Junior Jason Smith led a top-five sweep and Paul VI raced to the team title Saturday at the Kiessling Invitational at DREAM Park, the unofficial South Jersey parochial championships.

Paul VI outscored 2nd-place Camden Catholic, 15-55. It was the first perfect 15-point performance in this meet since 1987, when Paul VI beat Camden Catholic, 15-52, at Newton Lake Park in Haddon Township.

Paul VI packed its five scorers in 18.41 seconds and averaged 16:46.01 per runner. PVI has now won six straight titles in the meet formerly known as Knights of Columbus.

Smith won in 16:36.18, finishing just over a second ahead of Chris Monaghan in 2nd. Chase Cooley was 10 sconds back with 16:47.90 in 3rd, Max Long took 4th in 16;53.74 and Andrew Keane ran 16:54.59 for 5th. All five Paul VI scorers are juniors

That group was backed up by junior Caden Briggs [7th in 17:07.25] and sophomore Nick Ablaza [11th in 17:19.69].

For Camden Catholic, Declan Walsh was 6th in 16:59.73. Braden McGee was 8th in 17:08.60, Jim Rotaeche 10th in 17:19.19, Sean Burns 12th in 17:20.20 and Kevin Dever 26th in 18:52.72.

With three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior, the Northern Burlington girls advanced to the state Group 3 meet by the slimmest of margins.

The top five teams advance from sectionals to states, and Northern placed 5th at the Central Jersey Group meet at Thompson Park in Jamesburg Saturday with 160 points, two fewer than Brick Memorial.

The state Group 3 meet will be held Saturday at Holmdel County Park. This will be Northern’s first trip to states in 31 years, since 1994, when Colleen Sunderland, Meredith Bray and Debbie Winzinger led NBC to 5th in South Jersey Group 3 to qualify for states.

Sunderland, who went on to run for Rutgers, placed 2nd at both sectionals and states, and Northern placed 14th in Group 3 as a team.

Sophomore Kamiyah Vergo placed 20th for Northern in 21:04.56, with freshmen Abigail Leonhardt [28th in 21:46.94], Adelina Floyd [31st in 21:50.76] and Kelly Coughlin [46th in 23:06.11] followed by junior Abigail Matalie [49th in 23:30.16].

Northern only had five finishers, so in the event of a tie, Brick Memorial would have won.

The key for Northern was Vergo finishing four spots ahead of Brick’s 1st runner and Coughlin finishing six spots ahead of Brick’s third runner.

Sophomore Joe Saicic became Glassboro’s 4th consecutive individual champion and led the Bulldogs to their 2nd straight South Jersey Group 1 title Saturday at DREAM Park in Logan Township.

Glassboro placed all five scorers in the top 10, with the Bulldogs taking each odd-numbered spot – 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th.

Glassboro topped 2nd-place Haddon Township 25-58. The 25 points are the fewest in Group 1 since Haddon Township scored 21 in 2011 and 3rd-fewest ever. The Group 1 record is 20 set in 2006 by Pennsville. Glassboro’s 25 points are also tied for 13th-lowest South Jersey sectional score all-time in any group.

Saicic ran 15:51.84, 3rd-fastest ever by a Group 1 runner at DREAM Park, and all three are from Glassboro. Elijah Whitaker ran 15:33.27 when he won the 2023 South Jersey Group 1 race and Ty Blackman ran 15:42.62 when he won last year’s race. Whitaker also won the 2022 title. Saicic is the first sophomore to win SJ-1 since Sebastien Reed of Pitman in 2017.

Haddon Township senior James Clauson finished 2nd in 16:05.00, nearly a minute and a half faster than he ran last year at sectionals on the same course.

Also in the top 10 for the Bulldogs were senior Jaeden Wesley [3rd in 16:07.92], sophomore Zacchaeus Harrigan [5th in 16:29.05], sophomore Aaron Johnson [7th in 16:43.89] and sophomore Gavin Rakitis [9th in 16:58.96]. Senior 6th man Jason Martin also finished in the top 20, taking 17th in 17:34.41.

Glassboro’s five scorers averaged 16:26.34, the fastest single-race time ever by a Group 1 school at DREAM Park and 4th-fastest among all the races Saturdauy, behind Cherokee [16:00.45], Ocean City [16:01.68] and Cherry Hill East [16:12.52].

The team title was Glassboro’s 3rd overall. The Bulldogs won 70-88 over Maple Shade in 1981.

