The cross country team had one goal this season: return to the state championship, a drought that had gone on for four years, a drought that was about to end.
Since their 2021 appearance at the MIAA Meet of Champions, few teams have been as unlucky as the Catholic Memorial cross country team. Thanks to a mix of injuries, depth challenges, and slow times on the worst days, the team has been unable to send more than one or two individuals to the state’s top race. Last year alone, three key runners went down to injury two weeks before the Division 1C race, sinking the prospect of a team championship appearance with them.
That was on the mind of team captain Mike Upton ’26, and teammates Danny Kaleba ’27, Jude Kaleba ’27, and Gerrard Stock ’28 during their summer runs through the woods of Foss Running Camp in Connecticut, and up the hills of Fort Devens, the site of the Meet of Champions, where they’d hoped to compete in mid-November.
Following the Devens run, the expectations of the season were made clear: the CM cross country team would return to that course for the last race of the year as a team instead of sending one or two runners who earned individual qualifying spots.
“I went to the Meet of Champions by myself two years ago and with Gavin Carey ’25 last year, and it stinks going without your team,” says Upton, who competed as an individual. “You look around, and everyone else has their teammates, and you’re just sitting there alone.”
As the season approached, the team was certain that their top four runners would be Upton, the Kalebas, and Stock. What was on everyone’s mind was who would fill the last three varsity spots. Positions that had the ability to make or break a season.
Competing for those spots was a group featuring Theo Fitzpatrick ’28, Finn Rosenbaum ’28, Oliver Genes ’28, Jose Estrella ’28, Roberto Gabriel Grafals ’28, and walk-on senior John Nohrden ’26. This group gave the team the depth to compete in the Catholic Conference and at the state level, as well as some insurance in the event of injuries.
Throughout the season, the team proved it could race with the state’s best, racking up top-three finishes at invitational meets, including first place at the Martha’s Vineyard Invitational. While Upton was the clear top runner, the rest of the team worked together in races, pushing themselves to pass each runner in the field.
That attitude was evident in practice as the team continued to mesh and train hard during workouts. The top four especially encouraged the younger runners to pick up the pace.
“In cross country, everyone does the same run and workout. No one breaks into positional groups because it’s the same race,” says head cross country coach John Finn ’89. “If the guy next to you falls, you have to pick him up because it affects your race.”
The work led to a third-place finish at the Catholic Conference Invitational, a third-place finish at the Catholic Conference Championship, and three Catholic Conference All-Stars.
The week of the Division 1C race, the qualifying event for the Meet of Champions, the team learned that Gerrard Stock, who had been fighting a hip injury during the season, would be unable to run, changing expectations from a top-three finish to being on the bubble for the Division 1 race.
With Stock sidelined, Rosenbaum became the team’s fifth runner, with orders from Finn to run his best race of the season. When Rosenbaum crossed the finish line, the team was unsure where they stood, but when the scores were calculated, they earned a fourth-place finish and an automatic qualifier to the championship meet.
“I was nervous because I’ve never been a scoring runner, but Coach Finn and the team told me that I needed to work hard, push myself past my limits, and give it everything I got,” says Rosenbaum. “When I learned we made it to states, a big smile came across my face. Knowing that we could make it with me as the fifth man gave me a boost of confidence.”
At the Meet of Champions, the team placed a respectable 15th in what was the season’s most challenging race. While they would have preferred a higher finish, they understood that returning to the meet after such a long absence was an accomplishment in and of itself. The race also served as a valuable learning experience for the young sophomore core, many of whom had never participated in a state championship-level race.
With everyone but Upton and Nohrden returning next year, the goal for 2026 isn’t simply to make it back to the Meet of Champions; it’s to drastically improve on their most recent result.
“We have eight guys we can develop for next year,” says Finn. “With the times they can run in spring track and their training over the summer, we have a shot at not just returning to the Meet of Champions, but cracking the top 10.”
