From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Vineland senior Maximelio Giardino and junior Isaiah Strickland went 1-2, but Bridgeton took six of the next seven places and won its 2nd Cumberland County meet in three years Thursday in Vineland.

Giardino ran 15:55 and Strickland 16:03, but Bridgeton had enough depth to win the team title 26-32 over Vineland. The Bulldogs finished one point behind Vineland at last year’s meet.

Bridgeton took 3rd through 6th with senior Dylan Benitiez Gonzalez 3rd in 16:07, senior Kevin Perez 4th in 16:41, sophomore Cesar Palma 5th in 16:43 and junior Robert Pessolano 6th in 16:47.

Sophomore Nyssan Sherrer, junior Nathan Hudnall and sophomore Ronnie Tolentino gave Bridgeton seven in the top 11. Bridgeton had a 48-second gap between its 1st and 5th finishers.

After Giardino and Strickland, Vineland also had senior Jordan Chandler [7th in 16:50] and sophomore Samuel Wadden [10th in 17:19] in the top 10.

Egg Harbor Township junior Molly Rooney and her brother, EHT junior Timothy Rooney, both won individual titles Thursday at the Atlantic County Championships at Hammonton Lake Park.

Egg Harbor won both team titles with very low totals, the boys topping Mainland Regional 20-76 and the girls winning by 19-44 over Mainland.

The EHT girls, ranked 13th in the state by MileSplit, won their 3rd straight county title with a 1-2-3 finish from Rooney, senior Meghan Johnson and senior Addison Lambert. Rooney won the race in 18:07 over 4.75 miles, Johnson ran 18:14 and Lambert 18:25.

It’s the first 1-2-3 finish at the Atlantic County meet in 13 years, since Buena swept the top three spots in 2013 with Kristin Siegle, Gina Testa and Lisa Testa.

Egg Harbor’s other scorers were sophomore Corrine Conley in 5th [18::50] and junior Carlee Street [8th in 19:18]. Junior Marisa Mazur [10th in 19:38] and sophomore Katie Johnson [11th in 19:46] gave the Eagles seven finishers in the top 11.

Also in the top 10: Mainland freshman Quinlan [4th in 18:32], Mainland junior Adrian Sykes [6th in 19:11], Mainland senior Cecilia Foreman [7th in 19:16] and Mainland senior Lauren LaMonaca [9th in 19:25].

For the EHT boys in their 5th consecutive team title, Rooney and Daniel Svec finished 1-2, Rooney in 15:13 and Svec in 15:19. EHT had five finishers in the top seven with a 37-second pack and a 49-second gap separating their seven finishers.

Junior Liam Aspenberg placed 4th for EHT in 15:31, senior Stephen Slusarski took 6th in 15:47 and senior Ben Gettings was 7th in 15:50. Sophomore Gabe Hudec [10th in 15:56] and junior Christopher Sanchez [11th in 16:02] also raced for EHT.

Also in the top 10: Mainland junior Jack Preissman [3rd in 15:20], St. Augustine sophomore Braden Bernardini [5th in 15:44], Pleasantville freshman Brody Bailey [8th in 15:52], St. Augustine sophomore Brayden Mauro [9th in 15:53].

Seniors Aubrey Bishop and Katelyn Gallinaro and junior Kaitlin Orazi finished 1st, 2nd and 4th and the Kingsway girls won their 9th Gloucester County title in the last 12 years Thursday in West Deptford.

Bishop won the race in 18:45, Gallinaro was 2nd in 19:14 and Orazi 4th in 19:45. Freshman Aubrey Scheeper and senior Ava Buchanan also placed in the top 10, Scheeper 8th in 20:49 and Buchanan 9th in 20:53.

Kingsway’s 1-2-3-6-7 team points for 19 points gave the Dragons the lowest score since 2018, when Kingsway topped Williamstown 15-65.

Bishop and Gallinaro are the first teammates to finish 1-2 since Williamstown’s Alyssa Boucher and Sophia Aldridge in 2023. It’s Kingsway’s first 1-2 finish since Ashlynne Burke and Lauren Krott led a 1-2-3-4-5 Kingsway sweep in 2018 with Sydney Watts, Allie Pierontoni and Emily Pierontoni.

Glassboro sophomore Keira Epstein broke up the Kingsway pack in 3rd place in 19:21. Williamstown enior Julia Burgio was 5th in 20:21, Gloucester Tech junior Jordan Moczydlowski 6th in 20:28, Delsea sophomore Brooke Mashburn 7th in 20:37 and Williamstown junior Yazmire Bonhomme 10th in 21:03.

Four schools finished within 20 points of each other in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Gloucester County Tech was 2nd with 79 points, Williamstown 3rd with 85, Clearview 4th with 90 and Washington Township 5th with 98.

Juniors Joe Saicic and Zacchaeus Harrigan finished 1st and 2nd for a 2nd straight year and Glassboro rolled to its 2nd Gloucester County title ever and 2nd in a row Thursday at West Deptford Park.