In addition to Whitaker, Blackman and Saicic, Glassboro individual winners at sectionals are Tom Horne in 1993 and 1994 and Pat Ryan in 1995.

The top 15 individuals and top five schools automatically advance to states next Saturday at Holmdel County Park.

The rest of the top 15 looks like this: Haddon Township senior Shaun Maloney [4th in 16:13.17], Woodstown senior Jacob Marino [6th in 16:39.81], Audubon senior Logan Camm [8th in 16:47.05], Schalick senior Chase Riley [10th in 17;00.49], Pitman junior Rhys Blackman [11th in 17:01.56], Woodstown junior David Farrell [12th in 17:05.47], Woodstown sophomore Torsten Duva [13th in 17:11.85], Haddon Township senior Aidan Curran [14th in 17:18.88] and Schalick junior Collin Bittle [15th in 17:18.94].

After Glassboro and Haddon Township, the remaining auto team qualifiers are Woodstown [75], Schalick [117] and Audubon [127].

Lowest All-Time Group 1 Scores
20 … Pennsville, 2006
21 … Haddon Twp., 2011
25 … Glassboro, 2025
26 … Burlington Twp., 1966
27 … Haddon Twp., 1988
27 … Burlington Twp., 1967
28 … Haddon Twp., 2010
28 … Haddon Twp., 2012
28 … Haddon Twp., 2014
29 … Williamstown, 1971
29 … Burlington Twp., 1968

Lowest South Jersey Boys Scores
16 … Haddonfield, 2008 [Group 2]
17 … Haddon Twp., 1971 [Group 2]
20 … Pennsville, 2006 [Group 1]
20 … Haddonfield, 2018 [Group 2]
21 … Haddon Twp., 2011 [Group 1]
21 … Haddonfield, 2009 [Group 2]
22 … Haddonfield, 2023 [Group 2]
23 … Haddonfield, 2013 [Group 2]
23 … Haddonfield, 2019 [Group 2]
23 … Haddonfield, 2017 [Group 2]
23 … Highland, 1989 [Group 3]
23 … Ocean City, 2018 [Group 3]
25 … Mainland Reg., 2003 [Group 4]
25 … Ocean City, 2019 [Group 3]
25 … Glassboro, 2025 [Group 1]

Senior Riley Fayer, in her first season of cross country, became Audubon’s first-ever sectional champion and led the Green Wave to their 2nd straight team title and 3rd overall in Logan Township

Fayer ran 18:18.40 and won the South Jersey Group 1 race in 18:18.49, the fastest time ever by a Group 1 runner at DREAM Park. The previous fastest was 18:33.39 by Schalick’s Jordan Hadfield at the 2023 South Jersey Group 1 meet.

Fayer won by about 350 meters over sophomore Abby Marino of Woodstown, who placed 2nd in 19:44.80.

Audubon outscored 2nd-place Haddon Township, 43-61,

The Audubon girls also won sectional titles in 1981 and 2024. In 1981, Audubon won on a 6th-runner tiebreaker with Manchester Township after both finished with 56 points. And last year they won 53-66 over Haddon Township.

Only one of Audubon’s seven runners from last year’s championship team raced Saturday – junior Sophia Rizzo. Three of the four underclassman in Audubon’s top seven at sectionals last year are either not on the team or didn’t run Saturday.

Freshman Emma Camm and 1st-year junior Isabella Legatie placed 3rd and 5th, Camm in 20:09.69 and Legatie 5th in 20:41.78.

Also in Audubon’s scoring group were sophomores Ashley Cheney [16th in 22:32.66] and Tallulah Witherington [23rd in 23:16.22]. Cheney competed in XC last year but was not on Audubon’s varsity. Witherington is another 1st-year XC runner. Rizzo was 33rd in 24:00.51, and Audubon only had six finishers.

The top 15 individuals and top five teams advance to the state championships Saturday at Holmdel County Park.

Also among the top 15 individuals were Maple Shade junior Juliana Catalani [4th in 20:26.77], Haddon Township junior Tanner Lajoie [6th in 20:57.91], Woodstown junior Anabel Schaal [7th in 21:05.00], Glassboro sophomore Abigail Johns [8th in 21:33.72], Pitman sophomore Peyton Coyle [9th in 21:36.28], Cape May Tech senior Kirstyn McHale [10th in 21:43.17], Schalick junior Helen Lillia [11th in 21:48.21], Haddon Township senior Blake Kemery [12th in 21:56.00], Pennsville sophomore Sawyer Slad [13th in 22:08.65], Maple Shade freshman Johana Perez [14th in 22:14.66] and Haddon Township sophomore Isabella Dodd [15th in 22:21.87].

