Terrific race Thursday between Kingsway senior Kyle Rakitis and Woodbury sophomore Peyton Shute at the Gloucester County Championships.
Rakitis ran 15:44 and Shute 15:51 over 5,000 meters at West Deptford Park to win the county title. Last year, Rakitis placed second to Shute’s older brother Brady over the same course, Shute running 15:59 and Rakitis 16:16.
Three other runners – West Deptford senior Jacob Cobb (16:23), Williamstown junior Nicholas Kool (16:45) and Washington Township senior Chris Colavita (16:47) also broke 17 minutes.
Washington Township edged Kingsway by one spot to win the team title, 45-46, going 5-7-9-10-14. Kingsway had won nine straight team titles since Clearview won in 2011. The championship is the first for the Minutemen since 2009, when they beat Delsea 43-55 at Gloucester County College.
Seniors Nate Kidwell, Charles Lant and Sean Hice all joined Colavita finished in the top 10 for Township, Kidwell 7th in 17:21, Lant 9th in 17:34 and Nice 10th in 17:46. Township’s fifth scorer was junior Tells McDonald, who placed 15th in 18:09.
Also in the top 10 were Kingsway senior Ryan Allen (6th in 17:03) and Kingsway junior Cesar Pedro (8th in 17:25).
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 