.Nicki Clifford won the senior race and Olivia Parkinson the sophomore race to lead Cherokee to the girls team title at the 25th annual Cherokee Challenge Saturday in Marlton.

The team title is the first ever for the Cherokee girls at their traditional season-opening home meet. Last year’s meet was cancelled.

Cherokee outscored Summit 14-45 and Conestoga High of Berwin, Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, Pa., was third with 51. Mainland Regional placed second among South Jersey schools with 69 points.

Team scoring is determined by adding together the place of each school’s top runner in each of four class races.

Cherokee is ranked No. 7 in New Jersey and No. 2 in South Jersey behind Haddonfield, which did not compete at Cherokee Saturday. Summit is ranked No. 13 in the state.

For Cherokee, Kelsey Niglio was fourth in the junior race in 12:11, and Kerry O’Day placed a non-scoring seventh in the sophomore race in 12:36. Megan Niglio took eighth in the freshman race in 13:11.

Clifford’s time was 2nd-fastest overall, behind Northern Burlington freshman Liliah Gordon, who ran 11:43. Parkinson was 7th-fastest overall and Niglio was 11th-fastest. They also ranked No. 2, No. 6 and No. 7 among South Jersey girls.

Clifford and Parkinson are Cherokee’s first class winners since 2011, when Megan Lacy ran 10:55 to win the senior race. Parkinson is Cherokee’s first sophomore winner since Lisa Burkholder in 2003.

Cherokee also won the combined boys and girls team scoring title with 71 points, ahead of second-place Summit with 45.

TOP 25 SOUTH JERSEY RUNNERS
11:42 … ***Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington]
11:43 … Nikki Clifford [Cherokee]
11:44 … *Abby Waddington [Clearview]
12:00 … *** Sofia Day [Mainland Regional]
12:04 … ** Olivia Parkinson [Cherokee]
12:11 … * Kelsey Niglio [Cherokee]
12:20 … Sophia Staiger [Eastern]
12:30 … **Gillian Lovett [Mainland Regional]
12:31 … *Stephanie Renouf [Cinnaminson]
12:33 … *Ava Severino [Haddon Heights]
12:35 … ***Lily Malone [Mainland Regional]
12:36 … **Kerry O’Day [Cherokee]
12:37 … Madison McNiff [Cherry Hill East]
12:43 … *Abby Kotran [Clearview]
12:44 … **Claudia Booth [Mainland Regional]
12:47 … *Alexa Fisher [Williamstown]
12:53 … Kyra Birdsall [Shawnee]
12:55 … Grace Coller [Cinnaminson]
12:53 … *Madeline Dischert [Atlantic City]
12:54 … *Gabriella Maletta [Washington Twp.]
12:58 … ***Macie McCracken [Wildwood]
12:59 … *Meghan Lex [Haddon Twp.]
12:59 … **Chloe Malone [Mainland Regional]
12:59 … **Nicole Tellechea [Shawnee]
13:02 … Madelyn Valasek [Shawnee]
13:02 … *Sophia Bostwick [Washington Twp.]
13;02 … ** Michaela Schlemo [Egg Harbor Twp.]

Delea’s Andrew Littlehales led five runners under 10 minutes over 3,200 meters at the Cherokee Challenge and won the Senior Race with the fastest time of the day.

Senior Boys

Littlehales ran 9:46 and won by 50 meters over Ryan Banko of Salesianum School in Wilmington, Del.

Banko ran 9:55, Charles Stock of Westfield was third in 9:56 and Camden Catholic’s Billy Clewell was the second South Jersey finisher, fourth also in 9:56. Another Westfield runner, Conor Daly, took fifth in 9:59.

Littlehales’ time is fastest by a South Jersey runner at the Cherokee Challenge in seven years, since Luke Petela of Haddon Township won the Senior Race in 9:28.

In the 25-year history of the Cherokee Challenge, Littlehales is the first Delsea boy to win any of the class races. His 9:46 is the fastest by a Delsea runner at Cherokee since Nick Costello ran 9:38 and placed second to Cherokee’s Shawn Wilson in the Senior Race in 2012.

Here’s a look at the fastest South Jersey runners at Cherokee this morning!

TOP 25 SOUTH JERSEY TIMES
9:46.22 … Andrew Littlehales [Delsea]
9:49.15 … **Nick Kuenkel [Cherokee]
9:55.98 … **Peyton Shute [Co-op Gateway / Woodbury]
9:56.77 … Billy Clewell [Camden Catholic]
10:06.09 … *Patrick Ditmars [Cherokee]
10:10.93 … Chris Colavita [Washington Twp.]
10:17.88 … *Jack Bolling [Haddon Heights]
10:17.93 … Jake Buniva [Lenape]
10:17.93 … *Andrew Dove [Lenape
10:19.91 … Owen Ritti [Ocean City]
10:22.84 … Jacob Cobb [West Deptford]
10:23.94 … *Colin Patterson [Haddon Heights]
10:24.62 … Sean Hice [Washington Twp]
10:26.10 … Cole Mylan [Timber Creek]
10:34.98 … Anthony Faust [Bishop Eustace]
10:35.70 … Andre Faigal [Rancocas Valley]
10:36.35 … *Nick Scarangelli [Ocean City]
10:37.05 … **Ethan Mitnick [Mainland Regional]
10:37.97 … *Ryan Taylor [Egg Harbor Twp.]
10:38.35 … Bradley Popler [Cherokee]
10:38.40 … Linden Wineland [Mainland Regional]
10:38.50 … Ethan Bergmann [Haddon Township]
10:42.19 … *Nick Krol [Williamstown]
10:43.11 … *Colin Hermack [Lenape]
10:43.98 … *Joel Oquendo [Pennsauken]

