Medals and Personal Bests Mark a Step Forward for Bishop Foley Boys Cross Country
Three medals for Finnegan McGlinchey, two for Gavin Samona and personal-best performances throughout the lineup marked a step forward for Bishop Foley Catholic High School’s boys cross-country program. Jeremy Slotnick provided leadership as the Ventures’ only senior.
The Lamplighter stood out as a productive meet, with runners recording personal bests and season bests. Individual improvement remained a thread throughout the schedule. McGlinchey opened the September stretch with an 18th-place finish among 60 runners at Stony Creek Metropark on Sept. 10, covering the course in 19:59.29. Samona led the Ventures at the CHSL Cardinal Division Jamboree No. 1 at Historic Fort Wayne, placing 12th among 48 runners in a then-season-best 20:09.20.
Otis Pogodzinski made measurable gains in his first season. After recording a personal-best 24:06.36 at Stony Creek, he lowered that mark to 22:18.90 at Historic Fort Wayne and then to 21:20.9 at the Sept. 26 Parkway Christian meet. Slotnick, in his third season, also improved through September, running successive season bests of 27:48.83 at Springfield Oaks County Park and 27:04.7 at Parkway Christian.
McGlinchey continued lowering his times, running a personal-best 19:14.02 at Columbus County Park on Oct. 6 to place 28th among 103 runners. A week later, he and Samona earned top-30 medals at the 5th NCA Small School Invite at MSU Tollgate Farms. McGlinchey finished 15th among 83 runners in 21:10.4, while Samona placed 17th in 21:21.7.
The Oct. 17 meet at Hudson Mills Metropark brought the season’s fastest performances for both leaders. McGlinchey ran a personal-best 18:54.2 for 50th among 123 runners, and Samona followed in 53rd with a season-best 18:57.6. Slotnick added a season-best 24:40.4. His leadership also emerged in his account of the race: Slotnick said the team followed its coach’s direction to keep moving forward and that every Venture passed runners.
At the CHSL Cardinal Division Championship on Oct. 23 at Willow Metropark, McGlinchey and Samona earned all-league medals by finishing 17th and 18th among 46 runners. McGlinchey clocked 19:11.9 and also received an all-academic medal, while Samona finished in 19:22.7. Pogodzinski ran 23:26.1 and Slotnick finished in 29:10.3. McGlinchey and Samona stayed close again at Columbus County Park on Oct. 31, placing 33rd and 35th among 74 runners in 19:08.26 and 19:22.11.
The Ventures closed the season Nov. 4 at Dakota High School, where Samona ran 19:52.92 and McGlinchey followed in 19:58.12, a separation of 5.20 seconds. Pogodzinski finished in 23:29.76 in the second race, and Slotnick completed his final season with a 26:18.17 performance. Bishop Foley’s progress extended beyond its medal winners: a first-year runner repeatedly lowered his personal best, while its lone senior paired leadership with his fastest performance late in the season.
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