West Deptford’s Jacob Cobb and Camden Catholic’s Matthew Denton are headed for the NCAA Division 3 cross country championships this weekend in Central Pennsylvania.

Cobb, a sophomore at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., and Denton, a senior at Haverford, will race Saturday at the NCAA D-3 Nationals on the 8,000-meter course Big Spring High School in Newville, about 40 miles west of Harrisburg in Cumberland County, Pa.

Both are on teams that won regional championships and received auto bids for nationals. The winners of 10 regions plus 22 at-large teams will compete in Newville. The top 10 individuals in each region who didn’t qualify as part of a team also advanced to next Saturday.

MIT, defending national champs and ranked 3rd nationally, won the East Region in Hopkinton, N.H. Haverford won the Metro Region Championship at DREAM Park in Logan Township.

The Rowan program will be represented by Jacob Riley from North Warren High School in Blairstown, who placed 4th in the Metro Region race at DREAM Park in Logan Township.

Even though Rowan placed 2nd, just six points behind Haverford, the Profs did not receive an at-large team bid.

Stockton will be represented by Eric Ackerman of West Morris Central High in Chester Township, Morris County.

The men’s race is scheduled for 11 a.m. and the women’s race at noon.

Moorestown’s Kate Inglis, a junior at Catholic University in Washington, received an at-large bid to race in the NCAA Division 3 Championships and leads the South Jersey women’s contingent this weekend in Newville, Pa.

Inglis placed 6th in the NCAA South Region Championships Saturday and the top seven finishers in each of 10 regions who aren’t part of qualifying teams move on to nationals.

Inglis ran an all-course lifetime-best 22:06.1 over 6,000 meters at Berry College in Rome, Ga., and was Catholic’s top finisher.

Her previous 6K PR was 22:35.4 at Division 3 Pre-Nationals on the course adjacent to Big Spring High School in Newville, about 40 miles west of Harrisburg, the site of this weekend’s national championship race.

This will be Inglis’s first trip to NCAAs in either track or cross country. She placed 48th and 46th at XC Regionals as a freshman and sophomore before enjoying a breakthrough season this fall. She placed 2nd in the Landmark Conference Championships in Huntingdon, Pa., behind only Elizabethtown senior Kelty Oaster.

Haddonfield graduate Katherine Rice, a junior at The College of New Jersey, and sophomore Savannah Hodgens from Mainland Regional, advanced to nationals as part of TCNJ’s regional championship team. Rice placed 16th Saturday and was TCNJ’s 4th finisher in 22:57.8, a 6,000 PR for any course, and Hodgens was 37th in 23:36.9 – a minute faster than she ran at regionals last year.

Cinnaminson’s Stephanie Renouf, a freshman at Middlebury (Conn.) College, also qualified as part of Middlebury’s team, which received an at-large bid after placing 5th in the Mideast Region at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass. Renouf ran 22:57.4, just two seconds off her 6K PR of 22:55.5 from the Connecticut College Invitational in Waterford, Conn., last month.

The Stockton women did not receive an at-large bid to nationals despite placing 2nd to The College of New Jersey in the Metro Region. The Ospreys will be represented by junior Jaelyn Barkley of Belvidere High School in Warren County and sophomore Kayla Kass of County Prep in Jersey City in the women’s race.

Williamstown graduate Anna Sasse, a Rowan junior, missed an at-large individual berth by half a second. The top seven runners in each region advance to nationals and Sasse ran 22:12.3 and was half a second out of 7th. But she ran a 6,000-meter all-course PR, finished in the top 10 at both the NJAC meet and NCAA regionals and has another chance at nationals next fall.

We’ll take a look at the South Jersey men’s contingent headed to Nationals later today,

The Haddonfield boys extended their remarkable streak of Meet of Champions top-8 finishes to seven in a row Saturday with their 7th-place finish in the 51st annual MoC at Holmdel.

Including the 2020 race, which was technically an exhibition, Haddonfield has placed 7th or better seven straight years, 10 of the last 11 years and 15 of the last 18 years. Overall, Haddonfield has placed in the top 10 a remarkable 21 times since 1980. Only eight times since 1980 – a span of 44 years – has Haddonfield not raced at the Meet of Champions as a full team.

