Moorestown graduate Natalie Cooper won her third straight NJAC individual cross country championship and led a College of New Jersey sweep of the top four places on the way to the team title.

Cooper, a TCNJ senior, became only the second woman to win three straight New Jersey Athletic Conference individual titles when she ran 22:47 over 6,000 meters at Dream Park in Logan Township.

The only other three-time winner was Beth Vesey of TCNJ, who won in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

TCNJ outscored second-place Rowan 20-55. It was TCNJ’s third straight team title, fifth in six years and 28th in 34 years, including eight titles from 1985 through 1995 when the Ewing Township school was known as Trenton State.

Seniors Erin Holzbauer of Robbinsville [23:19] and Madeleine Tattory of Delran [23:28] and sophomore Gabriella DeVito from Monmouth Regional [23:33] finished second through fourth overall, and TCNJ’s fifth scorer was freshman Emily Prendergast of Pascack Hills, who was 10th in 24:15.

“The goal was to come in and work on running as a pack for at least 2, 3K and then push from there,” TCNJ coach Justin Lindsey said. “They executed it well. Natalie really showed her dominance and to win three years in a row is something special.”

Freshman Kelsey Kobus out of West Windsor-Plainsboro South and junior Hannah Fay of Hunterdon Central didn’t score but did earn second-team all-conference status, placing 12th and 14th in 24:23 and 24:32.

TCNJ will race in the NCAA Division 3 Atlantic Regional Championships on Nov. 10 on the same course.

TCNJ is not nationally ranked in the Division 3 top 35 but has the most votes among “others receiving votes”

South Jersey high school grads took six of the first nine spots, including the top two freshmen — Cinnaminson’s Madison Edwards and Seneca’s Carley Tool, both from Rowan.

Here’s a look at all the South Jersey alums who finished in the top 25:

1. Natalie Cooper [Moorestown, TCNJ], 22:47
3. Madeleine Tattory [Delran, TCNJ], 23:28
6. Alexis Jones [Gloucester Twp. Tech, Rutgers-Camden], 23:49
7. Madison Edwards [Cinnaminson, Rowan], 23:57
8. Hannah Vendetta [Pitman, Rowan], 24:03
9. Carley Tool [Seneca, Rowan], 24:04
15. Jennifer Klavens [Washington Twp., Rowan], 24:37

Former Cherokee runner Nick Falk placed third overall and The College of New Jersey men’s XC team overcame a 1-2 Rowan finish to edge the Profs by one point to win the 2018 New Jersey Athletic Conference title.

It was TCNJ’s 29th conference title.

Rowan won last year’s team title, ending a streak of 23 straight for TCNJ (the first two as Trenton State). So TCNJ has now won 24 of the last 25. The Lions also won in 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1991.

Senior Daniel “Fitch” Henry of Clearview and freshman Cyril Harvey went 1-2 for Rowan in 26:10 and 26:13 over 8,000 meters on a cold, windy day at Dream Park in Logan Township, Gloucester County.

But led by Falk, six of the next 10 finishers were from TCNJ and the Lions finished with a 40-41 margin of victory over Rowan.

Falk ran 26:34, with soph Pelle Nogueira seventh in 26:57 and then four straight TCNJ finishers from ninth through 12th – freshman William Mayhew of Delsea, sophomore Robert Abrams from Cherry Hill West and seniors Quinn Wasko and Luke Prothero, all between 27:00 and 27:13.

That’s a 39-second gap from Falk to Wasko.

Rowan led 8-19 after three runners and 21-29 after four. But TCNJ packed all seven of its runners in front of Rowan’s fifth runner, which made the difference.

Even though Prothero and sophomore Matt Kole (18th in 27:22) didn’t score, they did bump Rowan’s fifth runner, giving the Lions the team title.

Ramapo had three of the top eight finishers and finished third with 47 points, which makes three teams within seven points.

Rowan also had junior Matt Russo in the top 10 (5th in 26:48).

The Kingsway girls threw a perfect game in the Gloucester County Championships, sweeping the top five spots for a perfect 15 points.

