Senior Helene Usher was a double winner and the Haddonfield girls won their fourth straight Group 2 sectional title and 11th overall Saturday at the Bubble.
Usher led a 1-2-3 Haddonfield sweep in the 1,600 and a 1-2-5 finish in the 3,200, and the Bulldogs scored in every event other than the 400 and shot put to pile up 111 points aand win the team title by 81 points.
This is the 9th time Haddonfield has scored over 100 points at indoor sectionals. Only four other teams have scored 100 points (Willingboro, Delsea twice, Collingswood).
Haddonfield’s 11 titles are the most in state history at indoor sectionals. Ridge has won 10 going into the North 2 Group 4 meet at the Bubble next week. Haddonfield’s streak of four straight titles is 2nd-longest by a South Jersey school. Delsea won five straight from 2010 through 2014.
Indoor sectionals began in 2008 and the meet wasn’t held in 2021, so Haddonfield has won 12 titles out of a possible 15 – the first seven in Group 1, the last five in Group 2.
In the 1,600, Usher ran 5:24.21, with junior Riley Slootsky [5:26.32] and senior Libby DeMichele [5:34.90] in 2nd and 3rd. In the 3,200, Usher ran 11:40.01, junior Ava Thomas was 2nd [11:45.02] and sophomore Dylan Melcher 5th [12:33.20].
Haddonfield added a 1-3-4 finish in the 800 for 60 out of a possible 72 points in the three long track races. Junior Stella Stolarick ran a PR 2:24.28 for the win, senior Thea Spellmeyer ran 2:26.75 for 2nd and senior Maya Carey was 5th in 2:29.73.
Sophomores Audrey Adams and Avery Connor both PR’d in the 55-meter hurdles and picked up 14 more points, Adams winning in 9.15 and Connor 4th in 9.63. Adams also placed 3rd in the high jump at 4-8
Sophomore Mia Bompensa PR’d at 9-6 in the pole vault for another Haddonfield win and junior Chloe Kamp ran 7.53 in the 55 for 2nd place.
Slootsky, Solarick, Ava Carpenter and Spellmeyer ran 4:15.06 to win the 1,600-meter relay.
Other winners: Oakcrest senior Royanah Farmer in the 55 [PR 7.18], Deptford junior Djassi Dean in the 400 [1:00.16] and Sterling senior Jordyn Caul in the shot put [34-9 ¾].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 