Yesterday, we posted the all-time South Jersey boys top combined Holmdel County Park times, and as promised here’s the girls list.

As always, please drop any corrections, additions or omissions in the comment section!

Click here for the boys list!

18:18.4 … Haddonfield A
17:45 .. Briana Gess [2013 Meet of Champions]
18:17 … Marielle Hall [2009 Meet of Champions]
18:22 … Vanessa Wright [2004 Meet of Champions]
18:27 … Erin Donohue [1998 Meet of Champions]
18:41 … Shelby Cain [2011 State Group 2]

18:46.6 … Cherokee A
17:55 … Megan Lacy [2010 Group 4]
18:43 … Nicole Clifford [2021 Meet of Champions]
18:52 … Lisa Burkholder [2004 Meet of Champions]
19:02 … Kate Rathman [2019 Meet of Champions]
19:21 … Alison Weeks [2006 Meet of Champions]

18:49.2 … Kingsway A
17:44 … Chelsea Ley [2008 Shore Coaches Group C]
18:29 … Rachel Vick [2016 State Group 4]
19:02 … Alexis Mullarkey [2015 Meet of Champions]
19:24 … Aubrey Pierontoni [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:27 … Ashlynne Burke [2018 Shore Coaches Group B]

18:50.4 … Highland
17:28 … Megan Venables [2010 State Group 3]
18:48 … Grace Wassell [2021 Meet of Champions]
18:57 … Arianna McKinney [2004 State Group]
19:14 … Jenn Rawls [2008 Meet of Champions]
19:45 … Robin Van Auken [1999 Meet of Champions]

18:56.8 … Cherry Hill East A
18:18 … Theresa Cattuna [2006 Meet of Champions]
18:28 … Grace Yoon [2016 State Group 4]
19:16 … Sarah Pierce [2016 Shore Coaches Group A]
19:18 … Missy Shower [2007 Meet of Champions]
19:24 … Alaina Chodoff [2006 Meet of Champions]

18:59.6 … Shawnee A
18:38 … Casey Doyle [2007 Meet of Champions]
18:59 … Kara Bonner [2015 State Group 4]
19:02 … Julia Despirito [2013 Meet of Champions]
19:06 … Kate Ruona [2019 Group 4]
19:13 … Isabella Turner [2018 Meet of Champions]

19:03.4 … Haddonfield B
18:50 … Sarah Naticchia [2020 Holmdel Invitational]
18:50 … Meghan Malloy [2011 Meet of Champions]
19:07 … Allison Colflesh [2020 Holmdel Invitational]
19:08 … Peyton Weiner [2020 Colt Invitational]
19:22 … Anne Earp [2021 Meet of Champions]

19:06.0 … Mainland Regional
17:55 … Alyssa Aldridge [2016 Meet of Champions]
18:49 … Sofia Day [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:24 … Gillian Lovett [2022 Shore Coaches B]
19:39 … Andrea Campbell [2003 State Group 4]
19:43 … Kelly Gross [2005 Meet of Champions]

19:16.8 … Delsea A
18:51 … Amanda Goetschius [2006 Meet of Champions]
19:10 … Paige Senatore [2011 State Group 3]
19:25 … Celine Mazzi [2013 Shore Coaches Group C]
19:26 … Lillie Widmer [2022 Group 2]
19:32 … Ashley Deckert [2009 Meet of Champions]

19:20.8 … Bishop Eustace
18:08 … Holly Bischof [2010 Meet of Champions]
19:10 … Katy Storti [2018 Meet of Champions]
19:34 … Montana DiPietrantonio [2010 Parochial A]
19:55 … Courtney Kelly [2010 Shore Coaches Group E]
19:57 … Elena Cicchini [2022 Shore Coaches Group E]

19:20.8 … Seneca A
18:49 … Mara Schiffhauer [2013 Meet of Champions]
19:19 … Paige McCauley [2012 Meet of Champions]
19:24 … Joey Webb [2013 State Group 2]
19:29 … Sydny Warner [2017 State Group 2]
19:43 … Nicole McGrainer [2008 State Group 2]

