Woodbury grad Brady Shute, now a Cornell freshman, ran a 5,000 PR Saturday, covering Cornell’s Moakley XC Course in Ithaca, N.Y., in 15:41 at the John Reif Memorial Run.

Shute placed 7th of 42 entrants from Syracuse and Cornell along with numerous alumni and post-grads.

Shute’s previous all-course 5,000 PR was 15:47, which he ran in 2019 at the Colonial Conference All-Star Meet at Pennypacker Park in Haddonfield.

On the track, Shute’s 5K personal best is 14:51.35 from a meet in April at Thomas Edison Park in Edison.

In his previous race last weekend, Shute ran an 8,000-meter PR of 25:54 at the R.K. Munsey Invite at the University of Albany. He finished 6th overall out of nearly 90 runners and was the first freshman across the line and Cornell’s 4th finisher. Cornell won the team title with 23 points.

Cornell is now off until the Heptagonal Championships on Oct. 30 on Princeton’s XC course in West Windsor.

Three of South Jersey’s top runners met Saturday morning at the Tri-County Conference Championships, and Highland junior Grace Wassell out-raced Kingsway junior Aubrey Pierontoni an Clearview junior Abby Waddington with all three going sub-19 minutes.

What a race!

Wassell ran 18:14 over 5,000 meters at Cumberland Regional in Upper Deerfield Township, finishing about 90 meters ahead of Pierontoni, who ran 18:34. Waddington was third in 18:44. 

Kingsway placed its five scorers in the top 17 (and six in 19) and came out on top in a wild three-way team battle with 54 points. Highland was second with 56 and Clearview third with 58.

Wassell became Highland’s first conference individual champion since Megan Venables won the 2010 race on the same course in 18:01. 

Her time is fastest at Cumberland since Kingsway’s Rachel Vick ran 18:02 in 2016 and it’s her fastest time ever over any 5K course. She ran 18:54 as a freshman at South Jersey Group 3 sectionals at Delsea in November of 2019. It’s also the fastest time on any course this fall by any South Jersey girl. Sofia Day of Mainland ran 18:15 at Stockton University in Galloway Township last month.

Pierontoni’s time is an all-course 5,000 personal best also. She ran 18:37 in a meet last fall at Ocean County Park in Lakewood. Waddington, the Gloucester County champ, has now run sub-19 at DREAM Park and Cumberland this fall.

Kingsway’s two-point margin of victory is the smallest in the 35-year history of the meet. The previous closest meet was in 2013, when Kingsway edged Delsea by three points, 40-43.

The four points separating the top three teams is also the smallest in meet history. The previous smallest gap between 1st and 3rd was six in 2000, when Delsea won with 67, Kingsway scored 71 and Gloucester was 3rd with 73.

Joining Pierontoni for the Lady Dragons were juniors Shelby Dyer and Nicole Lipieta, who placed 9th and 10th, both in 20:15, and seniors Allison Helkowski and Erin Tracey, who ran 16th and 17th in 21:08 and 21:12. Sixth runner sophomore Kendall Cramer also broke into the top 20, running 21:40 for 19th.

Here’s what the rest of the top 10 looked like: Highland seniors Princess Nwoga and Vanessa Marinero took 4th and 5th in 19:15 and 19:50, Clearview junior Abby Kotran ran 20:01 for 6th, Wildwood freshman Macie McCracken placed 7th in 20:02 and Clearview soph Margaret Wisniewski was 8th in 20:14.

Cinnaminson and Maple Shade both swept the top three spots on the way to commanding team titles Thursday at the BCSL Championships at New Egypt High School.

Juniors Alexander Boyko, Matt McCarron and Tyer Schill ran 1-2-3 for Cinnaminson in the Patriot Division race, and senior Ryan Olesky, junior Chad Cloke and senior Brennen King swept the top three places for Maple Shade in the Freedom Division.

Moorestown placed its five scorers in the top 11 to win the Liberty Division title by three points over Rancocas Valley.

First, let’s look at the Patriot Division meet.

Boyko ran 16:04 – a big lifetime best for any 5,000-meter course – to win his first XC invitational title and lead the way for Cinnaminson. His previous PR was 16:23 in the South Jersey Open at DREAM Park in Logan Township.

