Two members of last year’s Haddon Heights cross country team enjoyed successful college debuts this past weekend.
Scranton freshman Owen James placed 9th in the Ranger Invitational in Clark and was Scranton’s 5th finisher overall.
James ran 17:33 at Oak Ridge Park, helping Scranton win the team title 17-47 over host Drew.
And Wilmington University freshman Reggie Hernandez of Haddon Heights, also in his first college XC race, placed 5th out of 81 runners Saturday at the Philadelphia Cross Classic.
Hernandez ran 29:26 over 8,000 meters on the challenging Belmont Plateau course in Fairmount Park.
Wilmington went 1-4-5-6-11 and won the team title, 27-48, over Jefferson of Philadelphia.
Hernandez placed 4th in the South Jersey Group 2 XC sectionals last fall at DREAM Park in Logan Township, helping Heights place 2nd overall.
Also racing for Wilmington were freshman Julian Rich, who ran cross country for Camden County Tech (and track for Winslow, Camden Counthy Tech doesn’t have track), and freshman Kevin Gonzalez from Bridgeton. They placed 11th and 15th overall in their first college races.
Jefferson’s 7th runner was senior Ryan Kopervos of Absegami, who placed 21st overall.
In the women’s race, Jefferson junior Amy Chomo and sophomore Angie Chomo, both of Schalick, placed 16th and 21st. Jefferson won the team title 19-66 over Wilmington.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 