You don’t tug on Superman’s cape and you don’t needle the Christian Brothers Academy cross country team.W
hen the Colts were all but ignored during the preseason, they and coach Tom Heath took it personally, and that’s not good. The last thing anyone needs is to have an extra-motivated Colt team running after you.
For anyone who has forgotten what CBA is to boys cross country, the Colts reminded them with a huge triumph at the Bowdoin Classic in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., on Sept. 20.
The Colts bested a field that included New York State’s No. 1 team, Shenendehowa (the preseason No. 4 team in the country, according to the Harrier) and Morris Hills, ranked No. 2 in the Northeast Region and No. 11 nationally by the Harrier.
Led by their dynamic sophomores Mike Mazzaccaro and Dan Mykityshyn, the Colts beat Shenendehowa, 80-94, with Morris Hills third with 105. Morris Hills did have the individual winner in Sean Pohorence, who clocked 16:06.
Mazzaccaro was ninth overall touring the 5K Bowdoin Park course in 16:47.
Mykitshyn was next in 15th (17:03) and then followed the wave of CBA blue. Dan Bailey (17:05), Denis Smith (17:06) and Brendan Swan (17:15) were 16th, 17th and 23rd wrapping up the team title for the Colts. Only 28 seconds separated the Colts’ top five. It was the team effort expected of CBA.
“It was typical CBA,” said Heath. “Everyone is so close right now.”
Mark Lee (17:47) and Chris LaMorte (18:02) were CBA’s sixth and seventh runners.
CBA’s stunning victory didn’t catch Heath by surprise. He had an inkling of what was to come after the team’s pre-season time trial at Holmdel Park. This group broke the school TT record there. When you consider all the great teams from CBA (the Colts have won a record 15 Meet of Champions titles) that’s nothing to sneeze at, and a reason the Colts believed they were being overlooked this fall.
Add to that, there was the progress of last year’s freshman class that Heath had such praise for. It certainly didn’t take the likes of Mazzaccaro and Mykitshyn long to make their presence felt.
Then there is the matter of leadership, and Heath credited
seniors Smith and Swan with providing what has been missing the past two seasons. The Colts are back bunched together running as a team.
This victory sheds a whole new light on CBA’s season. It has put them back on the state and region stage again. The Colts will be contenders for the MOC and the Nike Cross Nationals Qualifier on Nov. 29, which is back at Bowdoin Park.
The next test for CBA will be the Shore Coaches Invitational at Holmdel Park, where they will test themselves against the best teams in the state. They will be looking at a regional ranking on Oct. 10 at the prestigious Manhattan Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y.
If anyone thought Heath and the Colts had lost a little bit off their fastball, they’ve been caught looking.