This is not a parochial school that hand-picks the fastest hotshot middle school runners from a 50-mile radius. This is a small Group 2 school in a community of about 13,000 residents.

Haddonfield was led Saturday by juniors Luke Andresen and Bennett Wright, who placed 45th and 49th in 16:34 and 16:42. Sophomore Ryan Gibson ran 16:49 for 63rd, sophomore Benjamin Andrus ran 16:54 for 71st and senior Liam Dougherty 17:02 for 84th.

Soph Matt Sullivan ran 17:13, giving Haddonfield five underclassmen between 16:34 and 17:13, and junior Reid Gervasi wasn’t far behind at 17:20.

Haddonfield’s 28-second gap from 1 through 5 was smallest in the field of 15 teams. The Bulldogs averaged 16:48 over the hilly, windy 5,000-meter Holmdel County Park course

Haddonfield’s Meet of Champions finishes year-by-year:

2023: 7th
2022: 6th
2021: 3rd
2020: 4th
2019: 3rd
2018: 2nd
2017: 6th
2016: 13th
2015: 4th
2014: 5th
2013: 7th
2012: 13th
2011: —
2010: 2nd
2009: 4th
2008: 4th
2007: 3rd
2006: 3rd
2005: 13th
2004: —
2003: —
2002: 13th
2001: 1st
2000: 10th
1999: —
1998: 11th
1997: 16th
1996: 15th
1995: 10th
1994: —
1993: 18th
1992: —
1991: —
1990: 9th
1989: 5th
1988: 13th
1987: 14th
1986: 8th
1985: 11th
1984: 12th
1983: 19th
1982: 14th
1981: —
1980: 8th
1979: 13th
1978: 12th

Courtney O’Hara, a freshman at Rowan College Gloucester County from Gateway, placed 13th out of nearly 100 runners Saturday at the NJCAA National Championships.

O’Hara earned All-America honors, and the Roadrunners placed 5th in the final team standings with 146 points.

O’Hara ran 20:49.4 over 5,000 meters at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala., earning All-America honors.

What makes her performance so interesting is that there’s barely any record of her running in high school.

O’Hara ran two batch meets for Gateway early in the 2021 season with a PR of 23:36, and she’s listed on MileSplit with two track races, both indoors – a 400 at the Bubble in January of 2019 and an 800 at the Bubble in January 2020.

If there are any additional performances leading up to her breakthrough freshman year at RCGC, I can’t find them.

O’Hara placed 2nd in the Region XIX Championships two weeks ago at Lancaster Central Park in West Lampeter Township, Pa.

Also scoring for RCGC Saturday were sophomore Mackenzie Cochrane of Washington Township [32nd, 22 team points], freshman Alexandra Campo from Woodbury [39th, 28 team points], freshman Madison O’Donnell of Williamstown [48th, 34 team points] and sophomore Susana Serrano of Woodbury [68th, 51 team points]. Sixth runner was Grace Wahl of Washington Township.

West Deptford grad Jacob Cobb and the MIT Beavers easily won the NCAA Division 3 East Region Championships Saturday at the Hopkinton (N.H.) Fairgrounds.

Cobb placed 29th out of 229 runners, covering the 6,000-meter course in 25:42.0. That’s less than five seconds off his lifetime-best for any course, a 25:37.3 set at the New England Men’s and Women’s Athletic Conference Championships last month in Attleboro, Mass.

Cobb earned USTFCCCA all-region honors with a top-35 finish.

Massachusets Institiute of Technology of Cambridge, Mass., is ranked 3rd in NCAA Division 3, behind only Wisconsin-La Crosse and North Central of Naperville, Ill. The regional title was MIT’s 3rd in a row and 6th overall.

MIT outscored 2nd-place Tufts of Medford, Mass., 35-57 to win the team title and secure the one automatic berth into NCAA Division 3 nationals. Some 22 at-large berths from non-winning teams in the 10 regions will be announced on Sunday.

Cobb placed 13th late last month in the NEWMAC Championships, where he was the 1st sophomore across the line.

