Paul VI placed four runners in the top five to win its 3rd consecutive team title Saturday at the 36thannual Briarwood Invitational over 5,000 meters at historic Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia.
Freshman Peyton Barger led PVI in 2nd place in 20:14, junior Morgan Kuzma was 3rd in 20:53, sophomore Isabella Suarez 4th in 21:04 and senior Grace Gutowski 5th in 21:23. Junior Peyton Blake rounded out Paul VI’s top five in 11th place in 22:00.
Paul VI’s top five averaged 21:07 and PVI outscored 2nd-place Marple Newtown, 25-41, with Audubon 3rd with 87 points, one fewer than Germantown Friends.
Paul VI, ranked 8th in New Jersey, also had sophomores Molly O. Smith and Emilia Greilli in the top 20. Smith ran 22:42 for 14th and Grelli 22:57 for 16th, giving Paul VI seven of the first 16 finishers.
Marple Newtown junior Sloane Smith, 4th last fall in the PIAA 3A state championships in Spring Run, Pa., won the race in 19:42.
This is PVI’s 3rd straight team title at Briarwood. They won 57-63 in 2024 over South Western High of Penn Township in York County, Pa., and won last year 60-85 over Wissahickon High in Lower Gwyneed Township, Montgomery County.
They won by 25 points this year, 60-85, over Wissahickon High in Lower Gwynedd Township, Montgomery County, of by six points last year over South Western High of Penn Township, York County, Pa.
Junior Johanna Trampe [20th in 23:44], senior Kara Salamone [22nd in 24:13] and sophomore Mia Waldby [24th in 24:15] also ran 24:15 or faster.
PVI also won the JV race with junior Francesca Cianfrani and sophomores Riley Sheppard and Clare Callinan sweeping the top three spots.
Sophomore Emma Camm led Audubon in 12th place in 22:30 with senior teammate Lydia Gravante in 13th 11 seconds back. Senior Sophia Rizzo was 19th in 23:40.
In the boys race, Audubon junior John Robinson placed 11th in 17:24.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 