Rancocas Valley senior Ryan Smith finished 225 meters ahead of the field Saturday at the Ray Hoagland Invitational.
Hoagland covered the 5,000-meter course at the Rancocas Valley Sports Complex in Eastampton Township in 16:35.
That’s 57 seconds faster than he ran on the same course to open his junior year. Smith went on to place 8th at the Group 4 sectionals at Delsea.
Smith’s time is fastest ever on the R.V. course by a Rancocas Valley runner. Andre Faigal ran 16:43 last fall when he placed 3rd at the County Open.
Oliver Adler set the course record of 16:13 at the 2018 Ray Hoagland Invite.
Washington Township teammates Hunter Bostwick, a sophomore, and Aaron Kolosowsky, a junior, finished in a virtual tie at 17:19, with Bostwick officially credited with 2nd place.
Eastern junior Owen Karsch [4th in 17:21] and R.V. senior Dylan Selby [5th in 17:41] also ran sub-18.
Washington Township edged Rancocas Valley 68-81 for the team title, with Camden Catholic just behind with 83 points and Eastern 4th with 98.
Joining Bostwick and Kolosowsky in the Minutemen’s scoring group were junior Wade Olivio [13th], junior Adrian Gonzalez [21st] and sophomore Jason Reinherz [32nd].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 