19:22.2 … Washington Twp.
17:40 … Michelle Rowen [1982 Meet of Champions]
18:40 … Dina Iacone [2011 Shore Coaches Group A]
19:49 … Maura Keane [2019 Meet of Champions]
20:00 … Lexie Taylor [2012 State Group 4]
20:42 … Kate Cochran [2018 Shore Coaches Group A]

19:25.4 … Shawnee B
19:19 … Nikki Theimann [1996 Group 4]
19:24 … Kim Bonner [2003 Meet of Champions]
19:28 … Liz Moore [1993 Group 4]
19:28 … Karen O’Neill [1993 Group 4]
19:28 … Jenna Darcy [1999 Shore Coaches A

19:28.6 … Cherokee B
19:22 … Kelsey Niglio [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:24 … Kerry O’Day [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:27 … Olivia Parkinson [2021 Shore Coaches A]
19:35 … Megan O’Leary [2004 Meet of Champions]
19:35 … Kristin Lewis [2006 Meet of Champions]

19:33.6 … Clearview
19:04 … Abigail Kotran [2022 Shore Coaches Group B]
19:06 … Abigail Waddington [2022 Shore Coaches Group B]
19:49 … Kaitlin Donahue [2016 Shore Coaches Group B]
19:50 … Julia Rothstein [2015 Shore Coaches Group B]
19:59 … Andrea Shute [2004 State Group 3]

19:34.0 … Haddonfield C
19:29 … Helene Usher [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:30 … Audrey Naticchia [2022 Group 2]
19:31 … Riley Austin [2022 Group 2]
19:34 … Ava Thomas [2022 Group 2]
19:46 … Sabrina Miller [2021 State Group 2]

19:38.8 … Shawnee C
19:30 … Michelle DiMuro [1984 Group 4]
19:33 … Robin McDowell [2003 Meet of Champions]
19:38 … Morgan Arena [2014 State Group 4]
19:43 … Claire Hauser [2018 Shore Coaches Group B]
19:50 … Claire Rankin [2015 State Group 4]

19:39.6 … Moorestown
19:23 … Genevieve Cickavage [2014 State Group 3]
19:27 … Meghan Hughes [2001 State Group 2]
19:44 … Kelsey Rinehart [2000 Meet of Champions]
19:51 … Tara Monihan [2011 Shore Coaches Group B]
19:53 … Brianna Rogers [2007 Shore Coaches Group C]

19:46.4 … Kingsway B
19:27 … Allie Pierontoni [2019 State Group 4]
19:35 … Lauren Krott [2017 Meet of Champions]
19:50 … Destiny Stanford [2016 State Group 4]
20:00 … Liz Locke [2008 Shore Coaches Group C]
20:00 … Sydney Watts [2018 Shore Coaches Group B]

19:48.0 … Seneca B
19:45 … Lyndsy Horn [2009 State Group 2]
19:45 … Kayla Martin [2015 Meet of Champions]
19:46 … Emma Klouchek [2017 State Group 3]
19:48 … Stephanie Flemming [2013 Meet of Champions]
19:56 … Carley Tool [2016 State Group 3]

19:51.4 … Haddonfield D
19:49 … Elizabeth Sikkema [2007 State Group 2]
19:49 … Riley Slootsky [2022 Group 2]
19:51 … Jess Goode [2021 State Group 2]
19:53 … Jackie Sikkema [2008 Shore Coaches]
19:55 … Alexa Gostovich [2013 Meet of Champions]

19:53.8 … Delsea B
19:39 … Felicia O’Donnell [2009 Meet of Champions]
19:47 … Brittany McCann [2001 Meet of Champions]
19:48 … Kaitlyn Rauscher [2016 Shore Coaches Group C]
19:57 … Ashlee Hitchner [2010 Shore Coaches Group C]
20:18 … Carly Nicholson [2018 State Group 2]

