Rob Albano is the most decorated runner in the distinguished history of Felician men’s cross-country.
Albano emerged as Felician’s frontrunner as a freshman in 2009. He finished third in the 2010 CACC championship meet, leading the Golden Falcons to the team title. But those results only hinted at what would follow.
Felician would repeat as conference champions in 2011. Albano won the league race, earning CACC Runner of the Year honors. Two weeks later, he finished a school-record sixth at the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship in Boston. He joined teammate James Vander Wiele as Felician’s first two All-Region cross-country runners.
Albano’s senior season was one of the best by any Golden Falcon in any sport. He won all four of his regular-season meets, including the Philadelphia Metro Championship for the fourth time and the Lehigh Paul Short Run that contained 322 entrants. He then captured the CACC individual championship, becoming the first repeat male conference Runner of the Year, and placed seventh at regionals. He remains the program’s only two-time all-region performer.
A two-time Academic All-America® selection, Albano graduated from Felician in 2014 with a 3.76 GPA as a double-major in elementary education and general science. He was chosen as the 2013 Felician Senior Male Student-Athlete of the Year and that year’s CACC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He still owns Felician’s top four 8,000-meter times, the 10,000-meter record, and 12 school course records.
Albano joins Paul Chegwidden as men’s cross-country runners in the Felician Athletics Hall of Fame. His coach, John Brennan, is also a member.
A graduate of Pequannock Township High, Albano now lives in Mahwah. He is a science teacher and the cross-country coach at Valley Middle School in Oakland. He also works part time at Racefaster, a New Jersey-based specialty run shop.
Still an active road racer, Albano clocked the fastest 5,000-meter road time in New Jersey in 2019, at 14:26. Since graduating from Felician he has won 150+ road races, more than 50 of them in course-record time.
Albano’s wife, the former Kassie Topp, was the valedictorian of the Felician Class of 2015 and an all-CACC cross-country runner the previous fall. They have a son, Vincent, and a daughter, Annie.
Last updated 6/22/22
