The Haddonfield girls posted the 6th-lowest score ever by a South Jersey XC team and placed 2nd to Union Catholic Saturday in the 50th annual Meet of Champions at Holmdel County Park.

Union Catholic edged Haddonfield 79-88 to win the team title. Haddonfield’s 88 points are the fewest by a South Jersey program in the Meet of Champions since Bishop Eustace placed 2nd to Red Bank Catholic with 77 points in 1995. Moorestown also scored 88 in 2001 when the Quakers won the team title.

Haddonfield was led by the trio of junior Ava Thomas, junior Riley Slootsky and freshman Riley Austin, who placed 16th, 21st and 25th in 19:27, 19:40 and 19:45 and tallied 10, 11 and 13 team points. Senior Helene Usher (53rd, 23rd) ran 20:18 and junior Audrey Naticchia (76th, 31st) 20:32 rounded out Haddonfield’s top-5.

This was Haddonfield’s 8th top-10 finish at the Meet of Champions since 2005 – 9th if you include the 2020 Holmdel Invitational, which was an unofficial replacement after the Meet of Champions was cancelled.

Haddonfield won the Holmdel Invitational, but 2nd place is the program’s best official Meet of Champions finish ever. Haddonfield’s best previous official M-of-C finish was 4th place in 2019.

Clearview, the only other South Jersey school to qualify as a full team, placed 9th with 209 points with Abigail Waddington 13th overall (8th in team scoring) in 19:24. It was Clearview’s first trip to the Meet of Champions as a team.

Northern Burlington sophomore Liliah Gordon was South Jersey’s top finisher, in 6th place in 19:03.

Also in the top 20 were Mainland sophomore Sofia Day [11th in 19:22], Egg Harbor junior Michaela Schlemo [15th in 19:26], Delsea senior Lillie Widmer [17th in 19:31] and Mainland junior Gillian Lovett [18th in 19:31].

More on Gordon and the other individuals soon!

Senior Patrick Ditmars and junior Nick Kuenkel finished 2nd and 4th and led Cherokee to 3rd place in the 50th annual Meet of Champions Saturday at Holmdel County Park.

Ditmars ran 15:39 and Kuenkel 15:41, the fastest and 3rd-fastest times ever by Cherokee runners at Holmdel. Shawn Wilson ran 15:40 at the 2012 state Group 4 meet. Their times are No. 8 and 14 in South Jersey history at Holmdel.

Christian Brothers Academy of Lincroft won the team title with 44 points, and Union Catholic scored 98 to 106 for Cherokee.

This was Cherokee’s 17th top-10 finish at the Meet of Champions in the last 25 meets and the Chiefs’ best finish since the 2000 team placed 2nd to CBA. Cherokee also finished in the top 3 in 1997 and 1999 (3rd) and 1998 and 2000 (2nd).

Ditmars and Kuenkel scored one and three team points. Senior Connor Jacob ran 16:25 for 21st overall (13 team points) and junior Robert Poplau ran 16:39 for 31st (19th). Sophomore Liam Tindall was Cherokee’s 5th man in 126th (70th) in 17:58, followed closely by sophomore Anthony DiBatista (130th, 74th) in 18:04 and senior Daniel Hassall (133rd, 76th) in 18:13.

This is the first time two runners from the same South Jersey school have ever placed in the top four in a Meet of Champions race. The closest previously was in 2001, when Chris Platt of Haddonfield was 2nd and teammate Skip Stiles was 5th (and Breton Bonnette was 6th).

In 1988, Urie Ridgeway of Bridgeton and teammate Lance Hess placed 3rd and 6th, and in 1994, John Williams and Joe DiGiacomo of Paul VI placed 2nd and 6th.

Cherokee averaged 16:28 on the challenging 5,000-meter Holmdel County Park course, 2nd-fastest of the day behind CBA’s 16:07. That 16:28.40 is 8th-fastest ever by a South Jersey school at Holmdel and Cherokee’s fastest time, a bit faster than their 16:30.72 at the 2019 Meet of Champions.

