JARRETT HONORED AS THE TOP RUNNER IN NEW JERSEY
Is sixth SBP athlete honored with prestigious Gatorade award

January 2008

Some special athletes have won the Gatorade Player of the Year Award over the past 23 years. The names have been a venerable who’s who in the world of sports – Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning, Alex Rodriguez and Emmitt Smith are just a few who have garnered the esteemed award.

Add Brandon Jarrett to that list.

Jarrett, whose coach, Marty Hannon, describes his star athlete as “the best distance runner in the history of St. Benedict’s,” was recently lauded as the Gatorade New Jersey Cross Country Runner of the Year.

“I really didn’t know much about the award,” admitted Jarrett. “But then I started to look at all those guys who have won it before and was like ‘Whoa!’ this is a pretty big deal. I’m honored.”

Jarrett was chosen as the inaugural New Jersey winner in cross-country. The Gatorade Player of the Year Award, which is now given to athletes in 12 sports, annually honors the top high school students for their athletic excellence as well as academic achievement and exceptional character.

Jarrett, who owns a 3.80 GPA and volunteers on behalf of the University Hospital in Newark as well as an assisted living facility in his hometown of Hillsborough, overcame nagging injuries throughout his senior campaign, which culminated with his second straight All-America finish.

Jarrett, who placed 12th in the Foot Locker National Championships as a junior, shredded 20 seconds off his time in the nationals this time around. In his return trip to San Diego’s Balboa Park on Dec. 8, he ran a blistering 15:16 over the 3.1 mile course and finished sixth with a time that would have won nationals a year earlier. His time is also the sixth fastest ever recorded on that course by a New Jersey runner.

“This year was so much tougher than last year,” explained Hannon of the battles Jarrett went though overcoming injuries. “I’m just so proud of the fact that he dealt with it and came through it without ever once getting down on himself.”

Jarrett is still undecided about his college aspirations, but has narrowed his choices to Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. In the meantime, he’s savoring his latest achievement.

“To be done with the cross-country season and still get an award is awesome,” said Jarrett, who’s preparing to embark on his indoor track season. “It still hasn’t sunk in what I’ve actually done. Maybe when the school year ends or when I’m in college, I’ll sit back and say ‘Wow!’ I can’t believe what I’ve really accomplished.”

Notes: Jarrett is the sixth athlete from St. Benedict’s to be honored as the state award winner by Gatorade. The others were soccer players George Dunn (1987), Pedro Lopes (1989), Claudio Reyna (1990) and Petter Villegas (1992 and ’93); along with basketball player J.R. Smith (2004). Claudio Reyna, now a member of the MLS Red Bulls and recently named to the St. Benedict’s Board of Trustees, was the National Player of the Year in 1990.

--By Ron Jandoli

JARRETT “AMAZING” IN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHPS

Dec. 8, 2007

Brandon Jarrett saved his best for last.

And he did it on the grandest stage.

Jarrett helped stamp his legacy as the best cross country runner in the history of St. Benedict’s by placing sixth Saturday in the Foot Locker National Championships.

The senior capped his season – and scholastic cross country career – with a near flawless effort by running a blistering 15:16 over the 3.1 mile course at Balboa Park in San Diego.

“Just amazing,” was the way St. Benedict’s coach Marty Hannon would described the showing by his star pupil in the California sun.

Hannon has been preaching to anyone who would listen this year that Jarrett was 15-to-20 seconds faster than he was a year ago when he placed 12th in the Nationals.

Well, the coach’s words could have never been more prophetic. Jarrett finished exactly 20 seconds faster than the time of 15:36 he registered last year in his first foray out West.

“This year was so much tougher than last year,” explained Hannon of the battles Jarrett went though overcoming nagging injuries. “I’m just so proud of the fact that he dealt with it and came through it without ever once getting down on himself.

“He always looked at this as his goal and today he was just fantastic.”

Jarrett executed the game plan he and his coaches drew up to perfection. Unlike the Northeast Regional when he sprinted to the lead in a staggering 4:34 over the first mile and faded somewhat down the stretch – if you can call eighth place fading – this time he sat back just behind the lead pack.

Jarrett hit the first mile at 4:39 and began picking off runners as the race came to a close instead of running out of steam as he did two weeks ago in the regional race at New York’s Van Cortlandt Park.

He even picked up the pace over the final 600 meters and ran past Donn Cabral of Connecticut. Cabral placed first in the Northeast Regional, but Jarrett led the charge from the region this time around.

“The race went very well for me today,” Jarrett said. “Everything went according to plan and allowed me to come out with a strong finish.”

Just how good was Jarrett’s showing?

