CROSS COUNTRY 2010

Mr. Raslowski, Xavier President, Mr. Nolan Brooklyn Prep Class of 1949, Mr. Walker Xavier AD and Brooklyn Prep Class of 1971, Mr. Dormer at the finish line.
11/20 Jesuit Championships-  A great way to end the season.  Eliot Kaufmann was able to go undefeated in all league Championships this season.  He is the Sectional, Intersectional and Jesuit Freshmen Cross country champ.  The first time in school history that a Freshmen has accomplished such a feat.  The Varsity ran a valiant race, but lost to their counterparts from Brooklyn Prep.  Brooklyn Prep was the first NYC Jesuit school beating Regis, Xavier Fordham and Cristo Rey.  As many people know, We honored Brooklyn Prep by having those runners from Brooklyn on the Xavier team run as Brooklyn Prep. BP closed its doors in 1972, so this was the first time since then that they were able to compete at Jesuits. Phil Nolan BP'49 showed up to cheer the boys on and he marveled at how  big a meet Jesuits has now become.  Congrats to Ivan Caesar for Breaking the famed 15 minute barrier on his last time over the 2.5 mile course. 

11/13 CHSAA Championships-  The season started out with most coaches in the league viewing our team as an after thought. We were considered to be one of those teams that would round out the top 15 in the league. Not a threat at all. In fact early in the season, our Jesuit brothers (Fordham and Regis) beat us at the Jim Scott 2 Mile challenge.  None of that mattered as the season went on. We improved every week. Not just one or two guys but the whole team saw improvements as the season went on. We developed an ability to run as a pack.  All of these lesson came in handy this weekend as we stormed to a tremendous team performance at the CHSAA championships. The first to race on the day was the JV C team lead by a trio of seniors( Cheah, Netland and Cashin). We were the first NYC team to finish taking 4th over all.  This set the tone for the JV teams as we took 4th in all JV races.  The Varsity 7 ran an inspired race and the finish 6th. It is the 4th time in the past 18 years that we accomplished this feat. The Varsity was lead by a trio of juniors (Zuccarello, Watch and Pucik) All of which qualified for the NYS Federation Championships.  The JV A ran a great team race and had a 5 man average under 15 minutes. The JV B team was made up of all underclassmen so the future looks very bright.  16 Freshmen took up the challenge of the 2.5 miles and 12 of them broke 18 minutes. Elliot Kaufmann broke 15 minutes to earn his Varsity Letter as he also became the 1st frosh since Kevin D'Emic to run on the Varsity at CHSAA Champs.

TOP TIMES FOR THE YEAR SO FAR

Kaufmann and Mr. Dormer after his  historic record setting win.

11/6-CHSAA Frosh Championships-  A historic day for Eliot Kaufmann at VCP today.  The goal all season was to get the school record.  It proved difficult to do with the shifting courses that the freshmen had to endure all season long.  On a picture perfect day for a race, Eliot followed the race plan perfectly.  He ran a comfortable race in 2nd place until he hit the flats after Freshmen hill.  His blazing kick enabled him to open up a 5 second gap upon the 2nd place finisher.  Eliot goes in the record books as the freshmen record holder and the CHSAA Freshmen Champion . Following on this great race, the Frosh B and C teams were able to grab 4th and 3rd place respectively.  

11/6- CHSAA  Soph Championships/- The Sophomore class has over come many difficulties this year.  Injuries took out on of the top members of their class for the season.( Thankfully, he was able to be at VCP to cheer his teammates on.) For the 2nd year in a row, one of the top 3 was sick on the day of the championships.  None of this stopped the sophs as the top 6 in the A race all hit huge Pr's, Highlighted by Berg's breaking 15 mins. The A squad was able to grab 6th place. A tremendous imporvement over last year's finish (14th Place.)  Not to be outdone, the B team grabs 3rd place with 4 guys breaking 17 minutes. This was also an improvement over their 7th place finish last year.

11/6 Clipper Classic- The Juniors and Seniors use this last race as a tune up for next week's championship race. Big drop by Smith who breaks 17 for the first time

George Acevedo leads the JV

The Varsity with their 2nd place plague.
10/30 NYCHSAA Championships-  A great day in the park for Xavier.  Eliot Kaufmann ( who had the fastest frosh time on the day bettering all the runners from BQ as well) started the day off on the right foot by winning the Frosh A race.  This is the first time in school history that we had the Freshman Sectional Cross Country Champ.  Eliot followed the race plan and was able seal the victory with a great sprint to the finish.  Not to be out done the Frosh B team ran a very competitive race and was able to grab the 2nd Place Plaque. The Race of the day was definitely the Varsity Race.  According to some polls and rankings, we were supposed to finish 7th as a team, but as we always saw the races are run on the course not on paper. A balanced attack by the Varsity had 7 runners across the line in the top 30, and we were able to grab the silver plaque of 2nd place.  Not to be outdone the JV, which had 7 underclassmen in the top 8 took 2nd place as well.  On the day, we had 10 guys under 15 minutes for the 2.5 mile course and 20 freshmen under 11 minutes.

The start at Burnt Hills. Photos courtesy of www.bhblrunners.com.   
10/16 Burnt Hills Invitational- The Varsity grabs 4th while the JV takes 7th.  Tremendous improvements over last year.  Greg Watch leads the Varsity by breaking 17 mins. 9 Guys break 18 mins with 3 more knocking at the door with sub 18:05 races. George Acevedo leads the JV for the 2nd year in a row. Eliot Kaufman runs a great race placing in the top 5 for JV.

