Boys, Girls Launch Season With Wins Over Hopatcong

hopatcong, nJ (Sept. 11, 2007) � The 2007 Cross-Country teams began their seasons just as they left off the 2006 season with double wins.  The girls defeated Hopatcong by a score of 15-48 while boys earned a 19-42 victory.

The boys kicked the season off with strong victory over the always tough Hopatcong Chiefs.  Leading the way and scoring the individual victory was Jon Juleus ('08).  Jon ran stride for stride with Kyle Vaughan of Hopatcong for the entire race and used his devastating kick to earn the win in 18:12.  Following Jon was Nick Beese ('08) in 3rd, Chris Gaus ('09) in 4th,  Josh D'Anna ('08) in 5th, Kevin McCormick ('09) in 6th and AJ Hanifin ('10) in 7th.  The seventh runner on the day was Paraic O'Reilly ('09) in 10th place.

On the girls' side, a pack of five Pope John runners crossed together in 24:15 for the difficult 5k course to lead the Lions to a resounding victory.  In the pack were Sarah Cariati ('08), Jenny Heigis ('08), Marissa Galante ('09), Paige Boehmcke ('08) and Ciara Vanness ('08).  Next across the line was Cat Carey ('09) in 6th.  Also in the top 10 was freshman Nicole DiGiacinto ('11) in 9th.

The invitational portion of the schedule begins this Saturday with the Roxbury Invitational at Horseshoe Lake Park..   

Good Times Abound at Roxbury

roxbury, nJ (Sept. 15, 2007) � The Pope John XC teams traveled to Horseshoe Lake Park in Roxbury, New Jersey for the 9th Annual Roxbury Class Invitational this past Saturday.  Racing on a flat, fast course, the teams were eager to test their fitness level against some of New Jersey's top runners and teams. 

On the girls' side, freshman Nicole DiGiacinto ('11) lead things off in the first race with a 14th place finish in 16:05 on the 2.2 mile course.  Also medaling in the freshman race was Kelsey Steele ('11) in 21st place in 16:50.  Other finishers included Chrissy Wilson ('11) in 33rd and Kelsey Katzgrau ('11) in 59th.  In the sophomore division, the PJ girls earned three medals.  Coming in 3rd place in a fantastic time of 19:58 was Marissa Galante ('10).  This marked Marissa's first race under twenty minutes for a 5 kilometer distance.  Next in was the duo of Cat Carey ('10) and Ashton Weiler ('10) in 10th and 11th place, respectively, in 21:00.  As a team, the sophomore girls finished in 2nd place.  The final division, junior-senior, saw the PJ Lions step up one place and claim the overall team title.  First in was Sarah Cariati ('09) in 4th in 19:21.  Next was Jenny Heigis ('09) in 6th in 19:48.  Paige Boehmcke ('09) ran to a 10th place finish in 20:28.  Also medaling was Ciara Vanness ('09) in 20th place in 20:58 and Casey Keller ('08) in 25th place in 21:23.  On the day, the ladies had seven members run 21 minutes or faster for the 5k distance.

The boys also faired well on the flat layout.  In the freshman race, Luke LaChac ('11) and Tom Breslin ('11) ran to 10th and 11th place to lead the team to a third place finish.  Luke finished the 2.2 course in 13:35 with Tom just behind in 13:47.  Ryan Lacey ('11) also medaled in 14th place in 13:53.  For the sophomores, AJ Hanifin ('10) ran to a 4th place showing in an excellent time of 17:10 on the 5k course.  Overall, the team placed fifth.  The final race of the day saw the junior-senior boys run to a fourth place finish with Jon Juleus ('08) finishing 3rd in 15:59.  Other nice performances included Nick Beese ('08) in 11th in 16:17, Chris Gaus ('09) in 27th in 16:50 and Josh D'Anna ('08) in 38th in 17:11.

The teams resume the dual meet season on Monday at St. Paul's Abbey against cross-town rival Sparta High School.

Lin k to Results

Sparta Sweep Leads to 100th Consecutive Combined Victory

andover, nJ (Sept. 17, 2007) � A sweep of Sparta High School today earned the Pope John cross-country program its 100th consecutive combined victory.  The boys defeated Sparta 15-49 for the their 58th straight victory, while the girls won 16-47 for their 42nd straight victory.