His 15:16 was four seconds faster than the winning time posted by California’s Chad Hall in last year’s race. Michael Fout of Indiana won Saturday’s race in 14:56, while New Jersey’s NJSIAA Meet of Champions winner, Brian Leung of West Windsor Plainsboro South, placed 15th in 15:41.

“This experience has been one of the best I've ever had. This is something I'll remember for the rest of my life,” said Jarrett, who posted the fifth fastest time ever by a New Jerseyan in the Nationals.

“(I) just want to thank everyone who has been there for me. I would like to give a special thanks to my coach, my parents, and God. I don’t know where I would be without them.”

--By Ron Jandoli

THIS IS IT!!!
JARRETT READY FOR NATIONALS!!!

The moment has finally arrived.

It’s one that Brandon Jarrett has trained countless hours and ran innumerable miles for.

He’s even suffered a few setbacks along the way.

But when Jarrett toes the starting line Saturday for the Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships, he plans on not letting all the emotion and hype unnerve his concentration.

How? Call it a lesson well learned.

Jarrett will rely on his experience of a year ago in the Nationals and a poorly executed game-plan in the regionals two weeks ago to draw upon for the biggest race of his career at San Diego’s Balboa Park.

“I feel good and know what to expect,” Jarrett said. “I know I have to stay within myself and feed off the group and take the chance when it presents itself.”

Jarrett was just content with qualifying for the Nationals – the first runner from St. Benedict’s to ever appear in the National race – last year. He may have even surprised himself with a 12th place effort.

This year, however, the bar has been set much higher. No longer is he comfortable with just qualifying or placing 12th.

It’s this heightened expectation – whether it’s self-inflicted or not – that nearly cost him in the Northeast Regional Championships on Nov. 24. Jarrett went out in a blistering pace (4:34) over the first mile and had a commanding lead.

He came back to the field and was passed at the conclusion of the second mile. Jarrett managed to hold it together with sheer determination despite being out of steam down the stretch of the 3.1 mile race. He wound up eighth – the Top 10 moved on - and qualified for Nationals for the second straight year, thus becoming only the sixth runner in New Jersey history to earn back-to-back berths.

St. Benedict’s coach Marty Hannon chalked up Jarrett’s struggles in the regionals to being too hyped for the race. He also thinks that, and the fact that he ran in the same race a year ago, can only aide in the success for the seniors’ last scholastic cross country race.

“I definitely won’t be going out as fast as I did last time (regionals). I will try to stay more with the group,” said Jarrett. “I know the course and it’s not brand new to me so I know when and where I can push.

“Just knowing that I can run on that level gives me the confidence that I can do it again. And this time, do it even better.”

--By Ron Jandoli

JARRETT HEADED BACK TO NATIONALS

Nov. 24, 2007

Brandon Jarrett had been waiting for this moment all season.

It was to be the penultimate cross country race in the career of the St. Benedict’s star and one that would allow him to compete for the national championships for the second straight year.

Mission accomplished.

Sort of…

Jarrett, one of the pre-race favorites, was a little bit overanxious at the start of the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Championships on Saturday and nearly ran out of steam.

But the senior’s adrenaline rush and breakneck pace off the starting line gave him enough of a cushion to come across the finish in eighth at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

Jarrett’s Top 10 effort—his second straight eighth-place finish in the event—automatically qualified him for the Foot Locker Nationals Championships Dec. 8 in San Diego. He is only the sixth New Jersey runner to earn a berth in the nationals during back-to-back seasons.

“I’m so happy that I qualified again and was able to make it back to San Diego,” said Jarrett, who backed up his finish in the regionals last year with a 12th-place showing in San Diego.

Jarrett’s time of 15:31 was a little over one second slower than a year ago. But his starting 2:09 in the first half-mile and 4:34 over the initial mile looked as though he may challenge for the meet record.

That, however, was his undoing.

“I made a small mistake going out so fast,” said Jarrett, who had more than a 10-yard lead after the opening mile. “But if I tried to back off, I would have fallen further back in the end.”

Jarrett’s highly energized start may have come as a result—besides the magnitude of the race—of not having a competitive race under his belt since winning the New Jersey Catholic Track Conference Championships in record fashion three weeks earlier.

“I don’t know what it was,” said St. Benedict’s coach Marty Hannon, “adrenaline just took over and he paid the price.”

Jarrett saw his aspirations of winning begin to wane at the two-mile mark. That’s when eventual winner Donn Cabral of Connecticut overtook Jarrett in the back hills of the 3.1 mile course and never looked back in setting a meet record in 15:09.

Jarrett maintained his second place stance until the final half-mile when six runners surged ahead of him just after the severe downhill portion of the course and on to the final stretch.

