There is no debate that CBA Cross Country is the best in Monmouth County, but now they have the title to prove it.

The Colts won the 2026 Monmouth County Championship on October 15 at Holmdel Park, reclaiming a title that they have not won in three years.

CBA performed well across the board, placing five runners in the top 10 and scoring just 30 points to secure the championship.

Leading the way was senior Maguire Hartnett, who won the race with a time of 16:22. He was followed closely by teammates Fischer Scull (4th), Gideon Rivera (7th), Declan Avestro (8th) and John Clark (10th).

“It feels great that we got the team win, I'm definitely happy,” Hartnett said. “We lost this meet the last two years in a row, so just getting a low stick and helping my team secure the win, that’s really all that matters.”

Hartnett’s comments highlighted the team-first mentality behind the victory. While his individual finish played a significant role in CBA’s success, the Colts’ overall performance guaranteed the win.
With the Monmouth County Championship behind them, the team now looks ahead to the Shore Conference Championship on October 22 at Ocean County Park. CBA enters the meet as the reigning champion and looks to defend its title against the Shore’s top contenders.

Harnett will be joined by CBA’s other top runners including Gavin and Liam Schmitt, as well as Dominic Moscatello. Gavin Schmitt is coming off a fourth place individual finish at the Manhattan Invitational, where the team took third overall.

Despite the added pressure of being the defending Shore champions, Hartnett emphasized that the team plans to maintain the same mindset and trust the preparation that has brought it success. As usual, he expressed confidence in the team’s training and mentality.

“The team’s mindset is always the same. We’re definitely confident that we know where we were. We’re one of the best teams going into the meet, so just stick with our training and we should be all right,” Hartnett said.

That confidence will be important as the Colts look to carry their momentum into the latter parts of the season, which includes the conference, state and MOC meets.