Saint James Shines At The Catholic XC State Championships

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — 24 teams from throughout the State, from Bergen to Gloucester Counties and from every diocese in the State, converged in Central Jersey at Pleasant Valley Park in Basking Ridge - each with an eye on capturing the only State Championship meet in the State in 2025.

The meet once again showcased many of the best future Cross-Country athletes in the State.

As is tradition, the Championships began with the girls JV race, which had more than 100 athletes registered.

In a talented field, it was upstart Saint Gregory the Great (Trenton), led by Stella Moore’s 3rd place finish, who surprised the field and outran runner-up Saint James (Basking Ridge).

The Orange Crush JV of Saint James was led by a brilliant performance by 4th grader Teagan Rogers who took second. It was Madison Steele of Saints Phillip and James School (Phillipsburg) who took the individual girls JV title.

The largest race of the day was the Boys JV race, and it was a huge day for Assumption (Morristown), who won their first State title in any division.

Assumption used a balanced attack and won without any podium athletes but had 5 in the top 20 and were led by 4th and 5th place finishers Carter Fusco and Ryan Saliter.

Assumption held off Saint James, who countered with their own balanced performance, but came up short. The race was won by Pope John’s (Sparta) rising JV star Liam Domicola. Thomas Dudley of the School of Saint Elizabeth (Bernardsville) took second with Vincenzo Cianfrani of Saint Margarets (Woodbury Heights) took the bronze.

The Varsity girls’ race was once again dominated by Saint James, but with a last-minute scratch from one of their top 5 athletes, there was a bit of a scare. But Saint James’ 6th girl, Bella Milleli, stepped up and gave them the point they needed to repeat as Champions.

Saint James had 4 in the top 7, including silver and bronze winners, Claire Johnson and Julia Daus. It was Addison Sheehy of Saint Joseph’s (Tom’s River) who became the State Champion.

The Saint James varsity boys had no such scare and dominated the field with a close to perfect score of 19.

Last year’s silver medalist, Kaden Pye, was able to hold off two of his teammates, Johnny Roberts and Liam Johnson, to become State Champion, while his teammates took silver and bronze, as the Orange Crush swept the podium.

Saint James will be the sole representative from the State of New Jersey at the US Middle School National Championships next weekend. The Orange Crush won at Cherokee, Wild Safari, Greater Morris County, and the Met-Pat Championships this year and look to cap off their season at the Nationals being held in Louisville KY.

— Submitted by Saint James School