By Brian Towey for DyeStat

The Bronx, N.Y. -- Fahd Nasser has emerged as a factor in cross country in New Jersey.

The McNair Academic Academy senior won a race Oct. 7 at the New Balance Shore Coaches Invitational at Holmdel. Competing in his third race in eight days at the Manhattan High School Invitational, he finished second Saturday to Behailu Bekele-Arcuri of Warwick Valley NY in the Boys Varsity E race in 12 minutes, 49 seconds.

Nasser, whose parents emigrated from Bangalore, India to Houston when he was a child, has taken an unconventional path to the sport. But at McNair Academic, a magnet school located in urban Jersey City, it isn’t all that unusual.

"People think that McNair is just a public school," Nasser said. "But you have to take a test to get in."

Coach Matt Hogan has built McNair into a local power. The boys finished eighth in the distance medley relay in the Championship of America at the Penn Relays in April. And Haig Rickerby, now a freshman at Boston University, finished second in the 800 meters in 1:52.61 at New Jersey’s Meet of Champions in June.

Yet labeling McNair a "magnet" doesn’t quite capture the essence of the place.

“We come from all different ethnicities,” Nasser said. “You see that on the basketball and baseball teams. I think that because of the diversity, no one is scared to join any team.”

Diversity is in the school’s design. Its charter calls for the student body to be split along ethnic lines by percentage, ensuring maximum diversity.

“Jersey City is one of the most ethnically diverse places in the nation,” Hogan said. “I have coached kids of every ethnicity, kids who have spoken a lot of different languages.”

It’s a rigorous academic environment where school comes first. But with 175 students per grade, McNair cross country and track have found their niche.

Nasser, who comes from a family of doctors and is considering the University of Pennsylvania, leaned heavily on Rickerby and Younass Barkouch, runners who came before him.

"Those guys showed me the culture of the program," said Nasser, who played basketball until his sophomore year.

After committing full time to track last year during his junior season, Nasser has blossomed.

“This summer I got a good training base,” said Nasser, who has dropped 35 seconds off his PR at Holmdel this season. “I’m running well (and) looking at the Meet of Champions. I want to stay with those guys in the top 10.”

Lee to Georgetown

Shoreham-Wading River NY senior Katherine Lee has decided to continue to her running and academic career at Georgetown. 

“I knew (I wanted to go there) on the visit,” Lee said. “It’s a gorgeous place, the facilities are beautiful. I loved Coach Culley. I really got along with the team well.”

Lee also considered Stanford and Villanova.

“I think that I can be a good 5K runner (in college), but then I’ve run good splits on the 4x800, so I’d like to be able to run the 800, too,” she said.

Lee was a part of the SWR team that won the 4x800 and 4xMile relays at New Balance Nationals.

Team bonding experience

Successful teams are built in the preseason. So perhaps it’s not a surprise that Northwest High, a perennial track powerhouse out of Germantown, Md., came to the Manhattan Invitational with a little bit of a different look.

Northwest coach Robert Youngblood annually comes to this meet in the Bronx. It’s a great opportunity for his athletes and a reward for those who’ve earned it. But when two of his top track athletes, high jumper Divinus Muteba and pole vaulter Daniel Goodman, asked to come along, he couldn’t say no.

“They asked me to go on the trip, but I said, we can only take so many people,” Youngblood said. “They said ‘No, we don’t need a room. We just want to go for our teammates.’”

It’s still months from indoor season, but for Goodman and Muteba, it was an opportunity to show support and establish a deeper bond with teammates.

“Most of them are going to be with us indoors,” Muteba said. “It’s the little things you do that other teams aren’t doing that help. It gives us an edge.”

Muteba and Goodman ran errands for teammates, assisted the coaches and lazed under the team’s tent. 

“We think it’s imperative that we’re here,” Goodman said. 

And for Muteba, a 6-4 high jumper, it isn’t just for show. He’s tried his hand on the trails this fall as well.

“Other coaches say to me, ‘You’ve won seven straight state titles. That’s crazy. How do you do that?’” Youngblood said. “One coach saw my high jumper running in a cross country race and said, ‘Isn’t that your state champion high jumper?’”

Repping Delaware

Delaware’s boys were represented in the Bronx by Wilmington Friends’ Connor Nisbet, who placed second in the Varsity D race in 12:34.2 to Liam Higgins (12:33.2) of Goshen NY in the fastest non-Eastern States Championship field of the meet. Charter School of Wilmington senior Ben Snyder finished fifth in Varsity B in 13:10.1.

“Two years ago we won states,” Snyder said. “Then we lost of a lot of guys last year. We’re running really well now.”

Padua's Lydia Olivere finished fourth in the Eastern States girls race behind a trio of runners from No. 1 Fayetteville-Manlius NY.

Pennsylvania contingent runs well

Pennsylvania brought a strong contingent of boys teams that included La Salle College and Downingtown West, which finished eighth and ninth in the Eastern States Championship, as well as Bishop Shanahan, 14th and led by senior Josh Hoey’s 10th-place finish.

Neshaminy senior Rusty Kujdych, who has been a force on the trails this fall, finished fourth overall in the Eastern States Championship. 

Boyertown Area, which finished second in the boys Varsity C race by a 43-63 margin to powerful Lowell MA, also represented the state well.

“District I (where we are from) is traditionally the toughest competition in the state of Pennsylvania,” coach Ryan Knox said. “There are certainly other strong conferences in western Pennsylvania. The District I meet is really tough.”