Moorestown High School graduate Natalie Cooper and Delran’s Madeleine Tattory both finished in the top 5 and led The College of New Jersey women’s XC team, ranked No. 20 nationally in NCAA Division 3, to the team title at the Gettysburg College Invitational Saturday.
Cooper placed second in 22:35 and Tattory fifth in 22:50 over the 6,000-meter course. There were 282 runners and 31 teams in the race. Cooper and Tattory are both juniors.
In all, TCNJ runners went 2-5-8-9-17 and 2-4-7-8-15 for 36 points, finishing well ahead of second-place Ohio Wesleyan (my alma mater) of Delaware, Ohio.
Freshman Gabriella DeVito of Monmouth Regional, junior Erin Holzbaur of Robbinsville and junior Abigail Faith of Freehold Township rounded out the Lions’ scoring group. Emma Bean of Mainland Regional wasn’t far behind, placing 22nd.
The TCNJ men also raced well, with Cherry Hill East graduate Robert Abrams placing fourth overall in 26:06 over the 8K course. TCNJ placed second in the team competition to a post-graduate Georgetown Running Company team, 50-54.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 