* Junior Race
** Sophomore Race
*** Freshman Race

Northern Burlington freshman Liliah Gordon opened her high school cross country career by posting the fastest time of the four class races Saturday at the 25th annual Cherokee Challenge.

Gordon ran 11:42 to win the 3,200-meter freshman race by about 100 meters over Mainland Regional’s Sofia Day, who ran 12:00.

Gordon’s time is fastest by a freshman at the Cherokee Challenge since Haddonfield’s Briana Gess ran 10:55 in 2013 and it’s 7th-fastest ever by a freshman in the Cherokee Challenge.

Gordon is no newcomer to high-level racing. The Chesterfield resident ran 5:18.06 for a full mile as an 8th-grader last year and finished 4th in the New Jersey Middle School XC Championships in the fall of 2019 as a 7th-grader. Last year, she placed 5th over 4,000 meters in the AAU National Cross Country Championships.

Here’s a look at the fastest freshman times in meet history. Three Olympians on this list, which is pretty wild!

10:55 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2013
11:18 … Aislinn Devlin [Downington West], 2013
11:28 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 1997
11:31 … Haley Pierce [Tatnall], 2008
11:36 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2006
11:38 … Vanessa Wright [Haddonfield], 2002
11:42 … Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2021
11:43 … Ajee Wilson [Neptune], 2008
11:45 … Elizabeth Edwards [Unionville], 2013
11:45 … Caroline Kellner [West Windsor-Plains. South], 2008
11:47 … Kate Hastings [Tatnall], 2010
11:47 … Natalie Ocasio [Lenape], 2009
11:48 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2006
11:49 … Catie Skinner [Penn Charter], 2009

Gordon is the third Northern Burlington girl to place in the top three in any girls race at the Cherokee Challenge.

In 1996, the first year the meet was held, Meghan Spence placed second in the sophomore race, and in 2003, Suzanne Bumbera took third in the freshman race.

The only other times a freshman posted the fastest time of the day were 1997, when Haddonfield’s Erin Donohue ran 11:28; 2002, when Vanessa Wright of Haddonfield ran 11:38; and 2013, when Haddonfield’s Briana Gess ran 10:55.

Cherokee’s Nick Kuenkel ran the second-fastest time in the meet’s 25-year history Saturday, winning the 3,200-meter sophomore race at the Cherokee Challenge in 9:49.

Kuenkel edged Peyton Shute of Gateway/Woodbury Co-Op by six seconds in the first sophomore race in meet history where two runners dipped under 10 minutes.

Racing in perfect conditions, Kuenkel missed the sophomore race course record of 9:48 by one second. That was set in 2012 by Steve Garrett of Tatnall School in Wilmington, Del.

Here’s a look at the top-10 sophomore times in meet history:

9:48 … Steve Garrett [Tatnall School], 2012
9:49 … Nick Kuenkel [Cherokee], 2021
9:55 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury/Gateway], 2021
9:55 … Matt Nelson [Barnegat], 2010
9:56 … Mike Vitez [Haddonfield], 2007
9:59 … Zach Michon [Robbinsviolle], 2013
9:59 … Chris Spisak [Cherokee], 2017
10:00 … Dave Forward [Shawnee], 2007
10:00 … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 1999
10:02 … Sebastien Reed [Pitman], 2017

Other South Jersey runners in the top 10 in the boys sophomore race were Ethan Mitnick of Mainland [4th in 10:37], Owen Karsch of Eastern [8th in 10:46] and Robert Poplau of Cherokee [10:47 for 10th].

Erika Kemp won her second national title Monday morning when she out-raced the field at the USATF 20K Championships in New Haven.

Kemp, a 2013 Rancocas Valley graduate, was part of a breakaway group of four runners that also included Emily Durgin, Lindsay Flanagan and Makena Morley halfway through the 12.4-mile race.

Flanagan eventually dropped off the pace, and with two miles to go, Kemp pulled away from Durgin and Morley and won by more than half a minute over Morley.

Kemp ran 1:06.20 over the road course through the streets of New Haven, and Morley was second in 1:6.59.

Because it’s web site is the worst site on the planet, the USATF does not have full results available of one of its own national championship events. Inexcusable.

Kemp earned $9,000 for her first-place finish.

The race was Kemp’s first race since the U.S. Olympic Trials, where she raced both the 5,000 and 10,000.

