SOUTH ORANGE, NJ – In a weekend doubleheader, the Our Lady of Sorrows cross-country team competed at Natirir Park on Friday at the Saint Elizabeth Meet and followed that less than 24 hours later with a trip to Greystone Park for the First Annual Saint Mary’s Prep Halloween Meet.
The team was led by eighth-graders Ajamo Carraby-Jones and Nick Torres. Ajamo took two second places, his third and fourth of the season, while closing the gap on the winner each week from 12 seconds in the first meet to 3 seconds in the Saint Mary’s Prep Meet. Nick turned in his best performances of the season with a fourth and a third.
Jared Edwards ran seventh at the Saint E’s meet. This sixth-grader, fighting a stomach ailment, had not run in two weeks. Emma Torres, a fifth-grader, scored two 14th place medals.
The races for the Third and Fourth Grades provided lots of hope for the future. Maudie Grace Lomuscio took 14th on Friday and eighth on Saturday! Isabel Sabnekar finished 15th on Friday, capturing the last medal. Both are third-graders. The boys were even more shocking. On Saturday, second-graders Joe Schmidt, Rafaello, Alfonso Dunmeyer and Brendan McKeon stepped up to help third-graders Aidan Benjamin and Matthew Donohue and fourth-grader Parker Hamilton. Joe took ninth. The youngest team in the race, they put five finishers in the top half of the finishers, serving notice that they will be contenders for the next two years!
There were some frustrations, too, as Amelia Benjamin twice placed 16th and Isabel Sabnekar once. Molly Donohue was stuck in the low 20’s. Gwen Oakley continues to make progress. All are fifth-graders, competing against sixth-graders. Patrick Kenny shows promise at the fifth and sixth grade level and Aryan Sabnekar finishes every race and dreams of the track season.
Parker Hamilton, Lori Kola and Zenya Stewart-Mitchell have never failed to complete a race although they are not medal contenders. The OLS coaches are very proud of them. What keeps these shot-putters going is their dreams of track in the spring!
After four meets, the team is ahead of last year’s record number of medals with two meets to go. With 23 medals, the total could be surpassed Tuesday, Nov. 1, at the 18th Annual OLS Fall Classic with its rugged course. Also, Ajamo and Nick have already qualified as first team league all-stars. Emma and Maudie Grace have qualified for second team honors.
OLS wins five medals at Holy Trinity Cross-Country Invitational
On Oct. 16, in Mountainside, despite competing against the largest field of competitors ever seen at Holy Trinity, OLS grabbed five medals, a slew of near misses and a growing awareness that this team is on the move!
The Seventh and Eighth Grade boys led the scoring with Ajamo Carraby-Jones and Nick Torres placing second and sixth, respectively. Jared Edwards grabbed another second in the Fifth and Sixth Grades event while Pat Kenny continued his impressive debut of last week. Aryan Sabnekar represented the fifth-graders very well.
For the girls, the fifth-graders served notice that they are a steadily improving team. Emma Torres was a little off her pace but still won a medal. Amelia Benjamin and Molly Donohue are now placing better against fifth- and sixth-graders than they did against the third- and fourth-graders last year. Gwen Oakley is a steady and reliable finisher.
However, the third- and fourth-graders, both boys and girls, give followers strong hopes for the future. Maudie Grace medaled again while Isabel Sabnekar ran well despite running out of gas on the last horseshoe turn. Lori Kola and Zenya Stewart-Mitchell followed. The boys were led by Aiden Benjamin, who narrowly missed out on a medal. But he was closely followed by three second-graders – Rafaelo and Alfonso Dunmeyer and Brendan McKeown! Parker Hamilton and Matthew Donohue rounded out the team.
Last year OLS set a team record by winning 27 medals.
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