“I was like, `this is not happening.’ I just tried to stay positive and give it all I had,’’ he said. “In the end, I was able to stay with it and make it.”

Jarrett also found himself behind Cabral at Van Cortlandt last year, but the St. Benedict’s runner got the upper hand at nationals.

“Brandon’s ready to go,” Hannon said. “His goal was to get back to nationals and that’s where he is.”

NOTES: Jarrett finished second among New Jersey competitors. Brian Leung of West Windsor Plainsboro South, fresh off his NJSIAA Meet of Champions title a week earlier, headed the Garden State contingent with a third-place overall showing of 15:25.

--By Ron Jandoli

JARRETT CONFIDENT FOR WEEKEND SHOWDOWN Top three NJ runners square off in Northeast Regional

Nov. 19, 2007

New Jersey bragging rights and definitive No. 1 cross country runner will be determined on the course Saturday in the Footlocker Northeast Regional Championships.

Hopefully?

St. Benedict’s Brandon Jarrett, Gill St. Bernard’s Doug Smith and West Windsor Plainsboro South’s Brain Leung – by far the top three runners New Jersey has to offer – will be on the same course going head-to-head for the first time this year.

Each of the talented runners will be among the best from the Northeast toeing the starting line at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

“Brian, Doug and I never have anyone pushing us,” said Jarrett. “This will be exciting having each of us in the same race along with plenty of other quality runners going at it from the start of the race.”

Although this clash of titans has all the hype, a couple of other instances with almost as much fanfare never panned out.

Jarrett and Smith were matched in a heated duel on Oct. 13 in the 35th Manhattan Invitational, also at Van Cortlandt Park. Jarrett, however, pulled up just short of a mile into the race with a groin injury.

Smith and Leung were all set to settle the score of who’s the top-ranked runner in New Jersey last Saturday in the 36th NJSIAA Meet of Champions in Holmdel. This time, it was Smith who failed to finish, dropping out just after the first mile due to illness.

Although Leung rightfully owns the billing in New Jersey right now, the real No. 1 will be determined, barring any unforeseen pitfalls, in Saturday’s 3.1 mile race.

“I’m ready and feeling good,” reported Jarrett, who hasn’t run competitively in over two weeks, but got his juices flowing by watching the Meet of Champions race. “I’ve been training hard the last couple of weeks and I’m really feeling great right now.”

Jarrett became the first St. Benedict’s runner to qualify for the Foot Locker Nationals when he placed eighth with a time of 15:29.9 in last year’s Northeast Regional. But, unlike last year, when Jarrett was content by qualifying for the nationals by virtue of a Top 10 finish, the senior is hungry to win it all this time around.

“It’s a lot different this year because I think I can win. Last year, I was just happy to make it,” said Jarrett, who placed 12th in last year’s Nationals in San Diego. “But it’s still not the end of the world if I don’t. The big picture is nationals. The goal (this weekend) is just to get there.”

--By Ron Jandoli

JARRETT READY FOR REGIONAL, NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

--By Ron Jandoli

CROSS COUNTRY TEAM PLACES THIRD

A BRONX FAIL

October 13, 2007

It was billed as the race of the year -- even one for the ages.

All the hype was there when the 35th Manhattan Invitational commenced Saturday afternoon in The Bronx.

St. Benedict’s Brandon Jarrett and Gill St. Bernard’s Doug Smith two of the top runners in the nation this year were toeing the starting line and about to embark on the 2.5-mile course at VanCortlandt Park to see who was going to grab Garden State bragging rights.

Not so fast.

Jarrett, who has been battling nagging injuries this entire cross-country season, came up lame just short of a mile into the race and never finished. He felt a twinge in his groin and decided to pull-up instead of risking further injury.

"I was wondering if I could or couldn’t do it. But I thought I would be fine," said Jarrett, who’s been nursing an injured groin since winning the Cougar Invitational two weeks ago in Colts Neck. "It starting hurting almost soon as the race started. I had to make a decision and I decided to stop before it really got worse."

Smith, ranked 13th in the nation this year seven spots behind the No. 6 ranking of Jarrett went on to an easy, uncontested win without the talented St. Benedict’s runner being a hindrance.

Jarrett said he should be fine by the time he and Smith meet in the Northeast Regional next month, again at VanCortlandt, but this time at 3.1 miles. If they each past that test, there will be another showdown between New Jersey’s best in December at the Foot Locker Nationals.

"I’m really disappointed at what happened," Jarrett said. "But I have to look at the main goal and that’s the nationals. I should be ready for that."

--By Ron Jandoli

--By Ron Jandoli