Kemp’s time is No. 39 on the all-time world 20,000-meter road course performance list on the World Athletics web site and No. 5 in U.S. history.

Kemp’s previous U.S. title came at 15,000 meters in Jacksonville in 2019, where she ran 50:54.

She actually ran faster for 20,000 meters today than she did for 15,000 meters two years ago.

Her mile pace for 9.3 miles in Jacksonville was 5:27.7, and her mile pace for 12.4 miles in New Haven was 5:20.3.

Kemp ran a track 5,000 PR of 15:10.10 this year in Attleboro, Mass., which ranks No. 14 in the U.S. this year and No. 52 all-time.

She set her 10,000 PR of 31:35.63 last year in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. That ranks No. 35 in U.S. history.

Haddonfield’s Allison Colflesh, a freshman at Maryland, opened her collegiate XC career with an 11th-place finish at the Mount St. Mary’s University Duals.

Colflesh covered the 5,000-meter course in Emmitsburg, Md., in 19:48 and was Maryland’s second finisher, behind another freshman, Katie Altieri, who took eighth in 19:15.

George Washington swept the top five spots and outscored Maryland 15-61, with Maryland-Baltimore County third (85) and Catholic University of Washington, D.C., fourth (134).

For Catholic, Moorestown graduate Kate Inglis, a freshman, ran 20:59 for 21st place, and freshman Georgia Nussey, Colflesh’s former Haddonfield teammate, placed 39th in 22:36.

Delsea graduate Josh Awotunde threw a historic PR of 72-2 in the shot put Saturday in Italy, moving him up from 19th to 15th in U.S. history.

Awotunde, competing for Shore Athletic Conference, became the 15th U.S. thrower in history to reach 22 meters at the 2021 Meeting Città di Padova 2021, which is a World Athletics continental tour bronze level series event. Padova is about 25 miles west of Venice.

https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-continental-tour/calendar-results/7155954/result

His throw is No. 30 in world history.

Awotunde won the event over Italian Zane Weir, who threw 70-11 1/2 for second place.

Awotunde’s previous PR was 71-7 3/4 when he placed fifth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., in June. His best throw coming into this year was 69-3 3/4 in April of 2019 in Los Angeles.

His 72-2 would have placed fourth in the Olympic Games in Tokyo last month.

Awotunde’s throw ranks him 6th in the world this year behind five 2021 Olympians, including four finalists.

Full series info for Awotunde was not listed on the World Athletics’ results page. Still working on that!

Highland graduate Ben Woodward, a junior at Rider, placed 7th Saturday in the Temple Invitational. He was Rider’s first finisher.

Woodard covered the 8,000-meter course at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia in 27:19, finishing just 17 seconds behind overall winner Christian Fitch of Temple.

“Woodward and the young guys really stepped up today,” Rider coach Bob Hamer said on Rider’s web site. “I’m really excited for Ben. He ran a really solid race today and we will work on building on this performance.”

Also racing for Rider were freshman Dakota Oyuela from Burlington Township, who placed 18th in 18:23 in his collegiate debut; Richie Castaneda of Camden Catholic, 21st in 28:35; and sophomore Gobi Thurairajah of Egg Harbor Township, 25th in 29:05.

Temple scored a perfect 15 points and Rider was second with 52 points.

In the women’s race, Sydney Watts of Chestnut Hill College, a freshman from Kingsway, opened her collegiate career by placing 14th in 25:55 over 6,000 meters.

Cinnaminson graduate Mike Ungvarsky ran 18:17 over 6,000 meters and placed sixth out of more than 100 runners Friday night at the Friday Night Lights Elon Opener at Elon (N.C.) University.

Ungvarsky finished 22 seconds behind overall winner Athanas Kioko of Campbell College. He was Duke’s fifth runner.

Duke outscored East Carolina 20-75 to win the team title.

In the women’s race, Lenape graduate Alexa Woltjen, a senior at North Carolina Wilmington and a transfer from Maryland, ran 15:09 over 4,000 meters to place 37th. 

Monmouth freshman Allie Pierontoni of Kingsway placed 8th Friday afternoon in the season-opening Lehigh Invitational.

Pierontoni ran 22:11 over Lehigh’s 6,000-meter course in Bethlehem (and briefly in Lower Saucon Township). 

She was Monmouth’s third runner, behind overall winner Sammi Ragenklint [21:33] and Mackenzie Jones [22:02].

Monmouth and Princeton both finished with 50 points. Instead of using a 6th-runner tiebreaker [which Princeton would have won], head-to-head matchups were used, and Monmouth won that 3-2. 

Shawnee graduate Kara Bonner, a senior at Lehigh, placed 16th in 22:20, finishing nine seconds behind Pierontoni. Bonner was Lehigh’s fourth runner, helping the Mountainhawks finish a close third with 57 points.

Also racing were Lenape grad and Rutgers sophomore Shelby Whetstone [66th in 25:08] and Ocean City grad Mickey Baker [68th in 25:31].