Northern Burlington’s Liliah Gordon coasted to a commanding win in the sophomore class race Saturday morning at the 26th annual Cherokee Challenge.

Gordon covered the 3,200-meter course in 11:41 and won by 125 meters over Wildwood’s Macie McCracken, who was 2nd in 12:09.

Her time is fastest by a South Jersey girl in the sophomore race since 2008, when Casey Doyle of Shawnee ran 11:40.

Gordon won the freshman race last year in 11:42 and went on to place 8th in the Meet of Champions as a freshman with a monster 18:29 at Holmdel County Park.

Camden Catholic’s Nilaa Ponnappan made it a 1-2-3 South Jersey sweep in 3rd place with a 12:14. It was the first 1-2-3 South Jersey sweep in any varsity race at the Cherokee Challenge since Alexa Palmieri of Ocean City, Sophie Steidle of Collingswood and Emma Klouchek of Seneca went 1-2-3 in the sophomore race in 2018.

Other South Jersey runners in the top 10 were Grace Duffy of Haddon Heights [6th in 12:42], Chloe Care of Ocean City [7th in 12:54] and Maeve Smith of Ocean City [10th in 13:04].

There were 194 runners in the race.

Matthew Littlehales of Delsea opened up his high school career Saturday morning with a win in the freshman race at the 26th annual Cherokee Challenge.

Littlehales covered the 3,200-meter course in 10:12, 3rd-fastest in meet history in the freshman race and just three seconds off the meet record.

Triton’s Robert Rawls ran 10:09 in 2007 and Matt Nelson of Barnegat ran 10:09 in 2009.

Littlehales edged Parker Warkentine of Conestoga High in Tredyffirin, Pa., in Chester County. Warkentine ran 10:14.

As an 8th-grader last year, Littlehales won the middle school race in 7:51 over 1 ½ miles.

Other South Jersey runners in the top 10 were Dominic Burgio of Williamstown [5th in 10:57] and Peter Simpson of Moorestown [9th in 11:12].

Sterling’s Jessie Klenk placed 4th overall out of nearly 100 runners and was Stockton’s No. 1 runner as the Ospreys won the team title Friday at their own Stockton Invitational in Galloway Township.

Klenk, a senior, covered the 5,000-meter course in 20:06 and led Stockton’s five scorers to a 22-second gap. Stockton’s first seven all finished within 37 seconds.

Stockton outscored The College of New Jersey 36-41 with Rowan 3rd with 47 points in a battle of three of the top-seven treams in the USTCCCA NCAA Division 3 Metro Region. TCNJ is ranked 3rd, Stockton 4th and Rowan 7th. Swarthmore and Widener are No. 1 and 2.

Kierstin Clem, a junior from Eastern, was Stockton’s 4th finisher and took 8th overall in 20:21.

Anna Sasse, a sophomore from Williamstown, was Rowan’s 2nd runner, taking 7th overall in 20:17, Cammy Wright, a sophomore from Cherry Hill West, was the Profs’ 4th finisher in 11th place in 20:26, and Egg Harbor Township grad Olivia Shafer was Rowan’s No. 2 in 22nd place in 20:45.

Savannah Hodgens, a freshman from Mainland Regional, led TCNJ in 2nd place with a time of 19:51 in her first collegiate race. Rowan’s Abbey Churchill, a freshman from Indian Hills, Bergen County, was the overall winner in 19:36.

Curtis Thompson capped one of the greatest seasons ever by a New Jersey track athlete Wednesday with a 4th place in the javelin at the Weltklasse, the Diamond League Championships at Letzigrund in Zürich, Switzerland.

Thompson, in his fifth meet in 19 grueling days, threw 269-4 on his second attempt and finished behind reigning Olympic and World Championship gold medalist Neeraj Chopra of India [290-1], Olympic silver medalist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic [285-2] and 2016 Olympian Julian Weber of Germany [274-8].

Thompson opened with a 254-3 before popping the 269-4. He finished with a 257-1, two fouls and a 257-4.

The 269-4 is the No. 10 throw of his life. Ten of the 13 biggest throws of his life have come since July, including six of his eight 270-footers.

The Florence native, a two-time U.S. champ and 2021 Olympian, is ranked No. 8 in the world this year and No. 1 among Americans with his lifetime-best 287-9 throw at the American JavFest in East Stroudsburg last month. He’s also No. 3 in U.S. history.