The team title is the 13th for Kingsway and fourth in a row.

Sophomore Ashlynne Burke led the way, running 19:06 on the 5,000-meter course at West Deptford Park. Senior Lauren Krott took second in 19:25, and sophomore Sydney Watts was also well under 20 minutes, crossing the line in 19:35 for third.

Twins Allie and Emily Pierontoni placed fourth and fifth in 20:01 and 20:04.

Kingsway also scored 15 points last year and did it again this year without the top two runners from last year.

But the Lady Dragons actually ran better this year, if that’s possible. They went 1-2-3-4-5-10-14 last year but 1-2-3-4-5-7-10 this year, with freshman Allison MacFarland seventh in 20:23 and junior Kennedy Waterson 10th in 21:08.

Even if Kingsway had rested its top two runners, they still would have scored just 18 points.

Williamstown packed its five runners from 10th to 18th to outscore Washington Township 65-73 for second place.

The last school other than Kingsway to win the Gloucester County title is Clearview in 2014. Kingsway’s previous titles came in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999 and 2012.

Kingsway came back to win the Tri-County Championships on Wednesday, outscoring Pitman 27-73.

Krott was the overall winner in 18:50, with Burke fourth in 19:14, Watts sixth in 19:29, Allie Pierontoni seventh in 19:51 and MacFarland ninth in 20:02. The race was at Cumberland Regional.

Pitman senior Briana Hagerty [2nd in 19:04], Schalick sophomore Juia Smith [3rd in 19:04], Delsea sophomore Carly Nicholson [5th in 19:25], Clearview sophomore Katherine Byrne [8th in 19:59] and Clearview junior Hailey Tabar [10th in 20:16] rounded out the top 10.

Steven Mendez outran Mike Morreale of Northern Burlington to become Burlington Township’s first individual winner in the BCSL meet in nearly half a century!

Mendez ran 16:35 over 5,000 meters at New Egypt High in Plumsted Township to win the Liberty Division race and become the Falcons’ first individual winner in a Burlington County Scholastic League race since Randy Breingan ran 11:52 to win the 1970 race over 2 1/2 miles at Moorestown.

Breingan also won the 1969 race and won on to win the Group 1 sectionals that fall in XC. He also won the two-mile at the state Group 1 meet in 1969.

Mendez was the top BCSL runner in the Burlington County Open, where he placed 12th. How much has he improved over the last year? He was 31st in the Open last year and 15th in the BCSL meet.

Northern Burlington won the team title, 33-41, over Rancocas Valley, with Burlington Township third with 58 points. More on the Greyhounds’ team victory soon.

Senior Sean Burnett (7th in 17:02) also ran in the top 10 for the Falcons, taking seventh in 17:02.

Cinnaminson junior Brooke Adams placed fourth in a field of 83 runners in the championship girls race Saturday at the NYC XC Carnival in the Bronx.

Adams covered the hallowed 4,000-meter Van Cortlandt Park course in 16:02.

Her performance capped a very good week in which she broke 20 minutes for 5,000 meters for the first time with a 19:55 for fifth at The Burlington County Open, then won the BCSL title, leading a 1-2-3 Cinnaminson finish and leading the Pirates to the team title.

Sarah Flynn of the Ursuline School in New Rochelle, N.Y., won the race in 14:59, nearly a minute ahead of second-place Emma Myer of Pope John XXIII in Sparta.

 

Cinnaminson junior Austin Gabay took on the famed Van Cortland Park 4,000-meter course Saturday and placed second in the Varsity A race at the NYC XC Carnival.

Gabay ran 12:48, finishing behind only 4:08 miler Matthew Payamps of St. Anthony of Huntington, N.Y. Payamps ran 8:56 for 3,200 meters last spring and 4:08.32 for a full mile, so that’s pretty good company for Gabay, the Burlington County and BCSL champion.

Highland, Haddon Township and Cinnaminson all made the trip up to the Bronx for the day, and Highland placed fourth with 123 points, Township fifth with 137 and Cinnaminson eighth with 222.

Highland put together a nice pack, with five scorers finishing between 13:51 and 14:16 — a tight 25-second span.