19:54.2 … Cherry Hill East B
19:41 … Alexis Tepper [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:54 … Meghan Marro [2008 Meet of Champions]
19:54 … Madison McNiff [2021 Meet of Champions]
19:55 … Monica Lee [2014 State Group 4]
20:07 … Kiley Walsh [2021 Meet of Champions]c

20:02.2 … Cinnaminson
19:49 … Meghan Malloy [2009 Meet of Champions]
19:46 … Stephanie Renouf [2021 Meet of Champions
20:04 … Haley Adams [2014 Meet of Champions
20:13 … Anna Marino [Shore Coaches Group E
20:19 … Madison Edwards [2017 State Group 2

20:03.4 … Cherokee C
19:44 … Malia Lyles [2002 Group 4
19:51 … Megan Charbeneau [2010 Meet of Champions
19:58 … Megan Niglio [2021 Meet of Champions
20:22 … Melissa Arnold [2011 Group 4
20:22 … Erin O’Leary [2010 Meet of Champions

When George Andrus ran 15:41 at Holmdel Saturday, he did more than just win the state Group 2 title.

He bumped Haddonfield past Cherokee for the No. 1 spot on the all-time South Jersey Holmdel County Park performance list.

Last week we posted the all-time South Jersey single-race performance lists – the boys list is here and the girls list is here.

But what about the all-time lists?

Going into states, Cherokee’s five-fastest runners ever at Holmdel had a 15:43 average  and Haddonfield’s top five had a 15:44.2 average. But Andrus’s 15:41 dropped Haddonfield to 15:41.6 and a bit faster than Cherokee, who has a 15:43 average.

With the talent Haddonfield and Cherokee are bringing back to Holmdel for the Meet of Champions Saturday, we could get more changes atop the list.

These lists weren’t easy to put together and I may be missing some performances and even some schools and quite possibly some B teams. If you see a runner or program missing please let me know ASAP in the comment section!

Girls list coming later today!

Haddonfield A 15:41.6  
15:36 … Seth Clevenger [2021 Meet of Champions]
15:41 … Jon Vitez [2009 Meet of Champions]
15:41 … George Andrus [2022 Group 2]
15:42 … Ben Potts [2010 Meet of Champions]
15:48 … Chris Platt [2001 Meet of Champions]

Cherokee A 15:43.0
15:40 … Shawn Wilson [2012 Group 4]
15:41 … Ethan Wechsler [2019 Meet of Champions]
15:43 … Marc Pelerin [2001 Meet of Champions]
15:45 … Keith Krieger [2002 Group 4]
15:46 … Jack Shea [2015 Meet of Champions]

Highland 15:55.8
15:33 … Joshua Clark [2015 Meet of Champions]
15:41 … Steve Maine [2013 Group 4]
15:57 … Nate Miller [1998 Meet of Champions]
16:13 … Kevin Pumphrey [1984 Meet of Champions]
16:15 … Jay Wassell [1995 Meet of Champions]

Haddonfield B 15:58.6
15:54 … Skip Stiles [2001 Meet of Champions
15:55 … Breton Bonnette [2001 Meet of Champions]
15:58 … Martin Ridell [2019 Meet of Champions]
16:01 … Matt Nussbaum [2010 Meet of Champions]
16:05 … Jim Smith [1979 Meet of Champions]

Ocean City 15:59.0
15:41 … Brett Johnson [2008 Group 3]
15:44 … Miles Schoedler [2010 Shore Coaches]
16:03 … John Fennekohl [2006 Meet of Champions]
16:10 … Ryan Birchmeier [2007 Group 3]
16:17 … John Richardson [2002 Group 3]

Cinnaminson 15:59.4
15:48 … Austin Gabay [2019 Shore Coaches]
15:51 … Jon Anderson [2003 Meet of Champions]
15:57 … Michael Ungvarsky [2016 Shore Coaches]
16:08 … Steve Grabowski [2005 Meet of Champions]
16:13 … Matt Poskus [2006 Meet of Champions]

