Overall winner Patrick Ditmars led four Cherokee runners in the top six and the Chiefs rolled to their eighth straight Burlington County Open XC title.
Ditmars, a junior, ran 16:25 over the 5,000-meter course at the Rancocas Valley athletic fields in Eastampton, finishing 65 meters ahead of Rancocas Valley junior Ryan Smith, who was second in 16:38. RV senior Andre Faigal placed third in 16:43.
Cherokee took the next three spots, with junior Conor Jacob, sophomore Robert Poplau and senior Joseph Natoli running 16:46, 16:54 and 16:59. Senior Bradley Popler was Cherokee’s 5th man in 9th with a 17:06.
Cherokee packed its five scorers in 41 seconds, averaged 16:50 and scored 25 points.
Cinnaminson, despite missing its top two runners with injuries and racing with just five entrants, all junior, was second with 86 points.
Last time Cherokee did not win the County Open was 2014, when Northern Burlington went 1-2 with Chris Martin and Harrison Scott.
Other runners in the top 10 were Lenape senior Jake Buniva [7th in 17:06], Lenape junior Colin Hermack [8th 17:06] and Delran senior Anthony Guarino [10th 17:16].
Cinnaminson placed second without a runner in the top 10 by packing its five scorers – Matt McCarron, Derek Coceano, Tyler Schill, Dean Clark and Ryan Coceano – all between 11th place and 22nd place and between 17:23 and 18:15.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 