Led by senior Matt Hoffman and junior Ethan Buck, Ocean City placed all five scorers in the top 25 out of more than 150 runners and raced to the team title in the Varsity A race Saturday at the Manhattan Invitational.
Hoffman covered the 2 ½-mile course at legendary Van Cortlandt Park in 13:27.1 and Buck ran 13:27.9 to finish 6th and 7th.
Junior Zach Hutchinson, sophomore Erik Preisner and junior Kal Heyman finished within a few seconds of each other, Hutchinson 20th in 13:57.6, Preisner 21st in 13:58.5 and Heyman 23rd in 14:03.4.
For team scoring purposes, Ocean City went 5-6-16-17-19 for 63 points, less than half of 2nd-place St. Francis Prep of Queens, which scored 142.
Ocean City packed its five scorers in a 36-second pack.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 