For the first time since the 2020 season, Chaminade cross country has a title to show off. In fact, it has two.
Behind the powerful legs of senior Brian Guiheen and a deep supporting cast of talent, the Flyers scored 23 points to win the boys cross country Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA team championship at Sunken Meadow State Park on Sunday. The victory snapped Saint Anthony’s streak of four straight team titles.
Guiheen was the biggest star of the day, as he won the 2.5-mile individual championship in 12 minutes, 44.5 seconds. Edward Lessing, a St. Anthony’s junior, finished second in a personal-best time of 12:47.9, which was his best time by nearly 15 seconds.
Sunken Meadow, which has a reputation as one of the hardest courses in New York State, has always been a tough place for Guiheen to find personal success. However, poor previous performances were the key to his conquering of the course this time around.
“I’ve been running on this course since freshman year, and it’s always been completely horrible,” Guiheen said. “Over the years, you learn about where to go and what’s coming up next. I really used that today to get the win.”
In fact, experience and repetition have been the key for the entire Chaminade crew — not just Guiheen. Seniors Sean Loggie, Dan Egan, Daniel Hilton and Guiheen have raced together since their freshman year. Along with junior Blake Weaver, these Flyers runners have learned how to run and work together.
As freshmen in 2022, the aforementioned seniors knew they would grow together and be ready to compete for titles by their final season. Now as seniors, Guiheen and his classmates are thrilled to be living up to those expectations.
“We’ve worked super hard these past four years just to get to where we are,” Guiheen said. “We still have a lot left in the season and a lot of things left to show, and this was the official start of showing that stuff.”
Weaver finished third on Sunday, with Hilton following in fourth and Egan in sixth to give the Flyers the early advantage. St. Anthony’s seniors Zach Guber and Nicholas Caroddo finished seventh and eighth, respectively, cutting Chaminade’s lead as the race progressed.
Still needing one more runner to finish to complete its top-five finishers for total points, Chaminade sophomore Kazuma Clarke finished ninth to edge out St. Anthony’s Joshua Berg to seal the win.
“I had a feeling I was No. 5, so I really wanted to get that St. Anthony’s kid at the end to secure it,” Clarke said. “It felt so great after losing to them last year. I’m really happy because I look up to all of [the seniors], and I hope to be like them when I’m a senior.”