More on him soon, but Haddonfield’s George Andrus placed 2nd overall in 15:40, and the Bulldogs placed 6th in team scoring with 183 points.

This is the 5th straight year Haddonfield has placed 6th or better at the Meet of Champions – six straight years if you include the 2020 Holmdel Invitational, which was an unofficial Meet of Champions held on the same course after the MoC was cancelled because of COVID.

In all, Haddonfield has placed among the top-6 in the Meet of Champions 16 times and in the top 10 a total of 18 times.

Cinnaminson placed 12th led by senior Alex Boyko in 47th (30th) in 16:48 and senior Matt McCarron 67th (39th) in 17:01. That’s Cinnaminson’s 5th top-12 finish in the M-of-C. The 1989 team was 7th, 1990 was 10th and the 2002 team placed 5th. The Pirates were also 12th in 1986.

Cinnaminson graduate Austin Gabay, a freshman at Duke, placed 49th out of more than 200 runners Friday at the NCAA Division 1 Southeast Regional Championships Friday.

Gabay ran 30:55 over 10,000 meters at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville and finished as Duke’s 6th runner. The Blue Devils placed 5th out of 32 schools with 135 points. North Carolina won the race with 61 points.

Gabay was the 4th finisher across the line, three places and seven seconds behind Virginia freshman Gary Martin from Archbishop Wood in Warminster. Martin ran a 3:57.89 mile last spring, fastest ever by a high school runner in an all-high school race.

Last spring, Gabay ran 3:46.10 for 1,500 meters at the ACC Championships in Raleigh, equivalent of a 4:04.19 mile.

Yesterday, we posted the all-time South Jersey boys top combined Holmdel County Park times, and as promised here’s the girls list.

As always, please drop any corrections, additions or omissions in the comment section!

Click here for the boys list!

18:18.4 … Haddonfield A
17:45 .. Briana Gess [2013 Meet of Champions]
18:17 … Marielle Hall [2009 Meet of Champions]
18:22 … Vanessa Wright [2004 Meet of Champions]
18:27 … Erin Donohue [1998 Meet of Champions]
18:41 … Shelby Cain [2011 State Group 2]

18:46.6 … Cherokee A
17:55 … Megan Lacy [2010 Group 4]
18:43 … Nicole Clifford [2021 Meet of Champions]
18:52 … Lisa Burkholder [2004 Meet of Champions]
19:02 … Kate Rathman [2019 Meet of Champions]
19:21 … Alison Weeks [2006 Meet of Champions]

18:49.2 … Kingsway A
17:44 … Chelsea Ley [2008 Shore Coaches Group C]
18:29 … Rachel Vick [2016 State Group 4]
19:02 … Alexis Mullarkey [2015 Meet of Champions]
19:24 … Aubrey Pierontoni [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:27 … Ashlynne Burke [2018 Shore Coaches Group B]

18:50.4 … Highland
17:28 … Megan Venables [2010 State Group 3]
18:48 … Grace Wassell [2021 Meet of Champions]
18:57 … Arianna McKinney [2004 State Group]
19:14 … Jenn Rawls [2008 Meet of Champions]
19:45 … Robin Van Auken [1999 Meet of Champions]

18:56.8 … Cherry Hill East A
18:18 … Theresa Cattuna [2006 Meet of Champions]
18:28 … Grace Yoon [2016 State Group 4]
19:16 … Sarah Pierce [2016 Shore Coaches Group A]
19:18 … Missy Shower [2007 Meet of Champions]
19:24 … Alaina Chodoff [2006 Meet of Champions]

18:59.6 … Shawnee A
18:38 … Casey Doyle [2007 Meet of Champions]
18:59 … Kara Bonner [2015 State Group 4]
19:02 … Julia Despirito [2013 Meet of Champions]
19:06 … Kate Ruona [2019 Group 4]
19:13 … Isabella Turner [2018 Meet of Champions]

