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Northeast Region Boys Early Season Rankings 2024Published by
Christian Brothers Academy Has All The Pieces Necessary To Secure 15th Trip To Nike Cross Nationals By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor Boys NXR Northeast Preview Christian Brothers Academy had reason to celebrate a sixth-place finish at Nike Cross Nationals last December after the disappointment of 18th the year before. This fall, CBA should be right in the thick of it again, with a team that returns only three varsity runners but has the ability to tap into its deep bench. The school continues to draw some of the best runners in Central New Jersey, as it has for decades. Senior Joe Barrett has been one of the fastest runners in the program for a couple of years already and could break out as a national star. The 8:43 he ran in the 3,200 meters last April put him on a short list with all-time New Jersey greats, like Craig Forys, Joe Rosa and Edward Cheserek. CBA has all the material it needs to get through a successful New Jersey season and make it back to NXN for a 15th time. More intriguing is the battle for the second automatic berth. Ridgefield of Connecticut may have the inside track, and extra motivation after being left out of the at-large selections last year. Haddonfield Memorial of New Jersey and State College Area PA bring back significant chunks of high quality teams from 2023. Individually, it could also get even more interesting since the NXR Northeast meet isn't the same day at Foot Locker Northeast anymore. That should draw in the best runners, who don't have to choose one route to a national meet. Ridgewood NJ's Luke Pash is the only returning NXN individual qualifier. Brenden McMahon of Ridge NJ and Matthew Giardina of Bishop Guertin NH are both back from the top 10. 1. Christian Brothers Academy NJ. The Colts suffered some significant losses to graduation from a team that finished sixth at NXN. Yet still, six runners who ran under 9:25 in the 3,200 meters last spring are back and ready to keep the long streak of New Jersey and regional domination going. Senior Joe Barrett is the leader and ran 8:43.26 in the 3,200 meters at Arcadia last April. CBA's lineup includes junior Wyatt Falkowski and senior Alex Mastroly, who are back from the NXN lineup. Junior Luke Hnatt and senior Ryan Schmitt both ran under 4:20 for 1,600 meters last spring. Sophomore Gavin Schmitt ran 9:24.04 for 3,200 meters in April. 2. Ridgefield CT. Standout Steven Hergenrother may have graduated, but he left a team that brings back the other six from a team that was third at NXR Northeast. Hergenrother represented the school at NXN as an individual last year, but the opportunity for the team to qualify for a trip to Portland is available this fall. Seniors Charles Lovett and Magnus Manley both finished in the top 20 of the regional meet and give the Tigers a solid 1-2 punch. Seniors Trevor Fuller and Sullivan Dunn were last year's 4 and 5 and juniors Aidan Nelson and Pearse McInerney were 6 and 7. 3. Haddonfield Memorial NJ. Last year's top four runners are back in the fold for Bulldawgs, who finished seventh at the New Jersey Meet of Champions. Juniors Luke Andresen, Ryan Gibson and Ben Andrus, and senior Bennett Wright, give the team a solid foundation. The team will need important contributions from seniors Linus Kucer and Case Hurly, and junior Michael Sinnes, to round out the varsity lineup. But this is a deep program with multiple options. 4. State College Area PA. The Little Lions return the 2-3-4-5-6 runners from the team that finished sixth at NXR Northeast last year. Sophomore Theo Oppermann, seniors Owen Coughlin, Stephen Fowler, Isaac Oppermann and Griffin Selber were also part of a team that finished third at the Pennsylvania Class AAA championships with a 36-second compression among the scoring five. (Four of those runners are back). Sophomore Luke Bradbury was team's No. 4 on Saturday when the team rang up 20 points to win the Big Valley XC Invitational. 5. Ridgewood NJ. The highest returning individual from NXR Northeast is senior Luke Pash, who was fifth in the regional meet and then 33rd at NXN. The senior class also includes Ryan Holmes, Jett Lincoln, Trevor Kane, Jack McKenna and Tom Mevissen, who are all capable of elevating Ridgewood to one of the top teams in New Jersey and one of the best five teams in the Northeast. WATCHLIST More news |