Qualifying as full teams in addition to Audubon and Haddon Township are Maple Shade [86], Woodstown [88] and Schalick [108].

Sophomore Jack Tindall won his 2nd straight title, and the Cherokee boys won their 7th straight South Jersey Group 4 championship and 15th overall Saturday in Logan Township.

Tindall made it four straight Cherokee individual winners and 11 in the last 21 years, running 15:29.73 over 5,000 meters at DREAM Park and winning by 80 meters over senior Alvin Lin of Cherry Hill East, who was 2nd in 15:44.96.

Cherokee topped Cherry Hill East 42-59 with those two programs taking six of the top eight spots in the race.

Cherokee junior Benjamin Realley placed 3rd in 15:48.14, junior Sean Sooy was 6th in 16:02.25, junior Maximo Harada ran 14th in 16:14.94 and junior Leo Vyvyan was 18th in 16:27.20. They were backed up by 6th runner junior Gavin Danielewicz in 19th in 16:33.38. Seventh runner senior Dominic Pileri also ran sub-17, taking 31st in 16:55.71.

Cherry Hill East junior Cian Sherlock ran 15:52.57 and placed 4th, and senior Milo Poerner made it three in the top 10 in 8th in 16:02.95. Junior Aneesh Rajagopal and freshman Conan Poerner were East’s 4th and 5th runners, Rajagopal 20th in 16:34.37 and Poerner 25th in 16:47.74. Freshman Braedan Sherlock [28th in 16:50.21] and senior Adam Billet [33rd in 17:04.97] also raced for Cherry Hill East.

Cherokee also won South Jersey Group 4 in 1988, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Tindall is Cherokee’s third repeat winner. Alex Yersak won three South Jersey Group 4 titles in a row from 2005 through 2007 and Nick Kuenkel won in 2022 and 2023.

Other Cherokee winners: Marc Pelerin in 2001, Shawn Wilson in 2012, Jack Shea in 2016, Justin Kelley in 2017 and Ethan Wechsler in 2018.

Cherokee swept the individual and team titles the last four years as well as 2007 and 2016.

The top 15 individuals and top five teams advance to the state Group 4 meet, scheduled for Saturday at Holmdel County Park.

Also in the top 15 are Williamstown Dominic Burgio [5th in ], Eastern Timothy Shack [7th in ], Egg Harbor Matthew Reed [11th in ], Washington Township Trevor Szilier [12th in 16:12.25], Williamstown Logan Pavelik [13th in 16:13.38] and Kingsway Michael Beaver [15th in 16:17.05].

Joining Cherokee and Cherry Hill East are team qualifiers are Egg Harbor [116], Southern Regional [127] and Kingsway [178].

Led by senior and 1st-time XC runner Alyssa Suriano in 2nd place, the Cherokee girls won their 3rd straight sectional title, 5th in six years and sixth overall Saturday in Logan Township.

Cherry Hill East sophomore Addison Weiss, the DREAM Park course record holder at 17:46.87, won the South Jersey Group 4 race in 18:02.36, but Cherokee placed its five scorers between 2nd and 11th and topped Cherry Hill East 39-47.

Suriano ran 18:21.71 for 2nd place, with sophomore Erin Healy 7th in 18:58.96, senior Maya Kumar 9th in 19:06.69, senior Sofia Recinto 10th in 19:09.94 and senior Madeline Meder 11th in 19:12.75.

Cherokee averaged 18:58.01, the 5th-fastest time in course history, Cherokee’s fastest at DREAM Park and the fastest ever in a South Jersey Group 4 race.

Cherry Hill East’s 47 points are the fewest by a non-winning school in South Jersey Group 4 in 36 years, since Paul VI edged Brick Township 40-42 in the 1989 meet at Westampton Tech.

East had all five scorers in the top 20, led by Weiss and Ryleigh Budsock in 4th in 18:45.19.

Emmie Wang [12th in 19:20.85], Katherine Grottini [13th in 19:28.37] and Gabriella Pizzo [17th in 19:46.98] also scored for Cherry Hill East. Ella Davidson [22nd in 19:56.14] and Rebecca Tibbetts [23rd in 19:56.22] gave East seven runners under 20 minutes.