Sophomore Tom Raws (16th in 13:51), senior Juan Palacios (23rd 14:02), soph Cole Wassell (26th 14:11), senior Chris Corsaro (27th 14:12) and senior Abdullah Kashem (31st 14:16) scored for Highland.

Senior Liam Duffy led Haddon Township in ninth place in 13:36, with junior Jake Aylmer (15th in 13:50) and freshman Luke Overbeck (25th in 14:07) also in the top 25. Overbeck was the top freshman in the race. Soph Matt Conway, senior Noah Dinnerman and junior Ian McCauley finished 43rd, 45th and 46th for Township.

For CInnaminson, senior Zack Walton took 39th in 14:36, followed by three sophomores – Michael Gorman, Joe Pappas and Jack Reid.

In their final tuneup for sectionals, the state’s No. 2-ranked Haddonfield Bulldogs swept the top seven spots in the Colonial Conference All-Star Meet Saturday.

Haddonfield packed seven runners in 16 seconds in the non-team-scoring meet, all running between 16:15 and 16:31.

Senior Derek Gess recorded his third straight individual title over the 5,000-meter course at West Deptford Park.

He was followed closely by senior Greg Eisenhower [16:18], junior Martin Riddell [16:21], seniors Griffin Weiner [16:24] and senior Ethan Spellmeyer [16:29] and juniors Stephen Kasko [16:29] and Andrew Gostovich [16:31].

Haddonfield’s eighth runner, Grayson Fasolo, finished ninth, and two others — senior Tommy Neveling and soph Caleb Clevenger — ran 17:35 and 17:36 for 19th and 20th, which gave the Bulldogs 11 of the first 20 finishers — more than half!

The top non-Haddonfield finishers Saturday were Haddon Township senior Liam Duffy, who nearly broke up the Bulldog pack with a 16:32 for eighth place, Sterling senior Manas Gupta, who ran 16:42 for 10th, and Haddon Township junior Jake Aylmer, who got under 17 minutes at 16:57 for 11th.

If there had been team scoring, Haddonfield of course would have had a perfect 15 in the ledger, with Haddon Township [90] edging West Deptford [96] for second.

Haddonfield went 1-2-3-4-6-7-8 last year, with Gess, Riddell, Eisenhower and Spellmeyer taking the top four spots. In 2016, Gess, Weiner, Eisenhower and Brandon Quanci went 1-2-3-4 for the Bulldogs.

The last non-Haddonfield winner was Sterling’s all-state runner Sean Macpherson in 2014.

The next big race for Haddonfield is the Group 2 sectionals, and the Bulldogs will be shooting for their 15th straight sectional title and 19th in the last 20 years.

The only time Haddonfield hasn’t won South Jersey Group 2 since 1999 was 2003, when Cinnaminson went 1-3-4-8-13 and upset Haddonfield 29-46, with the team of Jon Anderson, Dan Reidenbaker, Steve Grabowski, Ryan McErlean and Tristan McAnaney.

Haddonfield is ranked No. 4 by DyeStat in the Northeast Region.

 

The Mainland Regional girls on Friday won the Atlantic County XC Championships for the 16th time and did it with the largest margin of victory in 15 years.

Mainland, led by freshman Alyssa Turner and senior Emily Dirkes in the top 5, outscored second-place Holy Spirit 35-73. The 38-point margin of victory is the largest in the Atlantic County girls meet since 2003, when Mainland outscored Atlantic City by 45 points (30-75).

Egg Harbor Township junior Olivia Shafer ran 18:29 on the 5,000-meter course at Stockton University in Galloway Township for overall honors.

Turner was second in 19:01 and Dirkes fifth in 19:45. Mainland placed all five of its scorers in the top 11 — freshman Savannah Hodgens ran seventh in 20:06, junior Madeline Corbett took 10th in 20:17 and junior Abby Argentiero placed 11th in 20:41.

Freshman Lily Malone [18th in 21:34] and sophomore Giselle Obergfell [21st in 21:39] gave Mainland seven runner in the top 21.

