Our Lady of Sorrows cross-country team gives fine efforts at meets

MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Our Lady of Sorrows School cross-country team participated in the inaugural Saint Cassian Cross-Country Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 8, at Brookdale Park in Bloomfield.

With just seven runners, the team placed three, from fifth place to ninth place, in three races. Two of the medal winners had never competed before.

Alexander Russo provided the first surprise with a ninth-place finish in the boys race for fifth- and sixth-graders. It seems only his inexperience prevented him from placing in the top five. 

The seventh- and eighth-grade race for girls provided an even bigger surprise. Seventh-grader Reece Calabrese, in her first race ever, took aim at the first pack of runners and placed fifth. Already, she is working on improving. The final score came from the veteran Joe Schmidt in his last season at OLS, where he has been a scorer since the second grade. He finished seventh in the race for seventh- and eighth-graders in his first race of the season.

Madison Noesner ran a very determined race in the girls third- and fourth-grade race, as did Griffith McShane in the boys race. Seventh-grader Christopher Schmidt stepped up to the senior race and placed in the middle of the pack. It was also his first race of the season.

Prior to that meet, OLS competed in the 27th Assumption Cross-Country Invitational at the Greystone cross-country course in Morris Plains on Sept. 24.

Despite a lack of practice, three fourth-graders — Madison Noesner, Gianluca Ravano and Griffin McShane — competed. Though they did not score, they showed promise for the rest of the season and gave notice that OLS is back.

  Our Lady of Sorrows cross-country