Running a solid pack race, the boys swept the first six positions to earn the victory.  Earning his first varsity win was Josh D'Anna ('08) in 17:30.  Finishing immediately behind Josh and in identical times were Nick Beese ('08), Jon Juleus ('08), Chris Gaus ('09) and AJ Hanifin ('10).  In sixth place was Tim Paziora ('09) in 17:44.  Rounding out the top 10 were Doug Murphy ('08) in 8th in 18:02, Paraic O'Reilly ('09) in 9th in 18:07 and Ben Woods ('09) in 10th in 18:15.  Also running a nice race was freshman Luke LaChac ('11) in 11th place in 18:17.  On the day, the Lions had nineteen members run under 20 minutes for the 3.0 mile St. Paul's Abbey course.

Displaying a similar front running pack mentality, the girls swept the first four positions and nine of the first ten to seal their victory.  Crossing the finish line first was a trio of Lions.  Running a controlled 19:37 for the fast layout, Marissa Galante ('10), Jenny Heigis ('09) and Sarah Cariati ('09) all pr'ed and ran to the 9th fastest time ever at St. Paul's Abbey for a Pope John girl (view list).  Marissa's time is tied for the second fastest ever for a sophomore.  Next across the line was Ciara Vanness ('09) in 4th place in 20:06, good enough for the 15th best time in course history.  The next pack finished in positions 6 through 10 to seal the win.  Cat Carey ('10) ran to a big personal best in 6th in 20:43 (#23 AT), Casey Keller ('08) finished 7th in 20:47, Paige Boehmcke ('09) finished 8th in 20:47 (#25 AT), Nicole DiGiacinto ('11) had her best race to date with a 9th place showing in 20:50 (#4 All-time on the freshman list), and Ashton Weiler ('10) finished 10th in 20:50.

The teams travel to Kittatinny Regional High School on Thursday for a tri-meet against Kittatinny and Newton High School.

Boys Wins 60th Straight Dual Meet

Hampton, nJ (Sept. 20, 2007) � By sweeping the first three places of the meet, the Pope John boys' cross-country team earned their 60th consecutive dual meet victory with wins over Kittatinny High School (18-43) and Newton High School (21-38).  The win streak dates back to the 2000 season.

Leading the team was Chris Gaus ('09) with his first varsity cross-country victory with a 17:15 clocking on the 5k course.  Immediately behind were Jon Juleus ('08) and Nick Beese ('08) in 17:17 and 17:18.  Rounding out the scoring was Paraic O'Reilly ('09) in 8th in 18:14 and Tim Paziora ('09) in 18:52.  Other top 15  performances were turned in by Luke LaChac ('11) in 11th in 18:53, Ryan Lacey ('11) in 12th in 19:13, Ben Woods ('09) in 13th in 19:14, and Tom Breslin ('11) in 14th in 19:17.

Using an identical finish as the boys (first three places), the girls also defeated Kittatinny (17-43) and Newton (15-47) to earn their 44th consecutive victory.  Earning the victory was Jenny Heigis ('09) in 19:51 with Sarah Cariati ('09) and Marissa ('10) right behind in identical times.  Next across the line in 5th through 7th place were a trio of PJ girls.  Ciara Vanness ('09) was 5th in 20:44, Cat Carey ('10) was 6th in 20:54, and Nicole DiGiacinto ('11) was 7th in 21:14.

The teams travel to historic Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday for the non-scoring Xavier Invitational.

Juleus, Galante Lead Lions at Xavier

Bronx, nY (Sept. 22, 2007) � Jon Juleus ('08) and Marissa Galante ('10) were the top finishers for the Pope John cross-country teams at the 29th annual Xavier Invitational.  A non-scoring meet, the Xavier Invitational provides an opportunity for teams to test their fitness level on the historic Van Cortlandt Park 2.5 mile layout before the Manhattan College Invitational in October.

