Anas Bensaoud of Clearview has emerged this fall as one of the leading freshman runners in New Jersey this year.

As a middle schooler, Bensaoud placed second at the South Jersey Open Middle School race last fall, covering the 2,500-meter course at Delsea in 8:54.15.

He opened his scholastic career last month with a sixth-place finish in the Cherokee Challenge freshman race, where he ran 10:42 over two miles and was the top South Jersey finisher.

Then at the South Jersey Shootout, he skipped the freshman race in favor of the Varsity 1-2-3 race and was Clearview’s No. 2 runner, covering the 5,000-meter course at Rowan in 16:59. Senior Colin Gardina was the Pioneer’s top finisher that day in 10th with a 16:50.

Bensaoud placed 13th in the Tri-County Championships in 17:11, where he was Clearview’s No. 1 runner and the only freshman under 18:40, and Clearview placed fourth out of 17 schools.

Then this past weekend, Bensaoud got his first crack at the historic 5,000-meter layout at Holmdel County Park, and instead of racing in the freshman race, he ran in the Varsity A race with his teammates and finished 36th overall in 17:36, one second and two spots behind Gardina.

Bensaoud was the only freshman under 18 minutes in the Varsity A race and the No. 2 freshman in the entire meet behind only Edwin Klanke of St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, who ran 17:21 and placed 29th in the Varsity B race.

The only other freshmen under 18 minutes in the various Shore Coaches races were Will McGlynn of Westfield (17:41 in the JV A race) and Domenick Wallace of Morris Hills (17:56 in the Varsity C race).

Clearview runs in the Gloucester County Championships on Thursday afternoon in West Deptford.

College of New Jersey senior Dale Johnson from West Deptford High placed third overall in the DeSales Invitational Saturday on the DeSales campus in Upper Saucon Township, Pa., just outside Bethlehem.

Johnson covered the 8,000-meter course in 26:10, finishing about 100 meters behind overall winner Jacob Jodat of Wisconsin Lutheran in Milwaukee.

The College of New Jersey finished seventh in team scoring out of 28 teams.

Chris Coombs of Burlington Township and Noah Priehs of Cherry Hill East also ran for TCNJ, Coombs placing 94th in 28:52 and Preihs 140th in 29:59.

College of New Jersey is ranked 7th in the USTFCCCA (United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) Division 3 Atlantic Region rankings.

Bishop Eustace junior Connor Melko ran a Holmdel PR Saturday, placing second in the Varsity E race at Shore Coaches with a 16:40.

Melko ran second to Meet of Champions outdoor 3,200 winner Devin Hart, a junior at Point Pleasant Boro. Hart ran 15:57, second-fastest time of the day.

Melko’s previous Holmdel County Park PR was 16:53, when he placed third in the state Parochial B race last fall.

The only South Jersey runner to go faster than Melko Saturday on the hilly 5,000-meter Holmdel layout was Kingsway senior Joe Grandizio, who ran 16:33.

Eustace, ranked No. 6 in South Jersey, placed fourth in team scoring with 162 points, behind only Haddonfield (79), Northern Valley-Demarest (116) and Camden Catholic (134).

Juniors Andrew Massaro (26th in 17:48), Sean May (39th in 18:08) and Brian Hutchison (43rd in 18:14) were also in the top-50 for Eustace, which didn’t have a senior in its top 5.

Melko ran 1:57.80 and 4:17.99 as a sophomore last spring. He was the third-fastest sophomore miler in the state a year ago, behind Hart (4:09.49) and CBA’s Tim McInerney (4:17.01), and the fastest sophomore in South Jersey.

Eustace races in the Camden County Championships Friday at Timber Creek Park in Lindenwold and Gloucester Township.

 

The Seneca girls made the long trip to Cary, N.C., a worthwhile one, placing third in the Red Division race at the Great American Cross Country Festival Saturday.

Midlothian (Va.) High won the Red Division race with 90 points, and Walton High of Marietta, Ga., was second with 129. Seneca, ranked No. 3 in South Jersey, scored 168 for third.

Three Seneca girls broke 20 minutes on the 5,000-meter course at the WakeMed Soccer Complex outside Raleigh.

Freshman Emma Klouchek ran ninth in 19:22.80, senior Sydney Warner placed 14th in 19:41 and senior Carley Tool ran 18th in 19:48. That trio was backed up by junior Kayla Handt (67th in 21:12) and sophomore Chelsea Richards (81st in 21:25).

Klouchek, running in only her sixth varsity race, ran a 34-second PR for any 5,000-meter course. It was her first time as Seneca’s No. 1 runner in a major weekend meet.

 

The Kingsway girls won a titanic battle with Ridge Saturday, winning the Varsity B team title at Shore Coaches by a four-point margin.

It was Kingsway’s first team title at the prestigious Shore Coaches meet in 27 years.

The Lady Dragons placed five scorers between 8th place and 26th place. Senior Alexis Mullarkey led the way in eighth place in 19:48, with junior Lauren Krott [12th in 20:08], senior Kylie Anicic [17th in 20:42], sophomore Allie Pierontoni [19th in 20:43] and freshman Ashlynn Burke [26th in 21:12] rounding out Kingsway’s scoring.

Ridge went 9-11-15-24-27, so Pierontoni was a huge key for Kingsway, beating Ridge’s fourth runner by five spots.

Kingsway’s 20:30 average on the history Holmdel County Park 5,000-meter course was second-fastest of all the girls races, behind only North Hunterdon, which averaged 20:01.

