McCormick, Carey Lead Team at Class Meet

Elizabeth, nJ (Sept. 20, 2008)--Kevin McCormick and Cat Carey ran the fastest times of the day for the Pope John cross-country teams at the 29th annual NJCTC class meet  today at Warinanco Park.  With the teams split up in separate class divisions, McCormick finished 8th in the senior boys' race with a time of 16:56 to lead the boys, while Carey finished 5th in the junior girls' race with a time of 20:04.  Kevin's time is the 9th fastest ever (#8 senior) run by a PJ boy while Cat's is a 40 second improvement from last season and 6th all-time on the PJ girls list (#5 junior).

Other top ten finishes included Sarah Cariati (6th) and Jenny Heigis (9th) in the senior girls' race, AJ Hanifin (4th) in the junior boys' race, and Nina Poccia (7th) in the freshman girls race.  Hanifin's time of 17:13 is #12 all-time (#6 junior) on the PJ course record list.  Cariati's time is the #5 senior girl time with Heigis at #7.  Also, claiming places on the PJ record page were Marissa Galante, 12th in the junior girls, with a time of 20:56 (#10 junior), Tim Paziora, 27th in the senior boys, in 17:39 (#22 AT), and Anthony Lacey, 16th in the freshman boys' race, in 12:58 (#9 frosh boy).

On the day, the teams earned a total of 20 medals.  Overall (in unique team scoring), the boys finished 5th with 374 points with the girls 4th with 261 points.

The SCIL dual meet season begins on Monday at St. Paul's Abbey with a dual meet against cross-town rival Sparta High School.

Meet Results

Girls Earn 50th Straight Win With Victory Over Rival Sparta

Andover, nJ (Sept. 22, 2008)--The girls' cross-country team earned its 50th consecutive SCIL victory with a 17-42 win over archrival Sparta High School.  Leading the way was the trio of Sarah Cariati, Cat Carey and Jenny Heigis, who swept the first three spots in the race.  Rounding out the scoring were paige Boehmcke in 5th and Marissa Galante in 6th.  With times ranging from 19:08 to 19:53, the girls displayed the quality of its pack running.  The top three's time of 19:08 earned Sarah and Jenny the #7 ranking on the PJ senior girls' list for the St. Paul's Abbey course and earned Cat the #5 junior time and #10 all-time ranking.  Paige's time of 19:42 is #14 AT for the PJ girls.  One other notable performance was freshman Nina Poccia.  Nina finished 12th in 21:42, good enough for the #10 ranking on the PJ freshman list.

Not to be outdone, the boys' team took four of the first five places to nail down a 20--39 victory over the Spartans.  Earning the win was Kevin McCormick in 15:51, a 52 second PR and #8 on the all-time PJ boys' list for St. Paul's Abbey.  Next in was Tim Paziora in 16:01, a 49 second PR and #10 on the AT list.  The third scorer on the day was AJ Hanifin in 4th place in 16:29, #16 on the AT list.  Rounding out the top five was Chris Gaus in 5th in 16:56.  Other top ten finishers included Kyle Johnson in 8th, Luke LaChac in 9th and Joe Benedetto in 10th.  Another outstanding performance was turned in by Pat Trusio.  Pat improved from a time of 33:41 last season at this time to 27:53, an improvement of 5 minutes and 48 seconds.  A true testament of what hard work and commitment can do for an athlete.

The team travel to Wallkill Valley High School on Thursday, September 25th for a tri-meet against Jefferson Township High School and Wallkill.

Teams Earn Double Wins Over Jefferson & Wallkill

Hamburg, nJ (Sept. 25, 2008)--The Lions cross-country teams ran their records to 3-0, respectively,  as they defeated Jefferson Township High School and Wallkill Valley Regional High School in a tri-meet at Wallkill yesterday.  The girls defeated the Jefferson Falcons 15-50 and beat the Wallkill Rangers 20-39.  The boys won 19--42 over the Falcons and 22-35 over the Rangers.

Leading the victory for the girls were the trio of Cat Carey, Sarah Cariati and Marissa Galante, who swept the first three places of the race.  Leading the boys were Tim Paziora and Kevin McCormick, who like on Monday against Sparta captured the first two positions in the race.

The teams travel to Warwick, NY on Saturday for the Wave Mania Invitational.  Racing begins at 9 AM.

Fast Times / Lots of Medals at Wave Mania

warwick, ny (Sept. 27, 2008)--The boys' and girls' cross-country teams traveled to Warwick Valley, NY on Saturday for the annual Warwick Wave Mania Invitational.  With music, great competition, and a fast course, the atmosphere was conducive to good performances. 

