The Old Bridge High School boys cross country team will be looking to make its mark on Saturday at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Holmdel Park.

Coach Rich Gebaurer's team is coming off successive secondplace finishes in the Central Jersey Group IV and overall Group IV meets, finishing behind Jackson and Cherokee, respectively. Last season the Knights edged Jackson for the Group IV crown, but finished sixth in the Meet of Champions.

Travis Mahoney paced Old Bridge in the Group IV meet, finishing sixth overall with a time of 16:16, a personal best on the hilly Holmdel Park course. Four other Old Bridge runners also set personal bests on the course over the past two weeks: Sophomore Anthony Branco (17:09), juniors Billy Crane (17:12) and Peter Jodogne (17:25), and freshman Shawn Burke (17:34). Billy Baker and Brandon Lyman round out the Knights' top seven.

"Our guys have been doing pretty well, but they're going to have to step it up in the MOC," Gebaurer said. "They need to tighten up the gaps between finishes and work to hold their positions.

The traditionally strong Knights had another solid year, finished 7-0 in dual meets to capture the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division championship for the second straight season. Along the way, Gebaurer's boys also won the GMC title, the Stuart Memorial and the

second annual Old Bridge Invitational.

They also finished third

in the Shore Coaches Invitational.

"Even though we've had

some personal bests over the

past few weeks, I'd like our

guys to be more aggressive this weekend," the coach said. "I want them to push hard and not settle for any spots. If they do that, everything will take care of itself."

The long-range weather forecast calls for a sunny day with temperatures in the 40s on Saturday, conditions that Gebaurer said would be fine.

"This is what we've been aiming for all year," he said. "Our guys really have a chance to show what they can do."