Sophomore Riley Austin and seniors Ava Thomas and Riley Slootsky all finished in the top 10 and led the Haddonfield girls to their 3rd straight state Group 2 cross country championship and 12th overall.
Austin ran 19:20 for 3rd place, Thomas 19:49 in 6th and Slootsky 20:03 for 8th in her first race in a month, and Haddonfield Colonial Conference rival Sterling 40-84. More on Sterling a little later.
Only Red Bank Catholic [20] and Bernards [12] have won more state titles than Haddonfield.
Senior Anna Stolarick placed 15th in 20:32, junior Dylan Melcher was 26th in 21:04 and 6th runner Harper Benjamin, a freshman, took 29th in 21:09.
Haddonfield won its first state titles in Group 1 in 1990, 1993 and 1998 before moving up to Group 2 and winning in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Haddonfield’s 40-point total is 7th-lowest ever recorded in Group 2. Haddonfield is responsible for four of the eight-lowest scores ever recorded in Group 2.
29 … Bernards [Group 2], 1985
33 … Haddonfield [Group 2], 2005
34 … Voorhees [Group 2], 2012
36 … Haddonfield [Group 2], 2022
39 … Moorestown [Group 2], 2001
39 … Hopewell Valley [Group 2], 2002
40 … Haddonfield [Group 2], 2023
44 … Haddonfield [Group 2], 2021
Haddonfield scored 44 points to win Group 2 in 2021 and 36 to win last year. They’re only the second school in the meet’s 47-year history to score 45 or fewer points in three straight meets. Bernards did it six straight years, winning Group 1 from 1981 through 1984 with 28, 15, 23 and 21 points, then Group 2 in 1985 with 29 and 33 back in Group 1 in 1986.
Sterling had junior Jonalee Adames, senior Cara Coppolino and junior Kaysie Luna all in the top 20. Adames ran 19:59 for 7th place, Coppolino 17th in 20:47 and Luna 18th in 20:49.
The Haddonfield-Sterling 1-2 finish was the first by two South Jersey schools at states since Delsea and Haddonfield went 1-2 in Group 2 in 2009, Delsea winning by 81-112.
Also in the top 20 were Cinnaminson senior Anna Marino [13th in 20:25], West Deptford freshman Taylor Siertzega [14th in 20:29] and West Deptford senior Isabella Mackey [20th in 20:51].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 