George Andrus ran 15:41 Saturday, making him 12th-fastest in South Jersey history at Holmdel and leading Haddonfield to its 5th consecutive state title and 20th overall.
Haddonfield outscored 2nd-place short-handed Cinnaminson by a 47-118 score in the state Group 2 meet at Holmdel and joined Christian Brothers Academy (31) and Bernards (23) as only the 3rd school in state history to win 20 state cross country titles. Next-most among South Jersey schools is Haddon Township with 11.
Third-place Haddon Heights made it a 1-2-3 South Jersey sweep. Heights scored 137 points. The same three schools swept the top three spots last year as well. This year, only the team winner gets an auto bid to the Meet of Champions.
Andrus’s time is tied for 2nd-fastest in Haddonfield history at the legendary 5,000-meter Holmdel County Park layout. Former teammate Seth Clevenger ran 15:36 at last year’s Meet of Champions. Jon Vitez also ran 15:41 for Haddonfield at Holmdel at the 2009 Meet of Champions.
Senior Robert DiMedio [10th in 16:56], senior Donald Jellig [12th in 17:06], senior Ian Romea [13th in 17:08] and junior Matthew Sullivan [16th in 17:17] gave Haddonfield all five scorers in the top 10.
Andrus joins Jim Smith [1979], Dan Gough [1985, 1986], Joe Shanahan [1987], Eric Bonnette [1995, 1996], Chris Platt [2001, 2002], Vitez [2007, 2008, 2009], Ben Potts [2010] and Clevenger [2021] as Haddonfield’s ninth state champ.
The Bulldogs’ 5th consecutive title ties the South Jersey record set by Haddonfield from 2006 through 2010 in Group 2. It’s the 4th-longest streak in state history, behind CBA’s 14-year streak from 1974 through 1987 in Groups 1 and 2, CBA’s 11-year streak in Parochial A from 1995 through 2005 and a six-season streak by Passaic from 1927 through 1932 before there were groups.
No other public school has ever won more than four straight, so Haddonfield has matched the longest winning streak by a public school in 90 years.
Haddonfield has won a state Group 2 championship 11 of the last 15 times the meet was contested.
The Bulldogs won their first state title in Group 2 in 1978 and also won Group 2 in 1980 before winning Group 1 in 1985, 1987, 1989 and 1990. After moving back to Group 2, and won titles in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. The state meet wasn’t held in 2020.
More on Cinnaminson and Heights later, but Cinnaminson was led by senior Alex Boyko in 5th in 16:35 and senior Matt McCarron in 7th in 16:41 and Heights by senior Jack Bolling in 4th in 16:33.
Collingswood junior Elijah Forrest placed 9th in 16:49, earning an auto bid to next weekend’s Meet of Champions.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 