2012 SJXC season

Tumiel (Sr) & Belfatto (Fr)

           The 2012 season is in the books. And what a season it was. The St Joe’s team defied the odds. Monsignor Martin League Champions for the first time in 8 years. All-Catholic sweep by the Frosh, JV, and Varsity teams. Connor Tumiel won the Phil Scaffidi Award for how much he has overcome and accomplished. Anthony Belfatto was one of St Joe’s top runners as a freshman. JD McGuire shocked the crowd in his first year out. Cornell Overfield regularly finished amongst the top to help the team with their success. Joe x2 (Goergen and Suhay) always pushed through. And of course, Justin Benzino going out like a canon and keeping everyone on their toes right until the very end.

JV All-Catholic finish

The varsity team ended their season with a final race at Bowdoin Park for the NYS Federation race. The times were fast, the competition was tough, and the performances were some to remember.

view the short 10-minute clip put together by the video coordinator of the SJ XC team Ben Brownell (Sr)

St Joe's Victorious Once Again

8 years Later!

Marcus Brown (Fr)

Dominic Coppola (Sr)

            St. Joe's wins the Triple Crown. 
Freshman- 1st
JV- 1st
Varsity- 1st
          It has been 8 long years since St. Joe’s has been victorious in Cross Country. They have come close several times over the years, but always came up short. Finally, the 2012 team was able to stop the long-time powerhouse rival of Canisius Crusaders to capture the Monsignor Martin Athletic Association (MMAA) League title as well as All-Catholic Champions. 

            The All Catholic race was once again held at Elma Meadows. The morning was brisk and some light snowfall started off the day right. 
          The freshman were the first race of the day. They were victorious coming in 1st place. Led by Marcus Brown edging out a Canisius opponent for his 1^st place victory.

            The JV race was next. The race went out fast, and finished even faster. The JV boys swept the race. St. Joe’s walked away with a perfect score of 15 points. The team was led by Senior Dominic Coppola’s (19:06) first place finished, followed closely by David Miller (Sr), Charlie Grochowiak (Sr), Jim Kirkpatrick, and Matt Becker.

JD McGuire (Jr)

Anthony Belfatto (Fr)

Connor Tumiel (Sr)

Cornell Overfield (Jr)

            Finally, the most exciting race of the day was the Varsity race. St. Joe’s had beaten Canisius just a week earlier to capture the regular season title, and the Crusaders were looking for revenge. They definitely kept it close, but the Marauders were able to overcome them once again and capture the All Catholic Championship by a mere 6 points. Billy Christ did win the race, but Freshman Anthony Belfatto was first for the Marauders in 2^nd overall, following right behind was JD McGuire (Jr), Connor Tumiel (Sr), and Cornell Overfield (Jr). Rounding out the top 5 and securing the win was Justin Benzino (Sr) in 10^th place. Joe Goergen (Sr) and Joe Suhay (Jr) finished strong to finish out the top 7.

            The Varsity men will continue practice and prepare for Federations on November 17^th at Bowdoin Park in Poughkeepsie, NY. Congrats St. Joe’s on your victory!

A Runner's Shoes

     There are things in life that have meaning to us for short periods of time, as well as things that hold great memories that are in pristine condition. Many similar objects can be found in most homes, whether it be an urn of a loved one’s ashes or photos and family portraits that preserve memories.  But often times there are those objects that are in rough shape and have definitely seen their better days, but the owner of these objects simply cannot part with it. Often these objects are a childhood blanket or teddy bear. We’ve all got that one object that we can simply never part with.

            My ‘object’ is a pair of running shoes. Yes, I have outgrown them. Yes, they have seen better days. But for me, it is so much more than that. These shoes I wore my senior year of high school. I wore these shoes when we won the league. I wore these shoes when we lost All-Catholics. I wore these shoes when we finished 1^st place in New York State at Nike Regionals. I even wore these shoes when I went undefeated in the 800 meters and became the league champion.

            These shoes are neon blue with green strips. They are torn on the sides. I have bled in them, sweat in them, and even cried in them. Defeat can be tough. These shoes hold a lot of memories, and I know that I can always look at them and think back to all of the great memories I had in them. These shoes helped me get to where I am today and that is a Division 1 Collegiate athlete at Canisius College.

            And if the memories aren’t enough, when I finally wore the shoes for the last time and retired them, I had all of the fellow runners sign the shoes. My seven other varsity senior teammates are preserved in the memory that lies within the shoes. It is not the shoes that hold sentimental value, but the memories that came with it. 

"Where Are They Now?" Series (10)

Andy McGloin

Andrew Patrick McGloin

Just a small town boy, born and raised in South Detroit North Tonawanda. He took the midnight train going to South Bend. Andrew has been a Fighting Irish fan since his conception. As a young infant, he was already planning his life as a Notre Dame alumnus.

            As a graduate of St. Joe’s sesquicentennial class of 2011, McGloin was apart of the League Championship team in Track and Field as well as a member of the SJ-XC team that finished first for NYS at Nike Regionals. McGloin spat on the mathematics department in high school and went directly to UB to take courses.

            McGloin can always be found cracking jokes in any situation, whether it is cruel, embarrassing, tragic, or just plain hilarious. In Buffalo, the young Irishman can be found along side the young and fresh Majer (see previous post). But when McGloin takes his presence to South Bend, he can be found along side his fellow roommates in the “6 Foot Quad” (6FQ).

            He can be found in the Notre Dame weight room several times a week, but actually lifting weights once every blue moon. He can usually be found handing out towels behind a desk while updating his Twitter (@amcgloin60) or watching YouTube videos and posting them to his friends Facebook accounts.

            The future looks bright for A. P. McG. But be prepared to face the Irish wrath if you bad mouth Notre Dame… or don’t laugh at one of his jokes or videos.