LAKEWOOD – For anyone else, it would have been the race of a lifetime.
For the two best high school cross country runners in New Jersey, it was a tune-up.
Gavin Schmitt and Leah Starkey burned up the 3.1-mile course at Ocean County Park during Thursday’s Shore Conference Championships – a preview of things to come at November’s state and national meets.
Schmitt, a Christian Brothers Academy senior, won the boys race by 29 seconds with a time of 14:38 – just two seconds shy of the course record set by CBA great Joe Barrett in 2024.
Starkey, an Ocean Township junior, won the girls’ race by 34 seconds in 16:23, and that’s with a controlled first two miles before accelerating for a blistering split of 4:59 over the final mile.
Between the two of them, it was by far the fastest winning display in the history of the Shore Conference meet, which dates back to 1969.
'Going to do something special'
After overcoming a calf strain and some knee pain earlier this season, Schmitt came into this meet looking to let it rip. He split 4:37 at the mile and 9:35 at two miles. All told, he shaved 12 seconds off his winning time here last year.
“He was rolling, and it’s tough to do that by yourself,” CBA coach Sean McCafferty said.
Donovan Catholic senior Gavin Oliver placed second in 15:17.
“I showed myself today I can go after it,” Schmitt said.
Is he going after CBA’s resilient program record at Holmdel Park – a 15:20 by Mike Mazzaccaro in 2010?
“You never want to call a shot at CBA; it doesn’t end up going too well,” Schmitt said with a smile. “My shot is I’m going to do something special.”
His teammates held up their end of the bargain. Junior Max Kemp (third place, 15:22), junior Liam Schmitt (fifth, 15:26), senior Maguire Hartnett (seventh, 15:41) and sophomore Dominic Moscatello (ninth, 15:45) also scored for the Colts, who tallied 25 points and averaged 15:23. Southern finished second with 104 points.
CBA has won this meet 19 straight times dating back to 2007.
For Starkey, an epic shifting of gears
In the girls’ race, Starkey did not set out to improve on the 5K schoolgirl state record she set here in September – an otherworldly 16:04. She paced herself through a 5:28 first mile and a 5:31 second mile before flooring the pedal for a 4:59.
“That was the goal today,” she explained. “The idea behind that is to get me prepared for the bigger races when I have to shift gears quickly and close really hard.”
For some context, a 4:59 mile is considered a big-time race in the mile itself. That it came at the end of a 3.1-mile race is telling about Starkey’s fitness and ability to regulate her pace.
“She had her watch on and that helps, but you need the internal clock to hit the time on the watch,” Ocean Township coach Alex Lynch said. “She’s started developing this internal clock this year.”
On Tuesday, Starkey’s interval workout consisted of 2x800 at 5-minute mile pace and 4x400 at 4:40 mile pace, all with one minute of rest in between. Then she cranked out 8x200 with a 200 jog in between.
That was 48 hours before running 16:23.
“I’m really focusing on the postseason,” she said. “I’ve got a ways to go.”
Shore Regional senior Alexandra Klein placed second in 16:57, a time that would have won this race any other year prior to 2025.
Perfect season continues for Middletown South girls
The dream season continues for Middletown South’s girls, who fended off a stern challenge by Freehold Township to repeat as conference champs.
The Eagles now have won their race at the Monmouth County Championships, the Shore Coaches Invitational, and the Manhattan Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City.
This was the most impressive in a way, because they didn’t run particularly well by their standards. Junior Amelia Pattwell (fourth place, 17:32), sophomore Reese O’Reilly (11th, 18:41), junior Victoria Velardi (18th, 18:56), freshman Taylor Heyesey (23rd, 19:03) and junior Keira Fetter (29th, 19:16) did the scoring for the Eagles, who scored 74 points and averaged 18:42.
Freehold Township was right there as runner-up with 81 points and an 18:41 average.
“I’m definitely proud of everyone here today because I didn’t run my best, and I feel like it was amazing seeing Victoria and Reese and Taylor pushing forward,” Fetter said. “It felt good to know my teammates had my back.”
This marked the program’s fourth Shore Conference crown.
“It’s always ‘we over me’ – that’s our whole mentality,” Pattwell said. “The team is so much bigger than our individual selves because that’s what cross country is all about. It feels so good to come back and even on our worst day win something so big.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Cross Country: Schmitt, Starkey add to legend at Shore Conference meet