MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — With nearly perfect attendance, the Our Lady of Sorrows cross-country team had the best performance of its season at the 20th annual Holy Trinity School Cross Country Invitational on Sunday, Oct. 23. An unusual format pitted single-grade runners against one another, rather than the usual two-grade format.
Leading off as she has done all season, Reese Calabrese finished sixth against the seventh- and eighth-grade girls and third among seventh graders. This newcomer has received a lot of notice in her first season. An ailing Joseph Schmidt still managed a 15th place among eighth graders. Two more seventh graders shocked the field. Sean Navin, in his first cross-country race, placed sixth and Christopher Schmidt 10th in the seventh-grade race.
There were encouraging results in the lower grades, too, with James Bautista-Turbin placing 14th in the fifth-grade division in his first cross-country race while Madison Noesner, improving every week, scored 14th in the girls fourth-grade division. Hardworking Griffin McShane also moved up the standings in the boys fourth-grade race.
In the fun run for kindergarten, first and second grade, the trio of Clark Murphy, Juliette Calabrese and Oliver Lee gave OLS great hope for the future of cross-country.