This was Thompson’s final meet until the spring.

Here’s a look at all of Thompson’s lifetime 260-foot throws:
287- 9 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 9, 2022
276-4 … NACAC, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Bahamas, Aug. 20, 2022
274-11 … Athletissima, La Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland, Aug. 26, 2022
273- 4 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 9, 2022
271-11… Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, July 4, 2016
271-10 … Spitzen Leichtathletik, Luzern, Switzerland, Aug. 30, 2022
271- 7 … Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, June 21, 2021
270- 3 … Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Invitational, Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland, Aug. 6, 2022
269- 7 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 9, 2022
269-4 … Weltklasse, Letzigrund, Zürich, Switzerland, Sept. 8, 2022
268- 1 … Oregon Relays, Hayward Field, Eugene, April 23, 2022
268- 1 … World Athletics Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, July 21, 2022
267- 4 … World Athletics Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, July 21, 2022
267- 2 … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021
266- 5 … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 21, 2022
266-2 … Spitzen Leichtathletik, Luzern, Switzerland, Aug. 30, 2022
265-10 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 17, 2021
265-10 … Florida State Relays, Mike Long Track, Tallahassee, Fla., March 25, 2016
265- 7 … Victoria Track Classic, Centennial Stadium, Victoria, British Columbia, June 15, 2022
264- 8 … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 21, 2022
264- 1 … USATF Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 26, 2022
264-0 … Athletissima, La Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland, Aug. 26, 2022
263-10 … 94th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, Mike A. Myers Stadium, Austin, Texas, March 25, 2022
262-3 … Spitzen Leichtathletik, Luzern, Switzerland, Aug. 30, 2022
261- 6 … Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Invitational, Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland, Aug. 6, 2022
260-11 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 30, 2016
260- 1 … NACAC Under-23, San Salvador, Estadio Jorge “Mágico” González, June 17, 2016
260-1 … NACAC, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Bahamas, Aug. 20, 2022

A.J. Sanford, a Lafayette sophomore and Ocean City native who ran high school track for the Haverford School, placed 6th Saturday in the Bucknell Bison Opener in Lewisburg, Pa.

Sanford ran 19:15 over the 6,000-meter course at Bucknell. He was Lafayette’s first finisher, crossing the line one second ahead of sophomore teammate Emil Arangala.

Sanford ran 1:57.64 for 800 meters in high school and lowered his 800 time to 1:56.58 as a Lafayette freshman last spring at a meet at Bucknell.

Bucknell won the team title 31-47 over Loyola of Maryland, with Lafayette 3rd with 68 points.

In the women’s race over 3,900 meters, Eastern graduate Sophia Staiger, a freshman at American University in Washington, opened her collegiate career with a top-20 finish.

Staiger covered the 3.9-kilometer course in 15:06 and placed 16th. She was American’s No. 3 finisher and the fourth freshman across the line.

Teammate Nia Holden, a junior from Highland, finished five seconds behind Staiger in 19th. Holden, mainly a middle-distance runner, ran 2:14.43 for 800 meters last spring at the Patriot Conference meet, also in Lewisburg.

Bucknell won the team title 21-57 with American 3rrd with 68 points.

 

Haddonfield’s Sarah Naticchia, a sophomore at Harvard, placed 3rd in a dual meet against Boston College Saturday.

The only results I was able to track down are kind of confusing – they show 10 women with the same time placing 2nd through 10th and there’s no indication how long the course was. But Naticchia placed 3rd behind teammates Makena Gates and Marianne Mihas in 20:44 for … who knows how long?

Harvard’s women’s XC web site doesn’t mention the race and actually doesn’t mention much of anything at all. The most recent women’s XC stories are from November.

Boston College’s women’s XC web site hasn’t been updated since March, so no help there either.

All I can tell you is what’s on the single page of results: The race was held at Chestnut Hill Reservoir, which is in Boston, and Harvard won 17-38.

But what’s really important is that Naticchia is healthy and racing again at a high level. She only raced once as a freshman and that was a cross country 3,000 last September at Franklin Park in Boston.

Naticchia ran 2:15.79, 4:54.25 and 10:33.85 at Haddonfield.

Cherokee grad Ethan Wechsler, a Syracuse sophomore, placed 5th in the Harry Lang Invitational Saturday at Colgate University’s Harry Lang Course in Hamilton, N.Y.

