Brian McCormack, Abhishek Dixit, Vinny Marinaro, Kevin Zhang, Nick Duca, Sean Bernardo, and Aiden Hamlin.
NUTLEY, NJ – The Nutley High School boys’ cross-country team followed up an undefeated dual meet season by capturing the Super Essex Conference-Liberty Championship meet title in dominating fashion on Oct. 3 at Branch Brook Park in Newark.
The Raiders scored 49 teams points to runner-up Cedar Grove’s 107. It marks the first SEC Liberty team title for the Raiders since 2014.
The Raiders were led by senior Vinny Marinaro, who ran a course Personal Record 17:55 and finished fourth overall. That was the fifth fastest time ever run by a Raider. Second for the Raiders was sophomore Sean Bernardo, who clocked an 18:26 to finish eighth overall. Nick Duca ran a 18:54 to finish 10th. All three earned First Team All-SEC honors for their efforts.
The Raiders then had Aiden Hamlin (19:15), Kevin Zhang (19:18) and Abhishek Dixit (19:37) finished 13th, 14th and 15th in the race. Brian McCormack was 17th for the Raiders in 20:46.
In the JV Race, the boys finished sixth overall with 213 points. Anish Kumar (20:39) and Luca Vespa (20:43) led the Raiders. Jimmy Bernardo was third for the Raiders in 21:23 and fellow freshman Dan Harrington clocked a 22:35. Brandon DeFluri’s 22:44 was fifth for the Raiders.
The NHS girls’ team raced in the SEC-American Division Championships also on Oct. 3 at Branch Brook Park. The Raiders wound up in ninth place with 233 points.
The Raiders were led by Kate Contini, who covered the course in 23:11. Isabel Lopez claimed the two spot for the Raiders in 23:33. Morgan DeFluri crossed third for the Raiders in 24:02. Emily McIntyre was fourth for the Raiders in 24:45. Gianna Marinaro ran a 25:37 for the five spot for the Raiders.
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