Freshman Juliana Sieminski of Delsea, junior Allyson Wernik of Washington Township and senior Gianna Burgio of Williamstown helped Rowan win its second consecutive NJAC championship and 8th overall Saturday in Galloway Township.
Sieminski placed 12th in 23:27.3 over 6,000 meters at Stockton University, Wernik ran 23:32.0 for 14th and Burgio 24:46.6 for 25th as Rowan edged TCNJ 41-46. Stockton was 3rd with 67 points.
Senior Gabriella Pagano from Pope John XXIII was the overall winner in 21:56.4. She’s Rowan’s first conference XC champ since Dianne Ferraro of South Plainfield in 2019.
TCNJ’s 5th runner was senior Savannah Hodgens from Mainland Regional, who placed 15th overall in 23:35.9
Top freshman in the race was TCNJ’s Teagan Walker, who ran 7th in 23:20.4. Her father, Mike, was a two-time Burlington County Open 1,600 champ for Rancocas Valley and is now a track and XC coach at TCNJ.
Stockton, 3rd with 67 points, was led by four-time NCAA Division 3 800 All-America Kayla Kass of Bayonne in 6th in 23:11.7 and Shawnee’s Madelyn Valasek in 9th in 23:22.2.
Other South Jersey runners in the top 30: Rowan senior Gianna Burgio [25th in 24:46.6], Stockton freshman Madison Pratt from Absegami [6th in 24:48.8], Stockton junior Sarah Rutledge [29th in 25:01.4]
The TCNJ men went 1-3-5-6-7-(8-10) to win the team title 22-47 over Rowan. Senior Anthony Guarino from Delran placed 14th for TCNJ in 26:20.1.
Senior Matthew Conway from Haddon Township and junior Colin Patterson from Haddon Heights finished 2nd and 4th, Conway in 25:04.7 and Patterson in 25:15.5.
Glassboro’s Elijah Whitaker ran 25:56.6 for 11th place and was the 2nd freshman in the race, one place behind TCNJ’s Josh Santiago from Old Bridge. He was Rowan’s 3rd finisher.
Also in the top 30: Junior Jacob Dinerman of Rutgers Camden and Haddon Township [12th in 26:06.6], Rowan senior Sean Hice of Washington Township [13th in 26:19.4], Rowan junior Aidan Brad from Williamstown [20th in 26:33.5], Rowan senior Anthony Faust from Bishop Eustace [21st in 26:35.5] and Rowan freshman Dylan Saber from Williamstown [22nd in 26:46.1].
Also: Stockton freshman Muhammad Khan from Atlantic City [23rd in 26:48.2], Rowan sophomore Reid Gervasi from Haddonfield [25th in 26:57.8], TCNJ freshman Simon Bernhardt from Shawnee [27th in 27:01.6], TCNJ senior Nate Kidwell from Washington Township [28th in 27:10.8] and TCNJ sophomore Silas Matteson from Cherokee [29th in 27:20.5].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 