MIT will travel to Newville, Pa., about 40 miles west of Harrisburg, where it will defend its 2022 NCAA Division 3 championship on the course adjacent to Big Spring High School on Saturday.

MIT won last year’s title 82-129 over Wartburg College of Waverly, Iowa, in Lansing, Mich.

This past spring, Cobb was runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NEWMAC Championships in Cambridge.

Northern Burlington junior Liliah Gordon, Mainland junior Sofia Day, Ocean City junior Maeve Smith, Cherokee senior Kerry O’Day and Paul VI senior Shaelan McNally aren’t teammates, but they combined to make some history Saturday on the rolling hills at Holmdel County Park.

Gordon, Day, Smith, O’Day and McNally became the fastest quintet of South Jersey runners ever in the same race at Holmdel, home of the girls Meet of Champions and state meet for 51 years.

We wrote earlier about Gordon’s 5th-place finish – you can read about that here – but what made this a unique race in Meet of Champions history is that five South Jersey girls broke 19 minutes in the same race.

And they all ran well under 19 minutes.

Day placed 7th with a Holmdel PR of 18:33.64, Smith ran 18:41.37 for 9th place, O’Day took 10th with a Holmdel best of 18:43.56 and McNally ran 18:50.25 for 11th place, also a Holmdel best for her.

Day’s time is No. 2 in Atlantic County history, behind Alyssa Aldridge’s 17:55 to win the 2016 Meet of Champions. Her previous Holmdel best was an 18:49 at the 2021 Meet of Champions. Day now ranks 17th on the all-time South Jersey Holmdel list.

Smith’s 9th-place finish was the best by an Ocean City girl in nine years, since Devin Grisbaum won the 2014 race. She’s the first Ocean City underclassman with a top-10 finish since Brittany Sedberry won the 2004 race. Smith ran slightly faster at states with an 18:33, which places her in a virtual tie with Day in that No. 17 spot.

O’Day also ran slightly faster at states, but she’s now No. 2 on the all-time Cherokee list behind Megan Lacy’s 17:55 in 2010 and she’s No. 4 in Burlington County history, behind Lacy, Gordon and Shawnee’s Casey Doyle [18:38 in 2007]. O’Day is No. 23 on the all-time South Jersey list.

And McNally ran a Holmdel PR, breaking her previous best on the hilly, winding 5,000-meter Holmdel course by five seconds. She ran 18:56 at the 2021 Meet of Champions.

South Jersey came very close to having five girls under 18 minutes 14 years ago, when Chelsea Ley of Kingsway, Megan Venables of Highland and future Olympian Marielle Hall of Haddonfield swept the top three spots in the 2009 race, Ley in 17:55.16, Venables in 18:00.09 and Hall in 18:16.48. Lacy ran 18:47.84 for 7th and Lenape’s Caitlin Orr, who now coaches at Lenape, came across in 12th 19:00.18, just missing sub-19.

The first South Jersey girl to break 19 minutes at Holmdel was Woodstown’s Jamie Weisgerber, who won the state Group 2 meet in 1994 in 18:50.

It wasn’t until 2003 that two South Jersey girls broke 19 minutes in the same race. That was Sedberry – who ran 18:42 to win the race and Highland’s Arianna McKinney, who ran 18:58 for 2nd place.

One year later was the first time three South Jersey girls broke 19: Sedberry in 18:11 with another win, Wright in 18:21 for 2nd and Cherokee’s Lisa Burkholder with an 18:52 for 9th.

And then 2009, with Ley, Venables, Hall and Lacy, was the first year four girls broke 19.

Gordon, Day and Smith were the top three juniors in the race Saturday, and Cherokee’s Megan Niglio [19:17] and Schalick’s Jordan Hadfield [19:25] were the 7th- and 8th-fastest juniors.

Also under 20 Saturday: Williamstown senior Alyssa Boucher [28th in 19:32], Mainland Regional senior Gillian Lovett [30th in 19:36], Haddonfield sophomore Riley Austin [31st in 19:39], Ava Thomas [32nd in 19:40] and Sterling junior Jonalee Adames [35th in 19:43].

