Big win for CBA harriers at VCP
Colts win Eastern States
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer

They're back.

Once again, Van Cortlandt Park brought out the best in Tom Heath's Christian Brothers Academy cross country team, and as a result, they regained their place among the nation's best squads.

In winning Saturday's Eastern States Championships at the historic VCP layout in the Bronx, N.Y., the Colts beat New York State's Fayetteville-Manlius High School, ranked No. 2 in the country, and their state rival, Haddonfield Memorial High School, ranked No. 7.

CBA, which started the season ranked in the top 10, had slipped in the rankings to No. 26 after a third place at the Bowdoin Classic. The Colts won this heavyweight competition with 120 points, 10 points less than Manlius (130) and 21 ahead of Haddonfield. The Colts also beat two other teams ranked ahead of them, No. 17 West Chester Henderson, Pa., (202), and No. 25 Germantown Friends, Pa., (197), which finished sixth and fifth.

"It was nice," said Heath. "It showed that we can run with those guys."

Mike Mazzaccaro led the Colts with a seventh-place finish, posting a 12:42.23 on the famed 2.5-mile course. Dan Bailey was 11th (12:50.65).

Completing the scoring for the Colts were Mark Lee (13:03.27), Dan Myklityshyn (13:14.36) and Rich Bohny (13:18.98), in 26th, 36th and 40th place.

The Colts team average was 13:01.90.

"It [team average] was a little better than I thought," said Heath. "I thought we'd average 13:05.

"Considering health, we've strung three really good races together, which is always good," he added, referring to the team's third place at Bowdoin, first place at the Shore Coaches (the Colts had health issues in both races), and now the Eastern States title.

Next up for CBA is a return to familiar Holmdel Park for the Monmouth County Championships, where they are the defending champions, on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

CBA and Haddonfield (which finished ahead of the Colts at Bowdoin) will not meet again until the Nov. 21 Meet of Champions at Holmdel.

The race that matters the most for them both will be the following week back at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., for the Northeast Region Qualifier on Nov, 28. The top two teams will automatically qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals on Dec. 5 in Portland, Ore.

CBA last qualified for the NXN in 2005, where they finished eighth.