In a windy but weather-perfect day at Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday during the year of the pandemic, the action at the CHSAA Intersectionals hearkened back to 2013 as the St. Anthony's girls and Chaminade boys matched their feats from seven years ago by claiming the big prize. Neither team is a stranger to the CHSAA championship trophies since the Friars lead on the girls' side with 15 wins and Chaminade now stands third on the boys's side behind St.Anthony's and Bishop Loughlin after capturing its 16th crown. But conditions were a bit parched recently for two squads that had piled up a lot of wins during the 2000s -- 8 for St. A's between 2000 and 2013 and 7 for Chaminade. Now the drought is over and both teams reign.
The Friars girls were relatively strong favorites going into their race as they had both strength at the top and much greater depth than any other team, qualities that coaches treasure. The Chaminade guys were the winners two weeks earlier at the NSCHSAA with speed ratings that came in around 160, but at Intersectionals the Flyers' top five finishers made huge-to-solid leaps to beat reigning champs Xavier by 52-58.
The two indiviidual favorites defended their positions as Notre Dame-Manhattan senior Brigid McCabe got a repeat title and Fordham Prep junior Myles Hogan captured the crown to follow in the footsteps of the Rams' Niall Ryan in 2019.