St. Anthony's boys and girls take intersectional crowns

Saturday was a good day for St. Anthony's cross-country contingent as both the boys and girls won CHSAA intersectional championships at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx.

The Friars' boys team earned its third consecutive intersectional title with 46 points, ahead of Monsignor Farrell (58) and Chaminade (76). St. John the Baptist finished fifth with 108.

All three of the Long Island teams qualified for Saturday's Federation championship meet in Wappingers Falls.

"This is one of the three big meets that we gear towards all season," St. Anthony's coach Tim Dearie said. "Any time you win this meet it's a big deal and now we look forward to taking on the best schools in the state."

Thomas Diliberto finished fourth (13 minutes, 13 seconds) in the 2.5-mile race and Brian Smith (13:26) took seventh for the Friars.

"Their finishes have been unusually tight for a varsity team," Dearie said. "They're the kind of leaders that you feel so confident that they're so focused on running as a team that they're going to get it done and are determined to do so."

Chaminade's Thomas Awad took second overall in 12:56.

The St. Anthony's girls took first with 32 points behind Victoria Ciotti's first-place finish in 15:38. Kerri Anne Flynn came in second in 15:39 and Molly Dearie took sixth in 16:15.

Kellenberg finished fourth and Sacred Heart was fifth.