Union Catholic Sweeps Union County XC Champiopnships

The powerhouse Union Catholic program delivered a knockout blow to the rest of the county by sweeping all four varsity titles in stunning fashion at the 88th Union County Championships on Wednesday at historic Warinanco Park in Elizabeth.

UC Girls Flex Firepower For 5th straight title

The Union Catholic girls, ranked No. 1 in New Jersey and No. 3 in the nation, were in complete control from the gun as the Vikings jammed its seven runners in the top 11 and averaged 18:47 to outscore runner-up Summit, 20-93.

It’s the fifth straight county title and eighth overall for the Vikings, who now own the second longest girls winning streak in meet history behind the 11 in a row that Westfield, under the late great Thom Hornish, captured from 1991-2001. And the 8 overall titles by UC is tied with Summit for the second most in county history behind Westfield, who have won 19 championships.

Junior Paige Sheppard, who split 5:30 for each of the first two miles, led the attack for UC, winning her second straight title in 17:57. The 17:57 by Sheppard, who set the course record of 17:37 last year, is the fifth fastest time in the long history of the Warinanco 3.19-mile layout.

If Sheppard, the defending Meet of Champions winner, finishes first again next year, she’d become just the 4th girl to win 3 county titles!  UC now has 6 of the last 8 individual champs-Jerika Lufrano in 2018, Abby Granrath in 2019, Peyton Hollis in 2022 and ’23, and two straight from Sheppard.

Junior Cayleigh Kaiser was second for UC in 18:15.57, freshman Abigail Robisky placed fourth (19:08.73), freshman Jia Jain was sixth (19:10.73), and senior Emmy O’Hearn completed the scoring five by placing seventh (19:18.33). Sophomore Saffa Ellis and senior Joelle Ruccio weren’t far behind, taking 10th (19:31.08) and 11th (19:40.24) to close out another deep and balanced UC effort.

Robisky and Jain came up huge for UC, who had a quick turnaround after coming off a big victory at the Virginia Showcase on Saturday where they averaged 17:43, the fastest average ever run by a NJ girls team anywhere!! Robisky and Jain, who are loaded with talent, didn’t race in Virginia, so they provided some fresh legs for UC and they made their presence felt by leveling up for the Vikings.

Union Catholic’s 7 runners-

1-Paige Sheppard (JR) — 17:57 

2-Cayleigh Kaiser (JR) — 18:16

4-Abigail Robisky (FR) — 19:09

6-Jia Jain (FR) — 19:11

7-Emmy O’Hearn (SR) — 19:18

10-Saffa Ellis (SO) — 19:31

11-Joelle Ruccio (SR) — 19:40 

Team Score: 20 | 1-5 Split: 1:22 | Avg: 18:47

On the boys’ side, No. 3-ranked Union Catholic received 6 course PR’s to power its way back to the top, posting a 1-2-5–6–8 finish to score 22 points to win the title for the fifth time in the last six years by 37 points over defending champion and No. 8 ranked Westfield.

UC had a 1-5 compression of just 33 seconds, averaged 16:22 and put 5 runners in front of the No. 2 man from every other team!  Westfield, led by third-place finisher Brody Toriello, countered with a 3-9-11-17-19 and averaged 16:44.   

UC senior Elijah McCoy, 7th in this race last year, used a punishing kick to win the biggest race of his life in 16:09 to become the 5th boy from UC to win the county XC title.

McCoy, the lone senior in UC’s lineup, was part of a huge lead pack that hit the mile mark in 5:09. But he cranked it up with a 4:58 second mile that cut the front pack to five runners and set the stage for McCoy’s big finish.

McCoy finished a couple steps ahead of junior teammate Danny Kuran, who gave the Vikings a potent 1-2 punch with a runner-up finish in 16:10. 

Junior Finn Riely produced the greatest race of his career, placing fifth for UC in 16:19. Junior Jayden Aine finished sixth in 16:30, and junior Quintin Clemons ran 16:41 to place 8th.    

Union Catholic Boys Top 5

1-Elijah McCoy (SR) — 16:09

2-Danny Kuran (JR) — 16:09 

5-Finn Riley (JR) — 16:19

6-Jayden Aine (JR) – 16:30

8-Quintin Clemons (JR) – 16:41

Team Score: 22 | 1-5 Split: 0:33 | Avg: 16:22

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