Three South Jersey alums placed in the top 10 to help Rowan win the NJAC title by one point over The College of New Jersey.
Sophomore Scott Hubbard from Audubon placed 2nd overall, sophomore Joshua Cason from Camden County Vo-Tech via Camden County College was 7th, Pennsauken’s Bishop Eustace’s Shane Vostenak, a sophomore, was 9th and Rowan outscored TCNJ 33-34. [Rowan’s roster says Vostenak went to Pennsauken, but he actually attended Eustace.]
The 2-3 finish by Hubbard and Jacob Riley of North Warren was the difference.
Hubbard ran 26:06.6 over 8,000 meters at Stockton University in Galloway Township and Riley ran 26:11.5. Cason – who ran track for Eastern and XC for Camden County Vo-Tech – ran 26:16.3 and Vostenak 26:26.4.
Also in the top 10 was Ramapo senior Ian McCauley from Haddon Township, who ran 26:30.8.
The team title is the 25th all-time for Rowan in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, with the first 20 coming as Glassboro State between 1961 and 1990.
The College of New Jersey won 21 consecutive conference titles from 1996 through 2016, but Rowan ended that streak with a win in 2017. Rowan won again last year, so this is the first time the Profs have won consecutive NJAC XC titles since 1992 and 1993.
Rowan and TCNJ are ranked No. 2 and 3 in the USTCCCA NCAA Division 3 Metro Region.
Sophomore Matthew Conway placed 13th and Ocean City’s Tyler Greene was 14th and were the 6th and 7th finishers for the Profs, and both earned all-conference honors.
Freshman Colin Patterson of Haddon Heights placed 17th for Rowan and freshman Joshua Jackson of Williamstown placed 20th, giving the Profs seven South Jersey runners in the top 20.
Cole Mylan of Timber Creek [24th], Cameron DiTroia of Ocean City [25th] and Sean Hice of Washington Township [26th] were also among Rowan’s top finishers.
Delran grad Anthony Guarino, a TCNJ sophomore, placed 19th overall and was TCNJ’s 6th finisher.
Atlantic City’s Angelo Moynihan, a senior, was Stockton’s 3rd finisher in 27th place, sophomore Dalton Culleny from Cedar Creek was 29th and the Ospreys’ 4th finisher and junior Dan Rodriguez placed 31st and was Stockton’s 6th runner.
I can’t find anywhere where it says who advances to the NCAA Division 3 Metro Region Championship, but based on the limited information on the Rowan and TCNJ web sites both programs will be racing Nov. 11 at Rowan and presumably somebody will advance from there to the NCAA Championships Nov. 18 in Newville, Pa. You’d think college SIDs might consider putting that information in their stories?
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 