Senior Aziz Muhammad-Kane and junior Mason Wassell placed 1st and 3rd to lead Highland to the Varsity B team title Saturday at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational.

It was the first XC invitational victory for Muhammad-Kane, who was 2nd to Peyton Shute at Group 3 sectionals last fall at DREAM Park.

Muhammad-Kane ran 16:16.2 in wet, rainy conditions over 5,000 meters at Great Adventure in Jackson, and Wassell ran 16:36.0, lowering his all-course 5,000 PR from 16:59.9 from sectionals last fall.

Highland won the team title with 56 points, ahead of McKee High of Staten Island [63] and Fox Lane of Bedford, N.Y. [64].

The Tartans placed all five scorers in the top 25. Sophomore Andrew Dopkin placed 12th in a PR 17:39.1, junior Andrew Kellem was 16th in 18:02.6 and sophomore Daniel Gee took 24th in a PR 18:23.8.

Kingsway’s Kylie Anicic, a senior at Edinboro, remained undefeated this fall with a close win over Scottish steeplechase star Sarah Tait of West Virginia Saturday at the Lock Haven Invitational.

Anicic ran 20:13.7 over 6,000 meters at the West Branch course across the west branch of the Susquehanna River in Woodward Township, Pa., and edged Tait, who ran 20:14.4 for 2nd place. They both finished 150 meters clear of the rest of the field.

Tait has run 9:54.74 for the steeple, No. 20 on the all-time Great Britain-Northern Ireland performance list. This was her first race for WVU.

Anicic shattered her 6,000 PR of 21:07.5, which set ran when she won the NCAA Division 2 Atlantic Region title last November in Mansfield, Pa.

Schalick junior Jordan Hadfield, in her first year of cross country, recorded her first XC invitational victory Saturday morning at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational.

In rainy conditions, Hadfield covered the 5,000-meter course at Great Adventure in Jackson in 19:18.6, finishing 150 meters clear of the field in the Varsity D race. Dagny Shiffler of Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pa., was 2nd in 19:59.0.

Hadfield ran 5:14.80 and 11:17.17 as a sophomore last spring and was a medalist in both races at the state Group 1 championships at Franklin High. She’s the 3rd-fastest Group 1 returner in the state in both the 1,600 and 3,200.

But she made her XC debut with a 19:56.32 in a batch meet earlier this month and then placed 3rd at the South Jersey Shootout at DREAM Park last weekend with a 19:27.4.

She lowered that to 19:18.6 with her big win on Saturday.

Schalick’s No. 2 runner Saturday was freshman Elizabeth Petrunis, who placed 21st in 23:27.8.

Audubon senior Aiden Williams ran away with the Varsity D race in rainy, wet conditions Saturday morning at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational in Jackson.

Williams, 9th in the state Group 1 meet as a junior last year, covered the 5,000-meter course at Great Adventure in 16:16.5, finishing 75 meters ahead of 2nd-place Colby Twyman of Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Del. Twyman ran 16:32.8.

Schalick senior Charles Fuerneisen placed 9th in 17:30.8 leading the Cougars to 3rd place in team scoring with 90 points, behind only two Wilmington schools – Wilmington Christian (52) and Tower Hill (53).

Sophomore Salvatore Longo [14th in 18:12.3] and senior Matthew Tozer [17th in 18:35.9] also placed in the top 20 for Schalick.

Senior Michaela Schlemo placed 2nd and led four Egg Harbor girls in the top 20 as the Eagles won the team title at the Osprey Invitational Friday afternoon.

Schlemo covered the 5,000-meter course at Stockton University in Galloway Township in 19:03.7, finishing second to Toms River North’s Jessica Abbott, who won the race in 18:20.4, 4th-fastest in course history.

Sophomore Paige Pacquing, senior Taylor Rooney and sophomore Devyn Per placed 11th, 13th and 19th for Egg Harbor Township, Pacquing in 20:09.7, Rooney in 20:27.4 and Per in 20:56.3. Junior Bithania Andemariam clinched the team title for the Eagles with a 36th-place finish in 21:29.2.

