On a chilly Saturday morning,  the cross country team headed down to the state course in Holmdel. The varsity team competed in the Non-Public B Group Championship. The top three teams get to compete in the Meet of Champions on 11/22, along with the best Non-Public A and Public teams in the state. Oratory had impressive competition as Jim Lambert from NJ.com predicted the Rams to finish in a measly third. Teams like Montclair Kimberley, St. Rose, and Pingry were tough competition but Oratory ran hard and were able to take second place in the race! Freshman Michael Cantaluppi led OP and took third place in the race with a 17:36, a personal record at the course. After the race he told the Omega, “I am happy that we did so well and got second.” When asked on how he felt he added, “I feel sore but in a good way.” Mike also promises to be ready for next Saturday. Following Cantaluppi were John Kolassa, Max Hubbauer, Brendan Mairs, Doug Degolyer, Paul Moyer, and Andrew Vita respectively. Coach McCrystal commented on the race by saying, “It was a slow race affected by the cold and we ran well enough and were able to nip St. Rose by a couple points.” Although the team performed well, they received some unfortunate news prior to the race. The beloved team mascot, Leland the Fish died. An anonymous criminal on the Cross Country team captured him and killed him, leaving many members of the team devastated by this terrible tragedy . . . May he rest in peace.Despite that, the team will attend school on Monday with their heads held high as they are proud to represent Oratory in this final week of the Fall Sports Season.