19:03.4 … Haddonfield B
18:50 … Sarah Naticchia [2020 Holmdel Invitational]
18:50 … Meghan Malloy [2011 Meet of Champions]
19:07 … Allison Colflesh [2020 Holmdel Invitational]
19:08 … Peyton Weiner [2020 Colt Invitational]
19:22 … Anne Earp [2021 Meet of Champions]

19:06.0 … Mainland Regional
17:55 … Alyssa Aldridge [2016 Meet of Champions]
18:49 … Sofia Day [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:24 … Gillian Lovett [2022 Shore Coaches B]
19:39 … Andrea Campbell [2003 State Group 4]
19:43 … Kelly Gross [2005 Meet of Champions]

19:16.8 … Delsea A
18:51 … Amanda Goetschius [2006 Meet of Champions]
19:10 … Paige Senatore [2011 State Group 3]
19:25 … Celine Mazzi [2013 Shore Coaches Group C]
19:26 … Lillie Widmer [2022 Group 2]
19:32 … Ashley Deckert [2009 Meet of Champions]

19:20.8 … Bishop Eustace
18:08 … Holly Bischof [2010 Meet of Champions]
19:10 … Katy Storti [2018 Meet of Champions]
19:34 … Montana DiPietrantonio [2010 Parochial A]
19:55 … Courtney Kelly [2010 Shore Coaches Group E]
19:57 … Elena Cicchini [2022 Shore Coaches Group E]

19:20.8 … Seneca A
18:49 … Mara Schiffhauer [2013 Meet of Champions]
19:19 … Paige McCauley [2012 Meet of Champions]
19:24 … Joey Webb [2013 State Group 2]
19:29 … Sydny Warner [2017 State Group 2]
19:43 … Nicole McGrainer [2008 State Group 2]

19:22.2 … Washington Twp.
17:40 … Michelle Rowen [1982 Meet of Champions]
18:40 … Dina Iacone [2011 Shore Coaches Group A]
19:49 … Maura Keane [2019 Meet of Champions]
20:00 … Lexie Taylor [2012 State Group 4]
20:42 … Kate Cochran [2018 Shore Coaches Group A]

19:25.4 … Shawnee B
19:19 … Nikki Theimann [1996 Group 4]
19:24 … Kim Bonner [2003 Meet of Champions]
19:28 … Liz Moore [1993 Group 4]
19:28 … Karen O’Neill [1993 Group 4]
19:28 … Jenna Darcy [1999 Shore Coaches A

19:28.6 … Cherokee B
19:22 … Kelsey Niglio [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:24 … Kerry O’Day [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:27 … Olivia Parkinson [2021 Shore Coaches A]
19:35 … Megan O’Leary [2004 Meet of Champions]
19:35 … Kristin Lewis [2006 Meet of Champions]

19:33.6 … Clearview
19:04 … Abigail Kotran [2022 Shore Coaches Group B]
19:06 … Abigail Waddington [2022 Shore Coaches Group B]
19:49 … Kaitlin Donahue [2016 Shore Coaches Group B]
19:50 … Julia Rothstein [2015 Shore Coaches Group B]
19:59 … Andrea Shute [2004 State Group 3]

19:34.0 … Haddonfield C
19:29 … Helene Usher [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:30 … Audrey Naticchia [2022 Group 2]
19:31 … Riley Austin [2022 Group 2]
19:34 … Ava Thomas [2022 Group 2]
19:46 … Sabrina Miller [2021 State Group 2]

19:38.8 … Shawnee C
19:30 … Michelle DiMuro [1984 Group 4]
19:33 … Robin McDowell [2003 Meet of Champions]
19:38 … Morgan Arena [2014 State Group 4]
19:43 … Claire Hauser [2018 Shore Coaches Group B]
19:50 … Claire Rankin [2015 State Group 4]

19:39.6 … Moorestown
19:23 … Genevieve Cickavage [2014 State Group 3]
19:27 … Meghan Hughes [2001 State Group 2]
19:44 … Kelsey Rinehart [2000 Meet of Champions]
19:51 … Tara Monihan [2011 Shore Coaches Group B]
19:53 … Brianna Rogers [2007 Shore Coaches Group C]

