The Union Catholic girls and Micah Lawson of Rahway pulled off stunning victories at Saturday’s NJSIAA Cross-Country Meet of Champions at Holmdel Park.
No one gave the UC girls much of a chance.
There just didn’t seem like there was any way that the Union Catholic girls could win the Meet of Champions title after its No. 1 runner was knocked out of the lineup with an injury. That’s just too much to overcome against the best teams in the state.
But that’s not the way No. 2 ranked Union Catholic was thinking.
Instead, UC was fueled by its sudden underdog role and was determined to prove everyone wrong.
And that’s exactly what happened as the Vikings scored one of the more improbable victories in the 50-year history of the NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Holmdel Park on Saturday when the Vikings pulled out a thrilling 79-88 upset victory over heavily favored and No. 1 ranked Haddonfield. Kent Place finished eighth, and Westfield placed 13th.
This is the first M of C girls title for Union Catholic, and the first girls title ever for a team from Union County.
In the boys race, Lawson, a senior, ran down five runners over the final half mile to finish first in 15:33 to become the first champion ever from Rahway, and Union Catholic finished second to CBA, Westfield was fourth, and Summit placed 10th.
AGAINST ALL ODDS
When Union Catholic star junior Peyton Hollis had to drop out of the Non-Public A race last week with a season-ending leg injury, the odds were stacked against UC and the scales were tipped in Haddonfield’s favor heading into this highly anticipated showdown.
All the times, the average, and the team merges from the Group Championships favored Haddonfield. At the Group meet, Haddonfield averaged 19:36 and had a 1-5 spread of 19 seconds on its way to the Group 2 title. Union Catholic averaged 20:09, and had a spread of 1:45 when it won the Non-Public A Championship. Haddonfield finished on top in the team merge, 93.5-246 over UC.
But one thing that can’t be measured or calculated is resiliency, intestinal fortitude, heart, grit, and motivation. All of those things mixed together ignited Union Catholic to its heart-pounding nine-point victory.
Union Catholic received great races from the 1-2 punch of senior Kaleigh Gunsiorowski and junior Courtney Kaiser, a career best race and clutch performance from surging junior Leilani Gibson, and strong runs from talented freshmen Emmy O’Hearn, and Ella Solorzano.
Gunsiorowski, fourth in 18:57, and Kaiser, 14th in 19:25, both finished ahead of Haddonfield’s No. 1 runner. Gibson, a huge key to the victory, dropped a massive Holmdel PR bomba of 19:45 to place 24th, one spot ahead of Haddonfield’s No. 3 runner. O’Hearn finished 52nd in 20:18, also one place in front of Haddonfield’s No. 4 runner, and Solarzano was 78th in 20:36, just two places behind Haddonfield’s No. 5.
Union Catholic’s went 4-9-12-22-32 in the team scoring and averaged 19:48. Haddonfield, which wasn’t able to keep its usual tight pack connected like it did at the Sectionals and Group Championships, went 10-11-13-23-31 and averaged 19:56. Haddonfield’s 1-5 split was 1:05.
With its victory coupled with the Union Catholic boys winning its first M of C title last year, UC became just the third school to ever win both a boys and girls M of C title. Bernards and North Hunterdon are the other two. Bernards swept the boys and girls titles in 1982, and the boys also won in 1981 and 1985. North Hunterdon swept the titles in 1983, and has captured a state-record tying nine girls titles.
UC Coach Mike McCabe knew winning without Hollis was a long shot, but he never felt they had no shot.
McCabe praised how his team rose to the challenge in the face of adversity.
“Last week was a tough week of racing for our girls,” said McCabe. “I am extremely proud of how they bounced back. Their response to last week and resiliency as a team is what stands out the most.”
Gunsiorowski said that being the underdog took a lot of pressure off the team.
“We knew that since we were now the underdogs we could go out and have fun, and run without any pressure ” said Gunsiorowski. “We all ran our hardest and believed in each other.”
Hollis, who was undefeated in her first season of XC before the injury, wasn’t surprised that her teammates proved everyone wrong.
