The Columbia boys cross-country varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams gather after sweeping their respective Essex County championship races at Cedar Grove Park on Friday, Oct. 24. Not pictured, the Columbia girls varsity team was second, and the junior varsity and freshman teams finished first.
MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — For the third consecutive season, the Columbia High School boys cross-country program swept the varsity, junior varsity and freshman team championships at the Essex County Championships on Friday, Oct. 24, at Cedar Grove Park.
The CHS girls varsity team finished second overall behind Millburn among the 14 schools, led by senior Keira Monagle, who took first place for the second straight season.
The CHS girls freshman and junior varsity teams won their respective team titles.
The following are their results:
Boys
In the varsity race, the Cougars had a score of 44 points among the 22 schools. Senior Leo Klint finished in second place in 16 minutes, 11.46 seconds on the 5,000-meter course.
The following are CHS’ other varsity runners:
- Sophomore Thomas Walmsley, ninth place, 16:49.43.
- Junior Julius Marshall, 10th, 17:03.77.
- Junior Levi Taber-Kewene, 11th, 17:05.50.
- Sophomore Nathan Simonich, 12th, 17:06.94.
- Junior Evan Waller, 13th, 17:06.96.
- Senior Christian Caravetta, 20th, 17:32.76.
In the junior varsity, sophomore Ethan Hart took second place in 17:46.16; sophomore Gabriel Fish took fifth place in 17:53.85, sophomore Ethan Nanscawen was sixth in 17:55.09, junior Dominic Simonetti was seventh in 17:56.58, sophomore Liam Gries was eighth in 18:01.72, senior Theo Galkin was 15th in 18:27.01, and sophomore Samuel Berlin was 17th in 18:29.94 to lead CHS.
In the freshman race, James Evangelista finished in first place in 10:20.80 and Henry Scarfone took second place in 10:32.30. Ollie Galkin took fifth place in 10:44.60, Trevor Butkus was seventh in 10:46.70, Jake Kleinman was 11th in 10:52.50 and Blake Waller was 15th in 11:01.90.
Girls
In the varsity race, Monagle won the race in 18:55.57 in a field of 116 runners.
Senior Kendall Waite took 15th in 20:50.42, senior Gwendolyn Butkus was 16th in 21:13.90, junior Ameli Witherspoon was 25th in 21:48.87, junior Elizabeth Leahy was 32nd in 22:04.36 and sophomore Amalia Mullen was 39th in 22:24.70.
In the junior varsity race, sophomore Emily Tong took second place in 22:42.14, senior Ella Kohol was fourth in 22:55.06, sophomore Katherine Calhoon was fifth in 23:07.34, sophomore Penelope Song was eighth in 23.35.11, senior Caroline Shaw was 13th in 24.16.01, junior Rosemary Thomasch was 19th in 25.24.80 and sophomore Amelia Schubel was 34th in 27:37.89.
In the freshman race, Cece Taber-Kewene took fourth place in 12:33.71, Niko Reese was fifth in 12:35.71, Antonia Trujillo-Gomez was ninth in 13:28.00, Paloma Matte was 11th in 13:42.30, Piera Villalobos Starr was 18th in 14:09.00 and Sylvia Kantor was 25th in 14:59.00.
The CHS boys and girls teams, under head coaches Alex Simon and Michael Johnson, will gear up for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state championships on Saturday, Nov. 1, at Greystone–Central Park in Morris Plains.
Photos Courtesy of Columbia HS Cross-Country
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