19:46.4 … Kingsway B
19:27 … Allie Pierontoni [2019 State Group 4]
19:35 … Lauren Krott [2017 Meet of Champions]
19:50 … Destiny Stanford [2016 State Group 4]
20:00 … Liz Locke [2008 Shore Coaches Group C]
20:00 … Sydney Watts [2018 Shore Coaches Group B]

19:48.0 … Seneca B
19:45 … Lyndsy Horn [2009 State Group 2]
19:45 … Kayla Martin [2015 Meet of Champions]
19:46 … Emma Klouchek [2017 State Group 3]
19:48 … Stephanie Flemming [2013 Meet of Champions]
19:56 … Carley Tool [2016 State Group 3]

19:51.4 … Haddonfield D
19:49 … Elizabeth Sikkema [2007 State Group 2]
19:49 … Riley Slootsky [2022 Group 2]
19:51 … Jess Goode [2021 State Group 2]
19:53 … Jackie Sikkema [2008 Shore Coaches]
19:55 … Alexa Gostovich [2013 Meet of Champions]

19:53.8 … Delsea B
19:39 … Felicia O’Donnell [2009 Meet of Champions]
19:47 … Brittany McCann [2001 Meet of Champions]
19:48 … Kaitlyn Rauscher [2016 Shore Coaches Group C]
19:57 … Ashlee Hitchner [2010 Shore Coaches Group C]
20:18 … Carly Nicholson [2018 State Group 2]

19:54.2 … Cherry Hill East B
19:41 … Alexis Tepper [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:54 … Meghan Marro [2008 Meet of Champions]
19:54 … Madison McNiff [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:55 … Monica Lee [2014 State Group 4]
20:07 … Kiley Walsh [2021 Meet of Champions]c

20:02.2 … Cinnaminson
19:49 … Meghan Malloy [2009 Meet of Champions]
19:46 … Stephanie Renouf [2021 Meet of Champions
20:04 … Haley Adams [2014 Meet of Champions
20:13 … Anna Marino [Shore Coaches Group E
20:19 … Madison Edwards [2017 State Group 2

20:03.4 … Cherokee C
19:44 … Malia Lyles [2002 Group 4
19:51 … Megan Charbeneau [2010 Meet of Champions
19:58 … Megan Niglio [2021 Meet of Champions
20:22 … Melissa Arnold [2011 Group 4
20:22 … Erin O’Leary [2010 Meet of Champions

When George Andrus ran 15:41 at Holmdel Saturday, he did more than just win the state Group 2 title.

He bumped Haddonfield past Cherokee for the No. 1 spot on the all-time South Jersey Holmdel County Park performance list.

Last week we posted the all-time South Jersey single-race performance lists – the boys list is here and the girls list is here.

But what about the all-time lists?

Going into states, Cherokee’s five-fastest runners ever at Holmdel had a 15:43 average  and Haddonfield’s top five had a 15:44.2 average. But Andrus’s 15:41 dropped Haddonfield to 15:41.6 and a bit faster than Cherokee, who has a 15:43 average.

With the talent Haddonfield and Cherokee are bringing back to Holmdel for the Meet of Champions Saturday, we could get more changes atop the list.

These lists weren’t easy to put together and I may be missing some performances and even some schools and quite possibly some B teams. If you see a runner or program missing please let me know ASAP in the comment section!

Girls list coming later today!

