Cherokee’s Ben Weiner, a Brandeis sophomore, placed 6th Saturday of 148 runners in the season-opening Bates Regional Preview at the Wainwright Sports Complex in South Portland, Maine.

Weiner covered 4.34 miles in 13:32, finishing just behind teammate and overall winner Hugh Licklider, who ran 13:21. Weiner was Brandeis’s 4th finisher.

Brandeis outscored Bowdoin of Brunswick, Maine, 22-68 to win the team title. Brandeis is ranked 9th in the NCAA Division 3 Northeast Region

[Random note: My dad grew up about two miles from the course in Portland and attended Bowdoin.]

Senior Sarah Rutledge from Egg Harbor Township, sophomore Madison Pratt from Absegami, junior Paige McCabe from Moorestown and sophomore Grace Wojciechowski from Chrokee all finished in the top 10 to help the Stockton women win the season-opening Jersey Pines Challenge.

Rutledge, Pratt, McCabe and Wojciechowski finished 3rd, 4th, 7th and 8th and were Stockton’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th finishers as the Ospreys won the title, 23-76 over Felician, with Holy Family 3rd at 79.

Stockton is ranked 5th in the NCAA Division 3 Metro Division, behind Swarthmore, TCNJ, Rowan and Moravian.

Rutledge ran 16:14 over 4,000 meters at Ocean County Park in Lakewood, Pratt ran 16:28, McCabe 17:02 and Wojciechowski 17:08. Also, freshman Shaelea Conway from Cherry Hill West placed 15th in 18:03 and was Stockton’s 9th finisher.

Gloucester graduate Dejia Robert, a Rutgers-Camden freshman, placed 12th in 17:33 and was the Scarlet Raptors’ 1st finisher.

Former Wildwood Catholic teammates Angelina Richardson, a Felician freshman, and Azucena Martinez Panesso, a Georgian Court freshman, finished 14th and 23rd, Richardson in 17:50 and Panesso in 19:02. Panesso was not a distance runner at Wildwood Catholic but placed 2nd in the state Parochial B meet last spring at Buena in the 400-meter hurdles.

Also, Cinnaminson’s Olivia Moyer, a Holy Family sophomore, placed 21st overall in 18:40 and was Holy Family’s 3rd finisher.

Stockton freshman James Clauson from Haddon Township opened his collegiate career with a 2nd-place finish at the Georgian Court Pine Barrens Challenge.

Clauson, a state Group 1 medalist in the 3,200 last spring, ran 20:40 over 6,000 meters at Ocean County Park in Lakewood and finished 2nd to sophomore teammate Sam Szczepanski from Mendham, who ran 20:35.

Four of Stockton’s top seven are from South Jersey. Stockton opened the season with a 30-56 win over Felician University of Rutherford.

Junior Patrick Storti of Cinnaminson ran 8th in 21:12 and was Stockton’s 3rd finisher, sophomore Zachary Hutchinson of Ocean City placed 14th in 21:54 and was Stockton’s 6th runner and sophomore Lewis Ianucci of Haddon Heights was 15th in 21:56 and the Ospreys’ seventh across the line.

Also in the top 20 was Felician freshman Vincent Perri of Winslow Township, who ran 22:21 and was the Golden Falcons’ 5th runner.

Stockton, ranked 7th in the NCAA Division 3 Metro Region, races Friday at the Herb Lorenz Invitational at TCNJ’s Green Lane Fields in Ewing.

In her first college race, Paul VI’s Giovanna Mantuano, a Colgate freshman, placed 11th in the Harry Lang Invitational Saturday in Hamilton, N.Y.

Mantuano ran 19:46 over 5,000 meters on Colgate’s Harry Lange XC course on campus and was Colgate’s 4th finisher in her collegiate debut. She was the No. 2 freshman finisher, behind only Syracuse’s Natalie Fouts, who placed 4th.

This was Mantuano’s 1st race since she ran a PR 10:45.33 for 3,200 meters at the Meet of Champions at Pennsauken.

