No. 8 Colts Get 1-2 Finish From Joe Barrett, Jack Falkowski On The Way To Victory Over No. 28 Brookline MA

By John Nepolitan of DyeStat

PHOTO GALLERIES - BOYS | GIRLS

Christian Brothers Academy NJ opened its season with a dominant win Saturday over another regionally ranked opponent in the Northeast at the Bowdoin Park Cross Country Classic. 

Racing on the NXR Northeast course, No. 8 CBA got a 1-2 finish in the 5-kilometer competition from Joe Barrett (15:50.1) and Jack Falkowski (15:54.8) and three more teammates were in the top nine of the Varsity II race. 

CBA scored 24 points to beat No. 28 Brookline of Massachusetts, the third-ranked team in the Northeast region. The Colts' 16:07.5 team average is the second-fastest ever on course and the fastest by a New Jersey team. 

Barrett led wire to wire and posted an early season time that was just shy of an all-time top 50 performance at Bowdoin Park. 

CBA ran hard as a group early, while Brookline took a more conservative approach, hanging back for the first mile and then moving up over the final two miles. Brookline put five scorers in the top 16. 

Ben Kasen led Brookline by placing sixth in 16:17.0.  

In the Varsity I race, Avery Keith Westfield NJ, the Northeast No. 4 team, pulled away from Jack Ouellette of Xavier CT over the final 1,000 meters for the 16:03.6 to 16:08.4 win.

Westfield scored 38 points and Xavier was second with 104. In the boys merge, CBA came out on top with 36 points with Westfield second with 83 points and Brookline third with 98.

One of the day's surprises was a seventh place in the merge for Stissing Mountain NY, a small school with 505 students in grades 6-12. 

Sophia McInnes (Bayport Bluepoint NY) posted the fastest girls time of the day, running 18:26.1 to win the Varsity II race. She was the only runner to crack 19 minutes.

Sarah Lawson of Corning-Painted Post NY outkicked Olivia Murray of Pingry School NJ to win the Varsity I race, 19:07.4 to 19:09.4.

The team battle in the Varsity I race was close, with Haddonfield NJ scoring 81 points to beat Pingry School NJ (84) and Corning-Painted Post (86). The merge of the two varsity races was even closer, with Haddonfield, Pingry School and Corning scoring 124, 125 and 128 points, respectively.