Paul VI 16:00.6
15:17 … Jason DiJoseph [1988 Parochial A]
16:08 … Ron Faith [1984 Meet of Champions]
16:09 … Tom Keefer [1991 Meet of Champions]
16:13 … Joe Cranston [1989 Meet of Champions]
16:16 … Pete Dougherty [1990 Meet of Champions]

Cherry Hill East 16:00.6
15:37 … Aaron Groff [2015 Group 4]
15:48 … Oliver Adler [2019 Meet of Champions
16:01 … Bruce Miller [1981 Shore Coaches]
16:18 … Dan Helfand [2014 Group 4]
16:19 … Bill Stewart [1982 Meet of Champions]

Mainland 16:02.6
15:29 … Kevin Antczak [2019 Meet of Champions]
15:39 … Greg Hughes [2003 Meet of Champions]
16:06 … Jimmy Wyner [2003 Meet of Champions]
16:07 … Scott Keyser [1995 Meet of Champions]
16:20 … Kurt Wayton [1993 Group 3]

Eastern 16:05.6
15:51 … Mike Myers [2000 Meet of Champions]
16:05 … Dan Deichert [2001 Meet of Champions]
16:06 … Karl Savage [1996 Group 4]
16:10 … Nicholas Pschunder [2014 Group 4]
16:16 … Barry Shea [1984 Shore Coaches]

Cherokee B 16:05.8
15:56 … Nick Kuenkel [2022 Shore Coaches A]
15:59 … Patrick Ditmars [2022 Group 4]
16:09 … Joe Halin [1999 Group 4]
16:12 … Justin Kelly [2016 Group 4]
16:13 … Tom Yersak [2004 Meet of Champions]

Shawnee 16:08.4
15:57 … David Forward [2008 Shore Coaches]
15:58 … Connor Herr [2010 Meet of Champions]
16:13 … Peter Murray [2010 Shore Coaches]
16:14 … Adam Ambrus [2000 Group 4]
16:20 … Matt Talbot [1984 Group 4]
16:20 … Keith O’Brien [1991 Meet of Champions]

Haddon Twp. 16:10.6
15:39 … Luke Petela [2014 Meet of Champions]
16:15 … Owen Long [2015 Group 1]
16:17 … Jason Fiscus [1988 Meet of Champions]
16:19 … Randy Ladd [2015 Meet of Champions]
16:23 … Dave Donohue [1988 Group 1]

Haddonfield C 16:11.8
16:06 … Greg Halla [2012 Meet of Champions]
16:10 … Greg Eisenhower, [2018 Meet of Champions]
16:11 … Greg Pelose [2015 Group 2]
16:12 … Andrew Gostovich [2019 Group 2]
16:20 … Brian Goldberg [2003 Meet of Champions]

Kingsway 16:15.4
16:09 … Noah Culbreath [2014 [Group 4]
16:15 … Ryan Magnus [2012 Meet of Champions]
16:17 … Jonathan Connor [2017 Group 4]
16:17 … Joe Grandizio [2017 Meet of Champions]
16:19 … Stone Caraccio [2018 Shore Coaches Group A]

Cherokee C 16:17.8
16:14 … Greg Malloy [2010 Meet of Champions]
16:18 … Greg Bredeck [2005 Meet of Champions]
16:18 … Chase Miller [2019 Meet of Champions
16:19 … Conor Jacob [2021 Meet of Champions
16:20 … Alex Yersak [2007 State Group 4]

16:23.8 … Haddon Heights
16:18 … Mickey Borsellino [2007 Group 1]
16:21 … Josh Black [2007 Shore Coaches]
16:24 … Matt Mitchell [2005 Group 2]
16:27 … John Salisbury [1992 Meet of Champions]
16:29 … Jack Bolling [2021 Meet of Champions]