McCarron ran 16:23 and Schill 16:37 for the Pirates, and they were backed up by juniors Ryan Coceano and Dean Clark, who took 5th and 6th in 17:28 and 17:36. Sixth man Patrick Storti made it six Cinnaminson finishers – all juniors – among the top seven runners with a 17:44 for 7th place.

The conference title was the first since 2017 for Cinnaminson, which outscored Bordentown 17-58 and outscored the field 17-42.

Others in the top 10 were Delran senior Anthony Guarino [4th in 16:45], Bordentown sophomore Ajay Donthula [8th 17:46], Bordentown senior Matt Reiter [9th 17:49] and Bordentown junior Evan Cooper [10th 18:04].

Maple Shade was nearly as dominating as Cinnaminson, going 1-2-3-5-7 for 18 points and winning its fifth consecutive division title by an 18-41 margin over Palmyra.

Olesky won in 17:28, Cloke was 2nd in 17:44 and King ran 18:44 for third. Also scoring for the Wildcats were sophomore Aidan Cloke [5th 19:19] and Shane Smith [7th 19:45], and senior Conor Cloke backed them up in 9th in 20:18.

Also in the top 10 were Palmyra senior Dominic Belton [4th 18:53], Palmyra sophomore James Crean [6th 19:31], Palmyra sophomore Colin Broadbent [8th 20:03] and Westampton Tech junior Jeremy Henskens [10th 20:43].

Moorestown’s 36-39 win over Rancocas Valley was its first BCSL team title since it won the Liberty in 2016.

R.V. took the top two spots, with senior Andre Faigal and junior Ryan Smith running 15:57 and 16:18. Faigal’s 15:57 was fastest of the day and is No. 11 in course history and 2nd-fastest by an R.V. Red Devil, behind only Isaiah Curbelo’s 15:54 at the BCLS meet in 2015.

But Moorestown went 3-5-7-10-11-(13) to squeeze past R.V.

Junior William Inglis led the Quakers in third place in 16:36, with junior Colin Shand also under 17 minutes in 5th place in 16:59. Senior James Johnston ran 7th in 17:42, with sophomore Hari Bezwada and juniors Luke Labroli and Evan Schaffer placing 10th, 11th and 13th in 17:57, 18:14 and 18:23.

The rest of the top 10 looked like this: Pennsauken juniors Joel Oquendo [4th 16:42] and Pennsauken Nouman Farhat [6th 17:07], Northern Burlington junior Gavyn Messenger [8th 17:44] and R.V. senior Alex Pratt [9th 17:52].

 

Senior Owen Ritti and juniors Nick Scarangelli and Chris Sardy swept the top three places and Ocean City won its sixth Cape May County title Friday afternoon.

Ritti ran 16:08 over the 5,000-meter course at the Cape May Zoo in Lower Township, Scarangelli ran 16:16 and Sardy 16:25 as the Red Raiders placed all seven runners in the top 11.

Ritti’s time is No. 5 in course history, according to the MileSplit venue page, and fastest since Mark Nelson of Lower Cape May Regional ran 15:59 in 2016. The last Ocean City runner to go faster at the zoo is Louis Paone, who ran 15:52 in 2013.

Ocean City outscored 2nd-place Lower Cape May Regional 23-59. The meet wasn’t held last year, but Ocean City won every year from 2015 through 2019. Last time the Red Raiders did not win the county title was 2014, when Middle Township outscored them 24-34 for the title. Ocean City won 14 straight from 2000 through 2013 so has now won 20 of the last 21 titles.

Ocean City placed its 4th through 7th runners 8th through 11th, all between 17:18 and 17:34. 

The Raiders’ 4th and 5th scorers were senior Nigel Collins [8th in 17:18] and sophomore Matt Hoffman [9th in 17:31]. They were followed by junior Colin Abbott [10th in 17:33] and senior Reece Wagner [12th in 17:34].

Scoring against the field, Ocean City would have won 23-34.

Also in the top 10 were Wildwood sophomore Jorge Cruz [4th in 16:28], Lower Cape May Regional junior Jack Cura [5th in 16:30], Lower Cape May senior Zeb HInker [6th in 17:09] and Wildwood senior Robert Wileczek [7th In 17:12].

