One of the most remarkable things about Haddonfield’s nearly half century of cross country success is the number of triple winners the Bulldogs’ program has produced over the years.
It’s even more remarkable when you compare Haddonfield to other schools.
When Martin Riddell won his third straight South Jersey Group 2 title on Saturday at Delsea, he joined Jim Smith, Chris Platt, Dan Gough and Jon Vitez as the fifth Haddonfield runner to win sectional XC titles as a sophomore, junior and senior.
Incredibly, there have been only three other triple winners in South Jersey XC history – Pitman’s Sebastian Reed won his third straight in Group 1 Saturday, Mike Butynes won three straight in Group 2 for Sterling from 1969 through 1971 and Cherokee’s Alex Yersak won three in a row from 2005 through 2007.
But Haddonfield is not only the only South Jersey school with multiple triple winners, it’s the only one in the state.
There have been a total of 23 triple winners in state sectional XC history and Haddonfield is the ONLY school with more than one … and they’ve had five!
Here’s a look at all the three-time sectional XC winners:
North 1, Group 1
1973-75 … Ken Marzan, Park Ridge
2009-11 … Stephen Lewandowski, Mountain Lakes
North 2, Group 2
None
North 1 Group 3
1988-90 … Ken Flynn, Ramsey
North 1 Group 4
1991-93 … Bob Keino, Ridgewood
1994-96 … Roger Munoz, Kearny
North 2, Group 1
1992-94 … Anthony DeBenedictis, Roselle Park
1996-98 … Brian Saliter, Whippany Park
North 2, Group 2
1989-91 … Brian Walsh, Chatham
North 2, Group 3
1994-97 … Steve Slattery, Mount Olive
North 2, Group 4
1993-96 … Matt Elmuccio, Westfield
Central, Group 1
None
Central, Group 2
None
Central, Group 3
1965-67 … Russ Taintor, Brick
2001-03 … Rob Dennis, Red Bank
2007-09 … Joe Rosa, West Windsor-Plainsboro North
Central Group 4
1996-98 … John Fasulo, Hunterdon Central
2011-13 … Dylan Tarpey, Freehold Twp.
South Group 1
1984-86 … Dan Gough, Haddonfield
2017-19 … Sebastien Reed, Pitman
South Group 2
1977-79 … Jim Smith, Haddonfield
2000-02 … Chris Platt, Haddonfield
2007-09 … Jon Vitez, Haddonfield
2017-19 … Martin Riddell, Haddonfield
South Group 3
1969-71 … Mike Butynes, Sterling
South Group 4
2005-07 … Alex Yersak, Cherokee