16:24.8 … Haddonfield D
16:21 … Mike Burke [2004 Shore Coaches]
16:24 … Tobias Janssen [2021 Group 2]
16:24 … Joe Shanahan [1987 Meet of Champions]
16:27 … Chad Evans [2014 Meet of Champions]
16:28 … Austin Stoner [2015 Group 2]

16:27.8 … Highland B
16:21 … Ben Woodward [2017 Group 3]
16:26 … Cole Wassell [2020 Holmdel Invitational]
16:27 … Robert Lacovara [2021 Meet of Champions]
16:30 … Kyle Gorcyznski [2007 Group 3]
16:35 … Jerry Franks [1989 Meet of Champions]

Peter Simpson ran his first lifetime cross country race two months ago.

Now he’s the New Jersey’s fastest freshman.

Simpson, a freshman at Moorestown, began his high school XC career in an Olympic Conference batch meet on Sept. 14 on his home course and placed 4th in 18:18, only 27 seconds behind teammate Colin Shand, who won the race.

He ran 17:30 in his second race on the DREAM Park super-speedway before a real breakthrough in the Olympic Conference Championships, also at DREAM Park, where he ran 16:20 and placed 9th.

Simpson lowered his all-course PR to 16:10 with a 9th at sectionals, also at DREAM Park, and then tore up Holmdel County Park this past Saturday in 17:14 for 25th in the state Group 3 race on a very warm day that made fast times difficult.

That was the fastest time by a freshman at Holmdel this year, six seconds faster than the 17:20 run by Manalapan’s Clay Stevens in the Group 4 race. Haddonfield’s Ryan Gibson, who ran 17:30 in the Group 2 race, wasn’t far behind.

Simpson is the fastest Burlington County freshman at Holmdel since Shawnee’s Connor Herr ran 17:09 at the Group 3 state meet in 2008.

Interestingly, the fastest freshman on any course in New Jersey this year was Delsea’s Matthew Littlehales, who ran 16:03 in a Tri-County Conference batch meet at Salem Tech in Mannington Township. I don’t know anything about that Salem Tech course but safe guess it’s flat.

Littlehales actually finished one place behind Simpson at sectionals, taking 10th in 16:12. That should be a terrific rivalry for a long time.

Simpson just missed qualifying for Meet of Champions as a wild-card, but a terrific option if he chooses to continue his season would be what’s now a combined freshman/sophomore race at the Eastbay (formerly Kinney and Foot Locker) Northeast Regionals at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx on Nov. 26.

Senior Ryan Smith recorded the best finish by a Rancocas Valley runner at states in 29 years and will become R.V.’s first runner at the Meet of Champions in 28 years.

Smith ran 16:25 – fastest in school history at historic Holmdel County Park – and placed 5th in a very fast, very deep state Group 4 race Saturday. Racing in the worst of the unseasonably warm mid-day heat, Smith posted the 5th-fastest time among South Jersey runners in the six championship races and the 24th-fastest time ov erall of more than 800 runners.

The only faster South Jersey runners were Group 2 winner George Andrus of Haddonfield [15:41], senior Patrick Ditmars [15:59] and junior Nick Kuenkel [16:08] from Cherokee in Group 4 and junior Peyton Shute of Woodbury [16:24] in Group 3.

Smith broke his own R.V. Holmdel record of 16:31 that he ran last month at Shore Coaches.

Smith’s 9th-place finish was the best by an R.V. runner at states since Jon Harris ran 9th in the 1993 Group 3 meet in 16:50. R.V. qualified as a team that year and placed 5th overall. The last R.V. runner to place higher than 9th was Mike Clayton, who was 5th in Group 3 in 1985 in 17:19.

On Saturday, Smith will race in the 50th annual Meet of Champions on the same Holmdel course. He’ll be R.V.’s first runner at the M-of-C since Mike Walker – now the College of New Jersey track distance coach and XC assistant coach – placed 40th in the 1994 meet at Holmdel in 17:15.

The best finish ever by a Rancocas Valley boy at the MoC was Jon Harris’s 33rd in 17:11 in the 1992 meet.

