#Six flags safari cracked#

Their stick count was 166 compared to the 199 of the boys from Indian Hills (N.J.) High School, who won the Varsity B section.Īside from the race winners, there were countless PBs and many athletes won their first medal, given to each race’s top 30: each one a bright, shiny award, complete with a giraffe, an elephant, and a pack of racers.Įvery runner wanted to talk about the course. Tappan Zee was the strongest team in the boys’ merged race. The hypothetical race had North Penn with 143 points to Pearl River’s 157. After merging the results of each of the girls’ races, North Penn proved to be the strongest team. The girls of North Penn (Pa.) High School won the Varsity A race. Her team easily won, 36–94 over Mount Saint Dominic in Caldwell, N.J. Kelly Hayes, a senior at Pearl River (N.Y.) High School, had the fastest time on the girls’ side, dropping an 18:12 in the Varsity D race. He also made sure to praise his teammates, who “work just as hard as I do.” He’s a tough dude.” Maine didn’t even know where he fell off because he was concentrating too hard on getting away. Said Maine: “I had to make several moves to get away from him. The soft-spoken senior praised his nearest competitor Luke Gavigan, a junior from Tappan Zee, who was second in 16:05. “I came here to strictly race and to get the win and the fastest time of the day.” His 15:38 victory of the Varsity C race was indeed the fastest time of the day, and he led his Highland team to a second place finish behind Tappan Zee (N.Y.) 46–54. “A lot of people came here to get on the roller coasters,” said Steve Maine from Highland Regional (N.J.) High School. Not only was the invite fun, it was fast. “Running and going to the park, it’s just great.” He and his teammates noted just how great the meet was: teams from as far away as Alabama were there. “It’s just a fun meet,” said Liam Hackett, a junior at John Jay High School in Cross River, N.Y. (The usually garishly dressed Brooks, somewhat subdued in his attire on this day with a tan cardigan and orange corduroy pants, noted the flamingo socks of one race winner.) Thousands of high schoolers roamed happily, their multi colored compression socks clashing, giddy from their races and the prospect of riding Kingda Ka. Pop music blared over the loudspeakers as Ian Brooks, the ever-entertaining race announcer, famous at New York City’s Armory, narrated each race and interviewed each winner with his British accent and charm.

The Safari Invitational had a festival-like feel. Almost on cue, a woosh of a roller coaster followed by a wave of screams echoed in the distance. Waiting for a group of runners to pass, Schlentz explained that they run the races essentially on top of one another, so the kids can get into the theme park as quickly as possible. Shlentz centered his camcorder on the tigers, but he knew they were too far away for a shot capturing both runners and cats. The big cats, two white, one orange, hid in the shade away from the course. Schlentz wanted video of the racers in front of the tiger cages. To the right, a pack of llamas grazed as Kingda Ka, the tallest roller coaster in the world, towered 456 feet into the sky behind them. To the left, high school runners raced in front of a fenced-in area where bison roam. He said this as he drove along the road of the Six Flags Wild Safari, where almost half of each race took place. With two finishing chutes, one for boys and one for girls, it was what race director and Colts Neck (N.J.) High coach Jim Schlentz called, “controlled chaos.” The runners kept racing: middle school races measuring in at 2400m, freshmen races going 2 miles, and varsity and junior varsity runners competing over 5K.

#Six flags safari cracked#

Every 10 to 20 minutes, a starting pistol cracked and off went another throng into that beautiful, how-the-heck-does-that-happen funnel that puts hundreds of runners into a line within 400 meters.

They ran 22 races at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational in Jackson, N.J., on Saturday.