Here’s a look at the all-time South Jersey sub-19 list at Holmdel. Please forward corrections and omissions to me in the comment section!

17:28 … Megan Venables [Highland Reg.], 2010 Group 3
17:40 … Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1982 Meet of Champions
17:44 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2008 Shore Coaches
17:45 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2013 Meet of Champions
17:55 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2010 Group 4
17:55 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland], 2016 Meet of Champions
18:08 … Holly Bischof [Bishop Eustace], 2010 Meet of Champions
18:12 … Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2004 Meet of Champions
18:14 … Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2023 Group 3
18:16 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2009 Meet of Champions
18:18 … Theresa Cattuna [Cherry Hill East], 2006 Meet of Champions
18:20 … Devin Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2014 Meet of Champions
18:22 … Vanessa Wright [Haddonfield], 2004 Meet of Champions
18:27 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 1998 Meet of Champions
18:28 … Grace Yoon [Cherry Hill East], 2016 Group 4
18:29 … Rachel Vick [Kingsway], 2016 Group 4
18:33 … Maeve Smith [Ocean City], 2023 Group 3
18:34 … Sofia Day [Mainland Regional], 2023 Meet of Champions
18:38 … Casey Doyle [Shawnee], 2007 Meet of Champions
18:40 … Mindy Rowand [Sterling], 1984 Meet of Champions
18:40 … Dina Iacone [Washington Twp.], 2011 Shore Coaches
18:41 … Shelby Cain [Haddonfield], 2011 Group 2
18:41 … Kerry O’Day [Cherokee], 2023 Meet of Champions
18:43 … Amanda Goetschius [Delsea], 2006 Meet of Champions
18:43 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2021 Meet of Champions
18:44 … Arianna McKinney [Highland], 2003 Shore Coaches
18:48 … Grace Wassell [Highland], 2021 Meet of Champions
18:49 … Meghan Malloy [Haddonfield], 2011 Meet of Champions
18:49 … Mara Schiffhauer [Seneca], 2013 Meet of Champions
18:49 … Olivia Shafer [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2019 Meet of Champions
18:50 … Dawn Cody [Paul VI], 1982 Meet of Champions
18:50 … Jamie Weisgerber [Woodstown], 1994 Group 2
18:50 … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2020 Holmdel Invitational
18:51 … Shaelan McNally [Paul VI], 2023 Meet of Champions
18:52 … Lisa Burkholder [Cherokee], 2004 Meet of Champions
18:53 … Renee Tomlin [Ocean City], 2005 Meet of Champions
18:54 … Madison Coppolino [Sterling], 2017 Meet of Champions
18:57 … Lori Watson [Cherry Hill East], 1983 Meet of Champions
18:58 … Abbey Hartman [Ocean City], 1996 Meet of Champions
18:59 … Monique Purcell [Holy Spirit], 1978 Group 3
18:59 … Wendy Westphal [Highland], 1982 Meet of Championjs
18:59 … Kara Bonner [Shawnee,], 2015 Group 4
18:59 … Alyssa Condell [Timber Creek], 2016 Meet of Champions

Led by sophomore Riley Austin and senior Ava Thomas, the Haddonfield girls on Saturday continued a remarkable stretch with their 5th consecutive top-5 finish at the Meet of Champions.

Austin placed 31st in 19:39 and Thomas was 32nd in 19:40 and Haddonfield scored 166 points and finished as the top South Jersey program and the No. 3 public school in the field.

Only 30 points separated 2nd-place Middletown South and 8th-place Summit.

After Austin and Thomas, senior Riley Slootsky [65th in 20:16], senior Anna Stolarick [74th in 20:25] and junior Dylan Melcher [130th in 21:06] finished Haddonfield’s scoring group. Freshman Madison Kelsey and freshman Harper Benjamin also broke 22 minutes for Haddonfield, Kelsey in 21:32 and Benjamin in 21:53.

