Haddonfield, ranked 3rd in New Jersey, placed six runners within 10 seconds in its season debut in a Colonial Conference batch meet Tuesday at West Deptford Park.
Haddonfield won the state Group 2 title last year with four underclassmen in the top five, and later this fall will be shooting for its 7th straight state title and 22nd since 1978.
Senior Bennett Wright was the overall winner in 17:46, followed by junior Benjamin Andrus [17:47], junior Ryan Gibson [17:47], junior newcomer Peter Simpson [17:47], freshman Augustan Coley [17:56] and sophomore Owen Snyder [17:56].
Wright, Gibson and Andrus placed 6th, 8th and 11th at the state meet last year, when Haddonfield raced past Bernards 39-68 at Holmdel.
After Haddonfield’s first six Tuesday, West Deptford sophomore Lane McClintock, a 1st-year cross country runner, was 6th overall in 18:05.
Also in the top 10 were Haddonfield senior Liam Paterson [18:18], West Deptford junior Gavin Yoder [18:26] and Haddonfield senior Case Hurly [18:49].
In the girls meet, No. 9 Haddonfield swept the top 11 spots, with sophomore Madison Kelsey winning in 21:48, followed by senior Dylan Melcher [21:59], sophomore Molly Mills [22:00], junior Lauren Hamblin [22:08], sophomore Harper Benjamin [22:14], junior Edith Green [22:24], senior Caroline Barker [22:29], sophomore Devon Gervasi [22:31], junior Elizabeth Pappas [22:35], junior Sofia Conrey [22:39] and junior Sophia Rowell [22:23].
Audubon took the next three places, with freshman Sophia Brassill [23:30] [yes, that’s three straight finishers named Sophia / Sofia!], sophomore Lydia Gravante [23:31] and freshman Romina Macko [23:32].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 