Fast History of Fast
The Manhattan College Invitational meet resumed in 1973, following up on the legendary meet at the Van Cortlandt Park course that in earlier decades had brought together the top teams of New York. Nott Terrace High School of Schenectady and Bishop Kearney of Brooklyn are two of the teams that flashed their spikes to multiple wins at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx during the first half of the 20th century. The distance back in the old times was often less than 2.5 miles, and it was 2.37 miles in 1933 when the race was won in a time of 11:31. In the more recent decades the course and the distance have had some alterations, so citing any one course record is problematic.
A few famous runners such as Alberto Salazar and Luis Ostolozaga took a crack at running the fastest time at the meet in the 1970s. In 1985, Monroe Woodbury's John Trautmann topped Salazar's 1975 record of 12:22.5 by almost 4 seconds when he ran a 12:18.7. This mark would stand for an eternity until 2006 when NJ's premier runner Craig Forys ran down one of NY's top guys, Steve Murdock, in the final stretch of the D race to shatter the record by 8 seconds with a 12:10.7. Forys's mark lasted for another eternity of about 15 minutes until it was demolished by 0.1 seconds by NY-runner Tom Gruenewald of Fayetteville-Manlius in the E race. In 2008, the E race winner Solomon Haile of MD lowered the record by another 4 seconds to 12:06.61. In 2009 Joe Rosa of NJ's West Windsor -- Plainsboro North lowered the record another 3 seconds to 12:03.77 in the F race.
Again
following on the tradition of a race held in the Newark NJ area in the
1920s through the 1940s that had decided the national championship and
that had at Manhattan been the key race on the girls' side for many
years, a championship Eastern States race for the boys was introduced in
2008. The first four years of the race were in some ways a testing out
phase as the guys' teams became ever more aware of the importance of
running in the Eastern States race, but the last four years has seen the
field swell to an average of 27 scoring teams plus a half dozen more
who enter one or two top runners. Speed ratings for the winning team
have been on a general climbing trend with the big exception of last
year.as follows: 2015 DW 180.2, 2014 FM 185.4, 2013 CBA 184.2, 2012 CBA 183.8, 2011 CBA 181.0, 2010 Shaker 179.4, 2008 CBA 182.2, 2008 DB 180.0
The first race was won by Don Bosco Prep of NJ, with sophomore Joe Rosa of West Windsor-Plainsboro North the top guy in 12:19.99. The next year, Christian Brothers Academy of Lincroft NJ won the race and Joe Vitez of Haddonfield NJ took the individual title. Joe Rosa's twin brother Jim won the Eastern States race in 2010 and Shaker became the first NY team to take the title.
In 2011 the crown returned to CBA, and St. Benedict's of NJ's Edward Cheserek captured the race by 26 seconds with a record-obliterating mark of 11:55.39. 2012 saw a repeat for both the team and individual winners as CBA took its third championship and Cheserek ran 11:58.7. In 2014 CBA won its fourth title and Tony Russell of West Chester Henderson succeeded Cheserek as the top guy. In 2014 Fayetteville-Manlius broke through for its first Eastern States win on the way to the national title, and two other New York teams Liverpool and St. Anthony's followed for a 1-2-3 sweep. Darien's Alex Ostberg ran an incredible 11:57 in the cold wet conditions to take the individual crown.