Wechsler covered the 6,400-meter course in 20:20 and finished just 34 seconds behind overall winner Kevin Robertson, a Syracuse junior. Syracuse won the team title 15-69 over Cornell.

Wechsler was Syracuse’s fourth finisher on a day when the Orangemen packed their five scorers in 48 seconds.

Wechsler ran 14:19.77 on the track for 5,000 meters last year and has an 8,000-meter XC best of 24:46.9 from the ACC Championships.

Syracuse is ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division 1 Northeast Region by the USTFCCCA, behind only Harvard. The Orange are No. 21 nationally.

In her first cross country race in three years, Edinboro junior Kylie Anicic from Kingsway finished first in the Doug Watts Open on her home course in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

Anicic had a record-setting season on the track for Edinboro last spring and was a triple winner at the PSAC Championships in Millersville, but she hadn’t competed in a cross country race since she was a freshman at Towson University. Her last XC race was the NCAA Division 1 Mid-Atlantic Regional on Nov. 15, 2019, at Lehigh’s Goodman campus in Bethlehem, Pa.

Her 2020 season was wiped out because of COVID and Anicic had to sit out last year’s XC season as a double transfer. Anicic began her athletic career playing lacrosse at Temple.

Although Edinboro hasn’t posted any results on its web site, I found them on Slippery Rock’s site. Anicic covered the 6,000-meter course in 23:28, five seconds ahead of Slippery Rock’s Marianne Abdalah, who last year finished 2nd at the NCAA Division 2 Atlantic Region Championships at Lock Haven.

Slippery Rock won the team title 31-35 over Edinboro.

Edinboro was ranked No. 1 this year the preseason NCAA D-2 Atlantic Region, and Slippery Rock was 4th, with Charleston (W. Va.) 2nd and Seton Hill of Greensburg, Pa., 3rd.

Cherokee graduate Justin Kelly, a senior at Rowan, finished first among 97 runners Saturday in the 26th annual Salisbury (Md.) University Fall Classic over 8,000 meters at WinterPlace Park and Equestrian Center just outside Salisbury.

Kelly ran 25:16 and won by 25 meters over Logan Horst of Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., who ran 25:21. It was Kelly’s second straight win in the Salisbury Fall Classic. He only raced twice last year after transferring from Stony Brook (N.Y.) before missing the rest of the season with an illness.

Kelly won the 3,000 at the NJAC indoor meet last February and was second in the 5,000 at the outdoor meet in May.

Rowan, ranked 3rd in the NCAA Division 3 Metro Region by the USTFCCCA (behind Haverford and The College of New Jersey), placed second to Navy by just seven points, 46-53.

The Profs’ No. 2 runner was senior Noah Cziryak from Triton, who placed 11th in 26:09, and their No. 5 runner was Giancarlo Vega, a sophomore from Timber Creek, who ran 15th in 26:21.

Rider transfer Ben Woodard from Highland was Rowan’s 7th runner in his Profs debut, taking 18th in 26:29.

Rowan packed its top five within 65 seconds, with No. 2 through 5 packing in 12 seconds.

In the 6K women’s race, sophomore Anne Sasse from Williamstown, sophomore Cammy Wright from Cherry Hill West and junior Olivia Shafer from Egg Harbor Township were Rowan’s No. 3, 4 and 5 runners, and the Profs placed 4th with 119 points.

Haddonfield’s Seth Clevenger and Cherokee’s Nicole Clifford, two of New Jersey’s top distance runners last year, enjoyed successful college debuts Friday at the Mizzou XC Opener at Gans Creek XC Course in Columbia, Mo.

Clevenger, a freshman at Iowa State, placed 7th out of 48 runners in the men’s race, covering the 6,000-meter course in 18:15.0, which is 15:12 pace for a 5K course.

Clevenger was the first freshman across the line and was the 6th finisher for Iowa State, ranked 10th in the initial USTFCCA national poll. Iowa State went 1-3-4-5-6-7-8 and won the team title 19-56 over Oklahoma. Iowa State junior Ezekiel Rop of Eldoret, Kenya, was overall winner in 17:54.

Clifford, a freshman at Oklahoma, opened her college career by placing 24th in the women’s race and finishing 6th among freshman. She covered the 5,000-meter course in 18:44 and was Oklahoma’s 6th runner. Dana Feyen of Iowa State won the race in 17:.24. Iowa State won the team title 17-49 over Oklahoma.