We already knew that CBA was absolutely loaded and was heading into this season as the best cross country team in the state of New Jersey by far!! And that's a huge understatement!
But after the ridiculous and jaw-dropping results from their time trial on Friday morning, the question that presently looms is whether or not the Colts are the best team in the country - as of now???
A strong case can be made that they are!!!!
Before we go any further, it's important to know that we aren't making any predictions here. It's also important to know that the numbers on paper show that CBA has the talent and potential to be the greatest pack to ever come through NJ, and based on the times you are about to see, the Colts have all the pieces to make a great run at capturing their second Nike National Championship this season.
Here's why!
On Friday morning, CBA Coach Sean McCafferty sent his guys out for CBA's annual 2-mile time trial at Holmdel Park, the state championship course. For those that aren't familiar with the 2-mile layout-basically it's the first mile and last mile of the 5K course. So, the bowl isn't part of it.
Ready for this?!!!!?!
CBA's 5-man average on Friday was 10:21.2!! You read that right!!!
That time smashed the previous course record average by 13 seconds!!!! The previous record of 10:34.4 was run by CBA in 2013, the year the Colts finished second at the Nike National Championship.
For more context about just how impressive their performance was, the 2011 CBA squad, which captured the Nike National title, averaged 10:51.4 at the Time Trial. Last year's CBA pack, who broke the CR average at Holmdel Park with a 15:51.8 at the Non-Public A Championships and finished sixth at the Nike Nationals, averaged 10:43 at the Time Trial.
Senior Joe Barrett, the defending Meet of Champions winner, led the charge on Friday by running 10:06.4 to shatter the individual CR of 10:13 that CBA's Blaise Ferro ran as a junior in 2014. Mike McClemens is next on the all-time list with the 10:17 he ran in 2013. McClemens went on to run 15:26 to win the Meet of Champions title that season.
Here's a breakdown of CBA's historic Time Trial!
CBA'S TOP 5 AT THE TIME TRIAL
Senior Joe Barrett - 10:06.4
Senior Ryan Schmitt-- 10:21.0
Junior Wyatt Falkowski - 10:24.3
Sophomore Gavin Schmitt - 10:27.0
Senior Alex Mastroly - 10:28.0
NOTE- Luke Hnatt, another one of CBA's top guns, didn't run on Friday,. Hnatt, a junior, has run 16:29 at Holmdel and 9:19.82 for 2-miles on the track.
COMING UP
CBA will open its season on Sept. 10 at the A North Championships at Holmdel Park and will aim to extend its national record dual meet winning streak to 400 in a row in a tri-meet vs. Southern and Point Boro on Sept. 18 at CBA. That's right, 400 dual wins in a row. CBA, which began its streak with a 15-50 victory over Marist on Sept. 19, 1974, hasn't lost a dual meet since Oct. 20, 1973 when the Colts lost to Raritan, 15-49.