10/15 Fordham Prep Frosh XC Relays/ NYC XC Festival/-  A Windy Day at VCP yields some great times.  The Guys who ran Varsity jumped into the most competitive race of the day and ran tough. The JV steps up with a majority of the team running all time bests.  The Freshmen compete in the historical Fordham Prep Relays. The B Team was able to grab medals.

10/13- NYCHSAA Sophomore Champs- A great team effort as the Sophs take 4th place by 3 points.  Tremendous PR's as 75% of sophs who ran hit all time personal best performances. 5 guys break 16 minutes for the 1st time this year.

10/16 Burnt Hills Invitational-  here is a list of who is making the trip and who should see Mr. Dormer.

10/8 All Hallows / Manhattan College Invite. A Great Holiday weekend for the team. A majority of the team raced Friday at All Hallows and we had some nice performances.  On Saturday, at the Largest Meet in the country, we posted some great performances.  Greg Watch leads the varsity for 1st time this year with a big personal best.  Eliot Kaufman continues to pace the Freshmen with a sub 7 minute posting.

The Varsity Cross Country Squad dedicates the season to Xavier ledgend,Jim Scott.
10/2 McQuaid/NYC Mayor's Cup-  Over the weekend, the team saw action in two different places.  The Varsity and JV traveled north to McQuaid.  9 runners make the all time list for McQuaid with their performances this weekend. Chris DeLorenzo leads the Varsity with a personal best of over 1 minute. The team raced together and were very aggressive, which acounts for the tremendous improvements.  Meanwhile back in the Bronx, The Freshmen took 2nd at Mayors.  The y post a 5 man average of 9:32. Eliot Kaufman breaks 9 for the 1st time.  Frosh break 10 for the course and 18 break 11 minutes.  A great effort by the JV guys who stepped up to race in the Championships race.

Eliot Kaufman as he heads to the cow path
9/25 32nd Xavier Invitational-  It was hot on the sun baked fields of Van Cortlandt Park. As hot as the August time trial. The knights showed that they were ready to compete no matter what the temperature. First up was the Freshmen.  In the A race, which took a wrong turn, Eliot Kaufman ran a gutsy race to grab 2nd place overall. All 9 Frosh in the race would finish in the top 30 for the race. Xavier Claude made his debut taking 2nd for the A squad just in front of Chris Cole, Christian Conlon and Joe Shashaty.  The Frosh A team won the race. The Freshman B team was lead by Gianluca Casapietra who ran a 10:12 and lead 7 runners under 11 minutes.  The would take 3rd.  Not to be outdone the Sophomores also won their race in convincing fashion, they placed 6 runners in the top 13 for the race, with Billy Dunn running a 90 second personal best.  Joe Klein lead the Junior race hitting a personal best of 16:20. He and Dan Morgan would lead a junior squad to a 4th place finish.  In the Varsity race, we had our top 6 come across the line in the space of 24 seconds. Once again the team ran together and it paid off as we won the varsity race.  Picture to come.

A Special Thank You to the Xavier Parents who were there to support the team and help out with the meet. I know I speak for everyone when I say your support means the world to us. (especially to me)  Also I would like to thank Mr. McCabe and his gang, Mr. Raslowsky and his son and the ever present Mr. Paolozzi for coming out to support the team at our meet.

9/20 Jim Scott 2 Mile Challenge- A good day in the Bronx.  Some bright spots as the Frosh and JV run some great times.  Greg Watch leads the Varisty with 4 guys breaking 11 minutes. Eliott Kaufman wins the Frosh race by 6 seconds and Isidro Camacho leads the JV with an impressive 5:06

Isidro Camacho runs a great first race to lead the sophs.
9/18 Regis Invitational-  A great start to the season. Eliot Kaufman posts the fastest 1st time performance for a frosh since Ryan Harmon in 1997. This already puts him in the top 20. 11 Freshmen under 11 minutes. A great start.  Isidro Camacho runs a huge personal record(pr) more than 2 minutes faster than last year. He leads 3 sophs under 15:35.  Dan Morgan leads the Junior in the junior race with a solid sub 16:20 posting.  In the Varsity Race, 3 runners across the line in 2 seconds. Maiocco and Pucik drop about 1:30 from the time trials.  Varsity takes 5th overall.

9/3 Jesuit Pre Season Time Trial- A good start to the season as we took to the course against Fordham and Regis.

DIRECTIONS TO VAN CORTLANDT PARK

 BY TRAIN:    Take the 1 or 9 train to the last stop 242^nd Street .  Exit walk toward the Burger King.

The park is diagonally across from Burger King.  We meet at the benches that are right where you enter the Park

BY CAR :  Take the Major Deegan Expressway to the Van Cortlandt Park South exit.  As you exit bear right.  Continue  straight ahead  toward Broadway, bear right at Broadway.  Proceed down Broadway to the area of the Park diagonally across from Burger King.

Sprinters : 
11/22- Central PArk
11/23-11/29 TBA

Soph Cross Country:
11/22- Central PArk
11/23-11/29 OYO  

Frosh Cross Country: 
11/22- Central PArk
11/23-11/29 OYO  

Kelly's Squad:
11/22: Commons
11/23 Strength test
11/24-11/29: OYO 
Weight room is open on Friday 2-4

New Runners
11/22 +11/23- Central PArk
11/24-11/29 Check Webpage 

NEW RUNNERS:
11/15-11/18: Central PArk

Bring a bottle of water to practice everyday.

Upcoming Meets:
11/6 CHSAA Soph and Frosh Champs at VCP

11/6 Clipper Classic for Juniors and Seniors who want a race

11/13  CHSAA Varsity and JV Championships

11/20 NYS Federation Champs and Jesuit Champs

INDOOR RECORDS are UPDATED by 3/21/10