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WAPPINGERS FALLS, NY - U.S. No. 1 ranked Christian Brothers Academy continued its historic season by steamrolling its way to a third straight title with another record-smashing performance. The Union Catholic girls also crushed a record en route to a second straight title when the Garden State flexed its superior firepower at Saturday's 17th Nike Northeast Regional Championships at Bowdoin Park.
New Jersey ruled the day, grabbing all four championships, both team titles and individual crowns.
With undefeated senior Joe Barrett igniting CBA's surge with a winning time of 15:29, the Colts, who took over the No. 1 national ranking this past week, overcame some adversity to take down yet another course record when the Colts dropped the first sub-16 average ever on Bowdoin's rugged 3.1-mile layout.
Barrett, who ran 15:25.5 at Bowdoin in September to become the second fastest runner ever on the course, was in third place after 2.5K. But he hit the gas over the final 1K to lock up the victory.
CBA, despite one of its top runners (Alex Mastroly) falling early, still averaged 15:59.0, had a 1-5 compression of 48.4 seconds, and posted a score of 39 points, which is believed to be a meet record. The Colts won the team title by more than 100 points over the runner-up Nittany Lions Track Club, who earned the second and final automatic national qualifying spot by placing second with 142.
CBA's 15.59 average broke the course record of 16:00 that it set two months ago at the Bowdoin Park Classic. It's the fifth time CBA has taken down a course record this season. CBA's hit list - Bowdoin twice, Holmdel Park twice, and Ocean County Park.
The undefeated Colts put its first five runners in the top 20!
They were Barrett, senior Ryan Schmitt, fifth in 15:54, junior Luke Hnatt, eighth in 16:00, sophomore Ryan Schmitt, 16th in 16:15, and junior Wyatt Falkowski, 20th in 16:18. Falkowski was a huge key, leveling up to secure a scoring position after Mastroly went down.
Mastroly, CBA's No. 2 man at the N.J. State Group Championships two weeks ago and No. 3 guy at the Meet of Champions last week, was dead last after going down when a runner clipped his heel in the first quarter mile. He recovered and fought valiantly to place 24th overall and 7th in CBA's pack in 16:27.
CBA still broke the course record average even after Mastroly's misfortune! How many teams can do that?! That's one of the things that separates CBA from any other team we have ever seen in New Jersey-depth! If you take CBA's top two finishers (Barrett and Ryan Schmitt) out of the scoring, CBA still wins by 70 points!
CBA's victory automatically qualified the Colts for the Nike National Championships, scheduled for Dec. 7 at the Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Oregon, for a remarkable 13th straight year!!!! The Colts have now won 9 Nike NE titles ( 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024).
When CBA toes the line in Portland in two weeks it will be favored to win its second national title. CBA won it all in 2011 at Portland Meadows. The way CBA has been running, it's hard to imagine them not bringing the Natty back to Lincroft if they run up to their potential.
SHEPPARD AND KAISER SPARK VIKINGS TO RECORD-BREAKING REPEAT
Union Catholic has undergone lots of changes in its lineup over the last few weeks, but there's one thing that has remained the same... Winning!
With the potent 1-2 punch of super sophomores Paige Sheppard, first in 18:06, and Cayleigh Kaiser, third in 18:30, spearheading a lethal frontal attack, UC threw down a New Jersey course record average of 19:01 and put its scoring five under 20 minutes to blitz the field with 69 points to clinch its spot in the national championship race. Champlain Valley of Vermont was second with 166 to secure the second and final automatic national qualifier.
The former New Jersey course record average of 19:06 was run by UC at the Nike NE Reginal last year.
This is the second straight title for the unbeaten Vikings and its third straight berth in the national championship race. UC, who finished 10th at the national championships last year, earned a trip to nationals in 2022 after placing second at the regional meet.
The indefatigable and undefeated Sheppard was her usual smooth self, controlling the race the whole way as she simply outclassed and overpowered the field to win her second straight title with a five-second Bowdoin PR. Sheppard's 18:06 is No. 2 in New Jersey history at Bowdoin, narrowly missing the record of 18:00.0 that Charlotte Bednar of Lawrenceville ran to win the NE Regional in 2019.
Kaiser, who said Bowdoin is her favorite course to run, showed why by running a Bowdoin PR of 18:30! UC also received a huge boost from the return of sophomore Sophia Thompson, who missed the last two races with a sore foot. Thompson, a true gamer who always races well even if her training gets interrupted, finished 10th in 18:55, 10 spots ahead of Champlain Valley's No. 1 runner.
Rock steady junior Emmy O'Hearn was the No. 4 runner for UC, placing 31st in 19:39, and sophomore Kayla Devine, one of the gutsiest runners you will ever come across, closed it out by running 19:57 to finish 46th.
UC got bounced out of the national rankings last week after its speed ratings dropped with Thompson out, but with her back in the lineup, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Vikings improve on their 10th-place finish at nationals.
