Cate DeSousa of Red Bank Catholic capped off her great season with a strong race, Christian Brothers Academy placed 18th, and the Union Catholic girls were 22nd at Saturday's 17th Team National Championships at the Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Oregon.
It was the first National Team Championship since 2019. The last two meets were cancelled due to the pandemic
The University of Virginia-bound DeSousa, the NJ State Non-Public A champion, ran 18:06 to finish a very impressive 47th in the field of 195 runners.
In the boys race, Christian Brothers Academy, making its 11th straight appearance at the National Championships, finished 18th with 402 points.
CBA, ranked No. 1 in NJ and No. 3 nationally, came into the race undefeated and was bidding to win its second national title to go with the championship it won in 20:11.
The five scorers for CBA, the Northeast Regional champion, were senior Nick Sullivan, 53rd in 15:50, senior or Zach Shroba, 117th in 16:23, junior Conor Clifford, 123rd in 16:27, 140th in 16:36, and sophomore Joe Barrett, 164th in 16:49. The Villanova-bound Sullivan was one of only two boys in the race who competed at the National Championships as a freshman in 2019.
During CBA's remarkable 11-year run at Nike Nationals, the Colts finished fifth in 2010, first in 2011, fourth in 2012, second in 2013, 11th in 2014, 20th in 2015, seventh in 2016, seventh in 2017, 18th in 2018, 16th in 2019 and 18th in 2022. The meet wasn't held in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. In CBA's two other appearances at nationals, the colts finished 11th in 2004 and eighth in 2005.
In the girls team competition, NJ No. 1 ranked Union Catholic, making its first appearance at the national meet, scored 517 points to place 22nd to cap off a magical season for the Vikings, who won its first ever NJ Meet of Champions title last month and placed second at the Northeast Regional last week. UC's five scorers were senior Kaleigh Gunsiorowski, 91st in 18:43, junior Courtney Kaiser, 134th in 19:16, junior Leilani Gibson, 172nd in 20:05, freshman Emmy O'Hearn, 180th in 20:21, and junior Caitlin Toy, 183rd in 20:25.