With five meets already down and many more to come, the Randolph Boys Cross Country team has proven itself to be one of the top teams, not just in Morris County, but in the entire state of New Jersey.
Coming into this season, coaches Nicholas Albanito and Luke Suttile knew that the Randolph boys had thepotential to be a very good team if everyone put in their best effort.“So far, I couldn’t be happier,” said Albanito, as he reflected on the beginning of the season. “From top to bottom, so many members have exceeded expectations.”
The first battle the team faced was the Roxbury invitational at Horseshoe Lake on Saturday, Sept. 7. Many of the boys were excited to finally show off their fitness that they had gained by working hard all summer long.
All across the board, the Randolph boys ran well, coming home with many new personal bests, making it a great start to the season.
In the Fastest 4 race, Randolph placed third of 21 teams for the 5k distance thanks to top runners Thomas Amato (15:48,) Preston Gumann (15:57), Kennan Byers (16:21) and Ryan Barnett (17:38).
In the Future 4 race, Randolph placed third again among 20 teams with top runners Jacob Conti (17:26), Russell Goldstein (17:40), Ryan Davidson (18:03) and Max Ramsdell (18:17).
The teams’ second competition was the Back to The Mountain Invitational at the state sectional course at Garrett Mountain on Saturday, Sept 14. The varsity boys placed second among 20 teams with a five-man average time of 17:42.
The course was challenging due to the rolling hills and steep inclines, though the varsity members still put in a good performance.
After two successful meets, the Rams ran their two dual meets of the season on Tuesday, Sept. 17, and Tuesday, Sept. 24 at Greystone Park.
For the first dual meet, Randolph comfortably secured the win against Mount Olive and Montville.
The following week, Randolph was up against Mendham and Chatham, who are known to be fast and are highly ranked in New Jersey.
Through their valiant effort, the Randolph boys came out on top again, averaging a time of 16:36 across the top five, only a second off the school record average of 16:35.
“Our biggest goal is to always go as deep as possible in the state series,” Albanito commented. “This year I feel the team really has a very good chance to challenge for every championship through the Group 3 championship.”
The team also recently competed last Saturday at the Bowdoin XC classic at Bowdoin Park, New York. Bowdoin Park is notorious for being a difficult course, but this didn’t stop the Randolph boys from giving it their all.
Against the stacked competition, Randolph placed sixth as a team in the challenging 5k race. Individually, several runners clocked impressive times, including Amato (16:47), Byers (16:50), Gumann (17:02,) Barnett (18:50), Goldstein (19:05), Ramsdell (19:15), and Davidson (19:32).
The boys will continue to train and be ready for their next meet which will be on Oct. 5 at Holmdel Park.
