ALL DECADE SPECIAL EDITION
North Rockland Cross Country Earns "Top
Rockland XC Program of 2000-2009"
Federation Championship Team of 2009 Earns
"Top Overall Rockland XC Team"
Reyes, Martinez, Jamieson and Hughes Make
Rockland XC All Decade Team Top Seven
All-Time Greats...Four of the Top Seven Rockland
County Greats of the 2000-2009 Rockland County All Decade Team Were Red Raiders
Rockland County, NY - Shortly after North
Rockland won the 2010 Rockland County Cross Country Championships, some of the
most knowledgeable historians of Rockland County Cross Country got together to
elect the Rockland County All-Decade Team from 2000-2009. North Rockland
ran away with the "Top Program of the Decade" and "Top Overall Team of the
Decade" (NRXC's 2009 Federation Championship Team) honors. In addition,
North Rockland were awarded four of the top seven spots (Miguel Reyes '03, John
Martinez '05, Carlos Jamieson '05, and Nick Hughes '09) on the All Decade Team.
ROCKLAND COUNTY XC ALL
DECADE AWARDS 2000-2009
A panel of coaches, officials and longtime observers of the Rockland cross
country scene chose seven male and seven female runners from the years
2000-2009 to form the dream team. Panelists used the following criteria to
guide their selections: performance in championship meets; head-to-head
records against top competitors; consistency and durability; and times on
major courses.
Honorees were also selected for boys and girls programs and teams of the
decade. The North Rockland boys, coached by Barry Baloga (2003-2009) and Gene
Dall (2000-2002), were tabbed as the boys program of the decade and the Red
Raiders 2009 squad, which captured the New York State Federation championship,
was lauded as the decade’s top boys team.
Here is a closer look at the elite squad:
ROCKLAND COUNTY CROSS COUNTRY ALL-DECADE TEAM
2000-2009
BOYS RUNNER OF THE DECADE
Brendan Fennell, Pearl River:
Fennell dominated the competition from 2000 to 2002, seizing three consecutive
Rockland County and Section 1 titles. He won New York State Intersectional
Class C crowns in 2000 and 2001 and placed third in 2002. At the New York
State Federation championship – the state’s all-class, winner-take-all finale
– he finished fourth, third and fifth, respectively. Fennell qualified twice
for the Foot Locker Nationals, including a victory at the 2002 Northeast
Regional in a Rockland record 15:32.7 for Van Cortlandt Park’s 5K course. He
notched 12 invitational wins over three seasons, including two at the
prestigious Manhattan Invitational. Fennell holds Rockland records for Van
Cortlandt’s 2.5-mile (12:30.2) and 5K (15:32.7) courses, and ranks second at
Bowdoin Park (15:56.4) and fourth at Bear Mountain (14:57.1).
BOYS INDIVIDUALS
(in alphabetical order)
Mike Hickey, Pearl River: Hickey
pocketed three successive titles at the Rockland County meet from 2006 to
2008, and also “three-peated” at the Section 1 Class B meet. His finest
championship outing was a third-place finish at the 2008 New York State
Intersectional Class B race. Hickey stands tied for third on the all-time
Rockland list at Van Cortlandt (12:36.0) and sixth at Bowdoin Park (16:20.0).
Nick Hughes, North Rockland:
Hughes put it all together in 2009, winning
the New York State Intersectional Class AA title, North Rockland’s first
individual state crown. He also swept the Rockland and Section 1 AA titles and
placed fourth at the Federation meet to lead the Raiders to the team
championship. As a junior he finished sixth in the state Class AA race. Hughes
ranks fourth all-time among Rocklanders at Bowdoin Park (16:05.4) and tied for
sixth at Van Cortlandt (12:41.6).
Carlos Jamieson, North Rockland:
The 2003 Rockland County champion as a
junior, Jamieson placed eighth at the New York State Class A meet and 11th
in the Federation meet. He won the 2004 Section 1 AA title, was runner-up to
teammate John Martinez in the County meet, and prevailed in his division at
the Manhattan Invitational in a fast 12:46.7 over Van Cortlandt’s 2.5-mile
course. He was County meet runner-up as a sophomore and ranks No. 5 on the
all-time Rockland list at Bowdoin Park (16:09.1).
John Martinez, North Rockland:
Martinez is Rockland’s only male All-America
harrier, finishing 14th at the 2004 Foot Locker Nationals after
qualifying with a seventh-place effort at the Northeast Regional. He was
runner-up at both the New York State Class AA and Federation meets, the
Rockland County champion and second-place finisher behind teammate Carlos
Jamieson at both the Section 1 AA meet and his division at the Manhattan
Invitational (12:47.1). As a junior, Martinez took ninth in the state meet and
12th at Federation. He ranks third all-time among Rockland runners
at Bowdoin Park (15:57.7) and on Van Cortlandt’s 5K course (15:42.8).
Miguel Reyes, North Rockland:
Reyes led North Rockland to a second-place
team finish in the 2002 New York State Intersectional Class A race with a 13th-place
performance, and followed that up with a 20th-place showing at
Federations. He was fifth at the County and fourth in Section 1, and won his
races at the Section 1 Coaches, Red Raider Run and Suffern Invitational.
Justin Romaniuk, Suffern:
Coming off a stellar 1999 season in which he
won the New York State Class A race, finished second at the Federation run and
swept Rockland and Section 1 Class A titles, Romaniuk encored in 2000 with
another big year. He racked up his third straight Section 1 A title, finished
second in the County meet to Brendan Fennell, took fifth in the state Class A
race and recorded a third-place showing at the Federation meet. Romaniuk then
placed third in the Foot Locker Northeast Regional (ahead of Fennell’s fifth) to
qualify for Foot Locker Nationals. He holds the Rockland record for Bowdoin Park
(15:55.9) and ranks third on Van Cortlandt’s 5K course (15:43.7).