Senior Ryan Gaulrapp, junior Ethan Caprarola and senior Matt Colden were all among the top 11 finishers and Bishop Eustace came out on top in a wild four-team battle to win its 7th state Parochial B title.
Gaulrapp ran 17:28 and placed 2nd behind only Caleb Brox of the Wilberforce School in Princeton. Caprarola ran 17:44 for 5th place and Colden was 11th in 18:40.
Freshman Shane Smith and sophomore Alexander Dietz clinched the team title in 31st and 32nd place, Smith in 19:58 and Dietz in 20:00. With only five runners, Eustace had no margin for error, but all five came through, and the Crusaders finished with 77 points, edging St. Rose of Belmar [80] and Wilberforce School of Princeton [85] with Princeton Day school 4th with 93 points.
Eustace won its first state titles in 1980 and 1982, then won in 2002 before winning more recently in 2010, 2011, 2016 and now 2023.
The only South Jersey schools to win more state titles than Eustace are Haddonfield [20] and Haddon Township [11]. Cherokee and Paul VI have also won seven.
The only parochials with more state XC championships are CBA [32], Pingry [9] and Saint Benedict [9].
Moorestown Friends junior Isaac Linden placed 4th in 17:42, matching the best finish by a Moorestown Friends runner in 14 years. Drew Haines placed 2nd in the 2009 Parochial B race in 17:46.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 