Juniors Luke Andresen and Benjamin Andrus both on on the winning 3,200-meter relay and 2nd-place distance medley as Haddonfield won its 7th state relays title – and first in 11 years – Thursday.
Haddonfield edged Willingboro, 42 1/2-41, to win the Group 2 title at the Bubble in Toms River. It was Haddonfield’s first state relays title in Group 2. The Bulldogs won Group 1 in 1989, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2010 and 2014.
Juniors Peter Simpson and Aaron Keith, Andresen and Andrus won the 4-by-800 in 8:20.72, and Andrus, freshman Jack Brand, Andresen and senior Bennett Wright ran 10:38.45 for 2nd place in the DMR. That’s the fastest DMR in South Jersey this year and Haddonfield’s fastest since 2019, when Derek Gess, Martin Riddell, Greg Eisenhower and Zach Murray ran 10:34.34 to win the race at the Group 2 Relays at the Bubble.
Haddonfield also placed 2nd in the shuttle hurdles, with junior Mark DiMedio, sophomore Ryder Bozine, sophomore Harrison Berman and senior Brant Nicholls running 32.12 and 2nd in the sprint medley with Brand, senior Kai Richards, freshman Brayden Shim and Wright running 3:41.84.
Nichols also cleared 13-6 and junior Stone Tyson 10-6 for a combined 24 feet to take 3rd in the pole vault, and Simpson, junior Aaron Keith, senior Connor Williams and junior Brandon Stoner took 5th in the 4-by-4 in 3:39.80. It was Haddonfield’s 4-by-4, racing out of an unseeded heat, that clinched the team title with two big team points.
The Bulldogs also got half a point in the high jump relay with Bozine [5-6] and junior Mark DiMedio [5-4] tying for 6th.
Willingboro won the 800-meter relay in 1:34.56 with senior Jamere Brooks, junior Christopher Jones, junior Christopher Scott and senior Somad Iyiola and the 4-by-4 in 3;33.60 with Scott, senior Nasier Fields, Iyiola and Jones.
Brooks, Iyiola, senior Nasir Loggins and junior Laquan Kellam ran 32.77 for 3rd in the shuttle hurdles and seniors Zaire Wormley [6-0] and James Pemberton [5-6] placed 3rd in the high jump relay.
Cedar Creek senior Ryan Hassa cleared 14-0, matching the best mark in the competition, and Hassa and senior Andrew Parker combined for 24-6 to place 2nd.
Haddon Heights placed 2nd in the 800-meter relay in 1:35.45 with seniors Xavier Nesbeth, Josh Rehn, Lo’Renzo Lagual and Daniel Furlong.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 