Senior Briana Hagerty placed second overall, leading four Pitman runners in the top seven as the Panthers won their second straight South Jersey Group 1 title Saturday at Delsea.
Hagerty ran 20:01, finishing two steps behind Schalick sophomore Julia Smith, who won the race in 19:59.
Seniors Grace Stiles and Abby McCully and junior Sarah Brennan took fifth, sixth and seventh for Pitman in 20:59, 21:10 and 21:17.
Soph Nicole Murphy placed 17th to complete Pitman’s scoring and provide the difference in a two-point win over Haddon Township.
Pitman finished with a 36-38 win. Township’s 38 points are the lowest non-winning score in the S.J.-1 meet since 1976, when St. Joe’s of Toms River edged Gloucester Catholic, 25-33.
The team title is Pitman’s ninth, all since 2005. The Panthers also won South Jersey Group 1 in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 and last year.
Haddon Township ran well enough to win most years with a lineup of three freshmen and two juniors. Township had all five runners in the top 12, led by freshman Reagan Shemeley (20:34) and junior Jane Gerber (20:48) in third and fourth.
Junior Darby Williamson placed eighth for Township (21:22) and freshmen Kaelin Marshall and Georgia Knorr were 11th and 12th, both also under 22 minutes.
Also in the top 10 were Buena junior Hailey Carano (9th in 21:30) and Schalick sophomore Chloe Gerstenbacher (10th in 21:38).
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 