Senior Ryan Martinelli, junior Owen Dybus junior Jackson Sennhenn and senior Eric Aylmer all finished in the top 10 to lift Haddon Township to its 21st sectional cross country title.
Haddon Township outscored 2nd-place Audubon 40-88 to win South Jersey Group 1. Maple Shade [113], Schalick [145] and Wildwood [174] also advanced to states.
The last three times Haddon Township has won South Jersey Group 1, the Hawks have scored exactly 40 points.
Martinelli ran 16:42 over 5,000 meters at DREAM Park in Logan Township and placed 3rd, Dybus was 5th in 16:52, Sennheim took 8th in 17:07 and Aylmer ran 17:36 for 10th. Sophomore Manolo Foote locked up the team title in 14th place in 17:43, and freshman James Clauson made it seven runners in the top 20 with an 18th-place finish in 18:10.
This will be the 18th consecutive year Haddon Township has advanced to the state championships at Holmdel.
The Hawks also won South Jersey Group 2 in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1985 and 1986 in Group 1 and 1988, 1996, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019. Only Haddonfield [41 titles] has won more sectional titles in South Jersey history. Only Bernards [27] and Ridgewood [27] have also won more state-wide.
Glassboro junior Elijah Whitaker was the overall Group 1 winner in 16:09 – more on his race later – and Audubon junior Aiden Williams was 2nd in 16:13.
The rest of the top-15 looked like this: Pitman sophomore Ty Blackman [4th in 16:47], Wildwood junior Jorge Cruz Valle [6th in 16:58], Maple Shade senior Chad Cloke [7th in 17:04], Audubon senior Joseph Gaspari [9th in 17:25], Audubon senior David Amorosi [11th in 17:38], Paulsboro senior Derrik Horton [12th in 17:40], Schalick senior Gavin Thompson [13th in 17:40] and Maple Shade junior Aidan Cloke [15th in 17:49].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 