On the day, thirty-one athletes earned medals (16 boys and 15 girls) and five of the six races saw Pope John finish in the top four of all schools (Girls: 2nd Varsity, 2nd JV, 3rd Frosh; Boys: 4th Varsity, 2nd JV, 10th Frosh).

Top twenty finishers on the day included: Nina Poccia (5th in freshman girls), Megan Gallagher (8th in freshman girls), Abby Grieco (7th in JV girls), Nicole DiGiacinto (9th in JV girls), Chrissy Wilson (13th in JV girls), Sarah Cariati (4th in Varsity girls), Cat Carey (8th in Varsity girls), Jenny Heigis (10th in Varsity girls), Marissa Galante (11th in Varsity girls), Paige Boehmcke (17th in Varsity girls), Anthony Lacey (18th in freshman boys), Nick Ryan (2nd in JV boys), Reid Thomas (11th in JV boys), Luke LaChac (12th in JV boys), Christian Lavorgna (13th in JV boys), Tom Breslin (17th in JV boys), Travis Lacey (18th in JV boys), Ben Woods (19th in JV boys), Kevin McCormick (7th in Varsity boys), Tim Paziora (14th in Varsity boys) and AJ Hanifin (20th in Varsity boys).

Girls Results

Boys Results

Boys Earn 70th Straight Victory

vernon, nJ (Oct. 2, 2008)--The boys' XC team ran its season record to 5-0 with dual victories over the Vernon Vikings and High Point Wildcats and in the process pushed the program's consecutive SCIL victory streak to 70 straight meets.  Running smoothly and in control throughout, the boys were able to defeat the Vernon Vikings 23-33 and beat the High Point Wildcats 19-42.  Leading the way again was Kevin McCormick with a first place finish in 16:32 and Tim Paziora with a thrid place finish in 16:50.  Rounding out the scoring were AJ Hanifin in 5th (17:29), Kyle Johnson in 7th (17:43) and Luke LaChac in 11th (18:06).  On the day, fifteen boys broke 20 minutes for the hilly and twisty course.

On the girls' side, the Lions raced together and swept places two through five to discard the Vikings by a score of 22-35 and the Wildcats 17-38.  The foursome included Sarah Cariati, Cat Carey, Marissa Galante, and Paige Boehmcke.  Concluding the scoring was freshman Nina Poccia in 10th place in 21:47.

The teams travel to Holmdel State Park, site of the state meet, on Saturday, October 4th for the annual Shore Coaches Invitational.

Young Athletes Shine at Shore

holmdel, nj (Oct. 4, 2008)--With SAT testing claiming eight of the seniors on the Pope John cross-country teams, the Shore Coaches Invitational allowed a chance for the underclassmen of the team to shine. 

Results

Manhattan College Invitational Results

bronx, ny (Oct. 11, 2008)--Racing in gorgeous New York City weather, the boys and girls cross country team put some impressive performances at the annual Manhattan College Invitational.  The varsity girls showed they will be a force to be reckoned with on the state level with a second place finish in the "B" race.  Their average time of 16:06 was the fourth fastest of any New Jersey school and fastest than non-public rivals IHA and RBC.  Leading the team and finishing 4th overall was Sarah Cariati in 15:22.  Her time was a 43 second personal best and places her #2 on the all-time PJ list for the 2.5 mile Van Cortlandt Park course.  Next to finish was a trio of Lions.   Jenny Heigis was 15th in 16:08, Cat Carey was 16th in 6:11 and Marissa Galante was 18th in 16:14.  Jenny's time was a PR and #8 on the AT list, Cat's time was a 45 second PR and tied for #9 on the AT list, while Marissa's time was also a PR and #11 on the AT list.  Rounding out the scoring was Paige Boehmcke in 16:37 (#14 AT).  On the freshman level, Nina Poccia and Megan Gallagher earned top 10 finishes and spots on the PJ Frosh All-Time list for the 1.5 mile loop.  Nina's time of 10:30 earned her the #5 spot, while Megan earned a tie for the #7 spot with her 10:35 clocking.

The boys team had several personal best performances in their 8th place finish in the varsity "F" race.  The number one runner was Kevin McCormick in 13:32, a  52 second PR and good for #7 on the all-time PJ boy list for VCP.  Next across the line was Tim Paziora in 13:49, a 10 second PR and #14 AT.  The third and fourth runners on the day were Chris Gaus in 14:14 and Kyle Johson in 14:15 (#21 AT).  The final scorer was AJ Hanifin in 14:21, a PR and #22 on the AT list.  Other PR's on the day belonged to Joe Benedetto and Nick Ryan.