Haddonfield A 15:41.6  
15:36 … Seth Clevenger [2021 Meet of Champions]
15:41 … Jon Vitez [2009 Meet of Champions]
15:41 … George Andrus [2022 Group 2]
15:42 … Ben Potts [2010 Meet of Champions]
15:48 … Chris Platt [2001 Meet of Champions]

Cherokee A 15:43.0
15:40 … Shawn Wilson [2012 Group 4]
15:41 … Ethan Wechsler [2019 Meet of Champions]
15:43 … Marc Pelerin [2001 Meet of Champions]
15:45 … Keith Krieger [2002 Group 4]
15:46 … Jack Shea [2015 Meet of Champions]

Highland 15:55.8
15:33 … Joshua Clark [2015 Meet of Champions]
15:41 … Steve Maine [2013 Group 4]
15:57 … Nate Miller [1998 Meet of Champions]
16:13 … Kevin Pumphrey [1984 Meet of Champions]
16:15 … Jay Wassell [1995 Meet of Champions]

Haddonfield B 15:58.6
15:54 … Skip Stiles [2001 Meet of Champions
15:55 … Breton Bonnette [2001 Meet of Champions]
15:58 … Martin Ridell [2019 Meet of Champions]
16:01 … Matt Nussbaum [2010 Meet of Champions]
16:05 … Jim Smith [1979 Meet of Champions]

Ocean City 15:59.0
15:41 … Brett Johnson [2008 Group 3]
15:44 … Miles Schoedler [2010 Shore Coaches]
16:03 … John Fennekohl [2006 Meet of Champions]
16:10 … Ryan Birchmeier [2007 Group 3]
16:17 … John Richardson [2002 Group 3]

Cinnaminson 15:59.4
15:48 … Austin Gabay [2019 Shore Coaches]
15:51 … Jon Anderson [2003 Meet of Champions]
15:57 … Michael Ungvarsky [2016 Shore Coaches]
16:08 … Steve Grabowski [2005 Meet of Champions]
16:13 … Matt Poskus [2006 Meet of Champions]

Paul VI 16:00.6
15:17 … Jason DiJoseph [1988 Parochial A]
16:08 … Ron Faith [1984 Meet of Champions]
16:09 … Tom Keefer [1991 Meet of Champions]
16:13 … Joe Cranston [1989 Meet of Champions]
16:16 … Pete Dougherty [1990 Meet of Champions]

Cherry Hill East 16:00.6
15:37 … Aaron Groff [2015 Group 4]
15:48 … Oliver Adler [2019 Meet of Champions
16:01 … Bruce Miller [1981 Shore Coaches]
16:18 … Dan Helfand [2014 Group 4]
16:19 … Bill Stewart [1982 Meet of Champions]

Mainland 16:02.6
15:29 … Kevin Antczak [2019 Meet of Champions]
15:39 … Greg Hughes [2003 Meet of Champions]
16:06 … Jimmy Wyner [2003 Meet of Champions]
16:07 … Scott Keyser [1995 Meet of Champions]
16:20 … Kurt Wayton [1993 Group 3]

Eastern 16:05.6
15:51 … Mike Myers [2000 Meet of Champions]
16:05 … Dan Deichert [2001 Meet of Champions]
16:06 … Karl Savage [1996 Group 4]
16:10 … Nicholas Pschunder [2014 Group 4]
16:16 … Barry Shea [1984 Shore Coaches]

Cherokee B 16:05.8
15:56 … Nick Kuenkel [2022 Shore Coaches A]
15:59 … Patrick Ditmars [2022 Group 4]
16:09 … Joe Halin [1999 Group 4]
16:12 … Justin Kelly [2016 Group 4]
16:13 … Tom Yersak [2004 Meet of Champions]

Shawnee 16:08.4
15:57 … David Forward [2008 Shore Coaches]
15:58 … Connor Herr [2010 Meet of Champions]
16:13 … Peter Murray [2010 Shore Coaches]
16:14 … Adam Ambrus [2000 Group 4]
16:20 … Matt Talbot [1984 Group 4]
16:20 … Keith O’Brien [1991 Meet of Champions]

Haddon Twp. 16:10.6
15:39 … Luke Petela [2014 Meet of Champions]
16:15 … Owen Long [2015 Group 1]
16:17 … Jason Fiscus [1988 Meet of Champions]
16:19 … Randy Ladd [2015 Meet of Champions]
16:23 … Dave Donohue [1988 Group 1]

