On Wednesday, October 22, 2025, the Rams headed to Warinanco Park for the 88th Union County Championship. Warinanco is a historic course in Union County and most notable for being an extra 150m. Despite going against many good teams such as Union Catholic and Westfield, the Rams once again didn’t back down from the challenge.
The first race at 3:30 was the JV race. The team was led by Greyson Astle who ran 17:56 for a PR and 6th place. Furthemore, he printed his name in the record books being the 4th fastest freshman in OP history. Behind him another PR from Matt Maloba who ran an 18:39. Robert Dudley, Evan LaBarbera, and Matt Surmay rounded out the scoring for the 4th place Rams. The team had 7 PRs, including Paul Li who ran a 1 min 12 second PR. He broke the 22 minute barrier and won the Ram Tough Award.
An hour later at 4:30, the varsity squad raced. The team consisted of Connor Bassolino, James Nolan, Will Timbie, Henry Salaki, Stephen Polefko, Chase Lynch, and Alexander Kieschke. The Richmond commit, Bassolino,
led the way in 4th place running 16:15, the Senior Class School Record. Behind him James Nolan ran an 8 second course PR. Then, Stephen Polefko and Alexander Kieschke both ran PRs to get 3rd and 4th for the scoring. Finally, Chase Lynch ran a 1 min 49 second course PR to round out the scoring. This outstanding performance allowed the team to get 4th place. They beat Dayton, who beat them in conferences by four points, which the team strived to do. The team average was 17:32, number four in school history.
In conclusion, the Oratory Cross Country team had a great day. Was it Mr. Seebode’s superstition? We can only assume. Despite the extra length of the course, the Rams had 9 PRs. The team had a great showing and are still very young. Many of the top performances were from freshman and sophomores. The future is bright. Let’s see if they can win Catholic Championships in Small Schools again!
