Record-breaking day for CBA in the Shore Conference

CBA team interview after their Shore Conference win.

Complete results | videos

The Shore Conference Championships, the annual meeting of Ocean and Monmouth County’s best, brought fireworks once again Thursday to Ocean County Park in Lakewood, New Jersey

After the No. 2 ranked Christian Brothers Academy university in the United States sat out the Monmouth County Championships, they were more than ready to get back out there and put on a historic performance at Ocean County Park.

Joe Barrett led the way with a blistering individual time of 14:36 minutes, beating the course record by five seconds and driving the entire front of the field through the finish line at a blistering pace.

In idyllic weather, in front of a loud crowd and on a fast route, four boys crossed the finish line in less than 15 minutes.

This is the second Shore Conference cross country title for Barrett, who won as a sophomore in 2021 and rested during the 2022 meet. His time broke the previous course record of 14:41, held since 2021 by Jackson Barna of Ridge HS.

This is the first two-time CBA individual champion in the Shore Conference since Mike Mazzaccaro in the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

However, the record didn’t end there.

Barrett’s teammates, one through seven, all finished in the top 10 individually, and her top-five average of 15:01 also broke the course record team average of 15:03 that CBA had set since the 2013 Shore Conference Championships.

WATCH: Boys Championship Race

With Barrett’s record-breaking pace leading the way, Ryan Schmitt finished third at 14:58, Luke Hnatt finished fourth at 14:59, Gavin Schmitt finished fifth at 15:11 and Alex Mastroly finished with five hits in eighth place 15:23. Displacers Ryan Collins and Wyatt Falkowski finished ninth and 10th with times of 15:29 and 15:31.

In order not to get lost in the discussion about fast times, CBA won the meet comfortably with 21 points, set the course record average and only shared 47 seconds among the top five. This is their 17th consecutive Shore Conference title since 2007 and their 40th overall. Second was Colts Neck with 80 points and third was Manalapan with 98.

Manalapan HS junior Clay Stevens, see interview, ran second overall in the individual event and also posted an impressive time of 14:54. He was coming off a Monmouth County championship and is now the top returning player for the Shore Region next fall.

Also in the top ten were Jay Adimala of Colts Neck at 15:13 and Michael Card of Howell at 15:19.

Boys Top 10 Finishers – Complete Results

In the girls championship, Sadie Honig of Manalapan led the charge and the senior crossed the finish line with a time of 17:29. This now marks four straight wins for the Manalapan star in 2024 and continues her undefeated season in which she won the Monmouth County Championships, the Varsity 1 race at the Bowdoin XC Classic and the Shore A North Divisional.

Honig became Manalapan’s first winner since Tara Riccuto in 1989 and is the school’s fourth athlete to do so, joining Chris Blades, who won in 1986 and 1987, and Kemper Knight in 1981. Honig’s teammates Alivia Schweibinz and Jessica Abbott crossed the finish line in third and seventh place with times of 17:38 and 17:56.

WATCH: Girls Championship Race

Two freshmen stars also finished in the top five in this race. Second place went to freshman Leah Starkey of Ocean Township with a time of 17:35, and fifth place went to freshman Amelia Pattwell of Middletown South with a time of 17:44.

The team championship was a three-point battle between Freehold Township and Middletown South, with Freehold Township claiming its third straight title, 91-94. Rumson-Fair Haven was third with 114 points and Colts Neck was fourth with 118 points.

Freehold Township was individually led by Star Senior Leah Rutledge Finished fourth at 5:43 p.m. Junior Caroline Cox was next at 18:47 as a sophomore in 15th place Natalie Briggs finished 16th in 18:50, senior Sophia Briggs 24th at 7:15 p.m., and the conclusion of their top five was in the second year June Sprunger in the 34th run 19:39. Displacer Milana Sirna And Gabriella Salmeri were 44th and 56th.