Bucknell junior Kerry O’Day from Cherokee and Lafayette junior Anya Kazemifrom Bishop Eustace placed 1st and 4th Saturday in the annual Lafayette-Bucknell dual meet in Lewisburg.

O’Day ran 13:59 for 4,000 meters and tied for 1st with teammate Kailey Granger. Both were officially timed in 13:59.2.

Kazemi was Lafayette’s 2nd finisher, covering the course at Bucknell Golf Club in 14:07. Lafayette’s 4th finisher was senior Ava Severino from Haddon Heights, who ran 14:29. Also in the top 20 was Bucknell sophomore Dylan Melcher, who placed 18th in 14:44 in her first college race. She spent last year at Virginia Tech but didn’t race.

Bucknell outscored Lafayette, 21-40.

Ocean City’s Nick Scarangelli began his senior year at Embry-Riddle by placing 2nd out of more than 150 runners in the Florida Intercollegiate Invitational.

Scarangelli covered the 5,000-meter course at Cecil Field Golf Course in Jacksonville in 14:57.7. It was his first XC 5K in college. He’s run as fast as 14:17.52 for 5,000 meters on the track.

Scarangelli, the Peach Belt Conference 5,000 runner-up last spring and the 3,000 winner indoors, placed 2nd last fall in the Sunshine State Conference Championships with a 24:36.6 over 8,000 meters in Lakeland, Fla. (Apparently, the school changed conferences between XC and track.)

On Friday, he placed 2nd to Teammate Taye Newman, who ran 14:42. Embry-Riddle, located in Daytona Beach, placed 2nd to North Florida of Jacksonville, 41-62.

Ocean City’s Riley Tolson ran away with the junior girls race Friday at Manalapan’s Run the Night.

Tolson ran 11:12 for two miles at Manalapan Recreation Center, winning by 200 meters over Sophie Nash of North Hunterdon, who was 2nd in 11:57.

Tolson, 3rd in the state Group 3 race last fall at Holmdel and a 10:38.56 runner for 3,200 meters, was South Jersey’s fastest runner at Manalapan and 2nd-fastest overall.

Moorestown’s Makayla Zell [4th in 12:13] and Ocean City’s Lenna Driscoll [6th in 12:24] also finished in the top 10.

Molly Cataline of Northern Burlington won the freshman girls race Friday at the Run the Night at Manalapan Recreation Center.

Cataline ran 11:53, presumably over two miles – the results don’t list a course length – and finished nearly 200 meters ahead of 2nd-place Poppy Kolb of Rumson-Fair Haven, who was 2nd in 12:36.

Catalione, who won the Cherokee Challenge Middle School race last year as an 8th-grader at Northern Burlington Middle School, ran 5:25.63 and 11:36.12 on the track last spring.

Also in the freshman race, Ocean City’s Makcenzie Jenkins and Cara Jefferson placed 3rd and 9th in 12:40 and 13:08. Mary-Kate Boyle of Northern ran 13:09 for 10th.

Rider freshman Ashley Doyle, a Delran graduate in her first college race, placed 6th out of 45 runners Friday in the Temple Invitational on Temple’s Ambler campus, which is in Upper Dublin Township and not in Ambler.

Doyle ran 4,000 meters in 16:06 and was Rider’s first finisher.

Rider placed 4th in team scoring with 77 points, behind Temple [29], Loyola [56] and Seton Hall [62].

For the Rider men, sophomore Melvin Lewis of Pleasantville and freshman Jacob Wickersham were the Broncs’ 2nd and 3rd finishers in 20th and 27th in 22:15 and 22:43 over four miles.

Seniors Lindsay Taylor from Egg Harbor Township and Samantha Swearingen from Paul VI helped the Delaware Valley University women win the season-opening Aggie Open over 5,000 meters on Delaware Valley’s home course in Doylestown and New Britain.

Taylor placed 3rd in 22:16 and Swearingen was 11th in 23:42. They were the Aggies 3rd and 6th finishers.

Delaware Valley won the team title 20-47 over Kean College, Jersey City campus.