Overall, Haddonfield has now placed in the top 10 some 10 times in the last 19 years, including the Bulldogs’ win in the 2020 Holmdel Invitational, an unofficial Meet of Champions at Holmdel after the NJSIAA cancelled the official race:

2023
5. Haddonfield 166
2022
2. Haddonfield 88
2021
5. Haddonfield 179
2020 [Holmdel Invitational]
1. Haddonfield 52
2019
4. Haddonfield 172
2016
9. Haddonfield 249
2013
5. Haddonfield 164
2007
8. Haddonfield 221
2006
10. Haddonfield 222
2005
6. Haddonfield 162

Haddonfield’s current streak of five straight top-5 finishes is tied for 2nd-longest ever by a South Jersey schools.

Shawnee placed among the top 5 at the Meet of Champions every year from 1993 through 1999 – seven straight years. Even more impressive, from 1990 through 2003, the Renegades placed 6th or better for 14 consecutive years. Here’s what that streak looked like:

2003: 1st
2002: 1st
2001: 3rd
2000: 6th
1999: 4th
1998: 4th
1997: 1st
1996: 2nd
1995: 3rd
1994: 5th
1993: 4th
1992: 6th
1991: 1st
1990: 5th

Even if you don’t include the 2020 race, Haddonfield’s current streak of four straight top-5 finishes is tied for 3rd-longest ever by a South Jersey school. Paul VI went 3rd-2nd-1st-3rd-5th from 1989 through 1993. Moorestown went 2nd-3rd-1st-4th from 1999 through 2002.

Cherokee was the only other South Jersey program to advance to the Meet of Champions as a full team, and the Chiefs placed 9th with 211 points. This was Cherokee’s 5th top-10 finish at the Meet of Champions, following 8th place, in 2004, 6th place in 2010, 2nd place in the unofficial 2020 race and 1st in 2021.

Woodbury senior Peyton Shute blazed the 3rd-fastest time ever by a South Jersey runner at historic Holmdel County Park Saturday at the 51st annual Meet of Champions.

Shute ran 15:32.6 and placed 2nd to CBA senior Joe Barrett, who ran 15:26.33.

The only faster times by South Jersey runners in the more than half a century that Holmdel has hosted Shore Coaches, the state meet and the Meet of Champions are Jason DiJoseph’s 15:16 when he won the 1988 state Parochial A race and Kevin Antczak’s 15:29 when he placed 2nd to Allentown’s Liam Murphy in the 2019 Meet of Champions.

Highland’s Josh Clark ran 15:33 to win the 2015 race, and since there were no fractions kept in that race he and Shute will share the No. 3 spot on the all-time South Jersey list.

Shute’s previous best time at Holmdel was a 15:47 last weekend, when he won the state Group 3 meet. Before that, the fastest time ever by a Gloucester County runner at Holmdel was 15:54.18 by Williamstown’s Paul Szulewski at the 2010 Meet of Champions. He was 11th last year in the MoC in 16:05.

Shute matched the best finish at a Meet of Champions by a Gloucester County runner in 50 years, since Gateway’s Greg Stremmel won the 1973 race over 2.9 miles at Bridgewater Raritan West High School. Three years later, the boys race moved permanently to Holmdel. Gateway and Woodbury now have a combined program.

Also in the top 10 was Cherokee senior Nick Kuenkel, who recorded his 2nd straight top-10 finish with a 6th-place in 15:55.87. Kuenkel was 4th last year.

Collingswood senior Elijah Forrest ran 16:11.75 for 14th place, the best finish ever by a Collingswood runner at the Meet of Champions. The best previous finish was Ed Donahue’s 20th place in the inaugural 1972 race at Ocean County Park in Lakewood. Forrest lowered his Holmdel PR from 16:22 last weekend at states.

Paul VI senior Will Mrozinski ran 16:15.28 and placed 19th, the best finish by a Paul VI runner since 1995, when Ryan Anderson ran 16:41 and placed 18th. Mrozinski’s 16:12 is 5th-fastest ever by a Paul VI runner at Holmdel in 32 years, since Tom Keefer ran 16:09 at the 1991 Meet of Champions.

