Junior Rex Takakjy became Cherry Hill West’s first winner in eight years, and Haddonfield won the team title without its top five runners at the Camden County Championships Friday in Gloucester Township.
Takakjy ran 17:06 at Timber Creek Park, edging Paul VI senior Sean Alemi and Haddonfield junior Brandon Stoner in a tight three-way race. Takakjy ran 17:07 and Alemi and Stoner 17:09.
Takakjy is Cherry Hill West’s first county champ in XC since Robert Abrams won the 2016 race in 16:56 on the same course.
Haddonfield edged Paul VI 49-55 for the team title. The Bulldogs put all seven runners in the top 20 and Stoner, sophomore Andrew Blum and senior Case Hurly 3rd, 6th and 8th. In addition to Stoner’s 17:09, Blum ran 17:25 and Hurly 17:30.
The Bulldogs’ other scorers were junior Michael Sinnes [14th in 17:58] and senior Leonardo DiCello [18th in 18:07] for a 58-second gap from one through five. Senior Linus Kucer [19th in 18:11] and junior John Leibrandt [20th in 18:13] also raced for Haddonfield.
Haddonfield, ranked No. 2 in the state, rested its top five of Luke Andresen, Bennett Wright, Peter Simpson, Benjamin Andrus and Ryan Gibson.
Also in the top 10 were Haddon Heights senior Reggie Hernandez [4th in 17:17], Winslow Township senior Dominic Bassey [5th in 17:24], Gloucester junior Marcus Flagg [7th in 17:28] and Paul VI sophomores Chase Cooley [9th in 17:30] and Max Long [10th in 17:43].
Others who ran sub-18: Winslow junior Vincent Perri [11th in 17:44], Camden County Vo-Tech / Sicklerville senior Julian Rich [12th in 17:45], Paul VI sophomore Caden Briggs [13th in 17:52] and Audubon junior Logan Camm [15th in 17:59].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 