The Ridge Red Devils cross country team participated in the Group IV championship meet this past Saturday, qualifying several runners—including the girls’ team and star runner Tyler Gibbons—for the Meet of Champions this Saturday in Holmdel.

The girls' team finished fifth at the group meet, capturing the last wild card berth into the Meet of Champions. It was a great accomplishment for the Red Devils’ girls, despite what their coach said was not their best day.

“We just didn’t show up that day, unfortunately,” said Red Devils’ head cross country coach Tim Mooney. “It was probably our weakest race of the year so far. It was disappointing; fortunately, they still move on.” The previous week, the girls had won a sectional title.

Mooney said he is confident that his girls’ team can come back with a good showing at the Meet of Champions.

“Our girls are capable of competing with anybody,” said Mooney. “We showed that one week, and we didn’t show that the other week. We just have to turn that around very quickly.”

Although the boys’ team missed qualifying by two points for the Meet of Champions, Gibbons was able to qualify as an individual. Gibbons finished fourth among the boys with a time of 16:10.04 at the Group IV meet, just ten seconds off of his personal best.

The performance was redemption for Gibbons, who was disappointed with his fourth place finish during the North II, Group IV championship meet on Nov. 5. Gibbons finished that meet with a time of 16:18.90.

“I was coming off of a tough week from sections, and I was really looking forward to stepping back up and trying to get in the mix again,” said Gibbons. “I was really happy with my performance.”

Coach Mooney has been happy not only with Gibbons’ performance over the course of his senior season, but with his development as a runner.

“It’s been steady improvement for him from sophomore to junior year, but his senior year has been more of a breakout kind of year for him,” said Mooney. “I don’t think people were expecting him to be as high up as he is on rankings for individuals in the state. As that goes by and continues throughout the season, the expectations get higher.”

Heading into the Meet of Champions, Gibbons has plenty of momentum going into what will be his final state cross country meet before heading to the Nike Regionals. Gibbons is hoping to finish somewhere in the top five this weekend, but acknowledges that plenty of talented runners await him this weekend.

“A couple of these guys I haven’t raced yet during the season, head-to-head,” Gibbons this week. “I’m making sure I’m doing all the right things, and I had a good workout (Tuesday). I’m just trying to feel good and race well.”