Junior Riley Austin won her 2nd straight individual title and sophomore Madison Kelsey and senior Katherine Asher also placed in the top 5, and the Haddonfield girls won their 32nd sectional title and 15th in a row Saturday at DREAM Park in Logan Township.
Despite not using several of its top runners, Haddonfield went 1-4-5-7-10-14-15 and outscored 2nd-place Sterling 26-55, with Seneca 3rd with 128 points.
Austin ran 18:13, Kelsey placed 4th in 19:37 and Asher 5th in 19:52. Elizabeth Pappas was 7th in 20:00 and Edith Green 10th in 20:21. Haddonfield’s 6th and 7th runners weren’t far behind, Caroline Barker 14th in 20:35 and Lauren Hamblin 15th in 20:44.
Haddonfield has swept the Group 2 individual and team titles 19 times in the last 26 years.
Sterling went 2-3 with seniors Kaysie Luna 2nd in 18:35 and Jonalee Adames 3rd in 18:43, and Gloucester senior Dejia Roberts [6th in 20:00], Collingswood junior Macie Straight [8th in 20:07], West Deptford sophomore Taylor Sierzega [12th in 20:28] and Sterling senior Isabella Patruno [13th in 20:30] were all also in the top 15.
Others under 22 minutes: Middle Township junior Olivia Orton [17th in 21:00], Salem County Vo-Tech senior Sarah Seiden [18th in 21:01], Cedar Creek senior Leah Denmead [19th in 21:14], Sterling senior Amber Wilsey [20th in 21:16], Gloucester senior Cameron Harris [21st in 21:24], Seneca junior Catherine Hodges [22nd in 21:30], Sterling freshman Riley Sharp [23rd in 21:32] and Haddon Heights senior Grace Duffy [24th in 21:43].
No school in New Jersey has won as many sectional titles as Haddonfield. Ridgewood is 2nd with 28.
Thomas became the seventh Haddonfield girl to win at least two consecutive South Jersey titles. Olympian Erin Donohue won four straight from 1997 through 2000 (the first two in Group 1, the second two in Group 2), Vanessa Wright won four straight from 2002 through 2005 and Olympian Marielle Hall followed with another four straight. Meghan Malloy won back-to-back races in 2011 and 2012 and Briana Gess won four in a row from 2013 through 2016. Finally, Sarah Natacchia won two in a row in 2019 and 2020.
Anna Earp won Group 2 in 2021, Ava Thomas in 2022 and Austin in 2023 and 2024, so that’s four straight for Haddonfield and 23 of the last 26 going back to 1999.
Haddonfield won its first sectional title in Group 1 in 1982 and also won Group 1 in 1985, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997 and 1998 and has won Group 2 in 1994, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
The Bulldogs swept the individual and team titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 through 2008, 2010 through 2016 and 2019 through 2024.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 