Bloomfield HS cross-country program enjoys successful season

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield High School cross-country program, under head coach Chris Romano, enjoyed a successful season this fall.

“The biggest surprise of the season occurred for the girls team during Essex County Championships,” Romano said in an email to The Independent Press. “The meet started with Kaitlyn Adams finishing in first place in the Freshman 3,200-meter run with a time of 14:13.40. Kaitlyn has worked hard all season in her first year in competitive running. Kaitlyn earned a varsity letter as a freshman at BHS.”

During the girls varsity contest, senior captain Lizbeth Morocho earned second team All-Essex County honors, finishing the race with a time of 21:00.00. Morocho finished in the top 20 of all Essex County females. The last Lady Bengal to earn a medal at the Essex County Championships was Nora Kalepka in 2009, Romano noted.

The boys team completed a successful season as well. They finished a 10-0 Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division regular season with a division championship. The season concluded with a top-10 finish at the Essex County Championships.

The BHS cross-country program is on the rise, much to Romano’s delight.

“The team is ready to build off this 2019 success and go into the 2020 season with much confidence and experience,” Romano said. “Bloomfield cross-country is building a program that is giving student-athletes the opportunity to run in college and earn scholarship money. The past two years have seen Bengals earn All-Essex County honors. The program has grown to about 50 runners and we encourage all middle school and high school students to consider joining a sport that teaches lifelong lessons of personal health and mental toughness.

“We are a family that, year after year, produces great student-athletes with the highest GPA’s in district,” Romano concluded.