Running to a second place finish in the varsity race, Juleus was able to better personal best from last season by 11 seconds with a 13:11 showing, #5 all-time on the PJ Top 25 list.  Also under 14 minutes were Nick Beese ('08) in 13:34 and Chris Gaus ('09) in 13:58 (# 14 AT).  Nick's time was seven seconds faster than last season at this time and just off his personal best of 13:29, while Chris's time was a personal best by 18 seconds.  Also making the top 25 list were AJ Hanifin ('10) and Josh D'Anna ('08).  AJ's time of 14:22 is #20 all-time and #9 on the AT sophomore list, while Josh's time places #23 on the AT list.

In sub-varsity competition, Luke LaChac ('11), Ryan Lacey ('11), Tom Breslin ('11), Paul D'Olivo ('11), Travis Lacey ('11), Reid Thomas ('11) and Dave Hanley ('11) earned medals in the freshman races.  Luke's time of 9:26 for the 1.5 mile freshman loop ranks #10 on the all-time Pope John frosh list.  Ryan, Tom, Paul, and Reid also ran under 10 minutes for the course.  Running well in the junior race were Doug Murphy ('08), Joe Benedetto ('09), Tim Paziora ('09) and Trevor Warden ('08).  Unfortunately, the race was stopped 2 miles in to allow an ambulance to assist an injured runners, finishing times were affected by approximately one minute.

On the girls' side, Galante ('10) finished second in 16:33, #11 all-time and #3 sophomore , to lead the Lady Lions in the varsity race.  Right behind in third place was Jenny Heigis ('09) in 16:34, #12 all-time and #4 junior.  Other finishers included Paige Boehmcke ('09) in 17:19 (#20 AT), Ciara Vanness ('09) in 17:34 (#21 AT), Cat Carey ('10) in 17:37 (#23 AT), Casey Keller ('08) in 17:37, Ashton Weiler ('10) in 17:55 and Katie Potter ('08) in 19:34.  Katie's time was nearly three minutes faster than last season at this juncture in the season.  Unfortunately, race leader Sarah Cariati ('09) was given incorrect directions by race officials and did not finish.  

In sub-varsity action, four athletes broke 21 minutes.  Rebecca Costantini ('09) ran 19:37 to pace the team in her first attempt on the course.  Zaharo Tsekouras ('08) ran 20:06 with her time being a full two minutes faster that last season.  Brianna Bourlier ran 20:18 and Kim Trumpore ran 20:34 in their first attempts on the famed course.  For freshman, Nicole DiGiacinto ('11) finished third in 10:31 to pace the team.  Her time is #4 on the all-time PJ frosh list.  Also medaling was Kelsey Steele ('11) in 11:56.

The teams travel to Wallkill Valley Regional High School on Tuesday for a tri-meet against the Jefferson Falcons and Wallkill Valley Rangers.

Boys 3rd, Girls 2nd at Shore Coaches

holmdel, nj (Oct. 6, 2007) � In NJ cross-country, the first Saturday of October is reserved for the annual Shore Coaches Invitational.  Racing on the course of the state group championships and meet of champions, the meet allows teams from across the state judge their fitness levels and compare to their future opponents.  Running in the humid morning, the PJ cross-country teams were able to manage several top five finishes on the day.

Leading off the meet were the freshman boys, racing the 2-mile layout, with a second place finish.  Leading the team and earning top ten finishes were Tom Breslin ('11) in 5th in 12:19 (#2 AT frosh) and Luke LaChac ('11) in 8th in 12:45 (#8 AT frosh).  Other medalists included Ryan Lacey ('11) in 17th in 13:13, Paul D'Olivo ('11) in 28th in 13:28, and Reid Thomas ('11) in 30th in 13:37.  Other team medalist were Travis Lacey ('11) in 38th in 13:57 and Dave Peer ('11) in 76th in 15:38.

Next up were the junior varsity girls with a fourth place finish.  Medalists for the 3.1 mile race included Rebecca Costantini ('09) in 14th in 24:46, Ali Taylor ('10) in 16th in 24:42, and Katie Potter ('08) in 19th in 24:45.  Just missing a medal was Kaila Hoer ('10) in 31st in 25:47.  Other finishers were Julie Dudley ('09) in 52nd in 26:39, Kim Trumpore ('08) in 59th in 27:05, Gabby Ferris ('10) in 67th in 27:30, Angela Poccia ('10) in 104th in 30:19 and Amanda Woods ('10) in 108th in 30:47.

