Seniors Gabrielle DeJoseph and Noelia Reyes and freshmen Hope Edwards and Makayla Zell all placed in the top 10 and the Moorestown girls used some outstanding pack running to race to the Division 2 title Saturday morning at the South Jersey Open.
Moorestown’s top five packed in 53 seconds at DREAM Park in Logan Township and all seven runners finished in a 67-second gap, and the Quakers defeated Sterling 37-65, with Mainland – led by overall winner Sofia Day – 3rd with 67 points.
For Moorestown, ranked 11th in New Jersey, DeJoseph placed 4th in 19:20; Reyes 6th in 19:52, Edwards 7th in 19:53, Zell 9th in 20:03 and junior Lilliana Stack Maya 11th in 20:13.
The Quakers showed their depth with 6th and 7th runners Sophia DiFiore, a sophomore, and Celia Frederico, a junior, placing 13th and 14th in 20:26 and 20:27.
Moorestown had seven runners across the line before any other school had its 4th runner finish.
Day ran 18:28 and out-raced Sterling senior Kaysie Luna to the finish line, with Luna a close 2nd in 18:36 – a huge all-course PR for 5,000 meters. Her previous best was a 19:16 in a batch meet at West Deptford Park. It’s also the fastest ever by a Sterling girl at DREAM Park, topping Jonalee Adames’ 19:21 at this race last year. Adames actually ran much faster Saturday – she was 3rd in 19:08 giving Sterling a 2-3 finish.
Also in the top 10 were Delsea Juliana Sieminski [5th in 19:27], Mainland freshman Ella Mokienko [8th in 19:59] and Mainland sophomore Cecilia Foreman [10th in 20:06].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 