Written by: Jim Lambert
The Union Catholic girls, ranked No. 2 in the state, blitzed the competition with a remarkable performance and Jimmy Wischusen opened his season with an impressive victory at Saturday’s Bowdoin Park Classic in Wappingers Falls, N.Y.
Junior Peyton Hollis led the charge for the UC girls in the Division 2 race with a winning time of 18:51 as the Vikings placed 1-2-3-5-10 and steamrolled its way to a 20-91 victory over Bronxville (N.Y). Ridgewood was third with 95. Union Catholic, who averaged 19:42, also came out on top in the team merge, 39-49, over No. 1 ranked Haddonfield, who won the Division 1 race.
The scorers for UC behind Hollis were senior Kaleigh Gunsiorowski, who recovered from a fall to finish second in 19:13, junior Courtney Kaiser, third in 19:31, freshman Ella Solorzano, fifth in 20:05, and senior Victoria Urbaez, 10th in 20:52.
In the boys race, the Vikings ranked No. 2 in NJ and No. 13 nationally, placed second to Christian Brothers Academy, 41-98, in the Division 2 race. CBA is ranked No. 1 in NJ and No. 9 nationally.
Wischusen, a junior who is the favorite to win the Meet of Champions title this season, opened his season with a very controlled and impressive victory in 15:54.2, the ninth fastest time by a NJ runner in course history. UC, which averaged 16:50, also received a ninth place finish from senior Ryan Cichocki in 16:36, a 19th place from senior Caudell Cajuste (16:55), a 26th place from sophomore Evan Weber in 17:04, and 43rd from junior Alessandro Tullo in 17:43.
