The Columbia High School boys’ varsity A cross-country team opened its 2017 season by winning the Roxbury Invitational for the second year in a row.
Columbia finished first out of a field of 23 teams. The Cougars defeated their nearest competitor, perennial power Morris Hills, by a score of 60 to 70 (with four runners scoring for each team based on the place they finished). The meet was held at Horseshoe Lake in Roxbury on Sept. 9.
The team was paced by senior Tim Depue, who finished eighth out of 93 runners in a time of 16:28.5. He was quickly followed by fellow seniors David Ives, 11th; Jon Salinardo, 14th; and Jack O’Connell, 26th; a key addition to the team running in his first cross-country race.
Overall, the Columbia cross-country program demonstrated a strong showing under second-year coach Chris Faraone. The boys’ varsity B team took second place out of 14 teams with Ricky Hankey, Will Schabacker, and Ed Martinez finishing close together. The girls’ varsity B team also claimed second place with Sari Rosenberg finishing in third place. In the JV races, both the boys’ and girls’ teams placed third overall.
In the freshman races, Darcy Perlman placed third overall in the girls’ race while Ryan Helfenstein finished 11th in the boys’ race.
The boys’ varsity team looks forward to competing in its next race, the Bowdoin Invitational, when the Cougars travel to Wappingers Falls, N.Y., Saturday, Sept. 23.
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