Boys Go 1-2-3 to Defeat Bound Brook

The Immaculata Boys picked up the win on Wednesday at Colonial Park in a dual meet vs. Bound Brook.  TJ "My Highlights are All-Natural" Harkins, Mike "Old Man" Paustian, and Michael "My Socks Match my Spikes" Blandino led the way by finishing 1-2-3 and thus clinching victory for the Spartans.  On a day where the sun was scorching and the course was an unknown these three set the tone early and never looked back as time was never a consideration and running for place was the only matter on the mind.  Giovanni "Laps Around School" DeSapio and Sean "Shoulda Put Sunscreen on my Shoulders" Castellano followed closely behind as scoring members of the team.

In the girls race, it was Ali "I Made a Frenemy Named Issac" Wehrhahn breaking the tape for her first victory of the season.  Despite the conditions noted above, Ali posted her fastest time of the young season as she continues to round back into form.  Taylor "Ice Cream and Dog Walks" Luger ran a strong race to secure a career-best 3rd place finish.  The girls team would have been poised to capture victory as well if they competed at full strength but Sophia "OMG is that John McGovern" Gonzales and Carly "I Love Dogs" Makowicz sat this one out with an eye on running their best during Championship season.

Catch us on Saturday morning when we travel back to Greystone Park for the Stewart Invitational.  Girls go at 10:05am and Boys at 10:50am.

Spartans on the Comeback Trail

It was an eventful week for the Immaculata Cross Country team. We hosted Manville in a dual meet at Duke Island Park.  We competed on the new course at Greystone Park for the first time. Yet the highlight of the week has to be how close we are to returning to 100% health. Captains Mike Paustian and Ali Wehrhahn, who were both forced to miss the first two meets of the year due to nagging injuries, returned to action on Tuesday at Duke Island Park to make their 2017 season debuts. Paustian cruised to his first victory of the season in the boys race with a time of 17:36 and Ali managed a second place finish in the girls race. While neither runner is close to satisfied with where they are at this point, they both realize there is plenty of time left in the season to return to peak form and that things will only get better from here. Now the last remaining hurdle for the Spartans is to get Carly Makowicz back to action, which should happen any day now as she is extremely close to returning from an Achilles injury. The team also welcomed a new member to the girls team, Mariella Rossi. Mariella is a transfer from Dubai and we are all thrilled to have her aboard.

Saturday at Greystone turned out to be another banner day for our sophomore boys. TJ Harkins led the way with a 4th place finish and Michael Blandino turned in a strong 17th place finish to earn medals. Blandino's time of 18:37 is a great mark of consistency for the young runner. His 5-second gap from his Randolph time (18:32) represents the closest spread of anyone on the team who ran in both races. A shoutout must also go to Giovanni DeSapio. He ran by far the guttiest and strongest race of his career at Greystone and he will turn into a key contributor for the team if he continues along this path.

The Spartans return to action this Wednesday, September 27, at Colonial Park and Saturday, September 30, back at Greystone Park.

Harkins Arrives at Randolph

TJ Harkins (left) and Michael Blandino (right) both had breakthrough performances.

The Spartans kicked off the 2017 season this past Saturday at the Randolph Cross Country Invitational held at Freedom Park. TJ Harkins and Michael Blandino both showed that summer training does indeed pay off with HUUUGGGGEEEE breakthrough performances.

Harkins placed 6th overall in the Boys Varsity C race with a whopping 1 minute 49 second PR, coming in at 17:00.81. Harkins perfectly executed a fearless race approach that put himself in the chase pack early on, which enabled him to stay in a battle for second place all the way until the end. It was a perfect example of taking a chance and having it pay off, but that's exactly what we've come to expect from this kid's "no guts, no glory" racing style.

Blandino followed behind him in 23rd place with a 40 second PR of his own, stopping the clock at 18:32. Blandino got caught behind some early traffic as he got off to a rough start, but he showed a ton of fight and grit as the race went on and he kept moving up and picking people off.

Running at night under the lights certainly makes Randolph of the premier races in the country, and on this night, the only thing that shined brighter than the lights were the futures of these two sophomores.

To see all the Immaculata results from Randolph, click here.

2017 Spartan Cross Country

We couldn't find a better picture.

The 2017 cross country season is upon us. We have a seasoned yet young group of runners led by our lone senior and boys' captain Mike Paustian. Mike provides the sage wisdom that every team looks for from their leader. Coming off some major breakthroughs in his junior season, accompanied by a strong summer of training, the only thing that can stand in his way of glory is the Immaculata parking lot. He oversees a trio of sophomores: Michael Blandino, Giovanni DeSapio, and TJ Harkins. After strong freshman campaigns by these three, they will be leaned upon heavily to continue to step up and improve if the team is going to reach its potential. Rounding out the boys' team is freshman Sean Castellano. Sean has shown tremendous upside early in his debut season and will be thrown into the fire as a scoring member of this team sooner rather than later.

On the girls' side, junior captain Ali Wehrhahn leads the way. Ali really started to flash some of her potential late in the spring track season, and as long as she can stay healthy, there is no limit to what she will be able to achieve in the future. Next to Ali on the girls side we have three of her classmates: Sophia Gonzales, Taylor Luger, and Carly Makowicz. These girls have shown consistent improvement over the course of their running careers, and based on their determination and summer training, the strong indication is that their improvement arrow will continue to point upwards.  

Stay tuned over the next few weeks for individual athlete spotlights. And continue to visit RunIHS as your home to all Immaculata Cross Country news, results, and updates.