Also in the top 50: Cherokee junior Liam Tindall [31st in 16:24], Kingsway freshman Ryan Duffy [35th in 16:27], Williamstown junior Dylan Saber [40th in 16:30], Glassboro junior Ty Blackman [43rd in 16:33], Haddonfield sophomore Luke Andresen [45th in 16:34], Haddonfield junior Bennett Wright [49th in 16:42] and Cherry Hill East junior Brody Boggs [50th in 16:43].

Here’s a look at all the top-10 finishes by Gloucester County runners at a Meet of Champions:

1st … Greg Stremmel [Gateway], 1973 [14:22, 2.9 miles]
3rd … Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1975 [15:27]
10th … Tom Milligan [Delsea], 1979 [16:39]
8th … Bryan Skelly [Washington Twp.], 1998 [16:19]
3rd … Bryan Skelly [Washington Twp.], 1999 [16:13]
10th … Paul Szulewski [Williamstown], 2009 [15:57]
8th … Paul Szulewski [Williamstown], 2010 [15:55]

And here’s the updated all-time South Jersey sub-16 list:

15:16 … Jason DiJoseph [Paul VI], 1988 Parochial A
15:29 … Kevin Antczak [Mainland Regional], 2019 Meet of Champions
15:33 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 2023 Meet of Champions
15:33 … Josh Clark [Highland], 2015 Meet of Champions
15:36 … Louis Corgliano [Hammonton], 2013 Meet of Champions
15:36 … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 2021 Meet of Champins
15:37 … Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East], 2015 Group 4
15:38 … Gregory Hughes [Mainland], 2003 Meet of Champions
15:39 … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2014 Meet of Champions
15:39 … Patrick Ditmars [Cherokee], 2022 Meet of Champions
15:40 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 2012 Group 4
15:40 … Brett Johnson [Ocean City], 2008 Group 3
15:40 … Steve Maine [Highland], 2013 Group 4
15:40 … George Andrus [Haddonfield], 2022 Meet of Champions
15:41 … Jon Vitez [Haddonfield], 2009 Meet of Champions
15:41 … Nick Kuenkel [Cherokee], 2022 Meet of Champions
15:41 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2019 Meet of Champions
15:42 … Ben Potts [Haddonfield], 2010 Meet of Champions
15:42 … Shawn Hutchison [Bishop Eustace], 2014 Meet of Champions
15:43 … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2001 Meet of Champions
15:43 … Miles Schoedler [Ocean City], 2010 Shore Coaches
15:45 … Keith Krieger [Cherokee], 2002 Group 4
15:46 … Jack Shea [Cherokee], 2015 Meet of Champions
15:46 … Dennis Fortuna [Triton], 2021 Meet of Champions
15:47 … Urie Ridgeway [Bridgeton], 1988 Meet of Champions
15:48 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2001 Meet of Champions
15:48 … Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], 2019 Shore Coaches
15:48 … Oliver Adler [Cherry Hill East], 2019 Meet of Champions
15:50 … Mike Myers [Eastern Reg.], 2000 Meet of Champions
15:51 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 2003 Meet of Champions
15:51 … Murad Campbell [Overbrook], 1998 Shore Coaches
15:51 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2019 Meet of Champions
15:54 … Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1978 Group 2
15:54 … Paul Szulewski [Williamstown], 2010 Meet of Champions
15:54 … Skip Stiles [Haddonfield], 2001 Meet of Champions
15:55 … Dominick Munson [Timber Creek], 2014 Meet of Champions
15:55 … Breton Bonnett [Haddonfield], 2001 Meet of Champions
15:56 … David Forward [Shawnee], 2008 Shore Coaches
15:56 … Kyle Kirk [Camden Catholic], 2012 Meet of Champions
15:57 … Nate Miller [Highland Reg.], 1998 Meet of Champions
15:57 … Connor Herr [Shawnee], 2010 Meet of Champions
15:57 … Michael Ungvarsky [Cinnaminson], 2016 Group 2
15:58 … Martin Ridell [Haddonfield], 2019 Meet of Champions
15:59 … Anthony Dentino [Washington Twp.], 2010
15:59 … Robert Edwards [Bridgeton], 2002 Meet of Champions

Haddonfield graduate Katherine Rice placed 16th overall and helped The College of New Jersey earn an auto bid to the NCAA Division 3 Championships Saturday in the Metro Region race.

