Holmdel High School’s Marin Warner finishes up her sixth-place run at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions on Nov. 22 at Holmdel Park. The Group II state champion ran the 5K course in 18:36. SCOTT FRIEDMAN Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) harriers never run alone. They run for their teammates and those who ran before them. “We’re all about tradition,” the Colts’ Jonathan Dooling said.
The 2014 CBA team may not be the best in the program’s storied history, but it continued the Colts’ domination of New Jersey crosscountry by extending the program’s record of NJSIAA Meet of Champions (MOC) titles to 20. It was the team’s fifth straight, one short of its record for consecutive titles of six from 1995 to 2000.
CBA, which had to go to the sixth-runner tiebreaker to win the Non-Public A state title over Don Bosco Preparatory High School the previous week, had no such trouble on Nov. 22 winning the MOC by 31 points over surprise runner-up South Brunswick High School, 82- 113, at Holmdel Park.
Blaise Ferro, who was first across the line for the Colts, called the race typical of CBA — a “whole team effort.” It’s what separates the Colts from the rest.
Ferro finished 18th overall in 16:13, and he was followed by Nick Trigani in 28th (16:23), Sean Martinek in 30th (16:24), Brian Dengler in 35th (16:26) and Dooling in 44th (16:34). For team scoring, CBA runners were ninth, 15th, 16th, 19th and 23rd. Only 21 seconds separated CBA’s top five, and its sixth man, Jack Morris, was right behind Dooling in 45th (16:35). No other team can bundle its runners together like that.
The race didn’t unfold as expected. Aware of Don Bosco after the state meet, the Colts keyed in on them.
“We said we’ve got to with Bosco if they go, and they didn’t,” Ferro said.
Don Bosco ended up in eighth place (200).
In the bowl section of Holmdel’s course near the halfway point, Trigani remarked, “We found each other and ran as a pack. At 2 miles, it was time to go and pick off as many guys as we could.”
One by one, the Colts did just that to secure the MOC title.
Holmdel High School’s Aaron Barlev, the Monmouth County champion, led all the boys from the county at the MOC by taking 13th place (16:11).
Middletown High School North’s Michael Marano was 67th (16:48).
Mater Dei Prep had a pair of boys competing in the MOC, Tom Mongeau and John Spinelli. They finished fourth and eighth, respectively, in 17:39 and 17:47 at the Non-Public B state meet to punch their tickets to the MOC, where they ran 17:57 and 18:05 in 139th and 147th.
The best overall finish for an area harrier was turned in by Holmdel’s Marin Warner. The University of Pennsylvania-bound standout ran sixth in the girls championship race, clocking 18:36. It was an improvement for the Group II champion over last year’s race, where she finished eighth.
Red Bank Catholic (RBC) High School’s girls put 2013 behind them by extending their MOC record title count to nine by beating Hillsborough High School, 88-95.
Last year, the Caseys led at two-and-a-half miles, but Randolph High School’s runners finished strong and edged the favored Caseys by seven points.
This year, the role was reversed, as the Caseys put the hammer down in the backwoods, gaining enough positions to beat a Hillsborough team that had three runners home before RBC’s No. 2.
Erin Mills led RBC in 21st (19:12), followed by MaryKate McNamara in 32nd (19:29), Caitlin O’Hare in 34th (19:33), Gracie Eckstein in 37th (19:36) and Gabrielle Ferrigine in 60th (19:55). In team scoring, the Caseys were ninth, 15th, 16th, 17th and 31st.
This was the first MOC title for RBC since 1996.
St. John Vianney High School’s Nora Honrath finished 36th (19:36).
Next up for CBA is the Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional on Nov. 29 at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. CBA has won this region every year since 2010.
The top two teams at the Northeast Regional qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals on Dec. 6 at the Glendover Golf Course in Portland, Ore.
In 2011, CBA won the Nike Cross Nationals.
RBC’s girls are also headed to the Northeast Regional.