Results

Team Run Records To 8-0 After Wins Over Kittatinny & Lenape

andover, nJ (Oct. 14, 2008)--The boys and girls cross-country teams ran their records to 8-0 for the 2008 SCIL season with dual victories over Kittatinny Regional High School and Lenape Valley Regional High School.  The defeated Kittatinny by a score of 15-50  and beat Lenape 18-45.  The girls won 15-49 over Kittatinny and 15-50 over Lenape.  The boys swept seven of the top eight spots to secure the wins, while the girls took the first six places in their race.  Leading the way were Tim Paziora, in a PR time of 15:50 (#8 AT) and Sarah Cariati in 18:42.

Girls Win 6th Consecutive Regular Season Title With Victory Over Newton

andover, nJ (Oct. 20, 2008)--The girls' cross-country stretched their SCIL win streak to 58 straight with a win over Newton at Kittatinny State Park today.  With the 17-44 victory, the girls also earned their sixth consecutive SCIL regular season title.  Leading the was the trio of Cat Carey, Sarah Cariati, and Marissa Galante, who simultaneously crossed the finish line in 19:55.  Rounding out the scoring was Nicole DiGiacinto in 4th place in 21:55 and Rebecca Costantini in 7th in 22:57.

Boys Lose (on double DQ) for 1st SCIL Loss Since 2000

andover, nJ (Oct. 20, 2008)--The boys' cross-country team lost for the first time since the 2000 season today at Kittatinny State Park.  With race well in hand, the team's top two runners (and 1st and 2nd place race finishers) were disqualified for running inside a marker approximately 70 meters from the finish line.  At the time, they were leading by approximately ten seconds over the third place finisher.  With the disqualifications, the boys lost 22-33 to Newton High School.  Without the disqualification, the boys would have won 23-32.  Despite the loss, the boys still won the SCIL regular season title, their 8th straight.  The loss marked the end of one of the longest win streaks in SCIL history (for all sports) at 73 straight victories.

Boys Win 9th Consecutive SCIL Festival / Girls Win 6th Consecutive

augusta, nj (Oct. 23, 2008)--Running in near ideal conditions, the Pope John cross-country teams continued their recent domination at the SCIL XC Festival and ran to some pretty impressive team time averages on the 3.0 Sussex County Fairgrounds layout.  With three runners in the top eight and five in the top fourteen, the boys were able to win their 9th consecutive title (and 14th in 16 years); while the girls cruised to their 6th straight title behind individual winner, Sarah Cariati.

Coming into the 2008 season, the boys were faced with the task of replacing three of their top four finishers from one year ago.  With a gaggle of new faces, the boys were able to continue their impressive SCIL Festival run and surpass some of the prior team with an extremely fast team time average.  Pushing the pace up front (and setting a fast pace) was the dynamic duo of Tim Paziora and Kevin McCormick.  Two of the top runners in the league all year, Tim and Kevin were able to claim second and third, respectively, in the race.  Tim's time of 15:28 matched the 2007 time of individual champion, Jon Juleus, while Kevin's time of 15:31 was one of the fastest third place finish times in meet history.  Also placing in the top ten was AJ Hanifin in 8th place in 16:01.  The final point scorers were Chris Gaus in 13th in 16:22 and Kyle Johnson in 14th in 16:23.  With all five scorers in the top fourteen, the boys scored an impressive 40 points to easily outdistance the second place team by 47 points.  Their time average was an impressive 15:57 (13 seconds faster than last year when the team was ranked 16th in the state).  Other high placements in the race included Joe Benedetto in 21st (16:46) and Luke LaChac in 23rd (16:52).

On the female side of things, Sarah Cariati dominated the race to earn her second consecutive individual title and lead the team to their 6th straight team championship.  Going through the first mile in 5:35, Sarah was able to pull away from all competitors and win by an incredible 25 seconds.  Her time of 17:57 (her first sub 18 clocking) pulled the field to impressive marks (top 16 were under 20 minutes).  Finishing in the fifth, sixth and seventh positions were Cat Carey, Marissa Galante and Jenny Heigis.  With times of 18:36, 18:44, and 18:50, respectively, the girls were on pace for a phenomenal team time average.  The fifth runner of the day was Ashton Weiler in 12th in 19:34 with Paige Boehmcke right behind in 13th in 19:44.  Collectively, the team averaged 18:44 for the 3.0 mile layout (14 seconds faster than last year and 1:20 faster than the second place team) and with a point total of 31, outscored the second place team by 51.  The seventh runner of the day was Rebecca Costantini in 37th in a PR time of  21:56 (her first sub 22 minute clocking).

