Runner of the year: Whenever the No. 1 runner on a very strong team is graduated, someone has to step up to fill those shoes and keep the team running at a high level.
Brandon Skeie did exactly that for Southern Regional this fall.
Skeie, a senior, dropped his times on every course this year as he moved to the front of Southern’s pack and helped fill the void left by the graduation of Matt Valeriani, who sparked Southern to a sixth-place finish at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions last year.
Although Southern fell just short in its quest to get back to the M of C, Skeie led the team to its first South Jersey, Group 4 title and won the Ocean County Championship individual title while leading Southern to its second straight title.
Skeie, who came into the season with a personal best of 16:17 at Ocean County Park, won the county title in 15:35 at that course. He dropped that to 15:32 when he placed seventh at the Shore Conference Championships to help Southern place second.
Skeie also saw his personal best at Holmdel Park go from 16:57 last year to 16:28 when he was 18th at the Group 4 meet to lead Southern to sixth place. He also improved from 16:31 to 16:05 at Delsea when he was seventh at the sectional meet.
"The biggest highlight of my season has to be winning the county race," Skeie said. "I think the nicest thing about it was how I surprised everyone and how I went beyond expectations and showed people how good I was. And I’m only the second guy from Southern to ever win the race, so that’s a great feeling, also."
Skeie, who said he was pushed by teammates Eric Dragonetti and Jarred Iacovelli to become a catalyst up front, said getting stronger mentally was a main reason for his improvement.
"I knew that I would be one of the better guys this year, but that also meant that I wasn’t going to get the top spot easily," he said. "I knew it was anyone’s game and halfway through the season it still was. At practice, I tried to work hard and get better each day.
"I’ve had days where running is my worst enemy. I think this year the biggest thing that I had to overcome in my head was convincing myself that I am a runner and a good one and I can’t give it up because I’ll have nothing. When you’re successful it’s the greatest feeling because you know how hard it is, and you know how more than half the people you know could never do what you do every day."
Team of the year: Southern Regional, under coach Scott Baker, won the NJSIAA South Jersey, Group 4 title for the first time, captured the Ocean County Championships title, finished second to Christian Brothers Academy, No. 1 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, at the Shore Conference Championships, finished sixth in Group 4 and ended up ranked No. 10 in the state.
Coach of the year: Chris Miller led Lacey to its greatest season, capped by its first appearance at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions.
Lacey finished 10th at the M of C and finished the season No. 14 in The Star-Ledger Top 20.
Lacey qualified for the M of C by placing third in the Group 3 state meet and finished second in South Jersey, Group 3, second at the Ocean County Championships and fourth at the Shore Conference Championships.
Chris Billalba, Toms River North
Anthony Colasurdo, Lacey
Eric Dragonetti, Southern Reg.
Andrew Goelz, Brick Memorial
Jarred Iacovelli, Southern Reg.
Noah Jacobs, Lacey
Matt Nelson, Barnegat
Brandon Skeie, Southern Reg.
Greg Caldwell, Jackson
Keith Charette, Lacey
Evan Cornell, Toms River East
Brandon Eldershaw, Jackson
Joe Mandara, Barnegat
Chris Marco, Toms River South
Ray Newman, Toms River South
Anthony Romano, Toms River North
Dominic Cifelli,Toms River North
Connor Delaney, Msgr. Donovan
Scott Davern, Manchester Twp.
Mike Evans, Southern Reg.
Nick Mardirosian, Southern Reg.
Joe McMahon, Lacey
Mike Scala, Brick Memorial
Ed Stone, Msgr. Donovan