CROSS COUNTRY

Morristown takes top three places, team title at Morris County Championships

Jane Havsy
@dailyrecordspts

MORRIS PLAINS — Morristown set multiple records en route to the Morris County team cross country title on Tuesday. Senior Evan Quinn, junior Eric Clay and senior Ben Edwards swept the top three places, as all seven Colonials runners earned personal bests.

Quinn, the individual champion, finished first in 15:53.41, not only a PR but the fastest time any Morris County runner has posted at the Central Park course this year — and the fastest anyone from Morristown has ever run at the course.  Quinn joked that the oversized trophy, which includes all the county team champions going back decades on its base, wasn't quite as heavy as his golf back, "but that's a little more special."

The Colonials' five-man average of 16:28.02, was two seconds faster than the school's previous record.

"I went out pretty smart," said Quinn, who was in an early pack with his two teammates, Morris Hills senior Jason Schweizer and Jenks Hehmeyer of Montville early on.

"I decided to go to the bottom of the hill. (Head coach Paul Buccino) had us go on a lot of hills, so I felt pretty confident going up that last hill."

Buccino had Morristown training on the hills of Fort Nonsense more than any other year. With 60 boys in the program, Buccino tried to keep them off the roads and in an area which could be tailored to different skill levels.

"I think they know every inch of Fort Nonsense, literally," he said. "We do repeat after repeat after repeat. I've done more distance races using that terrain."

Staff Writer Jane Havsy: 973-428-6682; jhavsy@gannettnj.com; www.dailyrecord.com/writerjane/

Top 20 Boys

1. Evan Quinn (Morristown) 15:53.41; 2. Eric Clay (Morristown) 16:04.2; 3. Ben Edwards (Morristown) 16:07.86; 4. Jack Stanley (Mendham) 16:13.01; 5. Jenks Hehmeyer (Montville) 16:13.21; 6. Joey DeFeo (Delbarton) 16:15.73; 7. Chris Singer (Kinnelon) 16:16.8; 8. Joshua Holihan (Randolph) 16:20.38; 9. Val Figueira (Mendham) 16:21.5; 10. Robert Hammond (Mount Olive) 16:25.53; 11. Jason Schweizer (Morris Hills) 16:26.65; 12. Pat Mortensen (Chatham) 16:28.03; 13. Alex Miller (Mount Olive) 16:33.82; 14. Colin Logsdon (Chatham) 16:35.47; 15. Liam Hynes (Chatham) 16:38.39; 16. Joseph Thoma (Whippany Park) 16:39.71; 17. Alexander Pai (Morris Hills) 16:42.4; 18. Mark Cappuccitti (Mountain Lakes) 16:43.35; 19. Jared Cooper (Mountain Lakes) 16:43.81; 20. Anthony Kearns (Delbarton) 16:47.17.