Above: Coach Pat Dormer P'17 with the 2017 CHSAA XC champions.

Sports Update: Cross Country Wins the CHSAA XC Championship

By Billy Malewich ‘12

This is my third article about the Xavier cross country team this fall, with better results to share each time, both from individual athletes and the entire team. This time, the Xavier Knights bring the CHSAA title with them back to 16th Street after the runners put on one of their best performances of the season on the biggest stage. To put the magnitude of the victory into perspective, here are a few notes about the title: No city school has won the title since 1994 (when Monsignor Farrell did). No Manhattan school has won the title since 1974 (when Power Memorial did). Xavier has not won the title since 1931 when there were only seven teams in the league.

The varsity squad was favored to win this race. Many other teams were in the mix, but the Knights ran a great team race. Giancarlo Cipri ’17 made his play for the individual title and became the third Knight to finish second. Sawyer Gwyn-Rowsom ’18, Josef Oettl ’18, Michael Crorkin ’18, and Aidan Donahue ’18 all crossed the line in the top 26 of the race. Donahue's finish as Xavier’s 5th man sealed the deal and brought home the title.

The future of Xavier cross country looks to be in great hands, as all three junior varsity teams finished in second place. This bodes well for the freshmen and sophomores, who will look to repeat next season and build upon their success this season.

A select few of Xavier’s runners will be competing at the New York State Federation meet in Dutchess County, New York, while the rest of the runners will be concluding their cross country season at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx Saturday morning. Congratulations to all of the runners from this past weekend.