By Bill Alden

Competing in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions (MOC) last Saturday at Holmdel Park, the Princeton High boys’ cross country team took another step in solidifying itself as one of the elite programs in the state.

After placing first at the MOC in 2016, PHS finished a strong fourth in this year’s race, just seven points out of third as it had a score of 118 with Hopewell Valley coming in at 111 to make the top three.

“Obviously we will always talk about the fact that we won the MOC last year but now we have been on the podium two years in a row,” said PHS head coach Jim Smirk, reflecting on the competition which was won by Christian Brothers Academy.

“We are starting to build this idea that this is a team, this is a program where we can try to start doing this more often. We can be in the conversation year after year. It is not just that we had a couple of guys who were great, maybe we can be deliberate about this.”

PHS boasted a great guy at the front of the pack in senior and Penn-bound Will Hare, who placed fourth overall, covering the 5,000-meter course in a time of 15:55.00.

“I thought Will took a pretty big risk going for the win,” said Smirk. “I like the fact that he went for it and even when it didn’t work, he stayed in there and battled away. He ended up giving one spot to the runner from McNair [Fahd Nasser] but he is a great runner. I am proud of him for taking a shot at it. I thought he ran really well going sub-16, that was great.”

Junior Acasio Pinheiro ran really well, taking 14th overall in a time of 16:16.

“He built on his race plan from Groups and he did a nice solid job,” said Smirk.

“This race is a little different in the sense that the front end pack gets real tight in a hurry. He finished strong. He ran a good, solid time and placed well. I am happy with the fact that he was willing to build on what he did a week before and show a little consistency.”

Rounding out the top five for the Little Tigers, senior Alex Ackerman took 58th in 16:48.00 with junior Jackson McCarthy next in the same time and junior Tucker Zullo finishing 65th in 16:50.00.

“They ran great; it is the first time in school history that we have had five guys run 16:50 or better at Holmdel,” said Smirk, whose team will be looking for another great effort when it competes in the NXN Northeast Regional this Saturday at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y.

“They did a nice job; our conversation afterwards was how we do that better. We made some mistakes early and we battled hard in the middle and put ourselves in a good position but didn’t necessarily finish the way we wanted. Alex Ackerman was the veteran there but Jackson McCarthy and Tucker Zullo were in their first Meet of Champions. It is tough to go and perform well at this level when you haven’t been there before and I thought those guys handled themselves admirably. We grew Jackson and Tucker into being varsity level athletes for us.”

Smirk acknowledged that the graduation of his senior group which included Jackson Donahue (103rd at the MOC in 17:18.00) and Nichola Delaney (138th at the MOC in 17:51.00) in addition to Hare and Ackerman will leave a void on the varsity squad.

“It is amazing to watch these guys grow up; you see how they handle the pressure of competition, how they handle the responsibility of being a leader, and their self-responsibility of training well,” said Smirk.

“It is really impressive. They were raw when they came in and they worked really hard to become better athletes and better teammates. This team is important to them and this sport is important to them so they really put themselves out there.”