SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ — The Union Catholic cross-country boys capped a magical season by becoming the fastest team in New Jersey history and placing fourth in a race loaded with national powerhouses, and Jimmy Wischusen and Kaleigh Gunsiorowski smashed records at the Garmin RunningLane Championships at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala., on Saturday, Dec. 4.
This meet served as the unofficial national championships, since the Nike Cross Nationals were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Union Catholic, an independent school in Scotch Plains, came into the race ranked No. 1 in New Jersey and No. 7 in the country. It solidified its place as one the greatest packs in state history by putting three guys at less than 15 minutes, including the fastest sophomore time in U.S. history by Wischusen, and becoming the fastest team in New Jersey history with a 15:02.72 average in its fourth-place finish with 299 points in the Gold Division race.
Union Catholic’s five-man average of 15:02.72 broke the previous state 5K team record, 15:03.78, set by Christian Brothers Academy at the 2013 Shore Conference Cross Country Championships at Ocean County Park.
The lightning-fast course produced many of the fastest times ever run in U.S. history; hundreds of personal records were set. In the Gold Division races, 71 boys dipped below the 15-minute mark and 128 girls broke 18 minutes.
The boys Gold race was won by the No. 1 school in the country, Newbury Park of California, which threw down the fastest race in high school history and swept the top three places with the three fastest high school cross-country times ever run on the way to an average of 14:14.
Newbury’s Colin Sahlman (14:03.29), Leo Young (14:05.07) and Lex Young (14:05.49), as well as fourth-place finisher Zane Bergen of Niwot, Colo., who ran 14:09.91, all ran faster than the former all-time fastest time of 14:10.4, set in 2000 by Dathan Ritzenhein of Rockford, Mich.
Union Catholic was led by the dynamic duo of Shane Brosnan and Wischusen.
The Harvard-bound Brosnan led the charge for Union Catholic by placing 13th in 14:25.64, the fourth-fastest 5K cross-country time ever run by a New Jersey runner. Brosnan concluded his season on Saturday, Dec. 11, when he finished seventh at the EastBay National Championships in San Diego.
Wischusen, according to the MileSplit database, became the fastest sophomore in U.S. history by placing 16th in 14:33.94, the fifth fastest New Jersey time ever.
The only New Jersey runners ever to go faster in a 5K cross-country race than Brosnan and Wischusen are the legendary Edward Cheserek of St. Benedict’s Prep and Jackson Barna of Ridge. Cheserek, widely considered the best high school distance runner in U.S. history, owns the state’s two fastest cross-country 5K times — 14:18.7 in 2012 and 14:20 in 2011, both at the Essex County XC Championship Meet at Brookdale Park in Bloomfield. Barna became the third-fastest New Jersey runner ever on Saturday, Dec. 4, when he placed eighth in 14:22.14.
All seven of Union Catholic’s runners ran huge personal-best times.
After Brosnan and Wischusen, Union Catholic’s scorers were senior Myles Plummer, 68th in 14:59.65; junior Caudell Cajuste, 196th in 15:37.26; and junior Ryan Cichocki, 198th in 15:37.26. Freshman Evan Weber (16:24.82) and sophomore Josh Hunsinger (17:23.84) were the No. 6 and No. 7 runners for Union Catholic.
In the girls competition for Union Catholic, Gunsiorowski, a junior who played soccer until this season, concluded her remarkable rookie season on the trails by placing 19th in the Silver Division race in 18:13.42, to break the school record of 18:17, set in 2018 by Jerika Lufrano. In the Bronze Division race, Holy Cross–bound Abby Granrath ran a season-best 19:40.74, to finish 47th.
The performance by the Union Catholic boys on Saturday, Dec. 4, is the final jewel for the Vikings in a season filled with crowning achievements. In addition to their state record 15:02 average, the Vikings won their first Meet of Champions title with an average of 16:01, No. 2 in Holmdel Park history; captured the Non-Public A title for the first time; repeated as Union County champions with a Warinanco Park course record average of 16:03; and ran a course-record average of 15:49 at Oak Ridge Park.
Considering that only one New Jersey cross-country team has ever won a national title — CBA in 2011 at Portland Meadows in Oregon — and only one team has ever run faster than Union Catholic at Holmdel Park — CBA ran 15:52 in 2013 — Union Catholic is right near the very top on the list of New Jersey’s all-time greatest teams.
Photo Courtesy of Union Catholic