Union Catholic Impresses During Battle at OCP, Bonilla Stars

Results | Photos | Videos | Boys Merge | Girls Merge

The NJ No. 1 / US No. 14 Union Catholic girls, led by the near course record run by Paige Sheppard, opened their season by burning up the course and dropping a historic bomb, Logan Rettino continued her amazing comeback, and Max Bonilla and Brody Watt threw down hot times at Friday's Battle at Ocean County Park in Lakewood.

There was a lot of speculation heading into this season about whether the UC girls, who put together the greatest season in New Jersey history last year, could be even better this season.

The answer is YES!!!!!

I know it's only one race, but the Vikings showed that they have the firepower to be the best girls team this state has ever seen with an epic performance as they cooked up the fastest 5-runner average ever recorded by an NJ squad on any course anywhere!!

In the Sophomore Division race, Sheppard ignited a 1-2-3-4 finish with her winning time of 17:14, tied for No. 3 in course history. Cayleigh Kaiser was second in 17:32, No. 13 in course history, Sophia Thompson was third in 17:46, and Kayla Devine finished fourth in 18:03.

When you take those times and add it with the 18:31 that UC's Ella Solorzano ran to win the Junior Division race, the 5-runner average for the Vikings in the two races combined comes to a jaw-dropping 17:50!!!! While this combines multiple races at the same meet, no team in NJ history has ever come close to running that fast!!!!

The next fastest 5-runner average by a NJ team all-time on any course is 18:16, run by Colts Neck at the 2021 Shore Conference Championships, also at Ocean County Park, the fastest course in the state. Colts Neck's time remains the fastest 5-runner average in NJ history for a single race. It should be a matter of time before UC breaks that record.

Sheppard, coming off one of the most stunning freshman years in NJ history, likely would have broken the course record of 17:07 by Lilly Shapiro of Colts Neck in 2021 if it weren't for some confusion late in the race.

Sheppard, second at the Meet of Champions and first at the Nike Northeast Regional last fall, said that with about 200 meters to go an official started blowing their whistle and waving their hands in her direction. Sheppard wasn't sure if it was a signal for her to stop, so she hit the brakes and slowed down, unsure what was happening. By the time Sheppard realized the officials signals weren't intended for her, she picked up the pace again and headed down the final straightaway. Sheppard estimated that the incident cost her about 10 seconds. While disappointed that cost her a chance at the course record, Sheppard handled the situation with class.

THE COMEBACK KID IS MAKING A NAME FOR HER HERSELF IN HER FAMOUS FAMILY 

Rumson Fair-Haven's Logan Rettino, whose grandfather, the late Lou Rettino, was a legendary Hall of Fame Football coach at Union High, is quickly making a name for herself as she adds to her family's legacy of greatness!!! 

Rettino, who missed her entire junior XC season last year with a hip injury, continued her remarkable comeback with her second major win of the season. A week after Rettino finished first at the St. Dominic Invitational at Lincoln Park in Jersey City, she ran a huge PR of 18:14 to win the girls' Senior Division race on Friday.

RECORD BREAKERS

Maximus Bonilla of Elizabeth and John Clark of Christian Brothers Academy each broke records to put an exclamation point on their victories.

Bonilla sliced 42 seconds off his Ocean County Park PR by winning the boys' Senior Division race in 15:11. Bonilla broke his school record for the course which was 15:20 by Lucas Reguinho in 2022.

In the boys' Freshman Division race, Clark shredded the 2-mile freshman course by running 10:38, 10 seconds faster than the previous record of 10:48 that was set last year by Clark's teammate, Gavin Schmitt. Manny Sanchez NJ of Union Catholic also ran under the old freshman CR with his runner-up time of 10:44.    

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BELIEVE THE HYPE

Leah Starkey of Ocean Township took the line for the first high school race of her career with the usual nerves that come with making such a big debut. 

But once the gun went off, the rising star settled in and showcased her talent as she used a big late kick to pull away from Amelia Pattwell for the win, 11:50 to 12:01 over Patwell. Starkey ran 4:59 for 1,600 as an 8th grader and won the women's division in 17:56 at the Bradley Beach 5K this summer.     

VIKINGS SWEEP THE MERGE

Union Catholic finished on top in both the boys ang girls merge scoring.

 In the boys competition,  UC ranked No. 6 in the state, edged No. 5 Cherry Hill East, 54-62. UC averaged a meet best 15:52 and Cherry Hill East averaged 15:56. 

On the girls side, No. 1 ranked UC outscored No. 8 Middletown South, 18-130. UC had six of the 10 fastest times.  

Here are the merged results for the top 2 boys and girls teams -

BOYS

GIRLS

                                                                                                    MORE HIGHLIGHTS

Brody Watt of Bernards, the state Group 2 XC champ last year, won the boys Junior Division race in 15:19. Watt, who ran 16:19 at Holmdel Park last year, said his biggest goal is to break the Bernards CR at Holmdel Park of 15:52, set in 1982 by the great John Carlotti

In the girls' Junior Division race, Ella Solorzano and Emmy O'Hearn went 1-2 for Union Catholic with PR's of 18:31 and 18:37. 

UC, which finished the day with three individual champs in the eight races, also picked up a victory from Finn Riely, who used a strong kick over the final 100 to outduel Cian Sherlock of Cherry Hill East, a step behind Riely. Both runners were timed in 16:14, PR's for both of them!