A large contingent of South Jersey runners will be making its way to Holmdel on Saturday for the Meet of Champions, and we now know exactly how large it is.

On Saturday, we learned that the Cherokee and Haddonfield boys had qualified automatically as the state Group 2 and 4 winners and Cinnaminson had qualified as one of the eight-fastest non-winning teams – their 17:18 average was 6th-fastest of non-winners and 10th-fastest overall.

The only girls teams to qualify were Group 2 winner Haddonfield and Group 3 winner Clearview. No South Jersey girls teams qualified as wild cards.

The top 10 individuals in each race automatically qualify, as do the next 30 fastest runners in a six-race merge once runners whose teams have qualified and those who were in the top 10 are eliminated.

For South Jersey, the boys auto individual qualifiers are Glassboro junior Elijah Whitaker [8th in Group 1], Audubon junior Aiden Williams [9th in Group 1], Haddon Heights senior Jack Bolling [4th in Group 2], Collingswood junior Elijah Forrest [9th in Group 2], Woodbury junior Peyton Shute [2nd in Group 3], Ocean City senior Nick Scarangelli [6th in Group 3], Rancocas Valley senior Ryan Smith [9th in Group 4], Holy Spirit senior John Flammer [4th in Parochial B], Moorestown Friends sophomore Isaac Linden [5th in Parochial B] and Bishop Eustace junior Matt Colden [8th in Parochial B] and Moorestown Friends senior Andrew Mercantini [10th in Parochial B].

The girls individual auto qualifiers from South Jersey are: Haddon Township senior Meghan Lex [2nd in Group 1], Cinnaminson senior Stephanie Renouf [10th in Group 2], Northern Burlington sophomore Liliah Gordon [1st in Group 3], Delsea senior Lillie Widmer [4th in Group 3], Mainland Regional junior Gillian Lovett [5th in Group 3], sophomore Sofia Day [7th in Group 3], Cherry Hill East senior Alexis Tepper [7th in Group 4], Cherokee junior Kerry O’Day [9th in Group 4], Paul VI junior Shaelan McNally [6th in Parochial A] and Bishop Eustace seniors Elena Cicchini [3rd in Parochial B] and Arianna Cane [4th in Parochial B].

Among those not on a winning team or on a wild-card team or in the top 10, the boys cutoff is 17:05 and the girls cutoff is 20:41.

Here are the South Jersey boys who advanced to the Meet of Champions as wild-cards:

16:32 … *Will Mrozinski [Paul VI], 14th, Parochial A
16:35 … Colin Hermack [Lenape], 11th, Group 4
16:41 … Ryan Taylor [Egg Harbor Twp.], 18th, Group 4
17:00 … **Dylan Saber [Williamstown], 31st, Group 4
17:04 … *Raine Guidarelli [Cherry Hill East], 35th, Group 4
17:05 … Cavan Agatone [Clearview], 20th, Group 3
17:05 … Cole Knoedler [Highland], 21st, Group 3

And the girls list:

20:08 … *Michaela Schlemo [Egg Harbor Twp.], 12th in Group 4
20:16 … **Maeve Smith [Ocean City], 16th in Group 4
20:22 … Nicole Lipieta [Kingsway], 17th in Group 4
20:30 … **Nilaa Ponnappan [Camden Catholic], 11th in Parochial A
20:31 … Madeline Dischert [Atlantic City], 19th in Group 4
20:36 … Alex Fisher [Williamstown], 22nd in Group 4
20:40 … **Megan Niglio [Cherokee], 25th in Group 4

There is no official list from the NJSIAA (surprise) so please let me know if you see an error or omission. These lists are a little tricky, and when the state association has no interest in providing correct and timely information to athletes, coaches, parents and fans it’s up to interested observers to do their best coming up with qualifying lists.

Delsea senior Lillie Widmer and junior Gillian Lovett and sophomore Sofia Day all earned auto qualifiers into the Meet of Champions with top-10 finishes Saturday in the state Group 3 race.

