Cinnaminson senior Jacob Wickersham was the overall and Cherokee won its 12th consecutive team title while reting its lead group Friday at the Burlington County Open in Mansfield Township.
Wickersham ran 16:13 over 5,000 meters on the new course at Crystal Lake Park, which is between Rte. 130 and Interstate 295 on the Fieldsboro border.
He’s Cinnaminson’s first county champion since Austin Gabay won his second in a row in 2019.
Wickersham finished 40 meters ahead of Cherokee junior Sean Sooy, who took 2nd in 16:22.
Cherokee placed six in the top 10 and had a 25-second pack for its five scorers. The Chiefs finished with a 26-50 margin over Cinnaminson, with Lenape 3rd with 121 points.
The win was Cherokee’s 25th in the last 31 years. The last team other than Cherokee to win the County Open was Nothern Burlington in 2013, and the last individual winner who wasn’t from Cherokee or Cinnaminson was Northern’s Chris Martin, also in 2013.
Joining Sooy in the top 10 for Cherokee were junior Gavin Danielewicz [3rd in 16:29], junior Maximo Harada [5th in 16:35], senior Dominic Pileri [7th in 16:41], junior Leo Vyvyan [9th in 16:47] and freshman Hamza Salahuddin [10th in 16:54].
Others in the top 10 were Cinnaminson junior Edward Abu-Adas [4th in 16:31], Northern Burlington senior Jimmy Cataline [6th in 16:39] and Cinnaminson junior Ryan Scaricaciottoli [8th in 16:43].
Also under 17:30: Shawnee senior Yanni Ekatomatis [11th, 17:01], Lenape junior Aaron Smith [12th, 17:01], Lenape sophomore Jayden Carn [13th, 17:06], Moorestown sophomore Zander Kane [14th, 17:08], Moorestown junior Ethan Taylor [15th, 17:19], Cinnaminson junior Owen Castanheira [16th, 17:20], Seneca senior Dominic Lera [17th, 17:22], Northern Burlington sophomore Trevor Johnston [18th, 17:22], Medford Tech senior Marcos Paulino [19th, 17:25], Medford Tech junior Chris Davis [20th, 17:27] and Cinnaminson junior Alexander Lonardo [21st, 17:29].
The meet was held at Crystal Lake Park for the first time after leaving Mill Creek Park, which hosted the County Open 35 times from 1981 through 2024 (1981-1993, 2001-2019, 2022-2024).
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 