Triton graduate Dennis Fortuna, a freshman at Penn, began his collegiate career Friday with a terrific performance at the Main Line Invitational at Haverford College.
Fortuna was the Quakers’ first finisher, taking 15th overall – 11th in team scoring – and covering the 4.0-mile course in 20:08, which is 15:36 pace for 5,000 meters.
Fortuna finished only seven seconds behind Villanova’s Sean Dolan from Hopewell Valley, a 3:56.39 miler earlier this year.
At Triton last year, Fortuna won South Jersey and state Group 3 titles and placed 8th at the Meet of Champions with a 15:46 over the challenging Holmdel County Park course.
Villanova won with 20 points, and Penn finished 4th in team scoring with 94 points.
In the women’s race, Sterling’s Jessie Klenk was Stockton’s No. 2 runner, covering the 3-mile course in 19:17 and placing 20th, and Eastern’s Kiersten Clem was Stockton’s No. 4 runner in 23rd.
Stockton placed its five scorers in a 24-second span and placed 5th overall, just one point behind Swarthmore, which is ranked No. 1 in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division 3 Metro Region rankings. Stockton moved up from No. 4 to No. 3 last week.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 