Shafer became Egg Harbor’s fourth individual winner and first since older sister Abby Shafer won in 2012. Other EHT winners were Jen Weber, who won three straight from 1986 through 1988, and Erica Lacovara-Switzer, who won three straight from 1994 through 1996.

Abby and Olivia Shafer are the daughters of Chris Shafer, a noted Jersey Shore-area marathoner. Abby ran for Shippensburg (Pa.) and New England College in Waterville, Maine, after graduating from EHT. At New England College, she won the North Atlantic Conference XC race last fall in Farmington, Maine.

Mainland, ranked No. 7 in South Jersey, previously won the Atlantic County team title in 1981, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2014 and 2016.

Other in the top 10 were Holy Spirit senior Paige Sofield, third in 19:18; Cedar Creek freshman Megan Winterbottom, fourth in 19:41; Holy Spirit senior Angela Bannan, sixth in 20:02; Atlantic County Tech senior Ariana Ramirez, eighth in 20:08; and Egg Harbor sophomore Michaela Pomatto, ninth in 20:12.

Senior Miguel Vera, sophomore Jermaine Kent, junior Damien Grooms and senior Jared Herrera swept the top four spots, and Cumberland Regional raced to a 17-53 win over Millville Thursday in the Cumberland County XC Championships.

The win was the third in a row for Vera, who becomes the first to win three straight Cumberland County titles since James Holden of Bridgeton in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and the first-ever three-time winner from Cumberland Regional.

Other three-time winners are Walt Williams of Millville in 1960, 1961 and 1962, Tony Harden of Millville in 1979, 1980 and 1981 and Urie Ridgeway of Bridgeton in 1986, 1987 and 1999.

Vera covered the 5,000-meter course at Millville High in 16:53, with Kent, Grooms and Herrera running 17:18, 17:28 and 17:35.

Cumberland’s fifth runner, senior William Knipe, wasn’t far back, taking seventh overall in 17:58. Senior Galileo Wang made it six Colts in the top 10 with a ninth-place finish in 18:13.

The Colts’ 17 points are the lowest in the meet since Vineland pitched a 15-61 shutout over Millville in 2015.

Cumberland previously won the county meet in 1983, 1996, 2008 and 2016.

Also in the top 10 were Millville junior Zachary Asselta [5th in 17:49], Vineland senior Primit Patel [6th in 17:56], Millville junior Brandon DeShields [8th in 18:09] and Vineland junior Xavyon Rosa [10th in 18:21].

Senior Sarah Pierce led seven Cherry Hill East runners in the top 22, and East ran away with the Olympic Conference girls XC title by a 63-88 score over Shawnee.

It was Cherry Hill East’s third title in the last five years. East also won in 2014 and 2016.

Pierce was East’s only finisher in the top nine, but then they had seven of the next 13 finishers, with freshman Madison McNiff [10th in 20:02], sophomore MaryKathleen McCurdy [14th in 20:19], sophomore Isabel Slimm [17th in 20:45] and senior Dani Lazarus [18th in 20:46] also scoring and sophomore Tabitha DiDonato [20th in 20:53] and junior Aliza Kotzen [22nd in 20:57] just behind.

That’s a 20:15 average on the fast new course at Dream Park in Logan Township, near Rowan University.

Paul VI scored 92 and Cherokee 113. Cherry Hill East is ranked No. 5 in south Jersey and Shawnee is No. 6.

Kate Rathman tore up the Dream Park 5,000-meter course in 18:22, with Bishop Eustace’s Katy Storti also under 19 minutes at 18:49. Eustace senior Clare Morelli was third in 19:07.

Also in the top 5 were Shawnee junior Claire Hauser [5th in 19:24], Seneca sophomore Emma Klouchek [6th in 19:48], Lenape senior Shelby Whetstone [7th in 19:58], Washington Township junior Kate Cochrane [8th in 20:00] and Shawnee Grace Kearns [9th in 20:02].

East’s 25-point margin of victory is the largest in the Olympic Conference girls team scoring since 2008, when Seneca beat Cherry Hill East 74-112.