Is that a bird? Is that a plane? Both, sort of. It’s the Randolph Girls Cross Country jailbirds flying down the New Jersey trails. The jailbirds had a 5-0 record this season, an impressive improvement from their losing record last year.
This year the varsity top seven experienced some major changes. With a large number of graduates in 2024, five spots opened on varsity. Only three varsity athletes returned: juniors Keili Semler and Liliana Colasante and sophomore Jayden Young. The new recruits this year included junior Lilah Willis and freshmen Anjali George, Juliana Young and Samantha Cerulo. Despite the unpredictable nature of such a new group, Coach Kevin Higgins continually commended the girls’ ability to make each other better.
“There was a nice injection of talent, and the volume went up this year,” Higgins said. “There was good synergy between the girls who came from lacrosse, soccer and swim and freshmen who were new to the school.”
The Randolph girls were invited to numerous invitationals this year, including Wave Mania in Warwick, New York, Battle at Ocean County Park in Lakewood, New Jersey, and the Lou Fraulo Invite at Garret Mountain in Woodland Park, New Jersey. Varsity earned bronze medals at Wave Mania, the freshman placed first at Lakewood and the JV team won gold at Garret Mountain.
The toughest challenge the girls faced was a three-race batch meet at Greystone Park in Morristown, New Jersey. The team competed there three weeks in a row, going against Mendham, Chatham, Morris Hills, Mount Olive and Morristown.
These meets served as a reminder of the competitive nature of the Morris County division of Girls Cross Country, but Randolph rose to the occasion. Despite battling unseasonably warm weather and the team’s first encounter with the infamous “meadow” that brought many experienced runners to a halt, the Randolph girls still triumphed over Mendham and Chatham.
Through obstacles, the runners realized their potential and strove to beat accomplished teams. Morris Hills and Mount Olive matched up evenly to their previous scores. However, Randolph’s varsity team this year had a special quality: consistency. Willis led the pack alongside the Young sisters, followed by a group including George, Semler and Cerulo, with Colasante closing the line of runners. This close win was pivotal not only to the girls’ position in their bracketbut also for their confidence.
For the last batch meet, the girls managed to triumph over Morristown with a combined team effort. This gold medal didn’t represent just one win though; Randolph Girls Cross Country had officially been ranked first in their division.
“We all had fun and challenged ourselves throughout the races and pushed ourselves to do better as a team,” Semler said.
“Coach Higgins, Jenna and the team made us all feel welcome,” George added. “We’re so glad we chose to run.”
