Great race Saturday morning between Highland senior Cole Wassell and Triton junior Dennis Fortuna at the South Jersey Open, with Wassell edging Fortuna by 20 meters.

Wassell ran 15:55 and Fortuna 16:00 in the Morning Pod race at DREAM Park in Logan Township.

Wassell becomes the first Highland runner to win an individual title since Jay Wassell – Cole’s father – won the 1994 title at Kingsway in 15:42.

Wassell is the fifth runner to break 16 minutes on the DREAM Park 5K layout, which has been in use for three years:

15:12 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2019

15:52 … Connor Melko [Bishop Eustace], 2018

15:53 … Brady Shute [Gateway-Woodbury], 2019

15:54 … Oliver Adler [Cherry Hill East], 2019

15:55 … Cole Wassell [Highland], 2020

Highland finished with a 62-77 margin of victory over Clearview, with Triton third with 99 points.

This is Highland’s first team title at the South Jersey Open since 2011, when they outscored Paul VI 71-87.

Sophomores Gavin Gallo and Cole Knoedler also placed in the top 10 for Highland, Gallo 8th in 17:12 and Knoedler 10th in 17:27.

Also in the top 10 were Clearview senior Anas Bensaoud [3rd in 16:32], Mainland junior Linden Wineland [4th in 16:42], Camden Catholic junior Billy Clewell [5th in 16:57], Triton junior Caleb Messenger [6th in 17:03], Wildwood freshman Jorge Cruz [7th in 17:07] and Schalick junior Scott Hubbard [9th in 17:24]. Hubbard raced a day after winning the Salem County title.

Cruz’s time is No. 2 in course history by a freshman, five seconds off the record of 17:02 set last year by Cherokee’s Conor Jacob in the JV race of the Olympic Conference meet.

Highland’s other scorers were sophomores Anthony Imperatore [18th in 17:51] and Jake Smith [25th in 18:16]. Their 6th and 7th runners, were Dylan Carrels [18:24], another sophomore, and Aziz Muhammad-Kane, a freshman [18:47].

Senior Jon Finney placed 2nd and junior Mitch DiRenzo 4th to lift Salem County Vo-Tech to its first Salem County XC Championship in the program’s four-year history.

Finney ran 18:01 over 5,000 meters on the school’s home course in Mannington Township and DiRenzo ran 18:56, and Salem Tech outscored Woodstown, 30-43, with Schalick a close 3rd with 48 points.

Results have not been posted anywhere, so a hat tip to Anthony Coleman of NJ.com for posting full results in his meet story.

Salem County Tech finished 5th in 2017, 4th in 2018 and 4th last year. Woodstown had won the last three team titles.

Finney’s 2nd-place finish is the best in the program’s history at the county meet. He placed 5th last year.

Schalick junior Scott Hubbard was the individual winner, Schalick’s first since 2015, when Samuel Gerstenbacher won his second in a row. Gerstenbacher went on to become an All-America at Elizabethtown.

Also in the the top 10 were Woodstown junior John Turner [3rd in 18:38], Schalick senior Brady Hoppe [5th in 19:00], Salem Tech freshman Colin Finney [6th in 19:13], Woodstown junior Logan Sanchez [7th in 19:43], Salem Tech junior Trent Butler [19:45], Woodstown junior Ben Horner [9th in 19:49] and Salem Tech freshman Colton Finney [10th in 19:59].

Junior Anthony Faust won his first major track or XC title and Bishop Eustace took the top two spots, but Paul VI won the team title Friday at the Bob Kiessling Invitational at Pennypacker Park in Haddonfield.

Faust ran 17:07 and junior Ryan Carney 17:41 for Eustace, and PVI took five of the next six spots. Paul VI edged Eustace 25-31. Camden Catholic also raced but didn’t have a full team.

Paul VI went 3-5-6-7-8 with a junior, two sophomores and two freshmen and won its first title since 2012, when it outscored Eustace 36-39. 

