LSXC Competes in Manhattan Invitational

The La Salle Cross Country team travelled to New York City over the weekend to run at historic Van Cortlandt Park in the Manhattan Invitational, the biggest High School Invitational in the United States. The meet served as the final preparation for the team as they head into the championship season next weekend at the PCL Championships (followed by PIAA District and State Championships).

The day began with the Freshman race over 2K (1.25 miles). The freshman emerged victorious in the Freshman "D" race (races are randomly assigned), led by the strong trio of Owen Norris, Michael Lombardi, and AJ Frank as they placed 4-5-6 in 6:31, 6:32, and 6:33. Following quickly behind them were scorers Patrick Coyle (11^th in 6:41) and Brendan Fry (13^th 6:42), and Max Manganiello (14^th in 6:44) and Peter Re (18^th in 6:50).

Next race of the day for the Explorers was the JV A team in the JV Boys "B" race. They too were victorious. Led by the 1-2 finish from Grifin Pumilia (13:51 over 4K, 2.5 miles) and Matthew Zilligen (13:58). Not far behind them came the rest of the scorers, Thomas Price in 5^th (14:09), Conor Christian in 6^th (14:09), and Dan Gervino in 8^th (14:10).

La Salle's JV B team ran in the JV Boys "D" race and placed 2^nd. They were paced by Michael Loftus in 9^th (14:33), Shawn McKenna in 11^th (14:38), Sean Krumenacker in 14^th (14:44), Michael Reilly in 23^rd (14:53), and Ben McGrath in 26^th (14:59).

The final race of the day was the incredibly deep and competitive Eastern States Championship race, which featured many of the top programs on the East Coast. The Explorers scored 254 points, just 43 points away from 5^th place. The team results prove just how tough the competition was – 1^st place Christian Brothers Academy (NJ) in US#8/NJ#1, 2^nd place Fayetteville-Manlius (NY) is US#20/NY#1, 3^rd place Green Hope (NC) is US#11/NC#1, 4^th place Niskayuna (NY) is NY#4, 5^THplace Kingsway (NJ) is NJ#2, 6^th place Corning (NY) is NY#3, 7^th place Bolles (FL) is South East region #5/FL#1. In such a big race the Explorers received some gritty performances, led by Evan Addison's hard earned 23^rd place (13:03) and Vince Twomey's impressive 28^th place finish (13:07). Behind them was the tight pack of Brady Koors (56^th in 13:25) who moved up incredibly throughout, Ethan Maher (66^th in 13:28) who maintained his place impressively, and Sean Egan (81^st in 13:37) who grinded his way through the thick field well. The entire team certainly gained invaluable big meet racing experience that they will look to carry with them into championship season.

Next up is the PCL Championship on Saturday, October 21^st at Belmont Plateau with the Freshman race at 1:30pm, JV race at 2:30pm, and the Varsity race at 3:30pm. The Explorers are two-time defending champions and have won 9 of the last 14 titles dating back to 2003.