Rice was TCNJ’s 4th finisher, covering the 6,000-meter course at DREAM Park in Logan Township in a lifetime all-course PR of 22:57.8. TCNJ didn’t have a finisher in the top nine but packed its five scorers between 22:35.7 in 10th and 23:02.9 in 20th for a 67-83 win over 2nd-place Stockton.

That’s a 27-second pack in a championship race with 189 runners.

Stockton’s 3rd finisher was Madeline Valasek of Shawnee, who ran 23:08.2 and placed 23rd.

Rowan placed 4th and was led by junior Anna Sasse from Williamstown High School. Sasse ran 22:12.3 and placed 8th overall.

TCNJ and Stockton are ranked No. 1 and 2 in the most recent USTCCCA NCAA Division 3 Metro Region poll.

Only the winner of each region receives an automatic berth in the Division 3 Nationals. There will be 22 at-large teams selected from among the non-winning teams in the 10 Division 3 regions. Those teams will be announced Sunday.

The NCAA Division 3 Championship race is scheduled for Saturday in Newville, Pa., about 40 miles west of Harrisburg.

Liliah Gordon recorded her third straight top-8 finish at the Meet of Champions and recorded the highest finish by a South Jersey girl in six years Saturday morning.

Gordon, a Northern Burlington junior, placed 5th and led five South Jersey girls in the top 11 at the 51st annual MoC at Holmdel County Park. She ran 18:19 and finished just 27 seconds behind winner Emma Zawatski of Freehold Township.

It was the best finish by a Burlington County girl since Megan Lacy of Cherokee placed 4th in the 2010 race. Gordon 8th in 2021 and 7th last year.

Mainland Regional junior Sofia Day [7th in 18:34], Ocean City junior Maeve Smith [9th in 18:42], Cherokee senior Kerry O’Day [10th in 18:44] and Paul VI senior Shaelan McNally [11th in 18:51] also ran under 19 minutes.

This was the first time in 29 years five South Jersey girls have placed among the top 11 finishers in a Meet of Champions. In 1994, Jaime Weisgerber of Woodstown won the race, with Northern Burlington’s Colleen Sunderland 6th, Roxanne Hughes of Bishop Eustace 8th, Camden Catholic’s Kacy Corbett 9th, Eustace’s Kathleen Linck 10th and Eustace’s Adrianne DelSol 11th.

We’ll have more on Day, Smith, O’Day and McNally soon, but first a look at how rare Gordon’s three top-10 finishers are.

Gordon is only the eighth South Jersey girl in more than half a century with three top-10 finishes, and she’ll have the opportunity next fall to join two all-time greats – Olympian Erin Donahue and Mainland’s Alyssa Aldridge – as the third South Jersey girl to finish in the top 10 four years in a row.

Here’s a look at the eight South Jersey girls with three consecutive top-10 Meet of Champions performances. Interesting that Ley, Venables and Lacy – three of the best in South Jersey history – all overlapped from 2007 through 2011.

Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington]
8th in 2021, 7th in 2022, 5th in 2023
Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Regional]
2nd in 2014, 1st in 2015, 1st in 2016, 2nd in 2017
Megan Lacy [Cherokee]
7th in 2009, 4th in 2010, 7th in 2011
Megan Venables [Highland]
5th in 2008, 2nd in 2009, 1st in 2010
Chelsea Ley [Kingsway]
3rd in 2007, 2nd in 2008, 1st in 2009
Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City]
5th in 2002, 1st in 2003, 1st in 2004
Erin Donahue [Haddonfield]
10th in 1997, 2nd in 1998, 1st in 1999, 1st in 2000
Liz Moore [Shawnee]
6th in 1991, 5th in 1992, 2nd in 1993

An hour after the race ended, we still don’t have full results, which in this day and age with chip timing and live real-time results ought to be impossible. But that’s the NJSIAA for you. Can you imagine if they held a state championship wrestling match or a football and didn’t release any results for more than an hour after it ended?

But we’ll have more from the Meet of Champions as soon as we know what happened!