The Six Flags Wild Safari Inv enters year three. Huge storms the previous day made for a muddy course in 2011 as many runners finished the race with just one shoe. Julie Macedo (Charter School of Wilmington) took advantage of running early, before the course was too chewed up, and destroyed the previous course record run by Dana Giordano (Bernards) at 18:02. Macedo skipped the 17:00s completely and ran 16:53 which had everyone wondering had she cut the course (she didn’t).

So let’s gaze into the near future. This year’s race features teams from 8 states, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Connecticut and New Jersey. More than half the teams are from out-of-state. The fireworks may come from the boys side. The top two individuals may be Ben Malone (Pascack Valley) and Eric Holt (Carmel, NY). Malone ran 1:49 800/4:07 mile/9:08 2mile last year and is the top returnee for NJ with his 15:40 at Holmdel Park. Holt ran 4:11 mile/9:08 3200 last spring. He won the Warwick Valley Big Purple XC Wave Mania last weekend. Unfortunately, they are not in the same race. They both have a shot at the course record by Mike O’Dowd of host Colts Neck 15:37. Next up may be Connor Quinn (Hatboro Horshan) who ran 9:19/4:21 last spring. Others to watch for the top 7 and the prestigious All-Six Flags Wild Safari Inv team are Maro Pompilj (Collegiate, NY), last year’s frosh winner 4:17/9:28, Cavender Salvadori (Wilmington Friends, DE) 4:17/9:28, Riley Leder (Colts Neck) 4:23/9:31, Kyle Leonard (Washington) 4:23/9:39, Benoto Muniz (Carmel, NY) 9:38, Ryan DePinto (Syosset, NY) 9:39, Ben Sorensen (Mountain View, VA) 9:41.

The girls race favorites are probably Gianna Frontera (Newburgh, NY) who ran 10:38 for 3200 last spring and Kelly Hayes (Pearl River, NY) who ran 10:02 for 3000 (about 10:42 for 3000). There are a total of 10 girls with 3200 times (or 3000 equivalents) of 11:15 or under. Then you can add 3 others with personal bests of 5:01 and under. The 3200 runners are Gillian McIlroy (Summit) 10:58, Courtney Thompson (SJV) 11:00, Tara Connelly (SJV) 11:01, Kerry Dyke (Mt St Mary) 11:14. The 3000 runners (add 40 secs) are Henna Rustans (Syosset, NY) 10:21, Lauren Gruber (Syosset, NY) 10:31, Angelique Demeo (Tottenville, NY) and Corrine Florie (Mahopac) 10:33. Natalia Ocasio (Lenape) 4:56, Lindsay Kane (Washington) 5:00 and Amanda Corbosiero (Mt St Dominic) 5:01 have all run fast 1600s. Look out for Kalleigh Forrester (Newburgh, NY) who has been right with Frontera in their 1st two meets.

Fastest team average of the team is wide open. For the boys, keep an eye on Collegiate, NY (#10 in all classes NY, #1 Class C) and Syosset, NY (#11 Class A NY) .

For the girls, the field includes a group of top 15 teams from NJ including #3 Lenape, #9 Haddonfield, #10 Mt St Dominic and #13 Summit. From NY look out for Syosset (#7 Class A) and Pearl River (#13 Class C).

Varsity A

Boys: Eric Holt (Carmel, NY), Marco Pompilj (Collegiate, NY), Benoto Muniz (Carmel, NY), Kyle Leonard (Washington), Ryan Depinto (Syosset, NY), Nick Neville (South Brunswick), Simon Nwan (Syosset, NY); Teams: Collegiate, NY, Syosset, NY, Massapequa, NY, St John Baptist, NY, Centerville, OH

Girls: Gianna Frontera (Newburgh, NY), Henna Rustans (Syosset, NY), Lauren Gruber (Syosset, NY), Natalia Ocasio (Lenape), Megan Muye (McLean, VA), Lindsay Kane (Washington), Kalleigh Forrester (Newburgh, NY); Teams: Lenape, Syosset, NY

Varsity B

Boys: Ben Malone (Pascack Valley), Connor Quinn (Hatboro Horshan, PA), Riley Leder (Colts Neck), Ben Sorensen (Mountain View, VA) Teams: ????

Girls: Paige Cloonan (Fox Lane, NY), Angelique Demeo (Tottenville, NY), Corrine Florie (Mahopac, NY), Jen Salvatore (North Brunswick), Molly Applegate (Toms River South); Teams: ????

Varsity C

Boys: Kevin Trimmer (McKee, NY), Teams: McKee, NY, Indian Hills, St Mark’s, DE

Girls: Gillian McIlroy (Summit), Courtney Thompson (SJV), Tara Connelly (SJV); Teams: Summit, SJV (#17 NJ)

Varsity D

Boys: Devin Rocks (Bishop Ford, NY), John Flannery (Bronxville, NY). Teams: Bronxville, NY (#14 Class C), Hackley, NY (#17 Class C)

Girls: Kelly Hayes (Pearl River, NY), Kerry Dyke (Mt St Mary), Amanda Corbusier (Mt St Dominic), Shelly Cain (Haddonfield), Meghan Malloy (Haddonfield), Brittany Gibson (McNair); Teams: Haddonfield, Mt St Dominic

Varsity E

Boys: Jim Bernstein (Tri-Valley, NY), Hugh Kenny (Poly Prep); Teams: Regis, NY (#6 Class B)
Girls: Autumn Bender (Tri-Valley, NY), Courtney Keechi (Berne-Knox-Westerlo, NY); Teams: Tri-Valley, NY (#2 Class C), Berne-Knox-Westerlo, NY (#7 Class D)