Heredia, Peralta rivalry is one for the ages by Darren Cooper of The Record

WOODLAND PARK – Kevin Heredia and Luis Peralta sat shoulder to shoulder on a pair of rocks about 30 yards past the finish line.

They had come this far together, so why not?

Peralta, the Passaic junior, edged Heredia, the Clifton senior, putting on a late burst down the stretch to win the Passaic County boys cross-country championship on a picturesque day at Garret Mountain Reservation on Friday.

The two have forged one of the best rivalries in North Jersey cross-country and they gave the crowd exactly what they wanted to see near the finish line, both runners giving everything they had. Friday the margin was just 2 seconds, but after the race, they were together.

“I knew it would be me or him and I don’t care if he beats me, because he works hard and deserves it,” said Peralta.

“I knew it would be me or him at the end,” agreed Heredia.

The two make for a smart pair, and a sweet antidote to some of the negativity in high school sports in 2017. This was just the latest chapter in their competition (the first was the league meet), the next one is in two weeks, state sectionals, and it will mean the most.

“I’m waiting for sectionals,” said Heredia, smiling. “That’s when we will see.”

Both runners said they weren’t particularly pleased with their times (16:38 for Peralta, 16:40 for Heredia). They went out together, Peralta on the right, Heredia on the left. They even admitted to talking a bit on the course.

MORE: Cross-country boys, girls rankings for Oct. 20

MORE: Cross country: Peralta holds off Heredia for Big North Liberty crown

As they came around the big turn toward the finish line, the two were matching strides, but in the homestretch, Peralta shifted into high gear and pulled away.

“I knew it would be the last kick,” said Peralta. “We were together the whole way. It was going to come down to the last few meters.”

“I saw my time,” said Heredia, “And I saw him zooming by.”

After the race, they accepted congratulations from other racers and then posed for a few pictures. Both looked like they could go run the course again. Heredia didn’t seem too upset with his silver medal. Peralta appeared pleased. They both complained about the weather being a bit warm.

Sports rivalries always make for great storylines and good competition. It’s hard to believe that Heredia and Peralta will ever forget one another, no matter where their next run takes them.

“I was just running smart,” said Peralta. “The same for Kevin.”

Passaic won its second consecutive team title over Clifton who was second. West Milford was third. One could see a youth movement in Passaic County boys cross-country; there were two freshmen and three sophomores in the top 10.

For Passaic Tech junior Nancy Habib, the best part about Friday was seeing the finish line. At last year’s county championship race, Habib suffered from a combination of heat exhaustion and experienced blurry vision before dropping out of the race.

“I didn’t finish because my vision like faded away,” said Habib, a Clifton resident. “I pretty much blacked out.”

A trip to the hospital didn’t reveal any significant issues. Habib chalked it up to perhaps not training as much over the summer, so her body wasn’t used to the heat.

On Saturday, she won by a comfortable 23 seconds over Clifton sophomore Andrea Dubbels. Samantha Biss of Lakeland was third.

“I’m kind of shocked,” said Habib who finished in 20:05, a personal best for the course. “Samantha was in front of me around the middle of the lake and I thought, ‘oh boy, she’ll win,’ and I saw her slow down and said, ‘well, this is my chance.’”

Clifton rolled to the team title on the girls side, its fifth since 2007. Lakeland was second and West Milford was third.