Liliah Gordon continued her terrific freshman season by not only winning the individual title at Wednesday’s BCSL Championships Liberty Division race but leading Northern Burlington to its first team title since the inception of the girls meet in 1987.

Gordon ran 18:03 at New Egypt – an all-course personal best for any 5,000-meter course – finishing 2 1/2 minutes ahead of second-place Maeve Timms of Burlington Township.

She broke the course record of 18:10 set at the 2015 Burlington County Scholastic League Championships by Pennsauken’s Briana Roberts, and she broke the freshman course record of 18:55 set in 2017 by Moorestown’s Kate Inglis.

But bigger than the individual title was Northern’s team title. The Greyhounds outscored Moorestown 35-39, going 1-3-7-13-20 overall but 1-2-6-10-16 for team points.

Moorestown had won 21 consecutive BCSL Liberty Division titles going back to 1999. The meet wasn’t held from 1991 through 1998 or last year. The last time a school other than Moorestown won the Liberty title was 1990, when Shawnee won.

For Northern, senior Paige Thier placed 3rd in 21:02, freshman Zoe Chou ran 21:56 for 7th, senior Olivia Cranmer was 13th in 22:55 and freshman Addison Liwacz rounded out NBC’s top five taking 20th overall in 24:07.

Northern’s best previous finish was second in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2015 and 2019.

Also in the top 10 were Rancocas Valley sophomore Bea Faigal [4th in 21:10], Moorestown freshman Aanya Khairari [5th in 21:21], Moorestown sophomore Mary Laufer [6th in 21:48], Moorestown sophomore Paige McCabe [8th in 21:57], R.V. senior Jordyn McArthur [9th in 22:09] and R.V. soph Kelly Ashton [10th in 22:13].

In the Patriot Division meet, junior Stephanie Renouf and senior Grace Coller ran 1-2 and Cinnaminson edged Bordentown, 28-29 for its sixth straight title. Renouf ran 19:14 and Coller 20:26.

Sophomore Anna Marino [8th in 23:21], freshman Francesca Romei [11th 23:59] and sophomore Madison Willers [15th 25:13] also scored for Cinnaminson.

Also in the top 10 were seniors Anise Howard and Haley Gardner of Delran, 3rd and 4th in 20:45 and 20:46, Bordentown senior Hannah Hornbeck [5th in 21:22], Delran freshman Shannon Waters [6th 21:55], Bordentown senior Catrina Wahner [7th 23:06], Bordentown Faith Berenato [9th 23:43] and Bordentown sophomore Isabella Basile [10th 23:54].

New Egypt junior Cassidy Burr won the Freedom girls race in 21:47, just ahead of Palmyra sophomore Cadence Anderson, who ran 21:59. Maple Shade senior Taylor McCue [3rd in 24:24], Riverside freshman Sydney Greenidge [4th in 25:01], New Egypt senior Jenna Uster [5th 25:03], Palmyra junior Olivia McGovern [6th 25:49], New Egypt senior Anna Markey [7th 25:50], Riverside senior Taylor Dill [8th 27:21], Palmyra senior Andrea Garcia [9th 27:28] and Westampton Tech sophomore Janella Sanabria [10th 27:35] rounded out the top 10.

No school had five runners in the Freedom girls so no team title was awarded.

With senior Nicole Clifford and sophomore Olivia Parkinson both running sub-19, Cherokee won the Olympic Conference girls XC title Wednesday with the fastest team time in DREAM Park course history.

Clifford was the overall winner, covering the 5,000-meter course in Logan Township in 18:24, Parkinson ran 18:48 for second, and Cherokee’s five scorers averaged 19:19.

That broke the course record of 19:29 set by Haddonfield at last year’s South Jersey Group 2 meet.

Cherokee went 1-2-8-9-13, outscoring Cherry Hill East 33-51 for its second straight team title. Cherokee also won in 2004, 2009 and 2010.

Clifford’s time is No. 3 in course history, behind only Isabella Turner’s course-record 17:52 for Shawnee at the 2018 South Jersey Shootout and Kate Rathman’s 18:22 for Cherokee at the 2018 Olympic Conference Championships.

