Skylands Champion Gibbons: 'This Was Awesome'

The weather tried to be the story at the Skylands Conference Cross Country Championships held at Natirar Park Thursday afternoon. And although the rain made its mark during a race punctuated by downpours, Tyler Gibbons of Ridge and Dana Giordano of Bernards High School showed that their athletic talent will shine in any weather.

BOYS VARSITY

The boys race came across the open field with senior stars Tyler Gibbons (Ridge), Jon Harper (Phillipsburg) and Darrell Gooding (Franklin) leading the runners. As the race wound back around to the start area, Gibbons moved to the lead, never to look back. Much of the leader pack stayed with Gibbons into the woods and back down to the finish. Gibbons looked like he was just coming in from his warmups, with a wry smile as he crossed the finish line.  

The team results had Hillsborough, North Hunterdon and Ridge leading the field. Liam Mullett from The Pingry School in Bernards Township finished third as individual runners.

15:47

THEY SAID IT

"I just took it all out. The course is a little muddy (laugh) and the footing was soft. I was staying with Harper for the first 1.5 miles and he was doing great, keeping us all going. And then I just took off and wasn't holding back. I feel pretty good, I felt good the whole race. Maybe the cold weather is good for me.  I wasn't stopping.

"Ridge has never had a Skylands Champion and this was awesome." — Tyler Gibbons, who had also placed first in the previous week's

GIRLS VARSITY

As the girls race race across the field on its first leg, two figures already stood out, Marisa Ruskan of Bridgewater and Dana Giordano of Bernards High School in Bernardsville, who had been a strong runner the previous season. The two runners led the field through the entire race, Giordano pulling away to a 30-second lead. It was clearly going to be Dana Giordano's race.  

In the team standings, Voorhees placed first, Hillsborough second, and Ridge third.

Mimi Kornfield