Saicic won for the second straight year with a 15:55 and Harrigan was 2nd in 15:56. Junior Gavin Rakitis took 4th for the Bulldogs in 16:22, junior Aaron Johnson was 6th in 16:30 and freshman Christian Hughes took 16th in 17:16.

Glassboro averaged 16:23.8 over 5,000 meters at West Deptford Park and outscored 2nd-place Kingsway 29-52 without a senior in its scoring group. Glassboro won its first title last year, 42-81, over Washington Township.

Glassboro’s 29-point total is lowest since Kingsway won the 2018 meet 28-60 over Washington Township.

Glassboro, the top Group 1 school in New Jersey, is ranked 6th overall in New Jersey by MileSplit.

Junior Trevor Szilier of Washington Township placed 3rd in 15:57, breaking up a 1-2-3-4 Glassboro sweep. Kingsway senior Ryan Duffy was 5th in 16:25, with Kingsway junior Michael Beaver 7th in 16:33, West Deptford senior Lane McClintock 8th in 16:37, Williamstown sophomore Brandon Basilio 9th in 16:54 and Kingsway senior Payton Veilleux 10th in 16:55.

Junior Connor Brand was the individual winner and Haddonfield placed eight runners in the top 17 to win the Camden County title 30-58 over Camden Catholic Wednesday in Logan Township.

Brand ran 16:39 at DREAM Park, edging Camden Catholic sophomore Jim Rotaeche, who as 2nd in 16:46. Camden Catholic placed 2nd with three juniors and two sophomores in its top five.

For Haddonfield, sophomore Logan Tripician placed 5th in 17:21, senior Andrew Blum was 6th in 17:29, junior Graham Dodson 8th in 17:35 and junior Luke Lindner 14th in 18:15. Haddonfield’s 6th, 7th and 8th runners, senior Luke Patterson, sophomore Lucas Larson and junior Ian Rodriguez, placed 14th through 17th in 18:15 through 18:22.

Sterling senior Brady Kay placed 3rd in 17:00, Audubon junior John Robinson was 4th in 17:04, Camden Catholic junior Kevin Dever 7th in 17:33, Timber Creek senior Michael Zechman 9th in 17:37 and Camden Catholic junior Declan Walsh 10th in 17:47.

Seniors Molly Mills and Madison Kelsey dipped under 20 minutes and finished 1-2 to lead Haddonfield to the girls team title Wednesday at the Camden County Championships, held in Gloucester County.

Haddonfield outscored 2nd-place Winslow, 21-98, with Audubon 3rd ith 111 points. The 2nd-place finish is the best ever for Winslow.

Mills ran 19:50 and Kelsey 19:54 over 5,000 meters at DREAM Park in Logan Township, and Haddonfield went 1-2-5-6-7, with senior Harper Benjamin [5th in 20:42], senior Devon Gervasi [6th in 21:04] and sophomore Tatum Russo [7th in 21:19].

Others in the top 10 were Triton aenior Emily Lutner [3rd in 20:09], Winslow junior Annabella Cassidy [4th in 20:33], Winslow freshman Zion Ebisike [8th in 21:23], Highland sophomore Isabella Prendergast [9th in 21:27] and Audubon senior Lydia Gravante [10th in 21:29].

Are Washington Township’s Yashahya Brown and Glassboro’s Cartrell Moore now competing for Rowan? It looks that way.

Brown isn’t listed anywhere on Rowan’s athletic web site, but in a list of election results for Rowan student government a Yashahya Brown is listed in the results for the student advocacy and community belonging senators. Maybe there are two Yashahya Browns, but it doesn’t look like it.

Brown had a remarkable career at Washington Township, setting a state indoor record of 7.06 at the Bubble, 7th-fastest in U.S. history, and a South Jersey record of 13.43 in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2024 state meet in Somerset. His 7.65 over the 60-meter hurdles is 16th-fastest in U.S. history and 3rd-fastest in state history. He won the U.S. schoolboy title in the 110 highs at West Philly Nationals in 13.52.

Brown began his collegiate career at Rutgers, where he ran 13.82 in Tampa in his 2nd collegiate race, the fastest time by a Rutgers hurdler in 41 years.

He spent last year at Hampton University, where he ran 13.81 and placed 3rd in the Coastal Athletic Association Championships in May in Elon, N.C.

Brown competed in one year of indoor and one year of outdoor at both Rutgers and Hampton so should have two years of indoors and two years of outdoors remaining.

Rowan has a spectacular recent hurdling history, with three different hurdlers winning NCAA Division 3 titles over the last three years. Kwaku Nkrumrah from Teaneck won the 110 highs in 2024 in 13.77, Jason Agyemang from North Plainfield won the 60-meter highs in 2025 in 7.76, and Jamir Brown from Riverside won the 110-meter highs outdoors in 2025 after setting a D-3 record of 13.60 three weeks earlier.

As for Moore, he’s not listed anywhere on Rowan’s athletic web site either, but he did share a link to Rowan track’s NIL Club on social media.