Egg Harbor topped Red Bank Catholic 75-86 to win the team title, with Southern [102], Toms River North [125] and Shawnee [131] also in the top five.

Wildwood junior Macie McCracken placed 3rd in 19:15.4, Shawnee junior Paige Cline was 5th in 19:46.7, Eastern freshman Theresa Albertson – in her first varsity invitational over 5,000 meters – ran 19:49.5 for 6th and Washington Township junior Kaylee Russen broke 20 with a 19:59.1 for 8th.

Other South Jersey runners under 21 minutes were Washington Township junior Rachael Wilson [15th in 20:33.6], West Deptford freshman Taylor Sierzega [16th in 20:37.2], Vineland freshman Olivia Masucci [17th in 20:41.7], Vineland senior Nicoletta Guiliani [18th in 20:46.9] and Hammonton junior Natalie Clauhs [20th in 20:56.4].

Seniors Aaron Kolosowsky and Daniel Torres and junior Hunter Bostwick packed within 11 seconds in 4th, 5th an 6th place to lead Washington Township to the team title Friday in the Osprey Open Initational at Stockton University in Galloway Townshp.

Kolosowsky ran 16:17.0 for 4th, Torres 16:17.5 for 5th and Bostwick 16:27.3 for 6th and the Minutemen outscored 2nd-place Egg Harbor Township 42-86 to win the team title. Eastern was 3rd with 130 points.

Senior Patrick Lant [11th in 16:58.8] and senior Evan Bongard [17th in 17:25.4] were also in Township’s top-5 and 6th and 7th runners junior Joshua Baseshore and senior Daniel Mumbower ran 17:36.3 and 17:40.9 to place 24th and 26th.

Other South Jersey runners in the top 10 included Egg Harbor junior Cam Koryga [16:45.8 for 9th place] and Eastern junior Ryan Haefele [10th in 16:53.0].

Brick Memorial senior Jared Voorhees won the race in 15:50.3.

Egg Harbor swept the JV race, outscoring Jackson 15-91. Freshmen Stephen Slusarski and Ben Gettings led the 1-2-3-4-5 Eagles sweep, Slusarenski in 18:27, Gettings in 18:30.

Kerry O’Day ran the 3rd-fastest time of the day and Megan Niglio was 7th-fastest and Cherokee placed 2nd out of 29 teams in the Battle of Ocean County Park Friday in Lakewood.

There is no official team scoring, but Cherokee scored 118 points in MileSplit’s unofficial merge, behind only Middletown South at 90. Cherry Hill East was 5th with 220 points.

O’Day ran 18:28 over 5,000 meters and placed 2nd in the Senior Race, and Niglio ran 19:04 and took 3rd in the Junior Race.

Grace Wojciechowski, Alaina Bromley and Madison Van Haren made up the rest of Cherokee’s top-5, with Wojciechowski 10th in the Junior Race in 20:52, Bromley 10th in the Senior Race in 20:58 and Van Haren 23rd in the Senior Race in 21:37.

Cherry Hill East was led by Cate Feudtner [20:35, 6th in Junior Race], Ella Davidson [20:56, 13th in sophomore race] and Shaelea Conway [20:59, 14th in sophomore race]. Sophia Szlarski [21:57, 28th in sophomore race] and Keira Conway [22:06, 30th in sophomore race] rounded out East’s top five.

The two-mile freshman race isn’t included in the team merge, but Cherry Hill East also had two freshmen in the top 10: Ryleigh Budsock was 8th in 13:36 and Katherine Grottini was 10th in 13:49.

Other South Jersey girls under 22:00:

Kaylee Russen [Washington Twp.], 5th in Junior Race [20:32]
Ava Millner [Winslow Twp.], 11th in Junior Race [20:56]
Alex Butcher [Seneca], 12th in Senior Race [21:01]
Rachael Wilson [Washington Twp.], 15th in Junior Race [21:13]
Bea Faigal [Rancocas Valley], 17th in Senior Race [21:16]
Catie Andrews [Seneca], 19th in Senior Race [21:24]
Maya Kumar [Cherokee], 25th in Sophomore Race [21:40]

Camden Catholic graduate Kevin McDonnell ran a big personal-best 1:04.53 and placed 14th out of more than 2,400 runners Sunday morning in the Philadelphia Distance Run half marathon.

