Junior Bennett Wright, sophomore Ryan Gibson, senior Liam Dougherty, sophomore Benjamin Andrus and sophomore Luke Andresen all placed among the top 15 out of more than 150 runners, and Haddonfield easily won the Varsity C race Saturday at the Manhattan Invitational.
The Haddonfield boys, ranked 4th in New Jersey, raced just hours after learning that beloved, legendary Haddonfield coach Nick Baker had died following a battle with lung cancer. For more on Nick, he’s a remembrance I wrote this morning: https://sjtrackblog.com/2023/10/14/remembering-legendary-haddonfield-coach-nick-baker/
But the young Bulldogs, with only one senior in the scoring group, raced to a 45-93 win over Bishop Hendricken of Warwick, R.I., averaging 13:16.6 on the 2 ½-mile course at historic Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
Wright ran 13:06.8 to place 4th overall, Gibson was 7th in 13:16.1, Dougherty 9th in 13:17.9, Andrus 11th in 13:19.9 and Andresen 14th in 13:22.0. Senior Reid Gervasi backed up the first five by placing 36th in 13:49.2.
Gibson, Andrus and Andresen finished 2nd, 3rd and 5th among sophomores in the race, and overall Haddonfield had four of the first nine underclassmen across the line.
Even if they had competed without Wright, their first finisher, Haddonfield would have won 72-88 over Bishop Hendricken.
So far this year, Haddonfield has won team titles at the Bowdoin XC Classic at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., Shore Coaches Invitational, the Camden County Championships (with its B team) and now the Manhattan Invitational.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 