A student at Union City High School in New Jersey was disqualified for allegedly cheating multiple times this cross-country season by jumping into races near the finish and not running the full distance, sources confirmed to NJ Advance Media.

Joseph Ferrante, the Assistant Principal of Athletics at Union City, said on Tuesday that he was made aware that Terry Varicelly cut the course at the Nike Northeast Regional meet that took place this past Saturday at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y.

Ferrante said Varicelly is a senior at Union City, but that he didn't run for the high school cross-country team this season.

"He's a student with us, but he's not participating in any athletic sports for us,'' said Ferrante. "When he attends these events to the best of our knowledge he's doing so unattached.''

Union City Principal Ryan Lewis said Varicelly ran on the Union City cross-country team as a junior last year and quit the team during the preseason this year.

According to a report by MileSplit, timers confirmed that Varicelly didn't have a 1.5-mile split at the Nike Northeast race like the rest of the runners in the field, and he didn't appear in any of the race footage prior to the finish. Varicelly crossed in 27th place in 16:35, which would be a huge personal best of nearly 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Meet management removed Varicelly from the results.

Varicelly was disqualified for alleged cheating in the Eastern States Championship race at last month's Manhattan Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park in N.Y., Manhattan Invitational meet director Ed Gorman said on Tuesday.

"It's the same kid,'' said Gorman. "Somehow he got hold of a non-issued number, number 10817, and wrote the name Terry Varicelly right under his number.''

Gorman said Varicelly was disqualified after meet officials viewed photos taken of the race by Joseph Swift for MileSplit (shown below). You can see in the photos that Varicelly, wearing number 10817, is standing alongside the course as the leaders go past him. Then he jumps into the race and finishes.

"I've been involved in high school cross-country since 1963 and I've never seen anything like this before,'' said Gorman.

Ferrante, who said he wasn't aware of the incident at the Manhattan Invitational and hadn't seen any of the photos, was asked if any disciplinary action was taken or will be taken against Varicelly.

"No, not at this time,'' said Ferrante, noting that no meet officials have formally informed the school district of the incidents. "Right now we can't discipline based off of hearsay.''