The Oratory Prep Cross Country season has recently come to an end, so let’s take a look at this season. The Rams were coming off a historic season in 2024, where the Rams broke many of the team records. However, they returned two stars in James Nolan and Connor Bassolino. With 35 kids on the team, 13 new freshmen, 8 sophomores, 5 juniors, and 8 seniors, the Rams were ready to reload. The Rams put together a lot of new records, including multiple class records, school records, and top team averages. A 4th place at counties and conferences, the team grew a lot. Many memories and great things happened, so let’s zoom in on five points.
The first part of this great season was the seniors. We graduated 8 seniors who have all done so much for OPXC, but especially this season. Aiden Lontai started off the season running a 28 minute and improved his time by 3 minutes for the end of the season. Donald Yapczenski took a break from cross country junior year, but made a comeback as a senior to be an extremely positive role model and mentor for the team. Luca Vessecchia, also known as the team dad, was a huge role model for the young team. Then, we have 3 seniors who had huge years: Chase Lynch, Alexander Kieschke, and Matt Maloaba. Every single one of these athletes ran varsity this year after dropping 40+ second PRs and multiple courses. Chase Lynch, placed 3rd many times for the team scoring, after dropping a minute plus PR every class. Matt Maloba ran a 25 minute 5K his sophomore year and Coach McCrystal said, “I never thought I would see the day he would turn around and run varsity.” Yet, he did and was a huge piece for the team. We thank all the seniors for helping us put together this great year and their leadership was amazing.
We also have captains Connor Bassolinio and James Nolan. Even when not on the course, these two were very important leaders for the team. However, on the course they went crazy. Connor broke the school record 5k and set 3 senior class course records. Nolan PR’d this season and also qualified for the Meet of Champions. We thank our two captains so much for their hard work and accomplishment in these past four years.
Despite losing many valuable seniors, the future doesn’t have to worry. The Rams had 5 freshman and sophomores under 18 and one more sophomore 2 seconds off that. 6 freshmen also broke 20 minutes and 3 freshmen were less than 10 seconds off that goal. At every major course, the Rams had 1-2, sometimes 3 freshmen in the top 5 records at OP. At one course, the sophomores have the 3, 4, and 5 spots for the grade record books. We can only assume that despite losing 8 great seniors, the Rams will be back just as strong next year.
In this historic year with this team, OPXC had many accomplishments. The team placed fourth in conferences and counties, despite being with top talent in the state such as Union Catholic and Westfield. Also, like stated before a new school record was set. Connor Bassolinio ran 15:55 at the first race of the year. That is an OP record. The team also set 2 top 5 course records for 5 man scoring. Finally, the Rams won their 3rd straight NJCTC Small School Championships.
The team also had a Meet of Champions qualifier, with the other top talent in the state. Captain James Nolan got the wild card spot with a great performance at Non Public A state championships. This allowed him to run on November 15th, placing 70th against the best talent in the state. He ran 16:57 and many of his teammates came out and supported him. A huge testimony to his work over the years.
Many other runners also had huge PRs, where 68% percent of returners PRd. 54% of the team was under 20. We also had 9 runners under 18, compared to 5 last year. Many people PR’d by minutes and many new runners PR’d through the season. This is because of the great coaching staff of Coach McCrystal, Coach Seebode, and Coach Maybe. They all did so much to help the runners grow and improve so much. We thank them for all their hard work.
In conclusion, OPXC had a great season. We are so sad to lose the seniors who helped us so much. However, we are excited for the future of this team. So many accomplishments and great things happened. Go Rams!
