MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ – Five hundred miles of summer running certainly paid off when the Columbia High School varsity boys’ cross country team won the Roxbury Invitational, their first competition of the season, on Saturday, Sept. 10. Under the direction of Coach Chris Faraone, Columbia’s new head coach, the team ran his intense program of high mileage training this summer which prepared them well for this highly competitive invitational.
Columbia finished first out of a field of 19 teams, including perennial cross-country powers Morris Hills and Mendham. They defeated their nearest competitor, Morris Hills, by a score of 41-54, with four runners scoring for each team based on the place they finished.
The team was paced by junior David Ives, who finished fourth out of 80 runners in a time of 16:34 (5:50/mile). Also scoring for the Cougars were senior captain Jared Pangallozzi (ninth), junior Tim Depue (14th), and junior Avery Coreschi (24th) in his first-ever cross-country race.
The next cross country varsity invitational that the team will compete in is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 24 when the Cougars travel to Wappingers Falls, N.Y. to run in the Bowdoin Invitational.