The varsity boys finished third behind Haddonfield and Haddon Heights.  Leading the team was Nick Beese ('08) in 10th in 17:18 (#14 AT), Chris Gaus ('09) in 15th in 17:39, and Tim Paziora ('09) in 28th in 17:50.  Other finishers included Kevin McCormick ('09) in 36th in 18:13, AJ Hanifin ('10) in 42nd in 18:20, Joe Benedetto ('09) in 91st in 19:29 and Ben Woods ('09) in 98th in 19:36.

Finishing second were the girls in the Varsity "E" race.  Top finishers included Sarah Cariati ('09) in 4th in 20:11, Jenny Heigis ('09) in 13th in 20:43, and Marissa Galante ('10) in 14th in 20:44 (#15 AT).  Ciara Vanness ('09) was 33rd in 21:24 (#19 AT), Paige Boehmcke ('09) was 35th in 21:30 (#21 AT), Cat Carey ('10) was 37th in 21:33 (#22 AT), and Ashton Weiler ('10) was 26th in 22:19.

The boys' junior varsity team was able to finish in second and fourth place with two different sets of runners.  Medalists included Trevor Warden ('08) in 10th in 20:07, Mike Torres ('10) in 12th  in 20:14, Jim Morrisey ('09) in 16th in 20:25, Mike Lennon ('09) in 19th in 20:35, Greg Moore ('10) in 26th in 20:50, Chris Patterson ('10) in 28th in 20:59, Nick Ryan ('10) in 29th in 20:59 and Tom Wilson ('08) in 30th in 20:59.

In the final race of the day, Nicole DiGiacinto ('11) was the only medalist in the lone freshman girls' race with a ninth place of 14:41 for the two mile course.

The teams return to SCIL action on Tuesday, October 9th with a tri-meet against High Point and Lenape Valley.

Meet Results

Teams Roll to 8-0 with Sweep of High Point and Lenape Valley

andover, nJ (Oct. 9, 2007) � The boys' cross-country ran to the first seven places to earn shut-out wins (15-50) over High Point and Lenape Valley High Schools.  While the girls' earned the first three positions, as they have in all their dual meets, to defeat High Point 19-42 and Lenape Valley 15-50.

On a cool, autumn afternoon, the teams rewrote the PJ course records page with their performances.  Collectively, the teams ran to an average of 16:15 for the boys and 19:08 for the girls.  Typically, the Abbey course is 50-60 seconds faster than Holmdel State Park, site of the state championships.

Leading the assault on the record books was Jon Juleus ('08), who ran to a 15:25 clocking, good enough for #2 on the all-time list, trailing only Justin Scheid ('04).  Also earning top 25 rankings for the boys were Nick Beese ('08) in 15:50 (#7 AT), Chris Gaus ('09) in 16:10 (#9 AT), Josh D'Anna ('08) in 16:38 (#17 AT), Kevin McCormick ('09) in 16:43 (#18 AT), Tim Paziora ('09) in 16:50 (#22 AT) and AJ Hanifin ('10) in 17:01 (#24 AT).  In addition, Tom Breslin ('11) and Luke LaChac ('11) earned the #8 and #9 rankings on the AT freshman list.  On the day, twenty-seven boys ran under 20 minutes and most set personal bests.

For the girls, Jenny Heigis ('09) ran 18:31 for the #3 AT ranking.  Right behind in 18:33 was Sarah Cariati ('09) with the #4 AT performance.  Also earning rankings were Marissa Galante ('10) in 18:56 (#7 AT, #2 Soph), Ciara Vanness ('09) in 19:49 (#13 AT), both Cat Carey ('10) and Ashton Weiler ('10) in 19:56 (#14 AT), and Paige Boehmcke ('09) in 20:09 (#19 AT).  Additionally, Casey Keller ('08) just missed her PR of 19:37 (#12 AT) and eighteen of the twenty-one girls ran personal bests.

Next up is the Manhattan College Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday, October 13th.

