Track’s State Title Marks 100th Championship Across Running Programs
June 4, 2018
Photo courtesy of Milesplit.com.
For the incredible 100th time across the three running seasons, Christian Brothers Academy is the NJSIAA Non-Public A State Champions, this time thanks to the outdoor track & field team.
The Colts won the title on Saturday, gritting out the victory by 11 points over second place Union Catholic.
“This year’s CBA track team is the hardest working team in the state of New Jersey,” head coach Karl Torchia said. “They are incredibly gritty and fight for every point during a championship, as they showed this weekend. In my opinion, they care more than any other team they compete against.”
Christian Brothers won seven events at the championship meet, while finishing top three in four other events.
Individually, senior Andrew Canale finished first in the 400m dash, junior Tim McInerney took the 800m dash and 1600, run, and senior Dan Mead won the discus and shot put throws.
As a team, CBA won both the 4x400m relay and the 4x800m relay. The 4×400 team was Liam O’Hara, Rafael Coppola, Ethan Arce and Canale, while the 4×800 team was John Sheridan, Nolan Kus, Kent Anzano, and McInerney.
Canale was third in the 200m dash, sophomore Troy Hill was second in the 3200m run, sophomore Liam O’Hara was third in the 400m hurdles, and senior Jack Lotosky was runner-up in the javelin throw.
The championship is the third consecutive outdoor state title and the 22nd in outdoor history.
But even more impressively, it is the 100th state championship across cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field. This includes the Non-Public A State Championships (formerly Parochial A) during those three seasons, plus the Non-Public A indoor relay state championship.
“The cross country and track programs have put together an incredible run of championships, something that could very well never be touched by another school,” Torchia said. “While this team won the 2018 spring title, it was for the thousands of alumni that have come before them. Decades of hard working athletes set the bar higher for each group that followed. I could spend hours naming all the alumni who won title with CBA on their chest. This one was for them.”
In the fall cross country season, the Colts have won 28 state championships. In the winter season, CBA has 23 overall state titles and 27 relay state victories. And in the spring, the Academy is now the 22-time state champions.
Torchia joined the coaching staff as an assistant to Tom Heath in 2001, a year in which they won the outdoor track state title. He took the reigns of the track program as head coach in 2002, where they won both the indoor and outdoor championships. Since 2001, Torchia has been a part of 49 state championships, 31 as track head coach and another 18 as cross country and track assistant.
“The continued goal of this program is to produce the best quality young men that we can,” Torchia said. “I have worked with some of the greatest coaches while at CBA. The current staff is absolutely awesome: cross country head coach Sean McCafferty, Andrew Cusick, Mike Mazzaccaro, and Jarrett Sanderson. I also owe a ton to our retired coaches Dave Duh, Bob Maier, Chris Bennett, and of course, Tom Heath.”
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