By Brian Towey for DyeStat

Wappinger’s Falls, N.Y. – Dual-meet streaks bear resonance for many high school cross country programs.

For New Jersey powerhouse Christian Brothers Academy, the team’s 352 straight wins in dual meets hold special significance.

CBA is defined by its tradition, one laid down by former coach Tom Heath, who, over 45 seasons, presided over 343 consecutive wins in dual meets, a feat stretching back to 1974.

At CBA, where it’s common for runners to have had fathers, or older brothers, who ran in the program before them – and contributed to the legacy – the meaning of “the streak” is on another level.

“The dual-meet streak is something here to challenge us every year,” third-year coach Sean McCafferty said. “Four of those kids, their fathers ran on the team here during the streak. Even older brothers.

“That’s the thing that’s the glue of this program. Beyond that, winning state championships and national championships, (that’s important). But the dual-meet streak, whether you never run in the top seven, you were a part of it.”

McCafferty explained that seldom does CBA run its top seven runners together. Instead, younger runners are inserted into the lineup during a dual meet to test their mettle.

“We had a dual meet in the past week,” McCafferty said. “We had to put some pressure on some guys and insert them into the top seven. Then when you need them in a state meet, when somebody’s injured, they’re ready.”

CBA won the formidable Varsity 1 race Saturday at the Bowdoin Cross County Classic, holding off New Jersey rival Haddonfield 73-95 (Staples of Westport, Conn., an NXN finalist last year, finished third with 108 points).

“We went out a little too hard,” said McCafferty of his group, which was led by second-place finisher Brian Hill (16:05.1) and 12th-place finisher Tim McInerny (16:47.1).

“We needed to be more conservative in the first mile. The last mile we were struggling. If you change that, we’re 15 seconds better.”

McCafferty, who ran at CBA for a year and a half in high school before transferring to Central Regional High (and later running at Princeton), took over the Colts’ coaching job following two years as an assistant after an accomplished career as the head coach at nearby Holmdel High.

“Leaving Holmdel, which is five miles down the road, at first it was hard,” McCafferty said. “But the kids, and the parents, really dedicate themselves to cross country."

Following last year’s seventh-place finish at NXN – and third at New Jersey's rugged Meet of Champions – CBA was back in attack mode at Bowdoin Park, the site of the 2017 NXN Northeast Regional.

For the navy blue-clad warriors, it’s a debt owed to Heath. And to “the streak.”

“Every day, we’re reminded of the tradition,” McCafferty said. “Tom Heath made this program into something special. Even my father, who coached at (nearby) St. Joseph’s Metuchen in the early 1970s, said Heath wasn’t great then. But by the end of the 70s, they weren’t behind anyone.

“Losing a dual meet here is more pressure than never winning an invitational. Those guys, they’re under a lot of pressure.”

James Madison VA seeks to up profile in big meets

Unlike many teams Saturday at Bowdoin Park, James Madison High of Vienna, Va., didn’t come to the course for a preview of the NXN Northeast venue.

Instead, coaches Craig Chasse and Matt Kroetch sought out the meet to expose their runners to competition in the Northeast, and a challenging new course.

“We’re trying to make our cross country program a regional/national program,” said Kroetch of Madison, the defending Virginia 6A state champion in boys and third-place finisher in girls.

“Last year we went to Kentucky. This year we came here.”

Madison’s trip to New York was made with certain goals in mind: namely, providing its runners with a rigorous, hilly course.

“Back in northern Virginia we’re used to pretty flat courses,” said senior Elizabeth Wu, who finished fifth in the Girls Varsity 2 race in 20:09.60.

“It’s definitely a much more challenging course, with the altitude here.”

Led by Wu and ninth-place finisher Merrill Leak (20:45.10), Madison easily won the Girls Varsity 2 race by a 69-109 margin over Kingsway NJ.

“Running at Great Meadows (in Gardner, Va.) where we have our state meet, when it gets cold, when it gets wet, the course changes,” Kroetch said. “Running on a course like this is good for them. It instills toughness.”

For Chasse, who ran at the University of Maryland in 1987-88 and at Oakland Mills High in Columbia, Md., and Kroetch, who competed at Virginia Tech and for California University (Pa.) under Irish 800-meter record holder Daniel Caulfield, the mentality of the program has changed dramatically.

“Four or five years ago we decided we were going to make it a serious program,” Kroetch said. “We had the type of kids who would go and hide in the woods. ... Now we have a culture where you can have fun and be successful.”

Now Madison, which counts running alumni at colleges like James Madison, William and Mary and Virginia Tech, seeks out these types of trips as a program-builder.

The Warhawks make a regular stop at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, N.C. The Bowdoin Cross Country Classic, with its generous uphills and rigorous, rolling course, adds a different wrinkle.

“It makes you appreciate how slow the times are in the Northeast,” Kroetch said. “At Virginia Tech, I had friends from the Northeast and they’d run some really slow times. ... Tough courses produce tough kids.”

NXN berth by Staples ups the ante in Connecticut

When Connecticut’s Staples High qualified for the boys championship race at Nike Cross Nationals, it was a defining moment for cross country in the state.

“I think with Staples making it out to Portland last year it was like, ‘Oh crap, we’ve got to go (to the Bowdoin Cross Country Classic),’” Xavier CT coach Chris Stonier said. “We’ve got to start this tradition. It opened their eyes that there’s more than (in-state running) beyond Connecticut.”

By Stonier’s count, five of the top 10 boys teams in the state were in attendance Saturday at Bowdoin Park.

Staples placed third in the Varsity 1 race behind Christian Brothers Academy and Haddonfield, N.J., William Hall of West Hartford was fifth in Varsity 1 with 153 points,Fairfield Warde took ninth in Varsity 1 and Xavier finished fifth in the Varsity 2 race with 133 points.

“It’s really about finding the best competition we can,” William Hall coach Jeff Billing said. “We can’t go to Manhattan College because it’s too late in our schedule. Five of the top 25 teams in the country are here.”

For Staples, which graduated ace Zakeer Ahmad (University of Pennsylvania) yet returns its Nos. 2-5 runners, this season holds plenty of promise, and not just for them.

“Wardle and Hall from Connecticut have strong top sevens,” Staples coach John “Laddie” Lawrence said. “It’s going to be an interesting year.”