Kingsway also recorded wins at Shore Coaches in 1988 and 1990 in Varsity D

Junior Greg Eisenhower and Martin Riddell placed third and fourth overall and Haddonfield roared to a 37-point win over Northern Valley-Demarest in the Varsity E race Saturday at the Shore Coaches Invitational.

Eisenhower ran 16:40 and Riddell 16:42 over the challenging 5,000-meter Holmdel County Park layout.

They were backed up by sophomore Stephen Kasko [14th in 17:26], senior Richie Glennon [23rd in 17:40] and sophomore Andrew Gostovich [41st in 18:09].

The team title is Haddonfield’s 10th in the Shore Coaches meet, run on the same course as the state meet and Meet of Champions.

Haddonfield won Varsity C in 1978, Varsity D in 1989, Varsity E in 1995, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007 and 2008 and Varsity F in 1998.

 

Huge day for the Kingsway boys at Holmdel, with three in the top 10 (!!!) and a 35-point team win over North Hunterdon in the Shore Coaches Varsity B race!

Kingsway, ranked No. 2 behind Haddonfield in South Jersey, topped North Hunterdon 55-90, with no other team breaking 150 points on the legendary Holmdel County Park 5,000-meter course. Kingsway averaged 16:52 per man.

The team title was Kingsway’s second in a row over North Hunterdon, although the margin was bigger this year. Kingsway beat North Hunterdon 68-81 last year. Kingsway also won the 2014 title in Varsity A.

Seniors Joe Grandizio and Jonathan Connor and junior Kieran Burns all finished in the top 10 for the Dragons.

Grandinio was third in 16:33, Connor sixth in 16:47 and Burns eighth in 16:48. That’s going to be virtually impossible to beat.

They were supported by seniors Cole and Cade Hindley in 16th and 22nd place in 17:01 and 17:11. Junior sixth man Daniel Reynolds also broke 17:30, taking 31st overall in 17:25. No other sixth man broke 18 minutes in this 27-team race.

Even without a finisher in the top 10, the Paul VI boys put together a solid enough pack to win the team title in the Varsity G race Saturday at the Shore Coaches Invitational.

It was the ninth Shore Coaches team title for the Paul VI program, dating back to 1981.

Paul VI, ranked 14th in South Jersey, placed its five scorers from 11th through 29th (8th through 25th in team scoring) to defeat Dunellen 78-125 and win its first Shore Coaches team title since the 2000 team won the Varsity B race 84-87 over Don Bosco.

Seventeen years ago, it was Mike and Nick Ritchie, Kevin Penderghest, Mike Busarello, Mike Osusky, Kevin Cranston and Andrew Rogers doing the damage.

This time, juniors Ryan Tenerelli and Tyler Gargano led the way for Paul VI, running 17:51 and 17:52 on the hilly Holmdel County Park layout and placing 11th and 12th. Sophomore Colton Johnson finished 19th in 18:11, junior Ben Jennings 25th in 18:24 and senior Jake McGuigan 29th in 18:46.

Paul VI also won the Varsity C race in 1995 and 1999, Varsity B in 1981, 1993 and 1994 and Varsity A race in 1984 and 1989.

 

Mainland put on a remarkable display of pack running Saturday in Division 2 of the South Jersey Open, with all five runners finishing the flat 5,000-meter Delsea course between 16:23 and 16:45.

That’s a 22-second gap between one and five, and that’s pretty amazing and will serve the Mustangs well as the meets get bigger.

Junior Mini Patel, senior Nicholas Berenotto, sophomore Kevin Antczak and senior Tiger Carey finished second through fifth, all of them running between 16:23 and 16:37. That’s 14 points through four runners! And they didn’t have to wait long till their team score was complete. Junior Artur Simoes Menezes ran 16:44 for seventh overall, giving Mainland a final score of 21 points.

Mainland, ranked No. 4 in South Jersey, averaged 16:33 per man and finished with a 21-76 margin of victory over Delsea.

Junior Delsea’s Colin Kane covered his home course in 15:58 for the win, and sophomore Mike Liberty of Oakcrest [seventh in 16:38], senior Noah Cziryak of Triton [seventh in 16:44], senior William Mayhew of Delsea [ninth in 16:46] and junior Miguel Vera of Cumberland Regional [10th in 16:47] also finished inside the top 10.

Mainland also dominated the J.V. race. Check out the results for that one here.

Sophomores Isabella Turner and Claire Hauser ran 1-2 and led the top-ranked Shawnee girls to a dominant performance Saturday in the Division 3 large-school race at the South Jersey Open.

Turner ran 18:58 and Hauser 19:26 on the flat 5,000-meter Delsea course in Franklinville, and Shawnee packed its next three runners in seventh, eighth and ninth. Senior Georgia Larzelere ran 20:14, junior Lauren Tenet 20:18 and senior Laura Mavracic 20:22.

Shawnee averaged 19:52 and outscored second-place Jackson 21-92. Shawnee’s 21 points are the lowest winning score in the large-school race since the late-1990s — as far back as available records go.

Second-place Jackson averaged 21:24 per runner, so the Renegades’ top five averaged about a minute and a half faster per person than Jackson.

Junior Sarah Pierce of Cherry Hill East, senior Julia Rothstein of Clearview and junior Raelynne Miller of Millville also broke 20 minutes. Pierce placed third in 19:29, Rothstein fourth in 19:30 and Miller fifth in 19:37.

Rounding out the top 10 were freshman Morgan Bromley of Eastern [6th in 20:05] and senior Meghan Vizzard of Lenape [10th in 20:24].