Cherokee won its first sectional title in 2003 and has also won South Jersey Group 4 in 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The top 15 individuals and top five teams advance to the state Group 4 meet at Holmdel County Park next Saturday.

Also racing in the top 15 were Kingsway Aubrey Bishop [3rd in 18:33.29], Williamstown Sophia Aldridge [5th in 18:49.76] and Eastern senior Natalie Dumas [14th in 19:30.00]. Not bad for an intermediate hurdler!

Joining Cherokee and Cherry Hill East as team qualifiers are Toms River North [104], Egg Harbor Township [132] and Southern Regional [173].

Jacob Wickersham won his 2nd straight individual title and led Cinnaminson to its first team championship since 2020 and 14th all-time Saturday at the Central Jersey Group 2 sectionals in Jamesburg.

Wickersham ran 16:09.44 over 5,000 meters at Thompson Park and juniors Edward Abu-Adas and Ryan Scaricaciottoli also placed in the top 10 for the Pirates, who won comfortably, 43-70, over 2nd-place Allentown.

Wickersham is Cinnaminson’s 10th sectional winner but first ever to repeat. He won Central Jersey Group 2 last year in 16:19.40.

The team title is Cinnaminson’s 14th, including six in South Jersey Group 2, four in South Jersey Group 3, one in South Jersey Group 4 and now three in Central Jersey Group 2.

Abu-Adas placed 6th in 16:38.41 and Scaricaciottoli ran 7th in 16:40.87 for Cinnaminson.

Junior Owen Castanheira and sophomore Lucas Fried finished together in 14th and 15th – Castanheira in 17:10.14 and Fried in 17:10.28 – to give Cinnaminson all five scorers in the top 15.

Junior Alexander Lonardo and freshman Luke Feeley made it seven in the top 30, Lonardo 28th in 17:47.99 and Feeley 30th in 17:53.80.

Cinnaminson advances to the state Group 2 meet at Holmdel County Park next Saturday.

This is the first time since 2003 that Cinnaminson has had both the individual and team winner.

Previous Cinnaminson sectional winners: Gary Noa in [SJ-4 in 1971], Chris Lopez [SJ-2 in 1989], John Keevey [SJ-2 in 1990], Matt Feeley [SJ-2 in 1993], Bill Mason [SJ-2 in 1998], Jon Anderson [SJ-2 in 2003], Steve Grabowski [SJ-2 in 2005], Brian Tetreault [SJ-2 in 2006] and Austin Gabay [CJ-2 in 2019].

The Pirates’ previous team titles came in 1971 in South Jersey Group 4, 1973, 1974, 1982 and 1986 in South Jersey Group 3, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 2003 in South Jersey Group 2 and 2008 and 2020 in Central Jersey Group 2.

Overall winner senior Peter Simpson, senior Brandon Stoner and junior Andrew Blum finished 1st, 2nd and 4th and the Haddonfield boys cruised to their 22nd consecutive sectional cross country title Saturday.

Haddonfield, at less than full strength, still scored just 34 points, out-racing 2nd-place Woodbury, which scored 97.

Simpson won the race in 15:39.10, with Stoner 3rd in 16:15.84 and Blum 4th in 16:29.81.

Junior Owen Snyder, freshman Augustan Coley and senior John Leibrandt placed 12th, 14th and 15th for the Bulldogs in 16:49.44, 16:58.97 and 17:00.99.

Ben Andrus, Ryan Gibson and Luke Andressen, 1st, 5th and 8th last year at the state Group 2 meet, were not in Haddonfield’s lineup.

Haddonfield won its first sectional title in 1967 in Group 3, then moved down to Group 2 and won four straight from 1977 through 1980. Then it was down to Group 1 and eight titles in the next nine years – 1982 through 1987 and 1989 and 1990 after Haddon Township won in 1988.

After a four-year dry spell, Haddonfield won Group 2 in 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. Since finishing 2nd to Cinnaminson in 2003, the Bulldogs have won 22 in a row. Overall, the Bulldogs have won 43 sectional titles. No other school has won 30.

The top 15 individuals and top five teams qualify for the state Group 2 meet next Saturday at Holmdel County Park.