Widmer placed 4th in 19:26 at Holmdel County Park, Lovett 5th in 19:27 and Day 7th in 19:41. Including winner Liliah Gordon of Northern Burlington and seniors Abigail Waddington and Abigail Kotran of Clearview – who led the Pioneers to the team title – six of the first seven finishers in the Group 3 race were from South Jersey.

Widmer reached the Meet of Champions in outdoor track last spring in the 3,200, but this is her first trip to XC M-of-C. She lowered her Holmdel PR 51 seconds from 20:17 at Shore Coaches last month to 19:26. Widmer’s time is No. 15 of more than 700 runners and No. 3 among South Jersey girls, behind only Gordon [18:57] and Waddington [19:10].

Lovett qualified for her first Meet of Champions in track or XC and posted the No. 16 time in the six-meet merge.

This will be Day’s 3rd Meet of Champions out of three tries. She placed 15th in last year’s XC Meet of Champions with an 18:49 at Holmdel and 13th indoors at 3,200 meters with a PR 11:08.72. Her 19:41 is 2nd-fastest among all New Jersey sophomores, behind only Gordon.

Glassboro junior Elijah Whitaker placed 8th in the state Group 1 meet Saturday, becoming the first Glassboro runner to qualify for the Meet of Champions in 27 years.

Whitaker ran 17:17 in unseasonably warm conditions at hilly Holmdel County Park and earned an auto qualifier as a top-10 finisher.

He ran more than a minute and a half faster Saturday than he ran at last year’s state meet at Holmdel, when he placed 44th in 18:52.

Whitaker finished only 31 seconds behind winner Keanu Ray, a senior from Weehawkin, who ran 16:46, and only 13 seconds behind the first underclassman, Metuchen junior Alex Patelski, who was 4th in 17:04.

Whitaker, the South Jersey Group 1 champ, is the Bulldogs’ first MoC qualifier since Pat Ryan, who placed 15th in the 1995 Meet of Champions in 16:38.

Tom Horne placed 29th in the 1992 race in 16:53, 31st in the 1993 race in 17:10 and 35th in the 1994 race in 17:11. Tim Graves ran 17:14 for 35th in the 1993 race.

Glassboro’s first runner at the Meet of Champions was Josh Davis, who ran 17:36 and placed 78th in the 1984 race.

The Meet of Champions is scheduled for Saturday, with the boys race starting at 11 a.m.

Senior John Flammer from Holy Spirit, sophomroe Isaac Linden and senior Andrew Mercantini of Moorestown Friends and junior Matt Colden of Bishop Eustace all placed in the top 10 in the Parochial B race at states and earned auto bids to Saturday’s Meet of Champions.

Flammer, a 2:00 half-miler last spring, ran a Holmdel PR of 18:07 and placed 4th to qualify for the Meet of Champions for the first time.

Linden was the top sophomore in the race, taking 5th place in 18:30, nearly two minutes faster than he ran at Holmdel at states last year, and Mercantini ran 18:44 for 10th. Both will race at the M-of-C for the first time. They’re the first Moorestown Friends runners to advance to the Meet of Champions since junior Mark Johnson, who placed 5th at Parochial B states in 2019.

Colden led Eustace to a 2nd-place finish behind St. Rose of Belmar, which finished with a 74-91 margin of victory.

Colden placed 8th in 18:36, and junior Christopher Stinson and sophomore Ethan Capraola took 17th in 19:01.

This was Eustace’s 2nd straight 2nd-place finish in the state championships. The Crusaders took 2nd to Newark Academy 65-78 last year. They were also 2nd to Newark Academy in 2018 [54-103] after winning the title in 2016.

The race was won by senior Jeremy Sallade of Wilberforce School in Plainsboro  in 17:01. Sallade’s father Chris ran 4:17.39 at Shawnee and was the 1990 state Group 4 champion at 1,600 meters.

