OLS Cross Country Stories 2022
Saint John the Apostle (Clark) and Newark Archdiocesan Championship
November 5, 2022 at Oak Ridge Park, Clark
The season finale saw the cross country team from Our Lady of Sorrows compete at the Varsity (6th, 7th and 8th grades) and Junior Varsity (3rd, 4th and 5th) divisions at the 5th Annual Saint John the Apostle Championships. Each division required five members to score so OLS was out of the team competition but we had a few strong performances.
The highlight was 7th grader Reese Calabrese’s 8th place in the Girls’ Varsity. Joseph Schmidt in his last performance in grammar school competition finished 14th. Christopher Schmidt, a 7th grader, finished in the middle of the pack.
The JV race required our two 4th graders who customarily ran for no more than 3/4 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 our informal North Jersey Catholic Schools association.
October 29th at the Greystone Cross Country Course in Morris Plains
The Cross Country team from Our Lady of Sorrows returned to the familiar Greystone Cross Country course in Morris Plains for the 4th Annual All Hallows meet where they ran the challenging “Black Cat” course for the 3rd & 4thgrades (0.75), the “Bat” course for the 5th & 6th grades (1.35 miles) and the “Pumpkin” course (1.8 miles) for the 7th & 8th grades.
Madison Noesner had another solid performance in the Girls’ “Black Cat” race as did Griffith McShane and Robert Lynch in the boys’ race. This was Robert’s first race and he did well for a novice. Joe Schmidt began his gradual return to form after a two-week illness with a 13th place in the Boys’ 7th & 8th race. Chris Schmidt, a 7th grader, had another strong performance.
Reese Calabrese seems to find a new tool every week in her first season of cross country against very experienced 7th and 8th grade girls. The 7th grader kicked the last 150 yards of the race to grab 4th place, the best performance of any OLS runner this season.
Clark Murphy and Oliver Lee survived the “Fun Run’ for 100 boys and girls from kindergarten to 2nd grade.
Twentieth Annual Holy Trinity School Cross Country Invitational
October 23, 2022 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church & School in Mountainside
With nearly perfect attendance the Our Lady of Sorrows cross country team had the best performance of the season at the 20th Annual Holy Trinity School Invitational. An unusual format pitted single grade runners against each other, rather than the usual two grade format.
Leading off as she has done all season, Reese Calibrise finished 6th against the 7th & 8th Grade Girls and 3rdamong 7th graders. This newcomer has received a lot of notice in her first season. An ailing Joseph Schmidt still managed a 15th place among 8th graders. Two more 7th graders shocked the field. Sean Navin, in his first race, placed 6th and Christopher Schmidt 10th in the 7th Grade race.
There were encouraging results in the lower grades, too, with James Bautista-Turbin placing 14th in the 5thgrade division in his first cross country race while Madison Noesner, improving every week, scored 14th in the Girls’ 4th grade division. Hard-working Griffin McShane also moved up the standings in the Boys’ 4th grade race.
In the “Fun Run” for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders, our trio of Clark Murphy, Juliette Calibrise and Oliver Lee gave OLS great hope for the future of cross country.
Sixteenth Annual Saint Elizabeth School Cross Country Invitational
October 14, 2022
In only the second race of her career, Reese Calabrese led the small contingent from Our Lady of Sorrows in the 13th Annual Saint Elizabeth Cross Country Invitational. The seventh grader placed in the top ten in the Girls’ 7th & 8th Grades race. Zoey Rooplal showed great improvement over last week in the same race. In the races for 3rd & 4thgraders, Madison Noesner was the most improved in the girls’ event and Griffin McShane ran a strong race in the boys’ race.
Next week the larger team will compete in another meet sponsored by Holy Trinity of Westfield.
First Annual Saint Cassian Cross Country Invitational, Brookdale Park, Bloomfield
October 8, 2022
The harriers from Our Lady of Sorrows School shared in a little history today, competing in the inaugural Saint Cassian Invitational, while making history of their own. With just seven runners they placed three runners from 5th to 9th in three races. Two of the medal winners had never competed before!
Alexander Russo provided the first surprise with a 9th place finish in the boys’ race for 5th & 6th graders. Only his inexperience prevented him from placing in the top five. The 7th & 8th grades race for girls provided an even bigger surprise as 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 improvement. The final score came from the veteran Joseph Schmidt in his last season at OLS where he has been a scorer since the second grade. He finished 7th in the race for 7th & 8th graders in his first race of the season.
Not that the other OLS runners were Idle. Madison Noesner ran a very determined race in the Girls 3rd & 4thrace 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.
The OLS team has had to overcome several obstacles this year including a very late start. Look for the progress to continue.
Assumption Cross Country Invitational at Greystone Cross County course, Morris Plains
September 24th
Just two weeks ago there were strong rumors that OLS would not be fielding a cross country team this year. They were wrong and despite a lack of practice three 4th graders - Madison Noesner, Gianluca Ravano and Griffin McShane - competed in the 27th Annual Assumption Invitational. They did not score but they showed promise for the rest of the season and gave notice that OLS is back!
The 23rd Annual Our Lady of Sorrows Fall Classic will be held at Flood’s Hill in south Orange next Saturday, October 1st. Expect OLS to make an impact!