Northern Burlington junior Liliah Gordon won her second straight individual title with the 2nd-fastest time in course history and the Cherokee girls won their 7th team title at the Burlington County Open.
Gordon won the race in 18:25.04 at Mill Creek Park in Willingboro, fastest since Cherokee’s Megan Lacy set the course record of 17:53 at the 2010 meet.
Gordon won the 2022 race in 18:31.54 after placing 2nd to Cherokee’s Nicole Clifford as a freshman in 2021 in 18:46.
She’s Northern Burlington’s first repeat winner in the 47-year history of the girls race at the County Open. Northern’s only other winner was Laura Mason, who won the 1978 race at Burlington County College in Pemberton in 18:49. Mason went on to become an All-America at East Stroudsburg and raced the 5,000 at the 1996 Olympic Trials in Atlanta.
For Cherokee, Kerry O’Day, Megan Niglio and Grace Wojciechowski ran 2-3-6, O’Day 2nd in 19:03, Niglio 3rd in 19:26 and Wojciechowski 6th in 20:22. Alaina Bromley placed 12th in 21:06 and Olivia Parkinson 15th in 21:22.
Cherokee outscored 2nd-place Moorestown 35-56, with Shawnee 3rd with 84 points. Cherokee also won team titles in 2004, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Others in the top 10 were Shawnee Paige Cline [4th in 20:04], Cinnaminson Anna Marino [5th in 20:18], Holy Cross Julia Flanagan [7th in 20:27] and then the Moorestown trio of Noella Reyes [20:34], Gabrielle DeJoseph [20:43] and Paige McCabe [20:56] in 8th through 10th.
Here’s a look at all the girls who’ve run sub-19 at Mill Creek. The course has undergone minor changes over the years, but nobody has ever kept track of them and they’re not major enough to create separate lists, so here ya go:
All-Time Mill Creek Park Performance List
17:53 … *Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2010
18:25:04 … *Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2023
18:31 … ***Suyong Jenerette [Pemberton], 1983
18:37.9 … Gina McMenamin [Burlington City], 1981
18:45.97 … Kate Rathman [Cherokee], 2019
18:53 …….. Lacy, 2011
18:54.87 … *Kate Rathman [Cherokee], 2018
18:54 … Deanna Germano [Shawnee], 1985
18:55.18 … **Isabella Turner [Shawnee], 2017
18:57 … **Deanna Germano [Shawnee], 1983
18:57.55 … **Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2019
18:58.92 … ***Kate Ruona [Shawnee], 2019
18:56 … Caitlin Orr [Lenape], 2009
18:58 … Natalie Ocasio [Lenape], 2012
* – Several runners ran sub-19 in 2002, but the course was short that year.
Here’s a look at all the repeat winners in meet history:
Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2022, 2023
Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2020, 2021
Kate Rathman [Cherokee], 2018, 2019
Isabella Turner [Shawnee], 2016, 2017
Megan Lacey [Cherokee], 2010, 2011
Caitlin Orr [Lenape], 2008, 2009
Brittnee Bynoe [Willingboro], 2002, 2003
Jenna Darcy [Shawnee], 1998, 1999
Liz Moore [Shawnee], 1992, 1993, 1994
Monica Olkowski [Cherokee], 1988, 1989
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 