Woodbury senior Peyton Shute ran the 3rd-fastest time in course history and won his 2nd straight individual title and Ocean City won its 8th team championship in the last 20 years Saturday at the South Jersey Group 3 sectionals.
Shute won the race over 5,000 meters at DREAM Park in Logan Township in 15:09.98. He won last year’s race in 15:16.31. Shute won by about 115 meters over Ocean City senior Matt Hoffman, who got the Red Raiders started with his 2nd-place finish in 16:03.
Junior Ethan Buck and sophomore Erik Preisner also placed in the top 10 for Ocean City, Buck in 5th place in 16:11 and Preisner in 9th in 16:31. Junior Kal Heyman was 12th in 16:52 and freshman Keenan Neuman 18th in 17:13.
Ocean City also won Group 3 titles in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2018 and 2019.
Ocean City topped 2nd-place Shawnee 42-71, with Highland [100], Clearview [117] and Delsea [192] also advancing to the state Group 3 meet at Holmdel County Park Saturday.
Delsea sophomore Matthew Littlehales placed 4th in 16:08, Moorestown sophomore Peter Simpson took 6th in 16:12, Highland junior Mason Wassell 7th in 16:21, Highland senior Aziz Muhammad-Kane 8th in 16:25 and Shawnee sophomore Yanni Ekatomatis 10th in 16:36.
Here’s a look at the top 10 times in course history [through the Group 3 race]:
14:58.79 … George Andrus [Haddonfield], 2022 Group 2 Sectionals
15:09.35 … Dennis Fortuna [Triton], 2021 Group 3 Sectionals
15:09.98 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 2023 Group 3 Sectionals
15:12.65 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2019 Olympic Conference
15:15.64 … Kyle Rakitis [Kingsway], 2021 Group 4 Sectionals
15:16.31 …… P. Shute, 2022 Group 3 Sectionals
15:19.24 … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 2021 Group 2 Sectionals
15:22.72 … *Nick Kuenkel [Cherokee], 2022 Group 4 Sectionals
15:22.80 … Patrick Ditmars [Cherokee], 2022 Group 4 Sectionals
15:23.05 …… Kuenkel, 2023 Group 4 Sectionals
15:28.95 …… **Shute, 2021 Group 2 Sectionals
15:28.83 … Colin Hermack [Lenape], 2022 Group 4 Sectionals
15:30.14 … Fabian Ramales [Southern Regional], 2022 Gorup 4 Sectionals
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 