Led by junior Raine Guidarelli, Cherry Hill East packed its five scorers in a remarkable 19 seconds to win the Division 3 team title Saturday at the South Jersey Open.
Guidarelli covered the 5,000-meter DREAM Park course in Logan Township in 16:42, placing 4th overall.
Senior Peter Tepper [5th in 16:44], senior Christopher Korneyev [7th in 16:52], senior Grant Yoon [8th in 16:54] and sophomore Nikhil Raman [10th in 17:01] also scored for the Cougars, who finished with a 34-87 win over Cherokee, which rested its top group. Cherokee won a 6th-runner tiebreaker with Washington Township for 2nd place.
Cherry Hill East’s five scorers averaged 16:51 and were backed up by sophomore Brady Bogos [15th in 17:24] and senior Daniel Farling [17th in 17:27], giving East seven runners in 45 seconds.
Rancocas Valley senior Ryan Smith picked up his second straight invitational win, beating the field by 80 meters.
Smith ran 16:15, finishing 17 seconds ahead of 2nd-place Washington Township sophomore Hunter Bostwick, who ran 16:32.
Smith ran 1st last weekend at the Ray Hoagland Invitational. He hasn’t lost to a South Jersey runner at 5,000 meters in four major invitationals so far this fall.
Others in the top 10 included Clearview Cavan Agatone [3rd in 16:40], Toms River East’s Ryan Macom [6th in 16:45] and Washington Township Aaron Kolosowsky [9th in 16:56].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 