Special Contribution from Erik Geisinger, Assistant Coach at Ocean City
Sept. 14, 2007
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OC won the meet! What really helped us this meet were two kids (Stephan  Hoffman and Conner Marton) who never rain a race before decided to come out for the team and ran really well. They were third and fourth on the team.

The race started out interesting. A bunch of the Atlantic City runners all fell down and so did Brett Johnson. This was right at the gun since the boardwalk where we start was wet from raining ten minutes before the race started. The weird thing was that the official never called it back for another start. Johnson got up fast and it did not seem to hurt him that much, but it did make for an interesting race. Johnson and Ryan Birchmeier got a little excited in the beginning of the race and went through the first mile somewhere between 4:45- 4:50.  On this course that can hurt you since most of the second mile is on the beach.

Johnson and Birch had a nice lead going onto the beach but when they came off Hernberg was right with them.  On the last mile Hernberg and Johnson started to pull away from Birch. Johnson and Hernberg came onto the track together for the last 300 meters of the race. Johnson put on a strong move right when he got onto the track - which gave him the win. I do have to give credit to Hernberg. He looked really strong and he ran a smart race.  Before the race I thought Birch would have to beat Hernberg for OC to have a chance to win the race.

Mainland always has a good pack time that you have to worry about. This race our new guys really came through. A lot of little things helped OC get the win. Johnson winning on the track in a close finish. When OC's fifth guy (Ryan Mazzeo) out kicks Mainlands sixth guy (Kyle Evangelist).

Then the fact that two knew runners for OC stepped up and were number
three and four for the team. Having so many new runners on the team
you do not know how the first meet will always turn out. Today OC stepped up and ran a great race.

I do have to give credit to the Atlantic City and Vineland who put individuals in the top pack of the race. If Vineland and Atlantic City get some other guys to step up they could be dangerous teams.

Results of the top 25 runners:
Mainland vs. Ocean City vs. Vineland vs. Atlantic City

1. Brett Johnson: OC - 16:22
2. Matt Hernberg: M - 16:29
3. Ryan Birchmeier: OC - 16:43
4. Joe Ju: M- 16:47
5. Stephan Hoffman: OC-17:14
6. ConnerMarton: OC- 17:23
7. Danny O'Donnel: AC- 17:24
8. Matt Ardelean: AC- 17:32
9. Tom Conner: M- 17:35
10. Andrew Evertt: M- 17:38
11. Max Mittelman: M- 17:39
12. Dave Owens: V- 17:57
13. Ed Arnetz: AC- 17:58
14. Anthony Rivera: V- 18:01
15. Ryan Mazzeo: OC- 18.02
16. Kyle Evangelist: M- 18:03
17. Cody Dazell: AC- 18:14
18. Frank Chipolone: M- 18:15
19. Michael Hagan: OC- 18:28
20. Ian Bartling: AC- 18:34
21. Bill Moreland: OC- 18:46
22. John Burkart: V- 18:47
23. Nolan Pennock: M- 18:49
24. Jordan Weiner: AC- 19:04
25. Jeff Raab: OC- 19:20

Scoring:

Ocean City: 1, 3, 5, 6, 10 = 25
Mainland: 2, 4, 7, 8, 9 = 30
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Ocean City: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 = 17
Vineland: 5, 6, 10, 11, 12 = 44
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Ocean City: 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 = 18
Atlantic City: 5, 6, 7, 9, 11 = 38
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Mainland: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 = 21
Atlantic City: 3, 4, 8, 10, 12 = 37
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Mainland: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 = 15
Vineland: 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 = 46
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Atlantic City: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 = 20
Vineland: 3, 5, 8, 10, 11 = 37