For such a small school, the list of achievements which the Bernards boys cross country team has compiled during the 2023 season is just mind blowing. Many expected the team to be successful this year, as five of the top seven runners returned from last year’s team. But next to nobody thought that this season could go as perfectly as it has.
The opening meet of the season was a dominant performance against some smaller schools at the Roxbury Invitational. This gave the team confidence going into the middle of the season, and this showed as the boys captured the Skyland Conference championship for the first time in program history. The Mountaineers edged out powerhouse Group 4 schools such as Montogomery, Hunterdon Central, and Ridge for the title.
After a fairly disappointing performance at the county meet, the team came back strong to crush the sectional meet. A 1-2-5-6-17 finish powered a 31-78 victory over runner-up Madison. Ben Connell became sectional champion, running 16:04. A week later, it was Brody Watt who took home the group championship at the iconic Holmdel Park with a 16:18 performance. The sophomore brought the first individual title to Bernards since 2003. While Haddonfield took home he team group title, Bernards qualified for the Meet of Champions via a wild card spot. Only 16 teams in the entire state can make that claim.
Athletic director Mr. Hoppe, when asked about the season, says the team benefited from “great coaching by Mr. Szostak and a special group of student athletes that are willing to put in the hard work necessary to succeed. In my opinion, this was the best performance by a BHS XC team since I have been here, and that has been over 40 years!”
With relatively low expectations at the M.O.C., Bernards finished with a remarkable 6th-place finish out of the entire state.
No team since the 1988 season (4th place) has finished so high, even with many successful seasons in that span. Bernards edged out Haddonfield by a single point, 199-200. Junior John Richardson said “The team has grown quite a lot from last year…It was really great this season to beat teams we had previously lost to at the Meet of Champions like Haddonfield and Ridge.” The team showed that population does not matter if you have a dedicated group of kids.
To close out the season, the team competed at the Nike Northeast Regional meet. The top teams from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the entire New England faced off, and on a muddy day at Bowdoin Park, the boys finished 15th out of 33 teams in the championship race.