“I knew they could still do it, and I couldn’t be happier,” said Hollis, who is the ultimate team first athlete. “It’s bittersweet because I obviously wish I could have been out there running with my team, but I knew if they ran with their hearts they could win. All the girls on the team have worked so hard for this for so long, and I’m so proud of them for the way they all ran for each other to win this.”
A FINISH FOR THE AGES
Lawson, who has shown a lot of resiliency by overcoming multiple setbacks this fall, never stopped believing in himself all season.
He didn’t stop believing in himself when he was sidelined by a groin injury in September. He didn’t stop believing in himself when he was hit by two different bouts of illness, including right before the Union County Championships when he ran sick and placed seventh. So there was no way he was going to stop believing in himself when he was stuck at the back of the lead back halfway through the biggest race of his life on the biggest stage, and trailing by five seconds with a half mile to go!
Lawson, sitting in 11th place at the mile mark after hitting it in 5:15, could have easily panicked, but instead he stayed patient, dug down deep, and then pushed himself harder than he ever has before in the back woods to rally for the breathtaking win.
Keeping himself within striking distance as he moved through the bowl, Lawson started to crank it up after he came out of the bowl, and found himself in fifth place after a 5:10 second mile.
But Lawson was still well behind the leader, Patrick Ditmars of Cherokee, who made a huge move in the bowl and kept pushing the pace as he opened a five second lead at the two-mile mark. It looked like Ditmars might steal the race, but then Collin Boler of Delbarton, who was leading a big chase pack, overtook Ditmars and made a big push going toward the woods.
That’s when Lawson, who was five seconds behind and in sixth place when he turned into the woods, went to work and poured it on in the back woods, blasting past all five runners ahead of him, including Boler on the short rise just before coming out onto the final straightaway.
Once he got the lead, Lawson wasn’t going to give it up as he kept the pedal to the medal and slammed the door on his remarkable come from behind victory by storming down the final straight as he put the finishing touches on a blazing 5:08 over the final 1.1 as he stopped the clock at 15:33!
There have been a lot of great comeback victories over the years at the M of C, but I can’t ever remember someone taking down five runners that deep into the woods to get the win! What a remarkable finish by Lawson!!!
Lawson, one of eight runners who broke 16 minutes on a day that saw the temps hit 70 degrees, won by six seconds over Ditmars, who ran a great race to finish second in a Cherokee course record 15:39, 20 seconds faster than he ran in the Group 4 race last week.
Lawson, the first Rahway runner (boy or girl) to ever win a M of C XC title and just the second ever from Union County, was mobbed by family, friends, and teammates after he crossed the line.
Lawson, still undecided about his college plans, said he didn’t let the groin injury or the illnesses stop him from keeping his eye on winning NJ’s biggest prize.
“I always felt that if I kept working hard this could happen,” said Lawson. “My coach (Leon Bunion) has been telling me all season, “why not you.” And I never stopped believing that.”
Lawson, who gave up basketball last winter to run indoors for the first time, said the race didn’t go the way he anticipated, so he had made some adjustments.
“I never expected to be in the back of the lead pack at the mile, so I had to work my way up,” said Lawson, who joined the late Cliff Sheehan of Westfield (1980) as the only runners (boy or girl) from Union County to win. And after Boler made a strong move to open that gap at two miles, I told myself I had to make a big move right there if I wanted to win this race,” said Lawson. And was finally able to get past him in the woods, and then I finished with everything I had.”
This race, which was missing Group 4 champ Lucas Reguinho of Elizabeth (rolled an ankle while training this past week) had no clear favorite coming in. But no one was picking Lawson, who embraced the underdog role.
“Micah likes being underestimated, it fuels his fire,” said Bunion. “I think we were the only ones that believed he could win today, but again our motto is ”why not you.” There are some very talented young men in NJ, and there were quite a few guys who could have won today, but we knew if he just kept himself in the race he had just as good of a chance as anyone else. Micah is obviously very gifted, but he works very hard and has fully bought into the methods of my madness, and it’s paying dividends.”
Lawson wasn’t on anyone’s radar coming into this season after placing 52nd in this race a year ag, but he never stopped believing and his dream came true.
