Erik Preisner, Nathan Aschmann and Michael Romano swept the top three spots and Ocean City raced to its 10th straight Cape May County Championship and 24th in the last 25 years.
Preisner ran 16:06 over 5,000 meters along the Wildwood boardwalk to win his 2nd straight county title after a 4th-place finish in 2023. Aschmann also ran 16:06 and Romano ran 16:11 as Ocean City packed its five scorers in 45 seconds and outscored 2nd-place Middle Township 17-51.
Middle Township senior Jamar Mack broke up the Ocean City pack in 4th place in 16:14. It was Mack who broke up a top-seven Ocean City sweep last year with a 6th-place finish.
The Red Raiders packed their next four runners from 5th through 8th, with Keenan Neuman, Benjamin McCarthy, Hayden Tarves and Ryan Jefferson running from 16:43 through 17:31.
The Red Raiders have won nine straight county titles and 23 of the last 24 dating back to 2000. Middle Township edged Ocean City 29-34 to break up the streak in 2014.
Ocean City has won 43 of 51 team titles and 42 of the last 48 dating back to 1977. The Raiders have placed 1st or 2nd in 48 consecutive county meets since taking 4th in 1976.
They’ve also scored fewer than 40 points in 26 consecutive meets. During their current streak of nine straight wins they’ve averaged 18.1 points.
Others under 19 minutes were Middle Township Champion McNeal [9th in 18:00], Cape May Tech Evan Feliciano [10th in 18:00], Middle Township Rey Cruz Bruno [11th in 18:35], Lower Cape May Regional Chris Saini [12th in 18:38], Middle Township Josh Heck [13th in 18:46] and Middle Township Darp Patel [14th in 18:49].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 