Colonia Cross Country has had 2 rough years. This is the last season for a majority of the boys on the team. So this year, they have shown in their first meet they are ready to bring the high school’s Cross Country team to a winning season that they haven’t had in 2 years.
The boys won their meet in impressive fashion by beating Cardinal McCarrick and South River high school. Beating both by the scores 25-30 (lower scores win) the boys celebrated knowing that this season was going to be special. Josh Donnelly, Julio Ortiz and Eric Marcus grabbed 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Josh Donnelly had a personal best of 17:31 and Julio Ortiz getting 17:36 which is also a personal best. Eric Marcus who is a sophomore had a time of 17:41 and this is his first year of Cross Country. The girls’ team also won their meet against both of these teams.
After the race I asked Josh Donnelly how he thought, the season would go from this point forward. He stated, “I honestly believe that this will be a season to remember. I am ready to have a winning season and with my teammates, I believe that we will do well.” At the match Josh’s older brother, Jake Donnelly was there. Jake Donnelly had run Cross Country for four years and graduated Colonia High School two years ago. Jake has seen many of the current seniors grow up when they were younger. I asked him how he believed the team has matured over the years, he responded by saying, “Watching so many of these runners as freshmen grow up to be great runners, I am so happy to see that.”
The girls cross country team had also won their meet. The top runners for the team consisted of Shelby Piccinic, Rylie Ellam, Jayme and Sarah Sydlo. Shelby is a freshman and she has shown she can be a dominant runner. Running a 20:11 in her first ever race, she has beaten the school record for the course and with this time is ranked 3rd in the state. Mrs. Lopusnick who was the former girls’ Cross Country coach was at the meet. When asked what she would miss most about coaching the team, she responded, “What I would miss most about coaching is everything. It’s sad that I won’t be able to coach a sport that I enjoy so much. It is even sadder that I won’t see the kids I have been coaching for 4 years.” Coach Lopusnick cannot coach cross country this year because she took up an administrative for another school. Mr.Quick had taken over the girls Cross Country team since the summer
The Boys and Girls Cross Country team will continue their season on October 7th. Their record is currently 3-3.