Also in the top 15: Cedar Creek senior Sean Martino [2nd in 16:14.58], Middle Township junior Jamar Mack [5th in 16:34.76], Woodbury senior Curtis Stokes [6th in 16:37.35], Cedar Creek senior Ryan McCann [7th in 16:38.80], Cedar Creek senior Vincenzo Vecchio [8th in 16:38.80], Sterling junior Giovanni Fuchs [9th in 16:40.14], Woodbury senior David Houck [10th in 16:42.85], Gloucester senior Vincent Kelly [11th in 16:48.55] and Collingswood Landon Forero [13th in 16:51.80].

Pretty cool that McCann and Vecchio, senior teammates at Cedar Creek, finished in a dead heat, both in 16:38.80 with the photo camera operators not breaking the tie. Cedar Creek placed 3rd with 102 points, so McCann and Vecchio will now advance to states along with their teammates.

Also heading to states as a full team are 4th-place Sterling [106] and 5th-place Collingswood [172].

Senior Erik Preisner won his 2nd straight sectional title and led a 1-2 finish with junior Nathan Aschmann and Ocean City placed all five scorers in the top 10 to win its 3rd straight South Jersey Group 3 title and 10th overall.

Preisner became Ocean City’s first repeat champion since Miles Schoedler in 2009 and 2010, running 15:33.01 over 5,000 meters at DREAM Park in Logan Township. Aschmann ran 15:48.59 for 2nd place.

Also in Ocean City’s scoring group were junior Keenan Neuman [4th in 16:00.02], sophomore Nevin Millstein [8th in 16:19.15] and junior Michael Romano [10th in 16:27.62]. Sixth man sophomore Benjamin McCarthy was 12th in 16:35.16

The Red Raiders averaged 16:01.68 per man, 11th-fastest in course history, and outscored 2nd-place Highland 25-84. The 25 points are the lowest total in SJ-3 since Ocean City scored 23 in 2018.

Ocean City also won team titles in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2018, 2019, 2023 and 2024.

The top 15 individuals and top five teams advance to the state championships next Saturday at Holmdel County Park.

Also among the top 15 finishers: Winslow Vincent Perri [5th in 16:01.46], Delsea Matthew Littlehales [6th in 16:17.22[, Highland Andrew Dopkin [7th in 16:18.41], Cherry Hill West Rex Takakjy [9th in 16:19.62], Highland Liam Murphy [11th in 16:27.86], Moorestown Zander Kane [13th in 16:39.67] and Shawnee Yanni Ekatomatis [14th in 16:54.91].

Timber Creek [116], Delsea [155] and Toms River East [159] join Ocean City and Highland as state qualifiers.

Senior Riley Austin won her 3rd straight sectional title and led the Haddonfield girls to their 33rd South Jersey championship and 16th in a row.

Austin joined Vanessa Wright, Marielle Hall, Briana Gess as Haddonfield’s 4th triple winner, and Haddonfield packed its five scorers in the top seven to outscore 2nd-place Barnegat, 19-80 … This is the 7th straight year Haddonfield has won with fewer than 25 points.

Haddonfield is the first girls program in New Jersey history to win 16 consecutive sectional titles in any group.

Austin ran 18:16.94 over 5,000 meters at DREAM Park in Logan Township, and juniors Devon Gervasi and Madison Kelsey, freshman Dylan Hosty and junior Harper Benjamin placed 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th for Haddonfield.

Gervasi ran 19:28.87, Kelsey 19:36.69, Hosty 19:53.28 and Benjamin 19:58.23. Freshman Tatum Russo in 9th place in 20:03.32 made it six Lady Bulldogs in the top 10, and 7th runner senior Elizabeth Pappas was 15th in 20:35.01.

Last time Haddonfield did not win South Jersey Group 2 was 2009, when they were 2nd to Delsea by eight points.

The top five teams and the first 15 individuals advance to the state championships at Holmdel County Park next Saturday.

Other South Jersey girls in the top 15: West Deptford senior Kayla Romanoski [3rd in 19:26.37], Middle Township senior Olivia Orton [8th in 19:59.97], West Deptford junior Taylor Sierzega [10th in 20:03.94], Collingswood sophomore Hazel Straight [12th in 20:26.21], Sterling junior Brianna Gilligan [13th in 20:23.14], Sterling sophomore Riley Sharp [14th in 20:34.52].

Joining Haddonfield and Barnegat at the state Group 2 meet next Saturday at Holmdel County Park are 3rd-place Sterling [84], 4th-place Seneca [100] and 5th-place Middle Township [116].