Led by senior and 1st-time XC runner Alyssa Suriano in 2nd place, the Cherokee girls won their 3rd straight sectional title, 5th in six years and sixth overall Saturday in Logan Township.
Cherry Hill East sophomore Addison Weiss, the DREAM Park course record holder at 17:46.87, won the South Jersey Group 4 race in 18:02.36, but Cherokee placed its five scorers between 2nd and 11th and topped Cherry Hill East 39-47.
Suriano ran 18:21.71 for 2nd place, with sophomore Erin Healy 7th in 18:58.96, senior Maya Kumar 9th in 19:06.69, senior Sofia Recinto 10th in 19:09.94 and senior Madeline Meder 11th in 19:12.75.
Cherokee averaged 18:58.01, the 5th-fastest time in course history, Cherokee’s fastest at DREAM Park and the fastest ever in a South Jersey Group 4 race.
Cherry Hill East’s 47 points are the fewest by a non-winning school in South Jersey Group 4 in 36 years, since Paul VI edged Brick Township 40-42 in the 1989 meet at Westampton Tech.
East had all five scorers in the top 20, led by Weiss and Ryleigh Budsock in 4th in 18:45.19.
Emmie Wang [12th in 19:20.85], Katherine Grottini [13th in 19:28.37] and Gabriella Pizzo [17th in 19:46.98] also scored for Cherry Hill East. Ella Davidson [22nd in 19:56.14] and Rebecca Tibbetts [23rd in 19:56.22] gave East seven runners under 20 minutes.
Cherokee won its first sectional title in 2003 and has also won South Jersey Group 4 in 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The top 15 individuals and top five teams advance to the state Group 4 meet at Holmdel County Park next Saturday.
Also racing in the top 15 were Kingsway Aubrey Bishop [3rd in 18:33.29], Williamstown Sophia Aldridge [5th in 18:49.76] and Eastern senior Natalie Dumas [14th in 19:30.00]. Not bad for an intermediate hurdler!
Joining Cherokee and Cherry Hill East as team qualifiers are Toms River North [104], Egg Harbor Township [132] and Southern Regional [173].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 