Haddonfield C 16:11.8
16:06 … Greg Halla [2012 Meet of Champions]
16:10 … Greg Eisenhower, [2018 Meet of Champions]
16:11 … Greg Pelose [2015 Group 2]
16:12 … Andrew Gostovich [2019 Group 2]
16:20 … Brian Goldberg [2003 Meet of Champions]

Kingsway 16:15.4
16:09 … Noah Culbreath [2014 [Group 4]
16:15 … Ryan Magnus [2012 Meet of Champions]
16:17 … Jonathan Connor [2017 Group 4]
16:17 … Joe Grandizio [2017 Meet of Champions]
16:19 … Stone Caraccio [2018 Shore Coaches Group A]

Cherokee C 16:17.8
16:14 … Greg Malloy [2010 Meet of Champions]
16:18 … Greg Bredeck [2005 Meet of Champions]
16:18 … Chase Miller [2019 Meet of Champions
16:19 … Conor Jacob [2021 Meet of Champions
16:20 … Alex Yersak [2007 State Group 4]

16:23.8 … Haddon Heights
16:18 … Mickey Borsellino [2007 Group 1]
16:21 … Josh Black [2007 Shore Coaches]
16:24 … Matt Mitchell [2005 Group 2]
16:27 … John Salisbury [1992 Meet of Champions]
16:29 … Jack Bolling [2021 Meet of Champions]

16:24.8 … Haddonfield D
16:21 … Mike Burke [2004 Shore Coaches]
16:24 … Tobias Janssen [2021 Group 2]
16:24 … Joe Shanahan [1987 Meet of Champions]
16:27 … Chad Evans [2014 Meet of Champions]
16:28 … Austin Stoner [2015 Group 2]

16:27.8 … Highland B
16:21 … Ben Woodward [2017 Group 3]
16:26 … Cole Wassell [2020 Holmdel Invitational]
16:27 … Robert Lacovara [2021 Meet of Champions]
16:30 … Kyle Gorcyznski [2007 Group 3]
16:35 … Jerry Franks [1989 Meet of Champions]

Peter Simpson ran his first lifetime cross country race two months ago.

Now he’s the New Jersey’s fastest freshman.

Simpson, a freshman at Moorestown, began his high school XC career in an Olympic Conference batch meet on Sept. 14 on his home course and placed 4th in 18:18, only 27 seconds behind teammate Colin Shand, who won the race.

He ran 17:30 in his second race on the DREAM Park super-speedway before a real breakthrough in the Olympic Conference Championships, also at DREAM Park, where he ran 16:20 and placed 9th.

Simpson lowered his all-course PR to 16:10 with a 9th at sectionals, also at DREAM Park, and then tore up Holmdel County Park this past Saturday in 17:14 for 25th in the state Group 3 race on a very warm day that made fast times difficult.

That was the fastest time by a freshman at Holmdel this year, six seconds faster than the 17:20 run by Manalapan’s Clay Stevens in the Group 4 race. Haddonfield’s Ryan Gibson, who ran 17:30 in the Group 2 race, wasn’t far behind.

Simpson is the fastest Burlington County freshman at Holmdel since Shawnee’s Connor Herr ran 17:09 at the Group 3 state meet in 2008.

Interestingly, the fastest freshman on any course in New Jersey this year was Delsea’s Matthew Littlehales, who ran 16:03 in a Tri-County Conference batch meet at Salem Tech in Mannington Township. I don’t know anything about that Salem Tech course but safe guess it’s flat.

Littlehales actually finished one place behind Simpson at sectionals, taking 10th in 16:12. That should be a terrific rivalry for a long time.

Simpson just missed qualifying for Meet of Champions as a wild-card, but a terrific option if he chooses to continue his season would be what’s now a combined freshman/sophomore race at the Eastbay (formerly Kinney and Foot Locker) Northeast Regionals at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx on Nov. 26.

Senior Ryan Smith recorded the best finish by a Rancocas Valley runner at states in 29 years and will become R.V.’s first runner at the Meet of Champions in 28 years.

