Don Bosco High School

The goals for Don Bosco’s team this winter were modest. Without some of its better athletes competing in the winter, the Ironmen were lacking in the sprints and hurdles and depth was an issue.

"Our whole focus was to win the County Relays," coach Rob DeCarlo said.

"We circled it on the calendar and we didn’t care about the conference or anything else, and even then we were lucky to win that by one point."

But a few weeks later, the Ironmen added their first State indoor title since 1994 by winning the Non-Public A championship despite having no sprinter, hurdler or relay team in the finals.

That’s how Don Bosco became the North Jersey boys indoor track Team of the Year.

"Winning the State group was certainly a goal last year – in fact we thought we’d walk away with it and not winning was a huge disappointment," DeCarlo said. "But this year the kids said they were the most relaxed they ever were in a meet before we got to the State meet."

So Mike Belgiovine earned a pair of third-place finishes in the 800 and 1,600, and Rafael Vargas and Howie Rosas went 3-4 in the 3,200, performances expected of three members of the state’s best cross-country team.