A dynasty came to an end today.

It was just a small thing in the grand scheme of the national sports stage, but it meant enough to me. And the dyanasty isn't completely toppled, but a run of titles has been severed.

Red Bank's (my alma mater) boys cross country team today ended a 19-year stranglehold on the county championship held by Christian Brothers Academy, an all-boys school that (according to local rumor) recruits certain athletes. The CBA boys team hasn't lost a dual cross country meet in decades (it's up to 200 straight or something). They'd won the Monmouth County team title every year since 1981.

But not today. And I take a little credit for that.

The summer before my junior year, I decided I might like to try my hand (well, feet really) at cross country. Not that I felt I needed one, but I wanted to try to earn a varsity letter, and after my sophomore baseball season, I realized it wasn't going to happen on the diamond. I was pretty good at running the mile in gym classes and baseball practices, so I figured with some training, I could tackle 3.1. I started training with the team in August, and enjoyed the camaraderie that came with a small team. In cross country, seven runners contribute to the meet, the top five scoring, and teams are generally pretty small.

At Red Bank, we hadn't had much success with the boys team. In fact, before I joined, I think they'd had trouble getting a large enough turnout. My junior year, we won a few dual meets; senior year, I think we won one or two more. Before that, it had been a while since we were any kind of a threat.

In the past few years, the new coach and some talented runners have boosted the program. The winter and spring track programs -- boys and girls -- have benefitted as well, winning conference, county and state championships indoors and out. But never on the wooded course of Holmdel Park.

And so today, with their top runner finishing third and their top five finishing before CBA's fourth, the Bucs wrestled the county crown away from the dominating parochial power.

And I feel proud to be a Buc.