By Ryan LoCicero ’24
RAMSEY, NJ – Starting in late June, the returning County Champion Ironmen Cross- Country team started gearing up for another great season. In early July, the team began meeting for summer recess practices where the brunt of the runners’ work would be completed leading up to the season. Coming off the loss of four Seniors from their County Championship team last year and only one Senior on the team this year, the Ironmen had a daunting task ahead of them.
Week 1: Warwick Valley Wave Mania XC Invitational (Win #1)
In their first meet of the season, both Varsity and JV started off with a win led by Senior Ryan LoCicero (3rd) and Junior Jack Dowd (6th) for the Varsity and Junior Aidan Ardizzone (1st) for JV. In a very competitive field of athletes, both levels of the Ironmen XC Team came home victorious, starting off their season undefeated.
Week 2: Big North United Batch Meet (Win #2)
In their second meet, the Ironmen would win yet again with a dominant 1-4 finish with 8 athletes in the top 10, taking the win over Bergen Catholic, Paramus Catholic and St. Joseph Regional. The Ironmen cemented their spot as the favorite to take home another Bergen County Group E Title. The finishers in the top 10 included:
Ryan LoCicero (1st), Jack Dowd (2nd), Luke O’Brien (3rd), Owen Hickey (4th), Aidan Ardizzone (7th), Vincent Rodrigez (8th), Matthew Maguire (9th), and Ryan Pelosi (10th)
Week 4: Big North United Championship (Win #3)
After a tough race up at the Bowdoin Classic in Wappingers Falls, New York, the Ironmen came back to Darlington Park and took home another win. Once again, the Ironmen went 1-4 to secure the win with a few injuries hindering what would’ve been a much better performance.
Week 5: Bergen County Group Championship(Win #4)
In its fifth meet of the season, the Ironmen XC Team took home another Bergen County Group E Championship plaque to add to its collection. With the team being a little beaten up and with the County Championship only a week away, the Ironmen decided to keep some of their runners out of this race to make sure they were ready to go for Counties. Senior Ryan LoCicero went out in this race with something to prove, winning by over a minute with a time of 16:07 to show the County he is a threat to take home a County Title. Once again, the Ironmen had several runners in the top 10: Luke O’Brien, Jacob Pullen, Vincent Rodriguez, Aidan Ardizzone, and Matt Maguire.
Bergen County Meet of Champions
At the County Championship Meet, the Ironmen had a lot to be proud of as they took home a 2nd place team finish, losing to arguably the best team Ridgewood has had in the past 20 years. Senior Ryan LoCicero took 3rd place and Jake Pullen and Luke O’Brien finished in the top 25 to help the Ironmen clinch the 2nd place finish. Though this wasn’t the result they wanted, the Ironmen had to look forward as they had States coming up in two weeks time.
Non-Public A State Group Championship
At their last meet as a team for the year, Senior Ryan LoCicero had a breakout race, running a 46 second personal best and taking 9th at one of the most competitive races of the year in New Jersey and qualifying for the State Meet of Champions. With a young team, the Ironmen didn’t expect much out of this State Meet, but showed a lot of potential leading into next year with Jake Pullen, Luke O’Brien, Vince Rodriguez, and Matt Maguire all having very promising races.
NJSIAA State Meet of Champions
Senior Captain Ryan LoCicero ran his last race as part of the Ironmen Cross Country team at the State Meet of Champions. He started the race in the top 10 and was there for about half the race when he hurt his ankle heading into the back half of the course. This would disappointingly be his last race of his Senior year with a 58th place finish.
ACCOLADES
Team
Bergen County United League Champions
Bergen County Group E Champions
Warwick Valley WaveMania Champions
Individuals
Ryan LoCicero: First Team All League, First Team All County, First Team All North Jersey, Second Team All-State
Jake Pullen: First Team All League, Third Team All County
Luke O’Brien: First Team All League, Third Team All County
Owen Hickey: First Team All League, Third Team All County
Matt Maguire: First Team All League
Vince Rodriguez: First Team all League
Aidan Ardizzone: First Team All League
Jack Dowd: Third Team All County