Junior George Denenberg and sophomore Colin Kane placed fifth and sixth and helped Delsea Regional win its first sectional cross country title in 19 years Saturday.
Denenberg ran 16:29 and Kane 16:31.
The Crusaders outscored second-place Ocean City 53-77 to win the South Jersey Group 3 XC title on their flat 5,000-meter home course in Franklinville.
How dominating was Delsea? They had five runners in the top 15 and nobody else had more than two runners in the top 15.
Delsea’s last sectional title was Group 3 in 1997, when the Crusaders beat Mainland by 19 points, led by Steve Preite in second place and Brian Thibault and Will Webekind also in the top 10. Their only other team title was Group 2 in 1982.
Juniors William Mayhew and Dylan Senatore and sophomore Daniel Antonelli gave Delsea five runners in the top-15. They placed 13th, 14th and 15th in 16:49, 16:52 and 16:58.
That’s a crazy 29-second gap between first and fifth. Nobody else in the race was under a minute betweeen first and fifth.
This is Delsea’s fifth straight finish in the top four in South Jersey Group 3.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 