McDonnell, a Moorestown native now living in Cherry Hill, finished just four minutes behind winner Panuel Mkungo, a Delaware-based Kenyan who ran a 2:10.20 marathon earlier this year in Duluth.

McDonnell averaged 4:57 per mile for 13.1 miles. He came through 5K in 15:03, 10K in 30:45 and 10 miles in 49:31.

The race starts and finishes at Eakins Oval near the Art Museum in Fairmount and the course is mainly an out-and-back along Martin Luther King Boulevard to the Falls Bridge

McDonnell’s previous half marathon PR was a 1:07.26 in last year’s Philadelphia Distance Run, so he shaved more than 2 ½ minutes off that performance.

At St. Joe’s, McDonnell set track PRs of 14:03.52 for 5,000 meters and 29:16.01 for 10,000 meters, which remains a school record.

Also, Sterling graduate Jimmy Daniels, who also ran at St. Joe’s, placed 25th in 1:07.42, Shawnee grad Eric Reitinger was 42nd and 5th in the men’s 35-39 age group in 1:11.30, Brett Milden of Mullica Hill ran 1:12.23 for 50th with Haddonfield’s Joseph Norton one spot back in 51st in 1:12.17 and 6th in the men’s 35-39 age group.

Michael Iannotta from Cherokee and ran 1:13.00 for 57th overall and 4th in the 20-24 age group, and Shawnee grad Jack Ennis was 65th in 1:13.43 and 6th in the 20-24 division.

 

Rancocas Valley graduate Erika Kemp won the women’s division at the Philadelphia Distance Run Sunday.

Kemp, a six-time All-America at North Carolina State now based in Providence, ran 1:10.32 and edged Kenyan Catherine Syokau and Fiona O’keeffe to win the women’s race. Syokau ran 1:11.08 and O’keeffe 1:11.11. O’Keeffe is No. 7 in U.S. history with a 1:07:42 last year in Houston.

Kemp, 28, ran only 18 seconds off her half marathon PR of 1:10.14, which she ran in January in Houston. She finished 34th overall in a field of more than 2,400 runners.

She came through 5K in 16:10, 10K in 33:09 and 10 miles in 53:42. She averaged 5:22 and ran her last mile in 5:06.

The Philly Half course starts and finishes at Eakins Oval in Fairmount and is mainly an out-and-back along Martin Luther King Drive to the Falls Bridge.

Kemp ranks 9th among U,S. women this year in the half marathon with her 1:10.14 in Houston. That’s also 40th-fastest in U.S. history.

Senior Alyssa Boucher broke 20 minutes for the first time and won Senior Race at the South Jersey Shootout Saturday, leading Williamstown to the team title.

Boucher ran 19:19 on the 5,000-meter course at DREAM Park in Logan Township. She ran 20:04 on Tuesday in a Tri-County Conference batch meet at Cumberland Regional in what appears to be her first cross country race.

Boucher, Camden Catholic Nilaa Ponnappan and Schalick Jordan Hadfield all ran sub-19:30. Ponnappan was 2nd in 19:22 and Hadfield ran 19:27 for 3rd.

Sterling junior Jonalee Adames and Clearview senior Allison Roes also broke 20 minutes, Adames placing 4th in 19:36 and Roes 5th in 19:51.

Williamstown defeated Sterling 41-68 to win the team title, with Delsea [78], Clearview [79] and Haddon Township [92] also under 100 points.

Sophomore Sophia Aldridge took 6th for Williamstown in 20:05, and junior Delaney Harbison, freshman Julia Burgio and senior Paige Franklin packed in 23rd, 24th and 25th to complete Williamstown’s scoring pack [1-4-11-12-13 in team places].

Also in the top 10 were Holy Cross senior Sara Sherlock [7th in 20:13], Haddon Township senior Genevieve Gentlesk [8th in 20:39], West Deptford senior Isabella Mackey [9th in 20:44] and Sterling junior Isabella Patruno [10th in 20:48].