The best boys cross country team Millburn has ever had?  That's what their players and coach Jeff Kaye say.  They certainly have the stats to back that claim up.

Saturday's showing at the New Jersey Group Finals at Holmdel Park was a convincing performance in itself: with a combined team time of 1:24:51 and an average course completion time of 16:58.20, the boys in blue finished third out of 20 teams in Group III.

Lots of teams had to overcome adversity—the field was just plain nasty.  A steady barrage of wind and rain tore what was already a very difficult course up until it was a muddy, slippery mess.  Several runners from several teams slipped and fell at the finish line, causing the officials to lay down hay for traction.

Millburn had another challenge sent its way in the weeks preceding though: a bad case of the flu took three runners out of practice and a foot injury hampered another.

"This is the best team Millburn has every had," Kaye said. "Unfortunately we just had some illnesses at the wrong time in the season.  Everybody else did what we expected and what we were hoping for."

It is tempting to think of how the boys would have finished had everyone been in peak form.  Considering the dizzying competition from top two schools West Windsor-Plainsboro North and West Morris Mendham, the slightest disadvantage could prove costly, and the differential between Plainsboro and Millburn was just under three minutes total.

"It really has been a successful season.  Our team this year is the best we've ever seen at our school.  Everyone's run better than we thought we could," runner Brian Robinson said.  "Last week we all unfortunately got hit with the flu bug, so that put us back.  Everyone's fought harder than we ever thought possible, though, and everyone was just coming out hard."

In addition to the sickness and injuries, course completion times across the board were significantly slower than usual—with such a wet, slippery, unpredictable course, the difference between putting all momentum into a turn and spraining an ankle could be a split-second.

"The times were slower because of the conditions," Robinson said, "but everyone still ran good races in terms of our positions.  We couldn't have asked for anything better."

Looking further out, Millburn plans to remain in contention for a Group III title next season.  It's a long while away, but the boys already have their sights set.

"The bulk of the team is coming back," Robinson reminds.  "Some underclassmen didn't get to run today."

You had better believe they will next time.