Westfield Boys Cross Country MOC 2004

After sliding into the Meet of Champions (MOC) by the slimmest of margins, the Westfield Boys Cross Country team
made a major statement by finishing an impressive eighth Saturday at Holmdel Park. With Jeffrey Perrella and Rob Broadbent providing the second best 1-2 punch of any team, the Blue Devils finally got the measure of season long nemesis Cranford defeating the Cougars for the first time in four tries.

Perrella rebounded from a disappointing ninth place finish at the Group IV meet last week to run his finest race of the season in finishing sixth, with a Holmdel best of 16:07. Some pre-race preparations on Friday night helped Perrella use a better strategy than a week ago.

“In past races at Holmdel, I've gotten out really slowly. I thought that I was saving energy for the latter parts of the races, but I was really just handicapping myself from the gun,” said Perrella.

”So the plan for this race was to take it out hard for the first mile so I wouldn't get boxed in. This
is what Mr. (Coach Jack) Martin told me to do, and the night before the race I was
reading the Fantasy MOC posts on dyestat.com and I saw a thread about how to run Holmdel, which reinforced what Mr. Martin, said. So I took all of this into consideration, got out fast and ran my race.”

After stabilizing his breathing and getting into a good groove, Perrella was ready to make his move in the final 800 meters.
“When we left the woods and I hit the top of the clearing there at the end, I just turned over and ran down the pack
in front of me ,” said Perrella.
“ All cylinders were firing; I was kicking as hard as I could for two main reasons. I didn't want to run a bad race in front of my family and I didn't want to let down the team again.”

While Perrella has been near the top of every race this fall it has been the emergence of Broadbent as one of the top number two runners in the state that has elevated Westfield. Broadbent dropped another eleven seconds off his one-week-old Holmdel best and has been setting one personal best after another since late October. On October 2 at the Shore coaches Invitational, Broadbent had run 17:43 on the same course.

“The beginning of the season I got off to a slow start ,” said Broadbent.
“After the Shore Coaches meet we had about two and one half weeks off from meets and I trained
extremely hard which gave me a huge drop in my times. Those practices consisted of a lot of speed work as well as hill work. Even after that I was improving each week. Mr. Martin worked us all very hard up until sectionals and a lot of my improvement was because of him.”

Perrella and Broadbent are both quick to point out the importance of the third through seventh Blue Devil runners in the teams’ success, which many long time observers rank as one of Martin’s finest coaching jobs.

Another great story has been the emergence of Mike Gorski, a top pole vaulter on the track team, who was talked into doing Cross Country last spring and ran 17:30 Saturday.
“He has played an integral roll on this team being the number three or four guy on
the team. Without his performances, there would be a huge gap in the
team and we wouldn't be half as successful as we are now ,” said Perrella.

Junior Kris Kagan finished ahead of Gorski, running 17:17 as third Blue Devil
and the trio of Ameer Rogers, Jay Hoban, and Raymond Chen, all juniors, finished within nine seconds of each other.
The four will combine with Perrella to form a formidable squad next year.

Kagan, Rogers, Hoban and Chen have each performed their jobs
consistently throughout the year and continued to do so into the MOC.
All three of them were the difference in beating out Ocean City, for
eighth place,” said Perrella. The Blue Devils needed a sixth runner tiebreaker to beat out Ocean City, which also scored 223 points.


While the team success was foremost on the runners’ minds their individual performances were
superb for a school with a long history of running success.

“It was my best race in the sense that it was my fastest and most
important for the team ,” said Perrella
“I'd say I executed pretty well. In retrospect, I think I could have run faster, but isn't that the way it
always is?”

“Before the season I definitely couldn't envision placing twenty-fifth at the MOC ,” added Broadbent.
“It wasn’t until last week at Group's when I felt I had a legitimate shot at placing high at MOC.


And leave it to Perrella to put it in perspective,
“ Although beating Cranford wasn't our main goal in going into the
MOC, getting a medal was, it sill felt good. It was like icing on a
cake that was a good season”

Westfield Boys Cross Country States 2004

Two seconds between five runners is an incredibly minute difference but that is what enabled the Westfield Boys Cross Country team to continue their season tomorrow at the Meet of Champions as they edged section rival Bridgewater-Raritan for the coveted final wild card spot. Led by junior Jeffrey Perrella and senior Rob Broadbent the Blue Devils averaged a season best 17:12.24 per runner to finish fifth in Group IV behind top ten state powers Old Bridge, Toms River North, Cherokee and Ridgewood.

“We ran well but I believe we have the potential for a faster team average. Rob (Broadbent) was huge. Michael Gorski continues to be a very consistent performer. Kagan ran well early but twisted his ankle,” said veteran coach Jack Martin.

Perrella overcame physical problems to finish ninth in 16:36.87 one of his slower times this fall.
“It just seemed like my legs were tired for the whole race. Then, to make matters worse, I cramped up in the middle of the second mile. My stomach was killing me, but I just tried to keep running because I knew that the only way the team would make it to the Meet Of Champions would be if we all did our jobs. And I wasn't about to let everyone down and give up,” said Perrella.

“He cramped up before the race. Also he did not get out, the race went out slow
and he was not there for the break. Hopefully he'll be ready next Saturday, “ said Martin.

