From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Senior Aidan Brad from Williamstown led five Rowan runners in the top 30 and the Profs placed a close 2nd Saturday in the Border Battle in Logan Township.

Brad ran 8,000 meters at muddy, water-logged DREAM Park in 27:29 and placed 10th out of more than 150 runners in the men’s championship race.

Freshman Rowan Horner from Franklin High in Portland, Ore., was 14th in 27:40, sophomore Ty Blackman from Glassboro ran 27:49 for 21st place, senior Colin Patterson from Haddon Heights was 22nd in 27:52 and junior Reid Gervasi from Haddonfield was 26th in 28:03.

Horner and Blackman were the 1st and 3rd freshmen finishers and both were competing in their first collegiate 8K race.Rowan packed its five scorers in 29 seconds.

Mount Union of Alliance, Ohio, edged Rowan 70-83 to win the team title.

Because most of the Paul Short Races scheduled for Oct. 2 at Lehigh were cancelled, the Profs hadn’t raced since a meet at Stockton on Sept. 19.

Stockton freshman James Clauson from Haddon Township placed 27th in 28:07, Rowan sophomore Dylan Saber of Williamstown was 42nd in 28:23.

Bloomsburg senior Lexi Tepper from Cherry Hill East placed 2nd out of nearly 100 runners Saturday morning at the Bloomsburg Invitational on her home course in Columbia County.

Tepper, in her 1st year of XC at Bloomsburg after spending three years at UMBC, ran 22:55 and finished behind only sophomore teammate Olivia Magagna of Strasburg High, Lampeter Township, Lancaster County, who won the race in 22:21.

Tepper, the PSAC mile and 3,000 champ last spring, was in 3rd with 1,000 meters to go but passed Millersville’s Bri Pollock and finished 2nd.

Bloomsburg went 1-2-13-15-17 and placed 2nd to East Stroudsburg, which scored 39 points.

Big race Saturday morning by Bishop Eustace’s Anya Kazemi, a Lafayette junior, who ran a huge 6,000 all-course PR and placed 3rd out of nearly 400 runners at the Aubrey Shenk Invitatinal in Gettysburg.

Kazemi ran 21:16 and finished behind only runners from John Hopkins of Baltimore and Batten University of Virginia Beach.

Her previous 6,000 best was 21:42 in her most recent meet on her home course in Easton.

Kazemi was 15th at the mile but had moved up to 3rd when she came through 3.0 miles at 17:18.

Senior Ana Severino from Haddon Heights was Lafayette’s 3rd finisher, crossing the line in 21:48 in 13th place. That’s also an all-course PR. Severino previously had run 22:00 last October at Lehigh.

Lafayett placed 2nd to Hopkins, 43-60.

Rider senior Maddie Dischert from Atlantic City from a 6,000-meter all-course PR and placed 10th out of nearly 200 runners Friday at the Joe Handleman ’52 Fall Classic in Plainsboro. She was Rider’s first finisher.

Dischert, from Brigantine, ran 21:11 on Princeton’s home course, dropping her all-course 6K best from 21:21, which she ran two weeks ago at Lehigh in one of the Paul Short races that wasn’t cancelled.

Dischert was Rider’s top finisher and was just 28 seconds behind winner Julia Dill from Robert Morris in Pittsburgh., who ran 20:43.

La Salle senior Helene Usher from Haddonfield finished just 15 seconds behind Dischert in 16th place in 21:26. Usher was La Salle’s first finisher, 10 seconds of three-time Atlantic 10 champion Gwenno Goode.

Usher, who has run 16:30.14 for 5,000 meters on the track, has a 6K best of 21:05, also from Paul Short.

Chloe Care, a sophomore from Ocean City, was St. Joe’s 3rd runner, finishing in 22:29.

Four more South Jersey runners – Penn State sophomore Liliah Gordon, North Florida freshman Sophia Aldridge from Williamstown, St. Joe’s freshman Jonalee Adames from Sterling and La Salle junior Cara Coppolino from Sterling – all finished in a 22-second span from 22:42 through 23:04.

Villanova sophomore Maeve Smith ran a smoking personal-best 20:40 over 6,000 meters at Under Armor Pre-Nationals Friday in Terre Haute, Ind.

Smith ran a 23-second all-course PR at Indiana State’s LaVern Gibson Championship Course, breaking 21 minutes for the first time. Her previous 6,000 best was a 21:03 at Lehigh last October.

Smith was Villanova’s 3rd finisher in her first race this fall.

Seniors Benjamin Realley and Sean Sooy finished 1-2, Cherokee placed all five scorers in the top 10 and the Chiefs won their 13th consecutive Burlington County Open Friday in Mansfield Township.

Realley ran 16:21 over 5,000 meters at Crystal Lake Park and Sooy ran 16:28, and Cherokee topped Cinnaminson 24-53, with Moorestown 3rd at 109. Cherokee’s five scorers finished in a 28-second gap.

Cherokee has won every County Open title since 2014 and 26 of the last 32 going back to 1995. Realley is the 14th Cherokee runner to win the individual title during that span.

Senior Gavin Danielewicz was 5th for Cherokee in 16:49, senior Maximo Harada 7th in 16:57 and senior Leo Vyvyan 9th in 17:06. All seven Cherokee runners finished in the top 10, with senior Bruce Novoa 14th in 17:21 and sophomore Hamza Salahuddin 15th in 17:21.

The rest of the top 10 included Moorestown junior Zander Kane [3rd in 16:33], Cinnaminson freshman James McKeon [4th in 16:34], Cinnaminson senior Edward Abu-Adas [6th in 16:54], Shawnee sophomore Deven Lloyd [8th in 17:00] and Cinnaminson senior Ryan Scaricaciottoli [10th in 17:08].

Cherokee also swept the top seven spots in the JV race, with seven runners finishing in a 33-second gap between 17:33 and 18:10.

Molly Cataline became the first freshman girl to win the Burlington County Open in 24 years and led Northern to its first team title ever Friday in Mansfield Township.

Cataline covered the 5,000-meter Crystal Lake Park course in 18:53, becoming the first freshman to win the county title since Willingboro’s Brittnee Bynoe in 2002.

Northern’s best previous finish was 3rd place in 2021 and 2022. The only previous Northern girls to win the Burlco Open were Laura Mason in 1979 and Lilliah Gordon in 2022, 2023 an 2024.

Northern placed all five scorers in the top 20, with junior Kamiyah Vergo 4th in 20:01, freshman Mary-Kate Boyle 11th in 21:15, sophomore Abigail Leonhardt 13th in 21:23 and sophomore Adelina Floyd 17th in 21:40. Cataline and Boyle were the first two freshmen finishers.

Northern edged Moorestown, 43-48, with Cherokee 3rd with 70 points. This is the 5th straight year Moorestown has finished either 1st or 2nd and the 9th straight year Cherokee has placed in the top three.

Cherokee junior Erin Healy and sophomore Ava Guarini took 2nd and 3rd in 19:41 and 19:54.

Also in the top 10: Moorestown junior Makayla Zell [5th in 20:06], Lenape senior Audrey McCorkle [6th in 20:09], Maple Shade senior Juliana Catalani [7th in 20:24], Moorestown senior Catherine Hipple [8th in 20:39], Moorestown senior Sophia DiFiore [9th in 20:49] and Seneca Jaden Eberman [10th in 21:10].

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 EHT junior Timothy Rooney, who are not related, 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.