Abby Loveys continued her torrid start to the season with another red hot victory to lead NJ #10 Randolph to the girls team title at Saturday's Xavier Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
The undefeated Loveys, a junior who was running at Vanny for the first time ever, shattered the Randolph school record by 10 seconds as she blasted a14:49 over the historic 2.5-mile layout. Loveys, who won the race by 42 seconds, smashed the school record of 14:58 set in 2009 by Joelle Amaral at the Manhattan Invitational. It was the third straight sizzling win for Loveys, who also captured titles at the Randolph Invit. and the Battle at Ocean County Park.
Randolph, which also received a third-place finish from senior Brooke Olson in15:36, averaged 16:21.9 and went 1-3-10-12-34 to win with 60 points over runner-up Ursuline of N.Y. (71). Paul VI of Haddonfield finished fifth with 177 and Trinity Hall was 6th with 197.
In the boys competition, Hackensack placed second to Byram Hills of New York in the A Division race, 43-100, and Brick Memorial was 5th with 142.
Hackensack, which averaged 14:59, was led by Jeff Pena, 9th in 14:25 and Chris Benitez 10th in 14:31. Frank Fanelli was the top finisher for Brick Memorial, 23rd in 15:09. Brick Memorial had an impressive 1-5 split of 32 seconds.
North Bergen placed 10th in the boys B Division race.