Although the course was muddy and it was extremely windy, Perrella refused to make excuses.
“Conditions didn't affect me at all. Thus far in the season, I have been running shirtless in the cold so that my body would be able to face the kind of conditions we had on Saturday. I figured that if I
ran shirtless in really cold weather, that when we entered the latter part of the season, when it gets really cold, I wouldn't have to worry about the temperature affecting my performance ,” aid Perrella.

The star of the day was Broadbent, who has been setting one personal best after another and was only two places behind Perrella in an astonishing 16:40.93.

“Rob’s time and place speak for themselves ,” said Martin.
“I knew before the race that he was trying to run in the 16:30's, and knew that he was ready to do it,” said Perrella.

Gorski followed in 46th in 17:21.13 and Kagan 63rd in 17:37.58. Although the fifth and sixth Westfield runners Jay Hoban and Ameer Rodgers were three places apart, they were separated by .76 of a second meaning either time would have been good enough to edge Bridgewater. The difference between exhilaration and frustration was that close.

And though Perrella would have qualified for the Meet of champions as an individual(The top ten runners in each group make it), he is happier to have his whole team there.

“ My goal is to help the team win the state championships, and since the team qualified for the MOC, well lets just say that makes it easier. But it also motivates me to run faster because I'm not just
running for me, I'm running for my teammates too, and I have no intention of letting them down again”

Adding to the Blue Devils’ incentive is one last chance to beat their rivals, Cranford. The Blue Devils actually ran faster than the Group II champion Cougars.

We have wanted to beat them for a few years now. Hopefully in next week's head
to head we can turn the tide, “ said Martin.

“ They are a good team so it won't be easy.”

Westfield Boys Cross Country Sections 2004

The Westfield Boys Cross country ended one of the longest droughts in their storied history, winning the North Jersey Group IV Section II meet held Saturday at Warinanco Park. The Blue Devils last won in 1996 en-route to winning the Group IV championship and a number two ranking in the state. The latest victory gives the Blue Devils fifteen sectional crowns and seven for veteran coach Jack Martin.

Junior Jeffrey Perrella continued his outstanding season with a powerful triumph over Josh Davis of Phillipsburg, running 16:34 and finishing seventeen seconds ahead. Perrella became Westfield’s first individual sectional winner since Gordon Kaslusky in 1997. Kaslusky was a teammate of Westfield Assistant Coach Chris Tafelski on the 1996 team.

“I wasn't so much concerned with any one runner on the course. I was running against an unfamiliar
field, as usual, and I wasn't sure what anyone had to offer. So, I figured I would just get out there, run my race, and see if anyone
could stick with me, but it didn't happen like that at all.,” said Perrella.
“ Rob Broadbent got out fast and hammered the first two miles. It was tough staying with him, but it woke my legs up real quickly.”

It was another junior Ameer Rogers, who provided the difference in the tight seven-point victory over defending champion Bridgewater-Raritan, finishing seven places ahead of Jay Hoban, who has usually been the number five runner.

“That's the beauty of having a big team and a team that believes in itself,” said Martin.
Rogers’ effort helped break open a tight duel that was 25-27 Westfield after four runners. Robert Broadbent continued his late season surge by finishing fourth in 16:59 and Kris Kagan and Michael Gorski each finished one place behind the third and fourth Bridgewater runners. Raymond Chen (23rd) and Hoban (25th) both juniors, sandwiched the fifth and final scoring Bridgewater runner to give the team an impressive 17:14.20 average.

The result bodes well for Westfield’s’ following test, this past Wednesday’s Union county meet against Cranford and the Group IV championships on November 13. the group is loaded with top teams including Old Bridge, Hillsborough, Tom River North, Cherokee and Mainland among those that ran faster than Westfield Saturday.

“All courses are different so all you can do is compare the times of those you
ran against on the same course on the same day. Our goal throughout the season
is to make it to the meet of champions ,” said Martin.

Martin also thinks Perrella can step up his performance a notch and compete for the individual crown against such runners as Anthony Kelhower of Lenape and Christopher Pisano of Toms River North.

Tafelski has made a huge difference for Perrella.
“Mr. Tafelski is great. He keeps the guys working at practice, especially on real tough workouts where you are asking yourself if
they are worth finishing. His presence is important in keeping the team on task at all times. He offers guidance on and off the course,” said Perrella.

Perrella’s attitude of just worrying about his performance should help him in such a high quality field.
“I really don't know the strengths or weaknesses of opposing runners. I simply know my strengths and my weaknesses, and I know what I have to do so that I can use each to my advantage ,” said Perrella.
“I think I have a pretty potent kick and an ability to really explode that developed in my soccer days. Coach Martin told us that we
couldn't let anyone pass us on the track,” said Perrella

“Jeffrey is a winner and a great team member and leader ,” said Martin.
“The rest of our top seven are ready to turn it up a notch as well.”

Perrella was modest about his team leading performance.
“It feels great, but I wouldn't say I led Mr. Martin to his first title in eight years. Honestly, he has led the team to the title.
Words can't describe the kind of coaching and inspiration he gives to the team. Without his coaching, we wouldn't be half as good as we are.”

The Scotch Plains boys finished well back but sophomore Mike Miller finished ninth and will run in the state championship race.