In sub varsity action, Nick Ryan and Christian Lavorgna finished first and second in the boys JV race to lead eight PJ runners in to the top 12 and the overall title.  Other in the top 12 included Ryan Lacey in 5th, Travis Lacey in 6th, Reid Thomas in 8th, Paraic O'Reilly in 9th, Tom Breslin in 10th, Ben Woods in 11th and Chris Lorenz in 12th.  Not to be outdone by the boys, Nicole DiGiacinto and Abby Grieco finished first and second in the JV girls race to lead the team to five of the top six places and the overall team title.  Medalists also included Ali Taylor in 4th, Chrissy Wilson in 5th, and Kelsey Katzgrau in 6th.  The freshman earned eight medals in their race (3k race distance) with Anthony Lacey (2nd) and Nick D'Olivo (10th) winning medals for boys and Megan Gallagher (2nd), Laura Cariati (4th), Nina Poccia (5th on a bum ankle), Ashley May (6th), Chrislee Butcher (8th) and Kim Katzgrau (9th) winning medals for the girls.

Next up for the teams is the New Jersey Catholic Track Conference Cross Country Championships at Warinanco Park in Elizabeth on Saturday, November 8th.

Teams Earn 11 All-League Honors

hamPTOn, nJ (Nov. 4, 2008)--The Pope John Cross-Country teams earned 11 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 6 of the 15 honors, while the SCIL Champion boys earned 5 citations.  Joe Benedettoand Nicole DiGiacinto earned All-SCIL Honorable Mention recognition.  Below is the complete list of honorees.

Cariati's Victory Leads Girls To NJCTC Title

Elizabeth, nJ (Nov. 8, 2008)--Sarah Cariati used a big kick over the last 400 meters to capture the individual title at the 52nd annual NJCTC cross-country championships and lead her team to the overall championship.  Running with a lead pack of approximately five runners for the majority of the race, Sarah powered away on the track to join Lara Heigis ('07) and Meagan Murphy ('00) as champions. Led by Sarah's victory, the girls earned a run-away victory over a valiant Monsignor Donovan team (46-70).  It was the team's second NJCTC title in four years.  Joining Sarah in the top 10 were Jenny Heigis in 8th and Cat Carey in 10th, with Marissa Galante just missing in 11th place.  Rounding out the scoring was Paige Boehmcke in 17th.  Also medaling was Ashton Weiler in 27th and Nicole DiGiacinto in 35th.

In the boys' race, Kevin McCormick finished 4th and Tim Paziora out kicked a pack of five runners in the final straightaway to finish 6th to lead the team to a second place finish behind CBA.  They defeated rival Delbarton by two points.  Also racing well were AJ Hanifin in 13th and Chris Gaus in 17th.  Other medalist included Kyle Johnson in 30th and Joe Benedetto in 36th.

In sub-varsity action, Megan Gallagher race away with the freshman girls championship winning the race by an impressive 29 second margin.  Her victory coupled with a 9th place finish by Laura Cariati led the freshman girls to a 3rd place team finish.  The JV boys took places 8 (Nick Ryan), 10 (Christian Lavorgna), 12 (Reid Thomas), 13 (Tom Breslin) and 14 (Travis Lacey) to finish second behind a strong CBA squad.  In the freshman boys' race, Anthony Lacey was the sole medal winner with a 20th place finish.  While in the JV girls' race, Chrissy Wilson and Kaila Hoer were medalists with 22nd and 30th place finishes, respectively.

Times on the day were approximately 30-60 seconds slower than normal due to the steady rain and extremely muddy, soft course conditions.

The teams partake in the NJSIAA Non-Public "A" state championships on Saturday, November 15th for their next race.

Meet Results

Boys & Girls Finish 3rd in Non-Public A State Championships

holmdel, nJ (Nov. 16, 2008)--Both the boys and girls cross-country teams finished third in the NJSIAA Non-Public "A" State Group Championships today as they advance to the New Jersey Meet of Champions next weekend.

