By Matthew Cowen ’13, Staff Writer

The least talked about fall sport at Newark Academy is also one of the most successful.  The men’s and women’s cross country teams at Newark Academy have each exceeded all expectations, and are off on great seasons that have put both teams at competitive positions at both the Conference and Prep levels.

The men have had a solid season so far, with numerous runners consistently recording times under 20 minutes.  According to Sophomore runner Harry McCarthy, “We have a very decent record, considering we are in a new conference with some tougher competition.”  The boys have had a strong showing so far, as evident from their final 8-8 record in the new conference.  McCarthy also noted that “this team has more depth than others, such as Millburn and Verona. We have a decent chance to upset the bigger schools, which would be great.”  McCarthy, while battling injuries, is one of numerous Minutemen standouts.  Others include senior captain Matt Willian and fellow senior Eric Li, as well as sophomores Chris Paolini and Joe DeNoon.  The team is also looking for big things from a new addition to the team, freshman Christopher Roser.

The women’s team is off on its best year in recent history, aided by an outstanding newcomer, senior Ashley Ulrich.  Ulrich, who made the switch from soccer to cross country this season, has already set several school records.  She has been the catalyst for a team that finished second in its conference and fifth in the county.  But Ulrich is not alone.  Senior Captain Delphine Slotten, Juniors Elizabeth Coscia, Carissa Szlosek and Sravya Vallapureddy, and Sophomore Caroline Willian combine to anchor the team.  Unfortunately the team has not been able to glean the maximum benefit from last year’s all-conference distance runner Sophomore Nicole Andrzejewski, who has been sidelined with an injury since the beginning of the season, or from Freshman Rebecca Tolpin, who has been out of action for the last few weeks.  The toughest competition the women have faced so far has been from Mount Saint Dominic, a team currently ranked ninth in the state, who have handed the 17-1 Minuteman women’s squad its only standing loss.

Both teams look forward to great success in all of their upcoming postseason tournaments, with Preps on Wednesday, November 3, and States on Saturday, November 13.  The women hope that they will be able to extend their season to the Meet of Champions on November 21 as well.  It almost goes without saying that NA runners have the confidence to make a real push for record times in the postseason tournaments.