Smith ran 16:25 – fastest in school history at historic Holmdel County Park – and placed 5th in a very fast, very deep state Group 4 race Saturday. Racing in the worst of the unseasonably warm mid-day heat, Smith posted the 5th-fastest time among South Jersey runners in the six championship races and the 24th-fastest time ov erall of more than 800 runners.

The only faster South Jersey runners were Group 2 winner George Andrus of Haddonfield [15:41], senior Patrick Ditmars [15:59] and junior Nick Kuenkel [16:08] from Cherokee in Group 4 and junior Peyton Shute of Woodbury [16:24] in Group 3.

Smith broke his own R.V. Holmdel record of 16:31 that he ran last month at Shore Coaches.

Smith’s 9th-place finish was the best by an R.V. runner at states since Jon Harris ran 9th in the 1993 Group 3 meet in 16:50. R.V. qualified as a team that year and placed 5th overall. The last R.V. runner to place higher than 9th was Mike Clayton, who was 5th in Group 3 in 1985 in 17:19.

On Saturday, Smith will race in the 50th annual Meet of Champions on the same Holmdel course. He’ll be R.V.’s first runner at the M-of-C since Mike Walker – now the College of New Jersey track distance coach and XC assistant coach – placed 40th in the 1994 meet at Holmdel in 17:15.

The best finish ever by a Rancocas Valley boy at the MoC was Jon Harris’s 33rd in 17:11 in the 1992 meet.

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.

Delsea senior Lillie Widmer and junior Gillian Lovett and sophomore Sofia Day all earned auto qualifiers into the Meet of Champions with top-10 finishes Saturday in the state Group 3 race.

Widmer placed 4th in 19:26 at Holmdel County Park, Lovett 5th in 19:27 and Day 7th in 19:41. Including winner Liliah Gordon of Northern Burlington and seniors Abigail Waddington and Abigail Kotran of Clearview – who led the Pioneers to the team title – six of the first seven finishers in the Group 3 race were from South Jersey.

Widmer reached the Meet of Champions in outdoor track last spring in the 3,200, but this is her first trip to XC M-of-C. She lowered her Holmdel PR 51 seconds from 20:17 at Shore Coaches last month to 19:26. Widmer’s time is No. 15 of more than 700 runners and No. 3 among South Jersey girls, behind only Gordon [18:57] and Waddington [19:10].

Lovett qualified for her first Meet of Champions in track or XC and posted the No. 16 time in the six-meet merge.

This will be Day’s 3rd Meet of Champions out of three tries. She placed 15th in last year’s XC Meet of Champions with an 18:49 at Holmdel and 13th indoors at 3,200 meters with a PR 11:08.72. Her 19:41 is 2nd-fastest among all New Jersey sophomores, behind only Gordon.

Glassboro junior Elijah Whitaker placed 8th in the state Group 1 meet Saturday, becoming the first Glassboro runner to qualify for the Meet of Champions in 27 years.

Whitaker ran 17:17 in unseasonably warm conditions at hilly Holmdel County Park and earned an auto qualifier as a top-10 finisher.

He ran more than a minute and a half faster Saturday than he ran at last year’s state meet at Holmdel, when he placed 44th in 18:52.

Whitaker finished only 31 seconds behind winner Keanu Ray, a senior from Weehawkin, who ran 16:46, and only 13 seconds behind the first underclassman, Metuchen junior Alex Patelski, who was 4th in 17:04.

Whitaker, the South Jersey Group 1 champ, is the Bulldogs’ first MoC qualifier since Pat Ryan, who placed 15th in the 1995 Meet of Champions in 16:38.

Tom Horne placed 29th in the 1992 race in 16:53, 31st in the 1993 race in 17:10 and 35th in the 1994 race in 17:11. Tim Graves ran 17:14 for 35th in the 1993 race.

Glassboro’s first runner at the Meet of Champions was Josh Davis, who ran 17:36 and placed 78th in the 1984 race.

The Meet of Champions is scheduled for Saturday, with the boys race starting at 11 a.m.