It came as no surprise that NJ No. 1/US No. 3 Union Catholic girls produced the best team performance of the day, but the way the Vikings blitzed the trails and nearly broke the course record average on their way to a commanding 12-point victory over New York powerhouse Shenendehowa (ranked No. 8 in the nation) sent a strong message to the rest of the country at Saturday's 50th Shore Coaches Invitational at Holmdel Park..

Led by defending Meet of Champions winner Paige Sheppard, who clocked a course personal best of 17:38 — the No. 9 time in course history — the girls came just four seconds shy of breaking their own course record with a 5-runner average of 18:40. That's just off the all-time record of 18:37 UC set when winning the 2023 Meet of Champions.

Union Catholic now owns three of the top four team averages in Holmdel Park history:

• 2023 Meet of Champions – 18:37 (All-Time Record)

• 2025 Shore Coaches Invitational – 18:40 (No. 2 All-Time)

• 2024 Shore Coaches Invitational – 18:45 (No. 3 All-Time)

UC's scoring lineup went 1-3-6-9-11 for 30 points, while Shenendehowa countered with 2-5-7-8-20 for 42 points, averaging an impressive 19:03 — the sixth-fastest average ever recorded at Holmdel.

In the merged team standings, Union Catholic topped Shenendehowa, 74-139.

Union Catholic's top 5 girls

1-Paige Sheppard (Jr.) – 17:38 (course PR, No. 9 all-time
3- Cayleigh Kaiser (Jr.) – 18:24 (course PR)
6-Harper Telesca (Fr.) – 18:42
10-Ella Solorzano (Sr.) – 19:15
12-Eden Solorzano (Fr.) – 19:24

The UC boys also turned in a dominant performance.

The Vikings, ranked No. 8 in NJ, averaged 16:37, tied for the second-best average of the day, finished third in the team merge, and jammed five runners in the top eight with just a 41 second spread,  powering their way to a 24-78 victory over No. 13 Pingry in the F Division race. 

UC put all five scoring runners ahead of every other team's No. 2 runner in their race, and four of their top 5 ran course PR's. UC finished with 170 points in the team merge, just 10 points behind LaSalle College of Pa. (170). Christian Brothers Academy, No. 1 in NJ and No. 6 nationally, finished on top in the merge with 80.
 
Junior Danny Kuran led the charge by winning the race with a big Holmdel PR of 16:13. Senior Elijah McCoy finished in 16:26, junior Quinton Clemons was 6th in 16:47, junior Jayden Aine was 7th in 16:48, and junior Finn Riely placed 8th in 16:54.

Union Catholic's top 5 boys 

1-Danny Kuran (Jr.) – 16:13 ( (course PR)
2-Elijah McCoy (Sr.) – 16:26 (course PR)
6-Quintin Clemons (Jr.) – 16:47 (course PR)
7-Jayden Aine (Jr.) – 16:48 (course PR)
8-Finn Riely (Jr.) – 16:54 (course PR)