Woodward and Kane were dead even in the lead — well clear of the field – as they sprinted onto the Delsea track in the South Jersey Group 3 race. They raced stride-for-stride through the turn and were still together 50 meters short of the finish line.
Woodward finally edged into the lead with about 35 meters left and held the lead through the line, finishing one second ahead of Kane.
Woodward’s one-second victory is the smallest on record in the South Jersey Group 3 meet. Individual times for non-winners are only available back into the late 1960s.
Woodward became Highland’s fifth sectional champion. Jerry Andrews won the Group 4 race, Jay Wassail won in Group 4 in 1994 and 1995. Highlands’ Group 3 winners were Kavaliauskas in 2003 and 2004 and Josh Clark two years ago.
Highland also qualified for states as a team, placing third with 82 points, only 17 behind Delsea and 14 behind second-place Mainland.
Junior Yarayah Hawkins, junior Jeremiah Clark, junior Juan Palacios and junior Chris Corsaro rounded out Highland’s pack of five scorers, with Hawkins placing third in 16:09 and Clark also under 17 minutes in 17th place in 16:48.
Kane settled for second in the individual race but did lead Delsea to the team title. The Crusaders finished with a three-point win over Mainland, with four finishers in the top 12.
The team title is Delsea’s third and second in a row. The Crusaders also won the 1997 Group 3 title behind Steve Preite, Brian Thibault and Will Webekind.
After Kane, senior George Tenenberg took seventh in 16:25, senior William Mayhew was 10th in 16:31 and senior Dylan Senatore 12th in 16:38. Delsea’s final scorer was sophomore Alex Roman, who finished 34th in 17:25.
Also in the top 10 were senior Jesse Schmeizer of Ocean City [4th in 16:15], senior Justin Earley of Central Regional [5th in 16:21], sophomore Kevin Antczak of Mainland Regional [6th in 16:22], Cumberland Regional junior Miguel Vera [8th in 16:27] and Timber Creek freshman Michael Henry [9th in 16:29].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 