Led by a 1-2 finish by sophomores Joe Saicic and Zacchaeus Harrigan, the Glassboro boys won their first Gloucester County championship in the meet’s 60-year history Thursday in West Deptford.
Saicic ran 16:01 and Harrigan 16:11 over 5,000 meters at West Deptford Park in the first 1-2 finish at the county meet in 17 years, since Ryan Culbreath and Daniel Fitzgerald finished 1st and 2nd for Kingsway at the 2008 meet at Gloucester County College in Deptford.
In the meet’s first 59 years, Kingsway won 14 titles, Williamstown and Washington Township 11 each, Clearview seven, Deptford and Delsea four apiece, Gateway three, West Deptford and Woodbury two and Pitman one.
With four in the top 10, Glassboro finished with a 39-point margin of victory over Washington Township. Nobody has repeated since Kingsway won its ninth straight county title in 2020.
Senior Jaeden Wesley placed 5th in 16:29 and sophomore Aaron Johnson 10th in 17:11 for the Bulldogs. Fifth man senior Jason Martin was 24th in 18:13.
Glassboro’s previous-best finish was 2nd place twice, most recently in 1993, when Tom Horne and Tim Graves finished 1-2 at Kingsway. The Dragons topped Glassboro 69-87 that year. That was also Glassboro’s last 1-2 finish. Glassboro was 2nd to Clearview in 1981, 40-84, behind Brian Kirkpatrick’s 2nd-place finish.
Washington Township, which won the Gloucester County meet in 2021 and 2023, was led by sophomore Trevor Szilier in 8th place in 16:54.
Williamstown seniors Dominic Burgio and Logan Pavelik ran 3rd and 4th in 16:22 and 16:27. Also in the top 10: Kinsgway sophomore Michael Beaver [6th in 16:32], Gateway senior David Houck [7th in 16:45] and Gateway senior Curtis Stokes [9th in 17:10].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 