Sophomore Liliah Gordon became Northern Burlington’s first state cross country champion in program history Saturday, winning the state Group 3 title in 18:57 at Holmdel County Park.

Gordon placed 2nd last year in 18:44, behind only Lilly Shapiro of Colts Neck, who’s now running for North Carolina.

Gordon previously shared the best finish at states in Northern history with Colleen Sunderland, who ran 19:20 at Holmdel in 1994 and placed second in Group 2 to Woodstown’s Jaime Weisgerber, the eventual Meet of Champions winner.

She becomes the first South Jersey girl to win a state XC title since Alyssa Aldridge of Mainland Regional won Group 3 in 2017. The last Burlington County girl to win at states was Cherokee’s Megan Lacy, who won Group 4 in 2011. The last from the BCSL was Meghan Hughes of Moorestown, who won Group 2 in 2001 in 19:28.

Gordon won by 55 meters over Clearview senior Abigail Waddington, who led Clearview to the state Group 3 team title. It was the first South Jersey 1-2 finish in the state Group 3 meet since 2009, when Kingsway’s Chelsea Ley and Highland’s Megan Venables went 1-2.

Gordon’s time was No. 4 in a merge of the six state championship meets, behind only Red Bank Catholic senior Cate DeSousa [18:42 to win Parochial A], Emma Zawatski [18:44 to win Group 4] and Lindsay Hausman of Kent Place in Summit [18:54 for 2nd in Parochial A]. They were the only four girls to break 19 minutes on the challenging Holmdel course in unseasonably warm conditions.

Waddington and senior teammate Abigail Kotran advanced to the Meet of Champions Saturday on the same course as part of the winning team.

Other South Jersey girls in the top 10 in Group 3 who qualified for next weekend’s MoC on the same course are Delsea senior Lillie Widmer [4th in 19:26], Mainland junior Gillian Lovett [5th in 19:27] and Mainland sophomore Sofia Day [7th in 19:41].

In past years, Cinnaminson would have automatically advanced to the Meet of Champions with its 2nd-place finish in the state Group 2 meet.

This year, the Pirates had to sweat it out.

A change in the way teams advance from states to Meet of Champions this year has each of the six group winners automatically advancing and then the next six-fastest schools based on their combined average. Previously, the top three teams in each group advanced.

The change really makes it difficult for schools from smaller groups to advance, but Cinnaminson made it.

Cinnaminson placed 2nd to Haddonfield at states in the second race of the day and first boys race. It was Cinnaminson’s 25th all-time top-10 finish at states.

The Pirates’ five scorers averaged 17:18, 10th-fastest of all schools at states at Holmdel County Park and 6th-fastest among all non winners. Cinnaminson packed its five scorers in 58 seconds.

By the time the results of the last boys race finally were available – more than five hours later – Cinnaminson was long gone, but the Pirates will be back next Saturday to race in the Meet of Champions.

Seniors Alex Boyko, Matt McCarron and Derek Coceano led the Pirates in 5th, 7th and 14th place, Boyko in 16:35, McCarron 16:41 and Coceano in 17:12. Seniors Dean Clark [49th in 17:55] and Ryan Coceano [60th in 18:11] also scored for Cinnaminson.

Cinnaminson has placed 2nd at states seven times, the last four times behind only Haddonfield [2002, 2008, 2021, 2022]. The Pirates also placed 2nd in 1971 in Group 3 [to Westfield] and in 1986 and 1987 to Princeton and then Bernards.

Here’s a look at Cinnaminson’s all-time top-10 finishes at states:

2nd in 2022
2nd in 2021
7th in 2017
6th in 2016
2nd in 2008
9th in 2007
3rd in 2004
3rd in 2003
2nd in 2002
5th in 2001
3rd in 1992
4th in 1991
3rd in 1990
1st in 1989
3rd in 1988
2nd in 1987
2nd in 1986
7th in 1985
3rd in 1984
7th in 1982
6th in 1975
7th in 1970
6th in 1974
2nd in 1971
7th in 1970