St. Joe’s junior Matt Hoffman from Ocean City led a large South Jersey contingent Friday at the Lehigh Invitational with an 8th-place finish among 129 finishers.
Hoffman covered 6,000 meters on Lehigh’s south campus in Bethlehem and Lower Saucon Township in 18:49 and was St. Joe’s 4th finisher. The Hawks’ 5th runner was senior Ian Romea from Haddonfield, who took 12th in 18:55.
Rutgers edged St. Joe’s 35-36 to win the team title.
Rutgers’ 4th finisher was senior Kyle Rakitis from Kingsway, who placed 13th in 19:00.
Host Lehigh’s 4th runner was junior Will Mrozinski Paul VI, who was 24th in 19:21.
St. Joe’s sophomore Christian Napoli of Paul VI placed 28th and ran 19:24, followed closely by Rowan’s top runner, senior Colin Patterson from Haddon Heights, 31st in 19:25.
Rutgers senior Ryan Smith from Rancocas Valley ran 19:32 and placed 36th, and Rutgers freshman Peter Simpson from Haddonfield ran 19:35 and took 39th in his first college race.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 