Our Lady of Sorrows cross-country impresses in final race of season

MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The season finale saw the cross-country team from Our Lady of Sorrows compete at the varsity (sixth, seventh and eighth grades) and junior varsity (third, fourth and fifth grades) divisions at the fifth annual St. John the Apostle Championships. Each division required five members to score; because of this, OLS was out of the team competition, but OLS still had a few strong performances.

The highlight was seventh-grader Reese Calabrese’s eighth-place finish for the girls varsity. Joseph Schmidt, in his last cross-country performance in the grammar school competition, finished 14th. Christopher Schmidt, a seventh-grader, finished in the middle of the pack.

The JV race required OLS’ two fourth-graders, who customarily ran for no more than three-quarters of a mile, to step up to 1.4 miles, but Madison Noesner handled it well, finishing with a strong kick. Griffith McShane did equally well in the boys race.

In recognition of her outstanding performances during the season, Reese was named a first team All Star in the informal North Jersey Catholic schools association.