ABR 476 | Sean McCafferty — Building the CBA Cross Country Dynasty | NXN, Training & NJ XC

Christian Brothers Academy Head Cross Country Coach Sean McCafferty joins Airey Bros Radio for a deep dive into one of the most storied high school cross country programs in America.Coming off a historic 2025 season, McCafferty was named the Joe Newton Coach of the Year after leading CBA to 3rd place at Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) with a New Jersey-record 15:54 team average. Under his leadership, the Colts have won seven Meet of Champions titles, six Nike Northeast Regional titles and qualified for NXN eight consecutive times.Sean takes us back to his roots in New Jersey distance running, growing up in a running family, his own career at Princeton, becoming a teacher and coach, and eventually taking over the legendary CBA Cross Country program from Tom Heath.We get deep into what has allowed CBA to remain one of the premier high school distance programs in the country: evolving training philosophies, slowing down easy days, threshold training, heart-rate data, lactate testing, building athlete confidence, developing team culture and teaching runners to care about one another.Coach McCafferty also breaks down the modern college recruiting landscape and why the best opportunity for a high school runner isn't always NCAA Division I. We discuss D1, D2 and D3 recruiting, Ivy League academics, social media and Strava, the pressure of coaching a national powerhouse, CBA alumni culture, Nike Cross Nationals and what the next generation of Colts looks like heading into the 2026 cross country season.If you're a high school cross country runner, distance coach, parent, college recruit or fan of New Jersey running, this one is loaded.🎙️ TOPICS INCLUDE:🏃 Sean McCafferty's running & coaching origin story🎓 Running at Princeton & the Ivy League experience🔵 Christian Brothers Academy Cross Country🏆 Taking over CBA from legendary coach Tom Heath🔥 The pressure of maintaining a national powerhouse🏃‍♂️ New Jersey high school cross country🎯 College recruiting: D1 vs. D2 vs. D3📱 Strava, MileSplit & social media in modern recruiting🧪 Lactate testing, heart rate & threshold training🐢 Why CBA slowed down to get faster🤝 Building belief, leadership & team culture🏆 Meet of Champions & Nike Northeast Regionals🌲 Nike Cross Nationals / NXN🥉 CBA's historic 2025 season & 3rd-place NXN finish🚀 The next generation of CBA distance runners☕ The ABR Final Four━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🌟 FOLLOW & SUPPORT AIREY BROS RADIO📺 YouTube — @AireyBroshttps://www.youtube.com/@Aireybros📸 Instagram — @aireybrosradiohttps://www.instagram.com/aireybrosradio/🎧 Spotify — Search Airey Bros Radio🍎 Apple Podcasts — Search Airey Bros Radio🏃‍♂️ BLACK SHEEP ENDURANCEUltra Marathon & Endurance Coachinghttps://www.blacksheependurance.com/☕ BUY THE BROS A COFFEEhttps://buymeacoffee.com/aireybros