In the early stages of the Oratory Prep indoor track season, many important things have occurred. With three meets down in the early stages, the Rams look to build on this early success. Next Wednesday (January 14) is a massive relay meet for Non-Public A schools. Coming off great success from previous years, where the team won the SMR last year and the 4×800 the year before, they look to win once again and establish a great place going into the individual season.
The first race was December 19, called the Essex County Track Coaches Season Opener Invitational. This race was a great opportunity for sprinters to open up their season strong. It was also a great way for the underclassmen distance runners to prove themselves. The meet was held at Ocean Breeze, which is the nicest indoor track in the area. The banked track is very important for the sprinters with the tight turns of a 200-meter track. It also has a nice warm-up area and great bleachers for fans to watch from. Compared to other tracks, Ocean Breeze tends to be superior.
The first event on the inner circle was the 55m hurdles. This is on the inner track, which means in the center of the oval. This is a very quick race where acceleration is extremely important. Flynn Breeze, who was on varsity shuttle hurdles last year and has the 55m hurdle record, was stepping up for his first race of the season. Despite it being the first race, Breeze ran a 0.29-second PR. He ran 7.88, which is a massive PR and a new school record. He then advanced to the finals, where he got 5th place overall.
The next event was the varsity 1600m race. However, we didn’t see any upperclassmen, only freshmen and sophomores. Two freshmen and two sophomores were running for Oratory. In the fastest heat was Robert Dudley, who in middle school ran an absurd time of 4:48. Dudley went out strong with a first-lap time of 33 seconds. For the next six laps, he held strong, going 36 seconds per 200m, showing how strong he was in the mile. He then closed in a 34, which gave him a 4:46. This is an insane time for a freshman; nonetheless, the first meet only makes it more insane. This time is an Oratory Prep freshman record, beating out captain Connor Bassolino, who ran 4:54. This is a testament to how strong the underclassmen are and how bright the future is.
Closer to the end of the meet was the varsity 200-meter race. Brody Sheenan, who holds the junior class record for this event, was up. The banked track is definitely an advantage compared to other indoor tracks such as the Jersey City Armory or the Bubble. With the tight turns, Brody was able to run 23.21 seconds. Last year, he ran 23.51, which is a 0.3-second PR and a school record. He beat the record from alumnus Charlie Spiegel, who ran 23.47. This is a huge accomplishment for Sheenan and gives a lot of hope to see what he can do later in the year.
However, this wasn’t his only school record of the day. Back on the inside of the track at the jumping pit, Brody was doing the long jump. In this event, he runs up to the box and jumps in. He was the school record holder last year by jumping 20 feet, 4.5 inches. Once again, he was looking for his second record of the day. He indeed did that with a 21-foot, 1-inch jump. A three-quarter-foot PR and his second school record of the day.
To recap the 19th, there were three school records and one class record. Robert Dudley ran a 4:46 in the 1600m, Brody Sheenan ran a 23.21 in the 200m, Sheenan also jumped 21-1, and finally, Flynn Breeze ran a 7.88 in the 55m hurdles.
After a great first race, on December 30 the Rams were back at it. The NJCTC Winter Relays was the meet, which stands for New Jersey Catholic Track Conference. This meet was all relays and was the first meet for some important seniors such as James Nolan and Connor Bassolinio. Once again, this meet was held at Ocean Breeze in Staten Island, NY.
A relay that the Rams got All-American in last year in Oregon was first. The distance medley relay is not like a normal relay because all of the distances are different. The first leg is a 1200m, which is six laps around the track. Then a 400m, which is two laps, followed by an 800m and 1600m, which are four and eight laps around the track. Opening it up with the 1200m leg was Connor Bassolinio, who got the team in the lead. He sat behind for the first lap but exploded into the lead and didn’t look back. He ran 3 minutes and 20 seconds, which is very strong for early in the season. He handed off the baton to Flynn Breeze, who ran a 52 at counties in this event last year. He ran a 54.09, which was five seconds faster than the St. Peter’s runner who was right behind him. He then handed off to Jack Ebert for the 800m leg. Jack Ebert ran a 2:06 last year at counties to grab a point from Cranford. Ebert ran a great race of 2:08, which was his relay PR and his season best by two seconds. Finally, in the 1600m leg was James Nolan. Nolan has the fastest returning time in Non-Public A for the 800m and is the junior class record holder. However, he was in the 1600m leg but still ran a great time. St. Peter’s was slowly creeping up on Nolan, but he dropped a 27-second last 200m to secure the win.
Next up was the freshman and sophomore 4×800-meter relay. Unlike the DMR, this time all the distances each person ran were the same. Robert Dudley opened it up, going out in a 29 to trail St. Peter’s. Despite going out super hard, Dudley stayed strong. Closing in a 33, Dudley handed off the baton in first with a 2:12 leg. Astle was next up, where he kept first place with a 2:17 leg. Henry Salaki, on the third leg, went out in a 30. However, just like Dudley, he stayed strong. He ran a 2:15, which is a seven-second PR from the spring and his first indoor 800m. A great testament to how much he improved and worked over the last couple of months. Finally, Jordan Hotra got the baton in second place. He went out in a 30 to try to stay with Seton Hall Prep. Despite his best efforts, Jordan stayed in second place to close in 2:18, a two-second PR and a relay PR. These great efforts led to a second-place finish with a 9:04 final time.
