Peter LaVallee, Chris Kalbfell, Neil Chen and J.P. Vanier also competed.
     "The guys are all very happy with their performances and are now looking forward to this Saturday's (Sept. 26) Invitational at Garret Mountain," Thalman said. "This is the location of our sectional race in November, so were looking down the road long term as well as relishing our recent performances."

Eagles split their first NJAC races

    DENVILLE - Senior Joe Skarbek finished second overall as the Morris Knolls High School cross-country team split its four dual meets in the first Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference competition held Tueday, Sept. 15, at Freedom Park in Randolph Township.
    Skarbek completed the 3.1-mile course in 17:10.15 to finish behind race-winner Hamer Farag of Morristown, who was timed in 17:08.71.
     In the team competition, Knolls beat Montville, 18-41, and Morristown, 25-30, and lost to West Morris, 25-30, and Pope John, 26-31.
      Knolls junior Drew Reinhardt and sophomore Ryan Mariani also finished in the top 10 as Reinhardt ran sixth in 17:57.91 and Mariani was seventh in 18:11.84.
      Senior Jack Haeberle was 25th in 19:03.40 and junior Neil Patel ran 27th in 19:22.42 to round out the scoring for Knolls. Juniors Spencer Severson (19:54.42) and Bobby Cangelosi (20:09.19) were the sixth and seventh Eagles to finish.
      Also competing for Knolls were junior A.J. Wash, junior Victor Dziegielewski, junior Minghanbo Hunter Liu, senior Joe Beckmann, soph Peter Czechowicz, soph Vincent Sacco, senior Mat Traflet, junior Justin Gonzalex, soph Emilio Eriksen, senior Eric Lum, senior Neil Chen, sohp Niko Kotoulas, senior Nick Skarbeck, soph Chris Kalbfell, soph Ryan Johnson and freshman Peter LaVallee.

Joe Skarbek 4th, MK 5th in opener

Senior leadership key for Eagles
... both on AND off the course

     DENVILLE - Bill Thalman is looking for his experienced senior runners to come through for him and his team this fall as he enters his sixth season as the head coach of the boys cross country program at Morris Knolls High School.
     He means on AND off the course, too.
     "We have a very large number of upperclassmen this year, but for many of them this is their first attempt at competing in cross country," Thalman explains. "Our experienced distance runners are going to have to demonstrate their leadership in order for the newcomers to be able to contribute to the team's success this year.
     "As a team, however, they are ALL very enthusiastic."
      Thalman is hoping that the team's enthusiasm and returning talent will help contribute to bettering last year's dual-meet mark of 4-5. His Eagles were seventh in the Iron Hills Conference meet and ninth at the Morris County Championships.
      Thalman sees senior captains Joe Skarbek and Jack Haeberle; juniors Drew Reinhardt, Neil Patel, Victor Dziegielewski and A.J. Wash; and sophomores Ryan Mariani and Niko Kotoulas as his front runners in the preseason.
      Thalman is also counting on seniors Nick Skarbek (the third team captain), Joe Beckmann, Neil Chen, Eric Lum and Matt Traflet as well as juniors Bobby Cangelosi, Justin Gonzales and Spencer Severson to also contribute to the varsity.
     Juniors Hunter Lui and Matt Ortigas and sophomores Peter Czechowicz, Emilio Eriksen, Ryan Johnson, Chris Kalbfell, Vinny Sacco and J.P. Vanier form a solid core for the junior varsity team and freshman Pete LaVallee, a new addition to the team, will also be running on the JV squad, according to Thalman.
     The Eagles will be competing in the American Division of the new Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) along with Randolph, Vernon, Roxbury, Morristown, West Morris, Mount Olive and Delbarton.
     Knolls has also entered the Livingston, NJCTC and Shore Invitationals and will compete in the NJAC, Morris County and state meets.
     The Eagles assistant coaches are Art Elias, a local Masters runner "... who brings many years of running experience to the team," and Knolls science teacher Ralph Hohmann, "... a very enthusiastic coach and runner," according to Thalman.
     NOTES: Thalman, who was an assistant for four years before becoming head coach, has a five-year record of 28-17 ... he coaches all three seasons, having spent the last nine years as head coach of the boys indoor track program as well as the spring program ... the Eagles lost three runners to graduation this past June - Nathan Berger (attending USC now), Matt Montana (at The College of New Jersey), and Kyle Plucinsky (at Ramapo) ... Knolls ran in the North 1, Group 3 section last season and is in the North 1, Group 4 section this fall.
 
Morris Knolls Fall Schedule:
       September 12, at Livingston Invitational, 9:30 a.m.; 15, x-Mount Olive and West Morris, 4:15 p.m.; 19, NJCTC Invitational at Warinanco Park, 9 a.m.; 22,  x-Vernon and Morristown, 4 p.m.; 26, Passaic Invitational at Garrett Mountain, 9 a.m.; 29, x-Roxbury, 4:30 p.m.
       October 3, Shore Invitational at Holmdel Park, 9 a.m.; 6, x-Randolph and Delbarton, 4 p.m.; 13, Rain Date if needed for conference races, 4 p.m.; 20, x-NJAC Meet, 3 p.m.; 21, x-NJAC rain date if needed; 24, Morris County Championships at Nabisco Park, 9 a.m.; 31, State Sectionals at Garrett Mountain, 9 a.m.;
     November 7, State Group Meets at Holmdel Park, 9 a.m.; 14. Meet of Champions at Holmdel Park.
     x- Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference races at Freedom Park in Randolph Township ... NJAC junior varsity races will be run at 4:15 p.m. on the day the varsity races are run. ...