From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Juniors Joe Saicic, Zacchaeus Harrigan, Gavin Rakitis and Aaron Johnson all finished in the top 20 and Glassboro placed 2nd to New Jersey No. 1 CBA Saturday at the 19th annual Bowdoin Park Invitational in Wappingers Falls N.Y.

Glassboro, with five underclassmen in its scoring group, went 3-10-13-16-22 in team scoring points, placing 2nd to CBA 25-64 and well ahead of 3rd-place Xaverian of Brooklyn and La Salle Academy of Providence, who scored 101 and 103.

Saicic placed 3rd in 16:16, beating all but one CBA runner. Harrigan was 11th in 16:57, Rakitis 16th in 17:06 and Johnson 20th in 17:19. Glassboro’s 5th runner, Christian Hughes, was the 1st freshman across the line in 27th place in 17:54.

The Haddonfield girls, led by sophomore Dylan Hosty, placed six finishers in the top nine and rolled to the Division 1 team title Saturday morning at the 19th annual Bowdoin Park Classic in Wappingers Falls, N.Y.

Hosty placed 2nd over the 5,000-meter course in 19:10, and five Haddonfield girls packed from 5th to 9th. For team scoring purposes, Haddonfield went 2-3-4-5-6 for 20 points, topping 2nd-place Tri-Valley Central of Grahamsville, N.Y., 20-50.

Backing up Hosty were senior Madison Kelsey [5th in 20:43], senior Molly Mills [6th in 20:50], senior Devon Gervasi [7th in 21:06], senior Harper Benjamin [8th in 21:33] and sophomore Tatum Russo [9th in 21:36]. Senior Penelope Matthews placed 17th in 23:18.

In the Division 2 race, Paul VI placed three in the top 20, with freshman Payton Barger 5th in 19:46, junior Morgan Kuzma 101th in 20:28 and senior Grace Gutowski 14th in 20:42.

Also for PVI, sophomore Isabella Suarez ran 21:20 for 24th and junior Peyton blake was 5th finisher in 27th in 21:32. Sophomore Molly Smith ran 21:51 for 29th and sophomore Mia Waldby was 33rd in 22:44.

Paul VI scored 74 points, finishing 3rd behind Cumberland of Rhode Island (29) and La Salle Academy of Providence, R.I. (44).

Fast race in the rain and wind at Princeton University Saturday morning for Highland graduate Grace Wassell, a Wake Forest junior.

Wassell covered 6,000 meters in 21:03 and was Wake’s 3rd finisher in the Princeeton Meadows Challenge in Plainsboro.

Despite the poor conditions, Wassell ran just eight seconds off her 6K all-course PR of 20:55 from the 2024 ACC Championships in Cary, N.C.

Clearview graduate Abby Waddington, a Boston University senior, wasn’t far behind Wassell with a 21:28. She was B.U.’s 5th runner.

Junior Anya Kazemi from Bishop Eustace and senior Ava Severino from Haddon Heights placed 3rd and 4th for Lafayette Friday in its annual meet against Northampton County rival Lehigh.

Kazemi ran an all-course 6,000-meter PR of 21:42 and Severino ran 22:01 on Lafayette’s course in Easton, and they were Lafayette’s 2nd and 3rd finishers.

Lehigh won the team title 27-30.

Severino ran within one second of her 6K all-course PR of 22:00, which she ran at Lehigh last October.

Lehigh jkunior Will Mrozinski from Paul VI and senior Derek Coceano from Cinnaminson both finished in the top 10 in the men’s race as Lehigh beat Lafayette for the 27th straight year.

Mrozinski was 2nd in 25:05 over 8,000 meters and Coceano was 9th in 25:47. Mrozinski’s 25:05 is an all-course 8K PR, breaking his previous best of 25:08 from earlier this month on the same course.

Another race and another fast win for Pleasantville’s Gabriel Moronta.

Moronta ran 45.02 and finished first in the 400 at the 72. ORLEN Janusz Kusocinski Memorial track meet at Stadion Śląski in Chorzów, Poland.

In his last nine races, he’s finished 1st seven times and 2nd twice. He ran his PR 44.67 in Medellin, Colombia, in June and has run between 44.67 and 45.02 in his last eight races.

Moronta, who anchored South Florida’s 1,600-meter relay team to the NCAA title last June in Eugene, changed his national affiliation from U.S. to Dominican Republic soon after he graduated from South Florida.

Moronta is 3rd-fastest 400 runner in Dominican Republic history behind only Luguelin Santos, who ran 44.11 in Beijing in 2015, and Lidio Andres Feliz, who ran 44.64 in La Nucia, Spain, in 2022.

Seniors Brady Kay and Giovanni Fuchs ran 1-2 and Sterling had six of the top 11 finishers in a six-team Colonial Conference batch meet Tuesday at West Deptford Park.

Kay ran 17:07 and Fuchs 17:08, finishing more than half a minute ahead of the rest of the field. West Deptford senior Lane McClintock placed 3rd in 17:43.

Others in the top 10 were Woodbury junior Elijah Smith [4th in 18:00], Paulsboro senior Jeffery Taylor [5th in 18:13], Woodbury senior Oliver Crumrine [6th in 18:34], Sterling senior Brody Simon [7th in 18:37], Haddon Heights senior Henry Platt [8th in 18:40], Sterling junior Connor Zane [9th in 18:44] and Sterling senior Thomas Krainski [10th in 18:44].

Dual meet scores: Woodbury/Gateway 23, Haddon Heights 33; Sterling 21, Woodbury/Gateway 39; Woodbury/Gateway 27, West Deptford 29; Haddon Heights 20, Paulsboro 39; Sterling 15, Lindenwold 50; Sterling 18, Paulsboro 45; West Deptford 19, Paulsboro 40; Sterling 18, West Deptford 45.

Eastern seniors Timothy Shack and Nathaniel Friebel ran 1-2 in a six-team Olympic Conference batch meet Tuesday over 5,000 meters at DREAM Park in Logan Township.

Shack won the race with 114 finishers in 17:55, followed closely by Friebel in 17:57.

Seneca junior Jonah Schmitz placed 3rd in 18:17, followed by Bishop Eustace sophomore Rutger Sochacki 4th in 18:25, Winslow sophomore Devon Kozak 5th in 18:25, Eastern junior Eshan Vajifdar 6th in 18:39, Winslow senior Fredis Mejia 7th in 18:42, Eastern sophomore William Gates 8th in 18:50, Seneca senior William Emmons 9th in 18:56 and Moorestown junior Karam Vidal 10th in 19:02.