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Warwick trip bonding experience for Jackson

WARWICK TRIP BONDING EXPERIENCE FOR JACKSON

The boys and girls cross-country teams at Jackson Memorial High School and Jackson Liberty High School will head to New England for an in-season meet to help prime them for the division races and big meets at the end of the season. Unlike past seasons when Jackson Liberty headed to Vermont for the Woods Trail Run at Thetford Academy in the eastern town of Thetford, the teams will be even farther east at the Ocean State Invitational in Warwick, Rhode Island, Sept. 26. The teams will stay over in the Warwick area the night before and return the day of the meet. “It’s a culmination of things: A reward for training well during the summer and the 12 to 13 guys who have been at practice for them to compete and get team chemistry,” said Jackson Memorial boys coach Steve Theobald, who will take the Jaguars on a trip for the first time in his 10 years as head coach. “It’s a learning experience from what I saw when I was on the coaching staff at Rutgers, where the guys are going to have to know each other and bond when we’d travel to meets.” “Hopefully it will bring the team together, something for them to look forward to,” Jackson Memorial girls cross-country coach Glenda Calabro said. En route to Warwick, Jackson Liberty boys coach Todd Engle said his team will stop off for a team-building activity at a zipline attraction. It will be the fifth road trip for Jackson Liberty’s boys in their young history. “It sets the team bonding,” Engle said of the meet. “The kids get up for it and enjoy it. We wanted to do something with Jackson Memorial, and the Woods Trail Run was out because it falls on the same weekend as the Shore Coaches Meet [Oct. 3], which is run by Jackson Memorial coach Steve Theobald.” Jackson Liberty’s boys ran in the Woods Trail Run two years ago and look forward to the getaway after they open the season Sept. 12 at the Cherokee Challenge and run in the Ocean County Park Challenge, a class meet, Sept. 19. The Liberty Lions’ boys look to improve on their 3-5 record in Shore Conference B South last season when the division schedule begins Sept. 22. Point Pleasant Borough High School and Central Regional High School continue to be leading contenders, and Barnegat High School could be right behind. Jackson Memorial looks to be a stateranked team while competing in Shore Conference A South as it welcomes back senior Ryan Rafferty, who finished 29th in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Holmdel Park in 16:24 — nine seconds faster than his 19th-place finish in the group meet. “He’s in very, very good shape and is motivated to be one of the top runners in the state,” Theobald said. “He’s an even better miler, but this [season] will help him. It’s more mental that if he can handle the 5K [running in cross-country], running the mile will be a breeze.” Also looking to give strong support in the lineup are seniors Justin Carlton, whose sister, Olivia — a former Jackson Memorial runner — is running at Monmouth University, and Joe Giglio. But the key could be Dan Claudio, a junior who was injured the last two seasons and had a stress fracture last season but ran well during the outdoor track and field season in the spring. “He’s our ace in the hole,” Theobald said. “If he stays healthy, he’ll be the difference between us being a top-20 team to a top-10 team in the state.” Clayton Engle, son of Jackson Liberty’s coach, and Jeff Stewart were two of the leading freshmen in the Shore Conference last season, and Theobald expects them to be solid in the lineup. Sophomore Tyler Rasinski can transition into the top seven, according to Theobald, who is assisted by Kevin Schickling. Others who will be counted on in the long season are senior Andrew Sabine, in his fourth year in the program, and sophomores Dan Sharo and Matt Kittle. As for Jackson Liberty, Steve Linton heads the four graduated seniors who were among the Liberty Lions’ top five runners consistently through last season. But Engle said he likes the nucleus of runners, led by senior Chris Raimondi and junior Matt Hickman, who each cracked the lineup at times during the season. Josh Osowiecki, a senior, was expected to be in the lineup throughout last season but missed the entire fall recovering from an injury. Linton was 18th in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III meet at Holmdel Park in 17:26.1, and Hickman was 46th in 18:33.3. Raimondi followed at 73rd in 19:39.1. Senior Nick Iorio and sophomores Dan Duffy and Matt Vargas also are seriously bidding for the five lineup spots. Quinn Decker, a junior out for the first time with experience from distance running for Engle on Jackson Liberty’s outdoor track and field team, and freshman Dylan Stinner add quality depth that will be appreciated over the grinding haul of the 10- week season.

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