A large contingent of South Jersey runners will be making its way to Holmdel on Saturday for the Meet of Champions, and we now know exactly how large it is.
On Saturday, we learned that the Cherokee and Haddonfield boys had qualified automatically as the state Group 2 and 4 winners and Cinnaminson had qualified as one of the eight-fastest non-winning teams – their 17:18 average was 6th-fastest of non-winners and 10th-fastest overall.
The only girls teams to qualify were Group 2 winner Haddonfield and Group 3 winner Clearview. No South Jersey girls teams qualified as wild cards.
The top 10 individuals in each race automatically qualify, as do the next 30 fastest runners in a six-race merge once runners whose teams have qualified and those who were in the top 10 are eliminated.
For South Jersey, the boys auto individual qualifiers are Glassboro junior Elijah Whitaker [8th in Group 1], Audubon junior Aiden Williams [9th in Group 1], Haddon Heights senior Jack Bolling [4th in Group 2], Collingswood junior Elijah Forrest [9th in Group 2], Woodbury junior Peyton Shute [2nd in Group 3], Ocean City senior Nick Scarangelli [6th in Group 3], Rancocas Valley senior Ryan Smith [9th in Group 4], Holy Spirit senior John Flammer [4th in Parochial B], Moorestown Friends sophomore Isaac Linden [5th in Parochial B] and Bishop Eustace junior Matt Colden [8th in Parochial B] and Moorestown Friends senior Andrew Mercantini [10th in Parochial B].
The girls individual auto qualifiers from South Jersey are: Haddon Township senior Meghan Lex [2nd in Group 1], Cinnaminson senior Stephanie Renouf [10th in Group 2], Northern Burlington sophomore Liliah Gordon [1st in Group 3], Delsea senior Lillie Widmer [4th in Group 3], Mainland Regional junior Gillian Lovett [5th in Group 3], sophomore Sofia Day [7th in Group 3], Cherry Hill East senior Alexis Tepper [7th in Group 4], Cherokee junior Kerry O’Day [9th in Group 4], Paul VI junior Shaelan McNally [6th in Parochial A] and Bishop Eustace seniors Elena Cicchini [3rd in Parochial B] and Arianna Cane [4th in Parochial B].
Among those not on a winning team or on a wild-card team or in the top 10, the boys cutoff is 17:05 and the girls cutoff is 20:41.
Here are the South Jersey boys who advanced to the Meet of Champions as wild-cards:
16:32 … *Will Mrozinski [Paul VI], 14th, Parochial A
16:35 … Colin Hermack [Lenape], 11th, Group 4
16:41 … Ryan Taylor [Egg Harbor Twp.], 18th, Group 4
17:00 … **Dylan Saber [Williamstown], 31st, Group 4
17:04 … *Raine Guidarelli [Cherry Hill East], 35th, Group 4
17:05 … Cavan Agatone [Clearview], 20th, Group 3
17:05 … Cole Knoedler [Highland], 21st, Group 3
And the girls list:
20:08 … *Michaela Schlemo [Egg Harbor Twp.], 12th in Group 4
20:16 … **Maeve Smith [Ocean City], 16th in Group 4
20:22 … Nicole Lipieta [Kingsway], 17th in Group 4
20:30 … **Nilaa Ponnappan [Camden Catholic], 11th in Parochial A
20:31 … Madeline Dischert [Atlantic City], 19th in Group 4
20:36 … Alex Fisher [Williamstown], 22nd in Group 4
20:40 … **Megan Niglio [Cherokee], 25th in Group 4
There is no official list from the NJSIAA (surprise) so please let me know if you see an error or omission. These lists are a little tricky, and when the state association has no interest in providing correct and timely information to athletes, coaches, parents and fans it’s up to interested observers to do their best coming up with qualifying lists.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 