At Rider, Moore competed in one indoor season, triple jumping 47-10 ½ in a meet at Ocean Breeze. At Glassboro, he triple jumped 46-10 for 3rd at the 2024 Meet of Champions, ran 49.15 for 400 at 2024 sectionals and ran 53.56 in the 400-meter hurdles at 2024 sectionals. He should have four full years of outdoor eligibility and three seasons of indoors remaining.

Rowan is one of the top NCAA Division 3 programs in the country. The Profs have won 10 consecutive NJAC indoor titles and 11 outdoor titles in a row. The Profs won the NCAA Division 3 indoor national title this past winter and placed 2nd in outdoor nationals.

Among the All-Americans expected to return for the Profs this year are national champions specialist Dametrius Hester from Mahwah (javelin) and David Brown of Edison (high jump), along with middle distance runner Dallas Hohney of Glassboro, high jumpers Noah Wampole of Radnor and Jamile Gantt of Paulsboro, Kingsway sprinter Evan Corcoran, Eastern sprinter Rajahn Dixon of Eastern, sprinter Eli Hendricks of Penns Grove, sprinter Marquis Taylor of Woodbury and intermediate hurdler Samuel Agbessi of Sterling.

The Profs traditionally open the 2026-27 indoor season in early December.

Riley Tolson won her 2nd straight individual title and Ocean City swept the top seven spots to win its 17th straight Cape May County title Tuesday in Middle Township.

Tolson ran 19:34 over 5,000 meters at Cape May County Park, and the Red Raiders’ packed their five scorers in 55 seconds, scoring a perfect 15 points.

Ocean City has won every county title since 2009, when Wildwood Catholic went 1-2-3 and edged Ocean City, 30-32. The meet was not held in 2020.

Following Tolson across the line were senior Carly Godfrey [2nd in 20:16], freshman Mackenzie Jenkins [3rd in 20:17], sophomore Bella Cera [4th in 20:28], senior Peighton Clemens [5th in 20:29], freshman Cara Jefferson [6th in 20:55] and senior Lillian Flora [7th in 21:10].

Middle Township took the next three spots, with sophomore Teagan Emmer 8th in 22:35, senior Eden Geisel 9th in 23:04 and junior Autumn Cannon 10th in 23:14.

Middle Township senior Jamar Mack won the individual title and Ocean City, running its B team, placed five runners from 2nd through 6th place to win its 11th straight team title Tuesday at the Cape May Championships in Middle Township.

This is the third straight year Mack has broken up an Ocean City sweep. He was 6th in 2024 and 4th last year.

Ocean City has now won 24 Cape May County titles in the last 25 years. Middle Township won by five points in 2014, 29-34, to break up the Red Raiders’ winning streak.

Ocean City won the team title with 20 points.Ocean City has won 44 of 52 team titles and 43 of the last 49 dating back to 1977. The Raiders have placed 1st or 2nd in 49 consecutive county meets since taking 4th in 1976. They’ve also scored fewer than 40 points in 27 consecutive meets. During their current streak of 11 straight wins they’ve averaged 18.3 points.

Mack ran 16:53 over 5,000 meters at Cape May County Park and won by nearly a minute over Ocean City junior Hayden Tarves, who was 2nd in 17:48.

Also in Ocean City’s scoring group were junior Ryan Jefferson [3rd in 17:50], senior Jeffrey Taccarino [4th in 18:00], senior Eric Buck [5th in 18:01] and sophomore Aidan Sokorai [6th in 18:14].

Also in the top 10: Middle Township junior Rey Cruz Bruno [7th in 18:30], Ocean City sophomore Peyton Spaulding [8th in 18:40], Ocean City senior Logan Goodwin [9th in 18:44] and Middle senior Darp Patel [10th in 18:54].

Kingsway senior Ryan Duffy and Egg Harbor Township junior Timothy Rooney finished 5^th and 7^th and the EHT and Kingsway boys placed 2^nd and 4^th out off over 230 runners in the Varsity E race Saturday at the Manhattan Invitational.

Duffy ran 13:12 over the VanCortlandt Park 2 ½-mile course and Rooney was five seconds back.

Salesianum School of Wilmington, Del., won the team title with 117 points, 15 fewer than Egg Harbor Township. Father Judge of Philadelphia was 3^rd with 159 and Kingsway 4^th at 188.

EHT placed its first four runners in the top 30, with Rooney 5^th, senior Daniel Svec 16^th in 13:36, junior Liam Aspenbherg 27^th in 13:49 and senior Ben Gettings 28^th in 13:51. They were backed up by senior Stephen Slusarski and Gabe Hudec in 55^th and 56^th, both in 14:09. Sophomore Christopher Sanchez ran 14:20 for 72^nd.

For Kingsway, junior Michael Beaver and sophomore Logan McKeever took 17^th and 18^th, both in 13:37, senior Payton Veilleux was 59^th in 14:12 and senior Joseph Moczydlowski 92^nd in 14:38.