Sophomore Joe Wigginton ran 18:04 for 3rd, with freshman Will Mrozinski [5th in 18:06], sophomore Owen King [6th in 18:14], junior Adam Boberick [7th in 18:36] and freshman Braden Tedesco [8th in 18:40] also scoring.

Camden Catholic senior Warren Derman broke up the Bishop Eustace and Paul VI packs, placing 4th in 18:05.

Seniors Sarah Naticchia and Payton Weiner took the top two spots, both well under 19 minutes, and Haddonfield had seven of the first eight finishers Friday in the Colonial Conference All-Star Meet.

Naticchia ran 18:36 and Weiner 18:50 on the 5K course at West Deptford Park. 

Naticchia’s time is No. 2 in course history behind only Briana Gess’s 18:34 in 2014 for Haddonfield. Weiner’s time is No. 3.

Collingswood senior Sopie Steidle ran 19:12 for 3rd overall and Haddonfield swept the next five places: Senior Allison Colflesh [4th in 19:43], freshman Anne Earp [5th in 19:53], junior Sabrina Miller [6th in 20:15], sophomore Helene Usher [7th in 20:30] and senior Lindsay Colflesh [8th in 20:45].

Haddonfield, ranked No. 2 in the state, averaged 19:27 and also had junior Jess Goode under 20 minutes at 19:55 to win the JV race. Including freshmen Riley Slootsky and Ava Thomas, who ran 20:37 and 21:05 for 2nd and 3rd in the JV race – Haddonfield finished with nine of the 10-fastest times of the day.

Senior Olivia Stoner [21:09], Freshman Sarah Fetter [21:26] and senior Georgia Nussey [21:54] gave Haddonfield 12 of 16 runners under 22 minutes in the two races.

Regan Shemely of Haddon Township ran 9th in 21:07, helping Haddon Township place second. West Deptford Corinne Dorsett was 10th in 21:24.

Haddonfield scored 18 points, followed by Haddon Township [68] and Audubon [89].

Paul VI freshman Shaelan McNally ran an all-course 5K PR of 19:54 Friday to win the girls race at the Bob Kiessling Invitational at Pennypacker Park in Haddonfield.  

McNally won by 125 meters over Bishop Eustace sophomore Arianna Cane, who ran a 5K personal-best of 20:24.

McNally is the first Paul VI girl to win the Bob Kiessling Invitational  – formerly known as the Knights of Columbus Championships – since Stephanie Hiester ran 19:12 in 2013. She’ also the first freshman since Bishop Eustace’s Kati Storti in 2016 to win and the first PVI freshman girl to finish first since Erin Sigwart ran 19:38 in 2002. 

Paul VI placed all seven runners in the top 12 and scored 1-3-7-9-10 for 30 points. Camden Catholic edged Bishop Eustace, 55-59, for second.

It was PVI’s fourth straight team title.

Also in Paul VI’s top five were senior Katie Sparks [3rd in 20:30], freshman Gisella Croge [7th in 21:36], sophomore Kamryn Cieslik [9th in 22:26] and junior Katlyn McDonald [10th in 22:42]. Freshman Madison Pedicelli and junior Carlyann Carey finished just behind McDonald, bumping all but five other runners.

Also in the top 10 were Eustace sophomore Elena Cicchini [4th in 21:04], Camden Catholic sophomores Casey Bednarek [5th in 21:12] and Leah Clear [6th in 21:12] and Our Lady of Mercy Academy junior Nina Ceccanecchio [8th in 22:07].

Brady Shute outraced a balanced field that saw the first six finishers come from six different schools Friday at the Colonial Conference All-Star Meet.

Shute, a senior who attends Woodbury and competes for Co-Op Gateway/Woodbury, ran 16:00 over the 5K course at West Deptford Park. He missed his own course record of 15:59 set last week at the Gloucester County Championships.