Girls Win Varsity "F" Race at Manhattan

bronx, ny (Oct. 13, 2007) � Using a compression of only 47 seconds, the Pope John girls' cross-country team won their second ever Manhattan College Invitational team title on Saturday.  The girls scored 118 points to easily outdistance West Genesee of New York to join the 2004 girls and the 2006 boys as race winner at the biggest invitational in the United States.  Leading the victorious ladies was junior Sarah Cariati ('09) in 8th place with a 16:06 clocking (#6 AT).  The second runner was Jenny Heigis ('09) in 13th place in 16:13 (#9 AT).  Third for the team was sophomore Marissa Galante ('10) in 21st in 16:29 (#12 AT).  Rounding out the scoring were Paige Boehmcke ('08) in 33rd in 16:47 (#13 AT) and Casey Keller ('08) in 43rd in 16:53.  Right behind Casey was junior Ciara Vanness ('09) in 44th in 16:55 (#15 AT).

Another team racing well was the freshman boys who earned seven medals out of the eight athletes that ran.  Earning medals were Tom Breslin ('11) in 11th in 9:08 (#8 AT Frosh), Luke LaChac ('11) in 16th in 9:14 (#10 AT), Ryan Lacey ('11) in 28th in 9:32, Paul D'Olivo ('11) in 31st in 9:34, Reid Thomas ('11) in 38th in 9:40, Travis Lacey ('11) in 62nd in 9:56, and Dave Hanley ('11) in 94th in 10:26.  Chris Lorenz ('11) just missed a medal in 125th in 11:02.

On the freshman girls' side, four athletes earned medals.  Nicole DiGiacinto ('11) finished 5th in 10:28 (#4 AT Frosh), Kelsey Steele ('11) finished 26th in 11:08 (#10 AT Frosh), Chrissy Wilson ('11) finished 69th in 12:11, and Kelsey Katzgrau ('11) finished 96th in 12:48.

Top performances on the boys' side included Jon Juleus ('08) finishing 11th in the Varsity "C" race in 13:08 (#4 AT), Nick Beese ('08) finishing 25th in the same race in 13:25 (#6 AT) and AJ Hanifin ('10) finishing 7th in the sophomore boy "A" race in 14:23.

The teams complete the SCIL regular season on Tuesday, October 16th with a dual meet against Vernon.

Meet Results

Boys Win 7th Consecutive SCIL Dual Meet Title / Girls Win 5th Consecutive

vernon, nJ (Oct. 16, 2007) � The Pope John boys and girls cross-country teams swept the Vernon Vikings today to claim the SCIL regular season titles for the 2007 season.  For the boys, it marked their seventh straight championship and 65th consecutive dual meet victory, while the girls brought home their fifth straight title and 49th consecutive win.

The boys earned their 18-39 victory by sweeping the first four places with Jon Juleus ('08) in 1st, Nick Beese ('08) in 2nd, Chris Gaus ('09) in 3rd, and Josh D'Anna ('08) in 4th.  The girls took eight of the first nine places to defeat the Vikings 17-46.  Jenny Heigis ('09) led the team with the individual win.

The teams begin the championship portion of their race schedule on Thursday, October 25th with the SCIL Festival at the Sussex County Fairgrounds.  Races begin at 1 PM.

Boys Win 14th SCIL Festival Championship

augusta, nj (Oct. 25, 2007) � Behind the individual victory of Jon Juleus ('08), the 2007 Pope John boys' cross-country team earned the fourteenth (and eighth consecutive) SCIL Festival championship in the program's history.

Juleus ran away from the pack during the second mile to join Justin Scheid (2002, 2003), Anthony LaMastro (2004, 2005) and Jeremy Scheid (2006) as Festival champions.  Joining Jon on the medal stand were Nick Beese ('08) in 4th, Chris Gaus ('09) in 5th and Josh D'Anna ('08) in 8th.  Rounding out the team scoring was AJ Hanifin ('10) in 15th with Kevin McCormick ('09) in 19th and Tim Paziora ('09) in 33rd.

