The NJ State Cross Country Championships were held at Holmdel Park on Saturday, November 16, 2019 and neither the infamous "Bowl" nor the frigid 34 degree temperatures could keep the Spartan boys from making Immaculata history. Senior Co-Captain TJ Harkins is the first Spartan boy in Immaculata history to earn the title of State Champion in Cross Country. This is his 3rd state title after his two wins in Spring Track last year. TJ has now earned 3 consecutive trips to the NJSIAA XC Meet of Champions.
Junior James Ptack took 2nd place, giving Immaculata their first ever 1-2 finish in a state championship meet. His great finish earned him his first career bid to the Meet of Champions.
Senior Co-Captain Michael Blandino finished in 9th place, earning him his first bid to the Meet of Champions. Along the way, he tied his own course PR.
TJ, James, and Michael led the team to a 2nd place finish that earned the Spartan boys their first-ever berth in the most prestigious running event in all of NJ high school running: the NJSIAA XC Meet of Champions. The rest of this historic Spartan team consists of sophomores Michael Harkins and Curtis Quintos, and freshmen Michael Schippnick and Enrique Riego. In addition, this is the first time in Immaculata history that 3 individual runners qualified for the MOC's in the same season.
Our girls Cross Country team came in tenth with sophomore Alison Naples emerging as our top female runner, coming in 34th place. All seven runners earned course personal records yesterday. With a team consisting of five Sophomores (Alison Naples, Alyssa Amster, Lauren Beers, Alicia Leclerc, and Ivy Zaleski) and two Freshmen (Fiona Quinn and Ella Cosman), the future looks really bright for this young squad.
Huge shout-out to Tom Harkins, dad of TJ and Michael, who have provided Immaculata with literally hundreds of pictures and great writeups.
What a great season for our runners and Coach Chris Heibell '05. Looking forward to next Saturday, November 23, 2019, for the Meet of Champions at Holmdel Park at 11:30 AM.