Again, on the inner circle, history was made once again. For jumping, a relay is when the two jumps are added up. For long jump, Brody Sheenan and alumnus Kingston Nnadi held the record. However, Lucas Costa and Brody Sheenan broke that record in the first relay. Brody went 20-10.75 and Lucas went 19-3. Neither of these were PRs, but they still added up to a PR. This shows just how strong these two are and, together, what they can accomplish. Next, in the triple jump, a similar event occurred. Triple jump is similar to long jump, but it’s three jumps before the pit instead of one. The jumper jumps off one foot twice, then switches feet to jump into the pit. It tends to be double the distance of a long jump, but you don’t go as far in the pit. Brody and Lucas once again competed. Brody broke 40, and Costa went 39. Neither of these were PRs, but together they added up to a school record. This record was also held by Sheenan and Nnadi, but Costa and Sheenan broke it by a lot.
To recap the NJCTC Winter Relay Meet, two school records were broken in the jumping relays, and the team placed in two relays on the track.
Finally, to cap off winter break on January 3, 2026, the Rams went to the Union County Relay Championships. It was held at the Jersey City Armory. The track is nowhere near as nice as Ocean Breeze. It is an old facility where the bathroom lines take a long time. The track is also not banked, which hurts sprinters, especially in the 200m. However, that didn’t stop the Rams from having a great day.
This meet was against many teams from the county and was all relays. Top teams such as Union Catholic, Elizabeth, and Westfield were in attendance. Last year, the team had their best finish ever, placing third. How points are distributed is quite simple: first place is 10 points, second place is 8 points, third place is 6 points, fourth place is 4 points, fifth place is 2 points, and sixth place is 1 point. The Rams had a 22-point performance, so let’s dive into how they got that.
The first event of the day was the distance medley relay, which they won the previous week. Freshman Robert Dudley started off the 1200m leg against much older competitors. Dudley went out with the pack and stayed with them for the next five laps. He ran a 3:30, which was only 10 seconds behind the leader, and he was right with the third- and fourth-place teams. He handed off the baton in fifth place. That was a great performance for a freshman against much older competition. He handed off to the indoor 400m record holder, Brody Sheenan. Brody moved up two places into third, running a 53.7. Even though it wasn’t a PR, he moved up multiple places. He handed off to Jack Ebert, who ran 2:17, which had the team fall back to fifth. However, Connor Bassolinio, the D1 commit to Richmond, was on the 1600m anchor leg. Connor went out and got with the pack. In the last 400 meters, Connor outkicked the competition to get the team a silver medal. This was the Rams’ first eight points of the day.
Next up was the 4×800-meter relay. With some sickness on the team, the relay had to be modified, but that didn’t stop them from placing. Robert Dudley ran 2:12 in his second race of the day. He opened up strong and gave the baton to sophomore Henry Salaki in third place. He ran 2:15 in a huge PR last week and then ran 2:17 this week. Matt Maloaba, who has popped off with PRs this season, got the baton in fourth. However, he moved up two places into second. It was a 0.8-second PR and a huge move to help the team. Finally, Jack Ebert was on the anchor leg, but he wasn’t feeling well. Ebert, despite the odds, had a flu race where he kicked in a 31-second last lap to beat out Governor Livingston by 0.05 seconds. This gave the Rams eight more points and put them at 22.
The SMR is similar to the DMR in the way events change. However, it’s called the sprint medley relay instead of distance, where it’s more short-distance focused. The first two legs are 200s, then a 400, and closing with an 800. This is an event the Rams won at states last year and were All-Americans in. Brody Sheenan, despite the track not being banked, ran a 24 flat. Brandon Jones ran 25.2 to give the baton to Flynn Breeze. In his heat, he maintained position. Breeze ran 55.7, moving the team into third place. Flynn gave the baton to Bassolinio, who ran a 2:10 to finish the team fifth overall across all heats. This gave the team two more points, bringing them to 18.
To cap off the 22-point performance, the throwers had to go. Lafayette commit Joey DeMarco won the throwing with a 47-8.50 throw. That was enough to win the meet. However, it was a relay, so senior Aidan Lontai’s 37-10 throw and sophomore Logan Conception’s 29-4.25 were added. That was almost a foot PR for Lontai and a season best for Joey. Overall, it added up to 114-10.75, which was enough for fourth place. Those were the team’s final points of the day.
To recap the day, the Rams had two silver medal relays, a fifth-place finish in the SMR, and a fourth-place finish in the shot put relay. There were also six PRs in the novice open 800 and four indoor PRs. Three out of the six heats were won by Rams. The team got fourth place overall against great competition. The start of the season was super strong with many great relays and school records. Off to the Non-Public A Relays!