Haddon Township junior Luke Overbeck ran 16:10 for second, Audubon senior Zachary Williams 16:13 for third, West Deptford junior Jacob Cobb 16:15 for fourth, Haddonfield sophomore George Andrus 16:22 for fifth and Collingswood senior Josh Forrest 16:23 for sixth.

Haddonfield then swept the next four spots to easily win the team title with a 5-7-8-9-10 for 39 points, finishing 54 points ahead of second-place West Deptford.

Junior Tobias Janssen, senior Caleb Clevenger and seniors Jon Hurly and Sean Eisenhower ran from 16:25 to 16:41 for the Bulldogs, who averaged 16:28 with a 19-second gap from 1 through 5.

There was a terrific battle for second through sixth, with five schools separated by just 19 points.

West Deptford scored 93, Audubon 100, Gateway-Woodbury 102, Haddon Township 108 and Haddon Heights 112.

Also under 17 minutes were West Deptford Zack Rhoda [11th in 16:47] and Gateway-Woodbury freshman Peyton Shute [16:59].

North Carolina State freshman Kevin Antczak ran an 8K personal-best 23:59 and placed 35th out of nearly 150 runners in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships Friday.

And Duke freshman Austin Gabay wasn’t far behind.

The race was held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., just outside Raleigh.

Atczak, a Foot Locker finalist from Mainland Regional, was the No. 6 freshman in the race and N.C. State’s sixth runner in his first ACC meet.

North Carolina State finished second to Notre Dame, 54-40.

Antczak finished only 29 seconds behind the first freshman in the race, Notre Dame’s Joshua Methner, who was 11th. 

From 23:27 to 23:59 there were 30 finishers, or about one per second. So Antczak was only 29 seconds out of the top 10 – less than six seconds per mile.

Antczak, a Northfield native, was 8th at Foot Locker last fall. He’s has PR’d over 8,000 meters in each of his races this year.

He ran 25:48 in his debut in late September at the Virginia Tech Invitational in Blacksburg, then ran 24:23 at the Wolfpack Invitational at WakeMed last month.

Gabay, who ran 9:00.27 for Cinnaminson at the indoor Meet of Champions in March, finished just 12 seconds behind Antczak, running 24:11 and finishing 40th overall. Gabay was Duke’s fifth runner.

Gabay has also PR’d in each of his 8K races this fall with a 25:41 at the Virginia Tech Invite and a 24:26 at the Panorama Farms Invitational in Earlysville, Va., in October.

Heck of a battle between two unbeaten Cape Atlantic teams Friday, with junior Lily Malone and freshman Claudia Booth running 1-2 for Mainland in a 26-29 dual meet win over Ocean City.

Malone ran 19:53 and Booth 19:56 on Ocean City’s 5K course to offset some terrific pack running by Ocean City, which had senior Alexa Palmeri, senior Erin Hanlon and freshman Frankie Ritzel placed 3rd, 4th and 5th. Palmeri ran 20:07, Hanlon 20:30 and Ritzel 20:37.

Mainland then took three of the next four spots to lock up with win. Freshman Gillian Lovett was 6th in 20:39, freshman Chloe Malone 8th in 21:05 and junior Savannah Hodgens 9th in 21:06.

For Ocean City, freshman Marissa Vallese ran 21:02 for 7th and senior Vanessa Kavlaynis 21:07 for 10th.

That’s seven finishers in the span of 37 seconds from 20:30 through 21:07! That’s some pretty competitive racing for a dual meet! 

Mainland finished 1-2-6-8-9 for 26.

Ocean City was 3-4-5-7-10 for 29.

The top seven from both teams all ran under 22 minutes, which is rare depth for a dual meet. 

Mainland’s No. 6 and No. 7 were senior Giselle Obergfell [21:21] and sophomore Sydney Luff [21:27], and Ocean City’s were senior Izzy Padula [21:31] and sophomore Grace McAfee [21:59].