The boys finished with 107 points trailing only Don Bosco Prep and CBA.  Leading the boys with a personal best time and top 10 finish was senior Kevin McCormick.  Kevin used a strong kick to pass several runners over the last 1000 meters to snare 10th place in a personal best time of 16:50.  His time was the top time for all SCIL runners and #9 all-time for PJ runners.  Finishing just behind Kevin were senior Tim Paziora in 16th and junior AJ Hanifin in 19th.  Tim's time of 17:00 is # 10 AT for seniors while AJ's time is #16 AT for all PJ runners.  Rounding the top 5 were seniors Kyle Johnson in 29th and Chris Gaus in 33rd.  In Kyle's first ever race at Holmdel, he was able to make the AT list for PJ runners with a time of 17:39.  Chris finished right behind in 17:45.  Other finishers included senior Joe Benedetto in 18:44 and junior Nick Ryan in 19:17.

For the girls, seniors Sarah Cariati and Jenny Heigis finished in the top 10 to pace the team to a third place finish behind IHA and RBC.  Running 19:36 for 4th place, Sarah continued to lead the team in the post-season.  Jenny ran her best race to date as she ran a personal best 19:50 (#5 AT) to capture 7th place.  Next across the line for the Lions in 22nd and 23rd was the duo of junior Marissa Galante and senior Paige Boehmcke with both being timed in 20:45.  The fifth scorer on the day in 28th place was junior Cat Carey in 20:51.  Battling bronchitis for the past week, Cat bravely battles her ailment to help her team.  Final finishers on the day included junior Ashton Weiler in 42nd in 21:33 and sophomore Nicole DiGiacinto in 73rd in 23:18.

The team return to Holmdel on Saturday, November 22nd for the New Jersey Meet of Champions.

Girls Results

Boys Results

Girls Make the Podium at MOC with 4th Place Finish

holmdel, nJ (Nov. 22, 2008)--At the New Jersey Meet of Champions for Cross-Country, the goal of any team competing is to make the podium (finish in the top six).  In the 2008 girls' race, there were eleven teams with a realistic chance of attaining this goal.  With temperature in the twenty's and tight competition, the Pope John girls were able to rise to the occasion and grab one of the those coveted podium positions.  In the closest finish in Meet of Champions history, the PJ girls scored 165 points, only 44 points behind first place, and snared 4th place (on a sixth runner tiebreaker) in the team standings.  This marked the fourth time in five years that the Pope John girls snared a podium finish (2004, 2005 & 2006 were the others).

Leading the way as she has all season was Sarah Cariati.  Sarah finished in 28th place in a personal best time of 19:20 (#3 AT) to start the team scoring off with a low number.  Next across the line was the tandem of Cat Carey in 57th and Jenny Heigis in 59th.  Cat rebounded from a sub-par performance at groups to record a personal best time of 20:00 (#8 AT).  Jenny was right behind in 20:03 to continue the low scoring trend.  Capping the scoring was the duo of Marissa Galante in 79th with a PR of 20:22 (#11 AT) and Paige Boehmcke in 89th with a PR of 20:36 (#14 AT).  Both runners passed several runners in the last 1K to enable the strong team placement.  After all five runner were scored, the team was tied with Non-Public A champion and rival IHA.  Going to the tiebreaker of highest 6th runner, the Lions were able to prevail as Ashton Weiler managed to defeat IHA's sixth runner by fourteen positions (95th to 114th).  Ashton's time of 20:43 was a season best and just off her PR.  The seventh runner on the day was Nicole DiGiacinto in 163rd with a time of  22:55 (23 seconds faster than last week).

The boys' team came into the MOC with an outside chance of making the podium after their impressive group meet performance.  Unfortunately, luck was not on the Lions' side as both Kevin McCormick and AJ Hanifin were involved with several other runners in a massive pile-up about 250 meters in to the race.  Despite the misfortunate, the team still managed an 11th place finish and several members ran personal bests.  First across the line for the team was Tim Paziora in 38th place in a PR of 16:40 (tied for #7 AT).  Tim's time was fastest for all SCIL runners during the 2008 season.  Kevin and AJ were the next two finishers for the team as they fought gamely to get back into the race despite being behind their normal times and paces.  Kevin suffered a bruised chest from the pile-up while AJ suffered a bloody lip.  Final scorers were Chris Gaus in a season best 17:35 and Kyle Johnson in a personal best 17:36.  The final two finishers for the team were Joe Benedetto in 18:28 and Nick Ryan in 18:32, both times were personal best on the Holmdel course.

The girls will race once more as a team as they travel to Wappinger's falls next weekend to race in the Nike NorthEast Regional Championshps.

Girls Results

Boys Results