With senior Seth Clevenger placing 4th overall in 15:36 and junior George Andrus also running sub-16, Haddonfield turned in one of the greatest performances ever by a South Jersey school at Holmdel and placed 3rd at the Meet of Champions Saturday.
Haddonfield averaged 16:21, 3rd-fastest ever at Holmdel by a South Jersey school and fastest since Haddonfield averaged 16:21 when it placed 2nd at the 2010 Meet of Champions.
It was Haddonfield’s 2nd straight 3rd-place finish. The Bulldogs also placed 3rd in 2019, the last time the meet was held.
Union Catholic won the team title with 67 points, followed by Christian Brothers Academy with 84. Haddonfield was the top public school and the top South Jersey school, scoring 134 points to finish 63 ahead of 4th-place Ridge. Cherokee (242) and Cherry Hill East (259) also finished in the top 10.
Clevenger’s 15:36 makes him the 5th-fastest South Jersey runner in Holmdel history and is the 6th-fastest performance. The fastest previous Haddonfield runner at the legendary Holmdel County Park course was Jon Vitez, who ran 16:41 at the 2009 Meet of Champions.
Andrus placed 16th in 15:58, Senior Tobias Janssen ran 16:29 for 46th, junior Robert DiMedo 16:44 for 67th and junior Ian Romea 84th in 17:00. Sophomore Liam Dougherty [17:12] and Junior Donald Jellig [17:28] also raced for the Bulldogs.
For team scoring purposes, Haddonfield went 4-8-26-41-55-(71-88).
Incredibly, Haddonfield has placed in the top-5 at the Meet of Champions 12 times, including 10 of the last 15 times the meet was contested.
Other Haddonfield top-5 finishes: 5th in 1989, 1st in 2001, 3rd in 2006, 3rd in 2007, 4th in 2008, 4th in 2009, 2nd in 2010, 5th in 2014, 4th in 2015, 2nd in 2018 and 3rd in 2019.
Here’s a look at the 10 fastest South Jersey runners in Holmdel history:
15:16 … Jason DiJoseph [Paul VI], 1988
15:29 … Kevin Antczak [Mainland Regional], 2019
15:32 …….. Antczak, 2019
15:33 …….. DiJoseph, 1988
15:33 … Josh Clark [Highland], 2015
15:36 … Louis Corgliano [Hammonton], 2013
15:36 …….. DiJoseph, 1987
15:37 … Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East], 2015
15:38 … Gregory Hughes [Mainland], 2003
15:39 … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2014
15:39 …….. Groff, 2015
15:40 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 2012
15:40 … Brett Johnson [Ocean City], 2008
15:40 … Steve Maine [Highland], 2013
And here are the top-10 South Jersey team averages in Holmdel history:
16:19 … Mainland Regional, 2003, Meet of Champions [1]
16:19 … Haddonfield, 2010, Meet of Champions [2]
16:21 … Haddonfield, 2001, Meet of Champions [1]
16:21 … Haddonfield, 2021 Meet of Champions [3]
16:22 … Kingsway, 2017, Group 4 [1]
16:25 … Mainland Regional, 2003, Group 4 [1]
16:26 … Cherry Hill East, 2014, Group 4 [1]
16:28 … Haddonfield, 2021, Group 2 [1]
16:30 … Haddonfield, 2018 Meet of Champions [2]
16:30 … Cherokee, 2019 Meet of Champions [4]
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 