From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Haddon Heights and Cinnaminson hooked up in a titanic distance medley battle Saturday at the Woodbury Relays, with Haddon Heights coming out on top and both schools running sub-10:30.

Haddon Heights ran 10:27.31 and Cinnaminson 10:28.95 in the Group 2 race, the fastest times by any South Jersey Group 2 schools since Haddonfield ran 10:10.62 to place 5th at the 2016 Penn Relays.

Both are school records.

It looks like Haddon Heights’ previous school record was actually its 10:37.44 from Armory Nationals last month. Cinnaminson’s previous ‘case!s the school record was a 10:35.3 in 2007.

This is the first time two schools have broken 10:30 in the race at the Woodbury Relays since 2015, when Rancocas Valley [10:20.92], Cherry Hill East [10:23.98] and Eastern [10:29.56] all did it in the Group 4 race. They’re the fastest Group 2 times at Woodbury since 2013, when Pleasantville ran 10:24.40. It’s the first time two schools ran sub-10:30 in Group 2.

Heights and Cinnaminson ran neck-and-neck virtually the entire race.

The 1,200 legs were handled by Colin Patterson for Heights and Tyler Schill for Cinnaminson, with Schill giving Cinnaminson a slight lead with a 3:10.44 and Patterson runing 3:10.72.

Chris Hunter ran a 51.25 split to give Heights the lead while Ryan Malinowski ran 52.78 for the Pirates.

Cinnaminson half-miler Derek Coceano, ran 2:00.71 and Haddon Township’s Matthew Iuvara split 2:01.69 to set up the anchor legs with Heights coming through the final handoff at 6:03.67 and Cinnaminson at 6:03.93.

Heights anchor Jack Bolling got out in 65.81 while Cinnaminson’s Alex Boyko ran his first lap in 65.78. Boyko continued to gain ground on a slower second lap with a 69.12 to Bolling’s 69.42.

Boyko’s 65.59 third lap to Bolling’s 66.29 made the race a dead heat going into the final lap.

Boyko split 64.43, but Bolling closed in 62.12 to secure the 10-meter win. Boyko came back in 2:10.02 and Patterson 2:08.41.

Here’s a look at where Cinnaminson and Heights stack up on their all-time county lists:

All-time Camden County DMR list
10:10.62 … Haddonfield, 2016
10:10.8y … Haddon Township, 1973
10:15.4y … Paul VI, 1976
10:15.5y … Highland, 1980
10:16.14 … Haddonfield, 2010
10:16.29 … Highland, 1991
10:17.3y … Haddonfield, 1979
10:19.4y … Haddon Twp., 1972
10:19.4y … Paul VI., 1974
10:19.67 … Haddon Twp., 2015
10:19.90 … Cherry Hill East, 2016
10:20.11 … Haddonfield, 2002
10:22.3y … Highland, 1979
10:22.9h … Paul VI, 1988
10:23.98 … Cherry Hill East, 2015
10:24.4h … Eastern, 1985
10:26.3y … Highland, 1979
10:26.90 … Camden Catholic, 2019
10:27.23 … Haddonfield, 2015
10:27.31 … Haddon Heights, 2022
10:27.9y … Haddon Twp., 1969
10:28.46 … Haddonfield, 2011
10:29.0h … Paul VI, 1990
10:29.56 … Eastern, 2015
10:30.1h … Paul VI, 1989

All-time Burlington County DMR list
10:00.9h … Willingboro, 1983
10:16.11 … Cherokee, 2001
10:18.74 … Shawnee, 1991
10:19.47 … Cherokee, 2012
10:19.5y … Holy Cross, 1971
10:20.92 … Rancocas Valley, 2015
10:20.98 … Northern Burlington, 2014
10:21.78 … Cherokee, 2000
10:23.1y … Holy Cross, 1972
10:26.3h … Cherokee, 1998
10:28.95 … Cinnaminson, 2022
10:29.41 … Cherokee, 2002
10:30.4h … Shawnee, 1989
10:30.64 … Northern Burlington, 2013