The Ocean City girls weren’t invited to race in the Eastern States Championship at the Manhattan Invitational, but with their performance in the Varsity D class race, they proved they belonged.
Led by senior Maeve Smith in 2nd place, Ocean City – ranked 2nd in New Jersey – scored just 59 points and won the Varsity D team title by 48 over Middletown South.
The Red Raiders averaged 16:10.2 for their five scorers on the 2 ½-mile Van Cortlandt Park course in the Bronx. That was the fastest average time of any team not in the Championship race and 7th-fastest overall among 133 high schools competing in eight races.
In a merge of all 133 schools, Ocean City placed 5th with 410 points, behind only U.S. No. 5 Bethlehem Central of Delmar, N.Y. [45], Champlain Valley Union of Hinesburg, Vt. [239], Princeton [363] and Auburn, N.Y. [381], who were all in the Eastern Championship race
Smith took 2nd in the D race in 15:02, finishing behind only Naomi Douglas of Fiorello H. Laguardia of Music and Art of Manhattan. Douglas ran 14:56.
Sophomore Carly Godfrey, freshman Riley Tolson and senior Chloe Care then finished 11th, 12th and 13th, Godfrey and Tolson finishing together in 16:12.8 and Care just behind at 16:16.1. Ocean City got four across the line before any other school in the field had three across. Senior Zoe Zammit ran 17:06 for 26th to complete Ocean City’s scoring pack.
Fastest Teams at Manhattan Invitational
14:56.5 … Bethlehem [1st, Championship]
15:45.7 … Champlain Valley Union [2nd, Championship]
15:57.4 … Auburn [3rd, Championship]
16:02.3 … Tatnall [6th, Championship]
16:06.8 … Princeton [4th, Championship]
16:06.8 … Liverpool [5th, Championship]
16:10.2 … Ocean City [1st, Varsity D]
16:11.3 … Cornwall [1st, Varsity C]
16:15.2 … Bolles [7th, Championship
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 