Junior Kelsey Niglio and sophomore Kerry O’Day ran 8th and 9th for the Chiefs in 19:33 and 19:36, and freshman Megan Niglio was Cherokee’s fifth finisher in 20:17. The times were all-course 5K PRs for Clifford, Parkinson, O’Day and Megan Niglio.

Cherokee is ranked 5th in the state and No. 2 in South Jersey, behind Haddonfield, who is No. 3 in the state rankings. Cherry Hill East is No. 6 in South Jersey.

Eastern senior Sophia Staiger placed third in 19:17 and three Cherry Hill East runners were next across the line – senior Madison McNiff in 19:17, junior Alexis Tepper in 19:18 and freshman Kiley Walsh in 19:31. Paul VI sophomore Shaelan McNally [7th in 19:31] and Camden Catholic junior Casey Bednarek [10th in 19:41] rounded out the top 10. Tepper won the race last year but ran 19 seconds faster this year.

Also running sub-20 were Bishop Eustace junior Arianna Cane [19:43] and Camden Catholic freshman Nilaa Ponnappan [19:51].

Here’s a look at the all-time top-10 team times (I think) in the brief history of DREAM Park:

19:19 … Cherokee, 2021 [Olympic Conference Championships]
19:29 … Haddonfield, 2020 [South Jersey Group 2]
19:46 … Cherry Hill East, 2019 [Olympic Conference Championships]

19:48 … Cherokee, 2019 [Olympic Conference Championships]
19:52 … Shawnee, 2019 [Olympic Conference Championships]
19:57 … Cherry Hill East, 2021 [Olympic Conference Championships]

20:09 … Cherokee, 2020 [Olympic Conference Championships
20:15 … Cherry Hill East, 2018 [Olympic Conference Championships]
20:15 … Cherokee, 2020 [South Jersey Group 4]
21:17 … Shawnee, 2021 [Olympic Conference]


Camden Catholic senior Billy Clewell edged Cherokee junior Patrick Ditmars for the individual title but Cherokee placed six runners in the top 14 and ran away with the team title Wednesday at the Olympic Conference XC Championships.

Clewell ran 15:46, 3rd-fastest ever on the 5,000-meter DREAM Park course in Logan Township. Cherokee’s Ethan Wechsler ran 15:12 at the 2019 Olympic Conference meet and Nick Loffredo of Manchester Township ran 15:40 earlier this month at the South Jersey Open.

Cherokee won its fifth title in six years by packing its five scorers in 40 seconds and averaging 16:22 at Dream Park.

Ditmars placed 2nd in 15:56, seniors Joe Natoli and Bradley Popler took 5th and 6th in 16:24 and 16;25, and junior Conor Jacob ran 8th in 16:30 and sophomore Robert Poplau was 12th in 16:36, backed up by junior Thomas Bromley in 14th in 16:42.

The Chiefs outscored 2nd-place Washington Township 33-79, with Cherry Hill East 3rd with 101 points and Lenape fourth at 107.

Others in the top 10 included Lenape senior Jake Buniva [3rd in 16:01], Washington Township senior Chris Colavita [4th 16:16], Lenape senior Justin Penny [7th 16:29], Eastern sophomore Owen Karcsh [9th 16:31] and Lenape junior Colin Hermack [10th 16:31].

Cherokee’s 16:22 average is 3rd-fastest ever at DREAM Park, behind Cherokee’s 2019 team [16:00 at Olympic Conference meet) and 2018 team (16:14 at Olympic Conference).

here’s a look at all the sub-16:50 times (I think) since the inception of the DREAM Park course:

16:00 … Cherokee, 2019 [Olympic Conference Championships]
16:14 … Cherokee, 2018 [Olympic Conference Championships]
16:22 … Cherokee, 2021 [Olympic Conference]
16:23 … Cherry Hill East, 2019 [Olympic Conference Championships]
16:32 … Cherry Hill East, 2020 [Olympic Conference Championships]
16:34 … Haddonfield, 2020 [S.J. Group 2]
16:35 … Cherokee, 2020 [Olympic Conference Championships]
16:38 … Cherry Hill East, 2020 [Olympic Conference Batch Meet]
16:42 … Washington Twp., 2020 [Olympic Conference Championships
]
16:43 … Cherokee, 2020 [Olympic Conference Batch Meet]
16:46 … Cherry Hill East, 2021 [South Jersey Open]
16:47 … Washington Twp., 2020 [Olympic Conference Batch Meet]
16:47 … Cherokee, 2020 [S.J. Group 4]
16:48 … Haddon Heights, 2021 [South Jersey Open]

Kingsway’s Aubrey Pierontoni and Clearview’s Abby Waddington renewed their rivalry Thursday, and for the first time this fall Waddington came out ahead, winning the Gloucester County Championships at West Deptford Park.

