Losing one of the top runners in the state wasn’t enough to keep the Cherokee boys from winning their 9th state championship.
Senior Benjamin Realley, sophomore Hamza Salahuddin, senior Gavin Danielewicz, senior Maximo Harada and senior Sean Sooy packed in 23 seconds and Cherokee out-ran Ridge in a battle of two of New Jersey’s top-6 ranked teams.
Cherokee, ranked 6th added to its remarkable legacy of success, topping 5th-ranked Ridge, 66-75, at Holmdel County Park. Cherokee won despite losing its No. 1 runner, the state Group 4 champion last year, who elected not to compete for the high school this fall and is running independently.
Cherokee packed all five scorers between 9th and 22nd, with Realley 9th in 16:32 and then Salahuddin, Danielewicz and Harada finishing 13th, 14th and 15th in 16:41, 16:41 and 16:42. Sooy wasn’t far back in 24th in 16:55.
Ridge had its first two in front of Cherokee’s 1st runner, but Cherokee packed four in front of Ridge’s 3rd.
Cherokee’s nine state titles are 3rd-most in Group 4 behind Passaic’s 11 (all before 1944) and Westfield’s 16. But since 1980, Cherokee’s nine are the most.
The Chiefs won their first four from 1997 through 2000 then won state championships at Holmdel in 2007, 2013, 2019, 2022 and 2024. There was no meet in 2020 so the Chiefs have won four of the last seven contested.
Washington Township junior Trevor Szilier placed 2nd in 16:01, Cherry Hill East senior Cian Sherlock was 4th in 16:13 and Kingsway senior Ryan Duffy ran 16:46 for 18th. Junior Liam Aspenberg [30th in 17:02] and senior Daniel Svec [36th in 17:11] gave Egg Harbor Township two in the top 40. Bridgeton Dylan Benitiz Gonzalez [38th in 17:13] also raced into the top 40.