In junior varsity action, Paraic O'Reilly ('09) and Doug Murphy ('08) finished first and second in 17:21 and 17:30, respectively, to lead the team.  Other teammates finishing in the top ten and earning medals were Joe Benedetto ('09) in 6th, Eric Stenger ('09) in 7th, Trevor Warden ('08) in 9th and Ben Woods ('09) in 10th.  Other finishers included Dan Grund ('10) in 11th, Mike Torres ('10) in 13th, Nick Ryan ('10) in 15th, Mike Lennon ('09) in 21st, Chris Patterson ('10) in 28th, Tom Wilson ('08) in 30th, Brendan Ferris ('10) in 31st, Jim Morrisey ('09) in 32nd, Ben Rabe ('09) in 36th, Raj Trivedi ('09) in 39th, Sean Reid ('10) in 41st, Pat Sheehan ('10) in 44th, Graham Medak ('08) in 46th, Mike Williams ('09) in 47th, Dan Hororhoe ('10) in 50th, Kevin Goepp ('09) in 64th, Dan O'Sullivan ('10) in 69th, Matt Hansen ('09) in 70th, Jacob Williams ('10) in 74th, and Pat Trusio ('10) in 89th.

In the freshman race, five members earned medals out of the ten awarded.  Earning medals for the 3k race were Tom Breslin ('11) in 2nd in 10:27, Luke LaChac ('11) in 5th in 10:52, Ryan Lacey ('11) in 6th in 11:03, Paul D'Olivo ('11) in 7th in 11:07, and Reid Thomas ('11) in 9th in 11:08.  Travis Lacey ('11) just missed a medal with an 11th place finish in 11:14.  Other finishers included Dave Hanley ('11) in 20th in 11:46, Chris Lorenz ('11) in 35th in 11:32, and Dave Peer ('11) in 36th in 11:42.

Meet Results: Varsity, JV, Freshman

Girls Win 5th Consecutive SCIL Festival Championship

augusta, nj (Oct. 25, 2007) � With a sweep of the first three places, the 2007 Pope John girls' cross-country team won their fifth consecutive SCIL Festival championship and seventh overall.  With five runners among the top eight finishers, the girls scored 20 points, tying the 2005 team for the lowest winning point total in meet history.

Earning the victory was Sarah Cariati ('09) in 18:35 with Marissa Galante ('10) and Jenny Heigis ('09) right behind in 18:35 and 18:38, respectively.  Sarah joins Maria Nitto (1995, 1996), Meagan Murphy (1998, 1999), Franny Morro (2003), and Lara Heigis (2004, 2005, 2006) as individual festival champions.  Cat Carey ('10) and Casey Keller ('08) completed the point scoring with 6th and 7th place finishes.  Also finishing highly were Ciara Vanness ('09) in 11th and Paige Boehmcke ('09) in 12th.

The junior varsity girls earned four of the top six positions to claim the unofficial team title.  Brianna Bourlier ('10) led the girls with a 2nd place finish, with Ali Taylor ('10) in 3rd, Julie Dudley ('09) in 4th and Kaila Hoer ('10) in 6th.  Other finishers included Gabby Ferris ('10) in 20th, Kim Trumpore ('08) in 22nd, Erin Smith ('10) in 26th, and Amanda Woods in 40th.

In the freshman race, Nicole DiGiacinto ('11) scored the victory with an impressive 12:10 for the 3k course.  Kelsey Steele ('11) finished 2nd in 13:13, and Chrissy Wilson ('11) finished 4th in 13:40 to also win medals. Also finishing strongly were Kelsey Katzgrau ('11) finished 13th in 15:05, Ellen St. John ('11) in 16th in 16:14 and Alisa Santrock ('11) in 17th in 16:31.

Meet Results: Varsity, JV, Freshman

Teams Earn 12 All-League Honors

hamburg, nJ (Nov. 1, 2007) � The Pope John Cross-Country teams earned 12 All-League citations at the year-end SCIL coaches meeting.  Voted on by the SCIL coaches, the All-League team consists of 15 male student-athletes and 15 female students athletes.  The SCIL Champion girls� team earned 7 of the 15 honors, while the SCIL Champion boys� earned 4 citations.  AJ Hanifin (�10) and Ashton Weiler (�10) earned All-SCIL Honorable Mention recognition.  Below is the complete list of honorees.

Boys, Girls Finish 3rd at NJCTC

Roselle, nJ (Nov. 3, 2007) � The Pope John Cross-Country teams traveled to Warinanco Park in Roselle for the 51st annual New Jersey Catholic Track Conference Championships.  On the day, the team earned third place finishes in the Varsity Boys, Varsity Girls, JV Girls and Freshman Boys races and earned fourth place finishes in the JV Boys and Freshman Girls races.

