Rowan senior Joshua Cason from Camden County Vo-Tech at Sicklerville, became the 24th South Jersey runner to win the New Jersey Athletic Conference cross country title on Saturday, leading the Profs to their 3rd straight conference title and 26th overall.
Cason ran 25:11 on the new 8,000-meter course at Green Lane Fields in Ewing, edging defending champion Erik Ackerman, a Stockton senior, by 40 meters. Ackerman was 2nd in 25:18.
The NJAC title is Cason’s 3rd. He won the 3,000 last February at the indoor championships at Ocean Breeze and the 5,000 at the outdoor meet at Stockton.
Cason is a transfer from Camden County College, where he was a three-time track All-America but didn’t run cross country. At Sicklerville Tech, he ran 4:31.02 for 1,600 meters at the 2021 Camden County meet at Haddon Township and 10:04.42 at the Cherokee Night of 3200s. On Saturday, he ran faster per mile for five miles than he did in high school for two.
Rowan outscored host TCNJ 25-55, with Stockton 3rd with 88 points.
Four of the Profs’ five scorers are from South Jersey: Junior Scott Hubbard from Audubon placed 4th in 25:35, sophomore Colin Patterson from Haddon Heights was 5th in 25:35 and senior Caleb Clevenger from Haddonfield was 8th in 25:46.
Rowan’s one non-South Jersey scorer was grad student Miles Voenell from Pacific Collegiate in Santa Cruz, Calif., 8th in 25:46. He’s a transfer from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore.
Rowan’s 6th man, senior Matt Conway from Haddon Heights, was 9th in 25:46, giving the Profs six of the first nine finishers.
From Hubbard through Conway, Rowan had five finishers in the span of 11 seconds. They had a 35-second gap from 1 through 5.
Among the others racing for the Profs were junior Cole Mylan from Timber Creek [16th in 16:21], junior Sean Hice from Washington Township [18th in 26:33], sophomore Aidan Brad from Williamstown [21st in 26:51], senior Tyler Greene from Ocean City [25th in 27:02], freshman Reid Gervasi from Haddonfield [32nd in 27:15], senior Cameron DiTtroia from Ocean City [33rd in 27:16], grad student Ian Mc Cauley from Haddon Township [38th in 27:26] and junior Anthony Faust from Bishop Eustace [39th in 27:27].
Also in the top 20 were Haddon Township graduate Jacob Dinerman, a Rutgers-Camden sophomore, 6th in 25:41, and Delran grad Anthony Guarino, a TCNJ junior, 19th in 26:39.
Stockton junior Daniel Culleny from Cedar Creek ran 27:25 for 37th, TCNJ junior Nate Kidwell, a junior from Washington Township, placed 45th in 27:45, and Stockton sophomore Patrick Storti from Cinnaminson and Stockton junior Tyler Wells from from Audubon were next, 46th in 27:48 and 47th in 28:03. Stockton also had seniors Dan Rodriguez from Egg Harbor Township [49th in 28:14] and Joseph Debeaumont from Highland [50th in 28:15] in the top 50.
Rowan was ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division 3 Metro Region going into this weekend’s meets after passing Haverford. Moravian was No. 1 in the region and scored a perfect 15 points to win the Landmark Conference meet at Union Canal Tunnel Park in North Lebanon Township, Pa.
The Profs will race in the NCAA Division 3 Metro Region Championships on Nov. 16 at Stockton University in Galloway Township.
The course was designed by The College of New Jersey assistant coach Mike Walker, a Rancocas Valley graduate. It was first used last fall for the Herb Lorenz Invitational, and this is the first time the NJAC meet has been held there.
Rowan – then Glassboro State – won the first three conference titles from 1961 through 1963, then won 17 in a row from 1974 through 1990. The Profs won their first two as Rowan in 1992 and 1993 and also won in 2017 before the current three-year streak.
In all, Rowan has won 26 conference titles and TCNJ has won 31. Those two programs have won the conference meet 57 of the 64 years, including 50 of the last 51.
Other schools that have won: Montclair State [1964, 1966, 1971, 1972], William Paterson [1970, 1973] and Ramapo [2019]
Here’s a look at all the NJAC winners over the years from South Jersey:
1962: Don Lang, Glasssboro State [Paulsboro]
1967: Dean Shonts, Trenton State [Northern Burlington]
1976: Jack Kruse, Glassboro State [Cherry Hill West]
1978: Jack Kruse, Glassboro State [Cherry Hill West]
1979: Jack Kruse, Glassboro State [Cherry Hill West]
1983: Bob Rimkis, Glassboro State [Washington Twp.]
1984: Ron Deckert, Glassboro State [Oakcrest]
1987: Rich Bostwick, Glassboro State [Vineland]
1988: Rich Bostwick, Glassboro State [Vineland]
1989: Rich Bostwick, Glassboro State [Vineland]
1990: Rex Myers, Glassboro State [Delran]
1991: John Schilling, Glassboro State [Pitman]
1992: Matt Martin, Rowan [Haddon Twp.]
1993: Rob Black, Rowan [Pitman]
1994: Jason Capelli, The College of New Jersey [Rancocas Valley]
1998: Mike Walker, The College of New Jersey [Rancocas Valley]
1999: Mike Walker, The College of New Jersey [Rancocas Valley]
2011: Robert Rawls, Rowan [Triton]
2013: Robert Rawls, Rowan [Triton]
2010: Abad Akhtar, Stockton [Atlantic City]
2018: Dan “Fitch” Henry, Rowan [Clearview]
2019: Robert Abrams, The College of New Jersey [Cherry Hill West]
2022: Justin Kelly, Rowan [Cherokee]
2024: Joshua Cason, Rowan [Camden County Vo-Tech / Sicklerville]
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 