PNC Bank Cranbury Branch Closing

I received a notice from PNC Bank that they are closing the branch on Main St. in Cranbury. This was done because of their acquisition of Yardville Bank. They are eliminating redundant branches and felt that the Yardville Bank branch on Rt. 130 would better serve their customers. What does this say about the vitality of downtown Cranbury?

Jenna Cody at the Junior Olympics

I thought I would take this opportunity to congratulate Cranbury's own Jenna Cody for her outstanding performance at USATF Junior Olympic Cross Country National Championship.

Jenna ran in the USATF Junior Olympic cross country championships for New Jersey on November 4 at Richard Stockton State College. She place fourth in a 4K race with a time of 17:09 in the Youth division (13 and 14 year olds).

She ran on 11/18 at e Region 2 USATF Junior Olympic Cross Country Championship at the Daniel Boone Homestead in Birdsboro, PA. Jenna was 3rd place in the Youth Girls Division with a time of 17:45. It was a tough day to run, it was a cold day with an on and off wintry mix, but Jenna ran strong, even finishing ahead of some of the girls that she was behind in the New Jersey race. Region 2 is comprised of the New Jersey, Mid-Atlantic, Niagara and Three Rivers USATF associations.

Jenna finished 111 out of a group of 265 girls in the National Championship. Her time was 16:46, almost 1 minute faster than her race in Pennsylvania. She was the second finisher from the MidAtlantic region. She finished in a large group of girls, 50 girls that finished ahead of her had times within 30 seconds of her time. The weather was bitterly cold, 19 degrees. Much of the course was covered in snow and ice. There were several hills that were quite slippery.

The event was held in Lawrence Kansas at the famous Rim Rock Farm cross country venue. Considered one of the premier cross country courses in the country, athletes will be offered the opportunity to compete on the same trails transversed by collegiate athletes during the Big Eight Cross Country Championships in 1983, 1991 and 1995 and also the 1998 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Rim Rock also is used for the Kansas high school state championships each year. Any runner will say that the course is quite unusual and challenging. In addition to having a covered bridge as part of the course, Rim Rock Farm also features specific hills, turns and other landmarks that are named after former Jayhawk runners, such as Jim Ryun, Wes Santee, and Billy Mills. The opening ceremony featured an inspiring welcoming speech from Billy Mills, the winner of the 10,000 Meter run at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, the only American ever to win the event. Billy Mills was featured in t he 1983 movie Running Brave.

Jenna is 13 years old and an 8th grader at Cranbury School. Under the guidance of Mr. Gilligan and Ms. Rogriguez, she had a great season for the Cross Country team. She helped the team have a successful season. Jenna broke the cross country record on the Cranbury course for girls this year.

Jenna's sister, Helene, took up cross country this year. She is a freshman at Princeton High and is on that team. Helene came in 4th place overall at the Mercer County cross country championships on October 26 in the female freshman race.

Babe Ruth Baseball Field

The Cranbury township committee recently approved spending almost $300,000 for the new Babe Ruth field. This expense was not for the entire job. We still do not know the total price tag. There were other components still necessary that will be purchased separately. At the committee meeting, the engineer did not have that estimate. There will also likely be expenses from the township engineer's firm. It would be nice if we knew the entire expense before going ahead with one component for a project which is very controversial in town.