But Pierontoni’s Kingsway Dragons won their seventh straight team title, 37-67, over Clearview.

Pierontoni and Waddington have raced four times this year, and each time the two juniors have finished next to each other. 

Pierontoni edged Waddington in the first three meetings, but on Thursday, in the Gloucester County Championships, Waddington got the edge, covering the 5,000-meter course in 19:14. Waddington finished 60 meters ahead of Pierontoni, who ran 19:26.

Waddington became the first Clearview girl to win the Gloucester County XC title in 18 years, since Andrea Shute ran 18:52 to win the 2003 title on Kingsway’s course in Woolwich Township.  

Here’s a quick look at the four meetings so far this fall between Pierontoni and Waddington:

Sept. 15, Tri-County Batch Meet, at Cumberland Regional
1. Aubrey PIerontoni [Kingsway], 19:12
2. Abby Waddington [Clearview], 19:33
Oct. 2, Shore Coaches B race, at Holmdel County Park 
3. Aubrey PIerontoni [Kingsway], 19:41
4. Abby Waddington [Clearview], 19:49
Oct. 5, Tri-County Batch Meet, at Delsea 
1. Aubrey PIerontoni [Kingsway], 18:53
2. Abby Waddington [Clearview], 19:33
Oct. 14, Gloucester County Championships, at West Deptford Park
1. Abby Waddington [Clearview], 19:14
2. Aubrey PIerontoni [Kingsway], 19:26

Kingsway had three of the first six finishers and placed six runners in the top 15. Junior Nicole Lipieta was third in 19:46, junior Shelby Dyer 7th in 21:03, senior Erin Tracey 13th in 21:43 and sophomores Kendall Cramer and Cassidy Dunk placed 15th and 16th in 21:57 and 21:01. Junior Sarah Hover ran a season-best 24:25 for 25th. For team scoring purposes, Kingsway went 2-3-6-12-(13-24).

Last time Kingsway did not win the county title was 2014, when Clearview won 37-73 over Delsea. Kingsway was 3rd on a 6th-runner tiebreaker.

Other runners in the top 10: Clearview jun for Abby Kotran [4th in 20:39], West Deptford senior Hope Winer [5th in 20:51], Delsea junior Lillie Widmer [6th in 20:58] and Washington Township juniors Allyson Wernik, Gabrielle Maletta and Sophia Bostwick, who placed 8th through 10th, all between 21:07 and 21:16.

Haddon Township graduate Jacob Dinerman ran 15:51 to win the Penn Relays 5K Saturday in West Philly.

The 23-year-old Dinerman, who competed for one year at The College of New Jersey, edged former Muhlenberg runner Declan Walkush by two seconds for the win. They were the only runners who went sub-17 minutes on the 5,000-meter course that wound through Penns Park and finished inside Franklin Field.

We wrote last year about Dinerman, who at the time was competing for the Moody Park Track Club, after he ran a 4:08.49 indoor mile in Boston. You can find that story here.

Also, Greg Spellmeyer of Haddonfield was 5th in the 50-54 age group with a time of 21:57.

 

Syracuse freshman Ethan Wechsler finished 15th out of over 100 runners Saturday in the Penn State National Open in State College.

Wechsler ran 26:06 over 5.2 miles at Penn State’s Blue/White golf course, finishing just 40 seconds behind overall winner Evan Dorenkamp of Penn State, who ran 25:26.

Wechsler was the third freshman across the line, just seven seconds behind the first freshman, Cornell’s Damian Hackett.

Also racing was Rutgers sophomore Will Berger, a graduate of Lower Cape May Regional. He finished 64th overall in 27:31. He was Rutgers’ third finisher.