In the first race of the day, the freshman girls earned four medals.  Nicole DiGiacinto ('11) led the team with a 3rd place finish in an excellent time of 14:46 for the 2.2 mile freshman course.  Next in were Kelsey Steele ('11) in 10th place in 15:58, Chrissy Wilson ('11) in 15th place in 16:18 and Kelsey Katzgrau ('11) in 26th place in 17:16.  The final team finishers included Ellen St. John ('11) in 43rd and Alida Santrock ('11) in 44th.

The freshman boys were next and provided a promising glimpse for the future.  Finishing third behind CBA and Don Bosco, the team ran an impressive 13:12 average on the 2.2 mile freshman course.  Leading the way was Tom Breslin ('11) in 7th place in 12:52 (#7 AT PJ Frosh).  Also making the Pope John AT frosh list was Luke LaChac ('11) in 14th in 13:03 (#10 AT Frosh).  Just missing the all-time list but running exceptional times were Ryan Lacey ('11) in 21st and Paul D'Olivo ('11) in 22nd, with both running 13:20.  Also medaling was Reid Thomas ('11) in 28th place in 13:28.  Just missing the medal stand was Travis Lacey ('11) in 32nd in 13:30.  Other finishers included Dave Hanley ('11) in 28th, Chris Lorenz ('11) in 63rd, and Dave Peer ('11) in 95th.

The junior varsity girls earned five medals on the day as Ashton Weiler ('10) led the team with an 8th place finish in 22:25 for the 3.2 mile course.  Also running well and earning medals were Ali Taylor ('10) in 16th in 23:07, Brianna Bourlier ('10) in 24th in 24:00, Julie Dudley ('09) in 26th in 24:04 and Kaila Hoer ('10) in 29th in 24:18.  Other finishers included Katie Potter ('08) in 36th, Kim Trumpore ('08) in 45th, Gabby Ferris ('10) in 51st and Amanda Woods ('10) in 59th.

The junior varsity boys also earned five medals in route to their 4th place team finish.  Paraic O'Reilly ('09) finished 7th in 18:06 to lead the team with Doug Murphy ('08) just behind in 10th place in 18:26.  The other medalists were Eric Stenger ('09) in 25th in 19:08, Ben Woods ('09) in 28th in 19:11 and Joe Benedetto ('09) in 30th in 19:20.  Just missing medals were Trevor Warden ('08) in 33rd and Nick Ryan ('10) in 39th.

In the girls' varsity race, the PJ girls finished a close 3rd (only 18 points) behind Red Bank Catholic and Monsignor Donovan.  First to cross the finish line was Sarah Cariati ('09) in 4th in 19:28 (#2 AT).  Next in was Jenny Heigis ('09) in 14th place in 20:03 (#5 AT) with Marissa Galante ('10) right behind in 18th in 20:18 (#8 AT).  Completing the team scoring were Cat Carey ('10) in 29th in 20:43 (#11 AT) and Ciara Vanness ('09) in 34th in 20:55 (#15 AT).  Also running well were Paige Boehmcke ('09) in 36th in 21:05 (# 18 AT) and Casey Keller ('08) in 40th in 21:12 (#9 AT Senior).

In the final race of the day, the varsity boys were able to manage a 3rd place finish (4 points behind Delbarton for second).  Leading the way as he has done all year was Jon Juleus ('08).  Jon ran to a 2nd place finish with an impressive time of 16:23 (#2 AT).  The #2 man on the day was Nick Beese ('08) in 19th in 17:14 (#10 Senior).  A trio of Lions completed the team scoring with Kevin McCormick ('09) in 24th in 17:30 (#14 AT), Chris Gaus ('09) in 25th in 17:32 (#16 AT) and Josh D'Anna ('08) in 27th in 17:35 (#19).  AJ Hanifin ('10) in 43rd in 17:52 (#9 Soph.) and Tim Paziora ('09) in 47th in 17:56 were the sixth and seventh runners of the day.

The teams next compete in the NJSIAA Non-Public A State Championships on Saturday, November 10th.

Meet Results