The fastest girl and fastest boy from Saturday’s various South Jersey sectional races both come from Atlantic County.
The fastest teams Saturday are two of the most successful programs in South Jersey history.
Check out how everybody stacks up against everybody else in the official South Jersey sectional merges, courtesy of Cal and everybody at Tomahawk Timing!
Juniors Sarah Naticchia and Allison Colflesh went 1-2 and Haddonfield placed all five of its scorers in the top 10 on the way to its 10th consecutive South Jersey Group 2 XC title and 25th overall.
Naticchia ran 18:20 and Colflesh 18:46 for the Lady Bulldogs, and senior Lilly Sirover [4th in 19:21], junior Lindsay Colflesh [5th in 19:42] and junior Payton Weiner [9th in 20:06] gave Haddonfield five across the line before anybody else had their second runner across.
Naticchia’s time makes her the 4th-fastest Haddonfield runner ever at Delsea, behind Marielle Hall [17:46 in 2009], Briana Gess [17:57 in 2015] and Vanessa Wright [18:00 in 2004].
Haddonfield averaged 19:15 on Delsea’s 5,000-meter course Saturday, fastest ever by any girls team in any race outside Group 4 and 7th-fastest overall.
Here’s a look at all the averages of 19:25 or fastest since Delsea first went into use as the sectional championship course in 2002:
18:57 … Kingsway, 2019, Group 4 [1st]
19:01 … Kingsway, 2015, Group 4 [1st]
19:06 … Kingsway, 2017, Group 4 [1st]
19:10 … Shawnee, 2017, Group 4 [2nd]
19:11 … Cherry Hill East, 2006, Group 4 [1st]
19:12 … Kingsway, 2016, Group 4 [1st]
19:15 … Haddonfield, 2019, Group 2 [1st]
19:16 … Shawnee, 2013, Group 4 [1st]
19:18 … Kingsway, 2015, SJO-3 [1st]
19:19 … Lenape, 2006, Group 4 [2nd]
19:19 … Toms River North, 2013, Group 4 [2nd]
19:20 … Lenape, 2011, Group 4 [1st]
19:21 … Haddonfield, 2007, Group 2 [1st]
19:21 … Ocean City, 2013, Group 3 [1st]
19:24 … Southern Regional, 2015, Group 4 [3rd]
19:24 … Kingsway, 2016, SJO-3 [1st]
19:24 … Cherokee, 2019, SJ-4 [2nd]
19:25 … Seneca, 2012, Group 3 [1st]
19:25 … Seneca, 2013, Group 3 [2nd]
Since 2005, Haddonfield has won 14 of 15 SJ-2 titles, with the only exception coming in 2009, when they finished second to Moorestown.
Let’s take a look at all of Haddonfield’s girls XC team titles:
1979 – SJ-Group 2
1982 – SJ-Group 1
1985 – SJ-Group 1
1990 – SJ-Group 1
1991 – SJ-Group 1
1992 – SJ-Group 1
1993 – SJ-Group 1
1994 – SJ-Group 2
1995 – SJ-Group 2
1999 – SJ-Group 2
2003 – SJ-Group 2
2005 – SJ-Group 2
2006 – SJ-Group 2
2007 – SJ-Group 2
2008 – SJ-Group 2
2010 – SJ-Group 2
2011 – SJ-Group 2
2012 – SJ-Group 2
2013 – SJ-Group 2
2014 – SJ-Group 2
2015 – SJ-Group 2
2016 – SJ-Group 2
2017 – SJ-Group 2
2018 – SJ-Group 2
2019 – SJ-Group 2
Haddonfield has won the more sectional titles than any girls program in the state. Ridgewood won its 24th Saturday in North Jersey Section 1 Group 4. Shawnee is third on that list with 15, all in South Jersey Group 4.
Haddonfield’s 10-year winning streak is third-longest in state sectional history:
12 … Ridgewood, North 1, Group 4 [1992-03]
12 … Shawnee, South Jersey Group 4 [1990-01]
10 … Haddonfield, South Jersey Group 2 [2010-19]
Haddonfield’s 21 points is the 8th-lowest total in South Jersey XC history and the lowest since Haddonfield won the 2010 title with 19 points.
15 … Moorestown, Group 2, 2001
15 … Haddonfield, Group 2, 2005
16 … Haddonfield, Group 2, 2007
19 … Haddonfield, Group 1, 1982
19 … Ocean City, Group 3, 1988
19 … Haddonfield, Group 2, 2008
19 … Haddonfield, Group 2, 2010
21 … Brick Township, Group 4, 1987
21 … Manchester Twp., Group 1, 1980
21 … Haddonfield, Group 2, 2006
21 … Haddonfield, Group 2, 2019
Haddonfield outscored Manchester Township 21-119.
The 98-point margin of victory is the second-largest in any group ever at a South Jersey sectional race and the largest in Group 2.
The only larger margin of victory came in 1988, when Ocean City beat Edgewood by 109 points in Group 3 — 19-128.
The largest previous margin in Group 2 was Haddonfield’s 73-point margin over Pinelands Regional last year [33-106].
Junior Sophie Steidle ran 18:53 for third place, the fastest time ever at Delsea by a Collingswood runner.
Others in the top 10 included Delsea junior Carly Nicholson [6th in 19:46], West Deptford junior Corinne Dorsett [7th in 19:56], West Deptford sophomore Hope Siner [8th in 20:00] and Pleasantville junior Maya Harper [10th in 20:09].
With three runners in the top six, the Cherokee boys won their ninth sectional XC title Saturday and posted the 4th-fastest time ever on Delsea’s 5,000-meter course.
Senior Ethan Wechsler ran 15:18, the 3rd-fastest time of the day and 3rd-fastest in course history, to place second, senior Chase Miller was 4th in 16:00 and senior Tyler Jackson took 6th in 16:11.
On coach Steve Shaklee’s birthday, the Chiefs then placed three more runners between 14th and 20th, with senior Michael Gavio 14th in 16:20, junior Brett Shea 16th in 16:22 and junior Nico Grilli 20th in 16:31. Junior Daniel Boria was 36th in 17:03.
Pete Hess of Toms River North set the course record of 15:18 in 2002. It was broken in the Group 3 race by Mainland’s Kevin Antczak, who ran 15:11, and then surpassed again by Southern’s Jackson Braddock, who won the Group 4 race in 15:15. Wechsler tied Hess for the No. 3 spot.
Wechsler’s time broke the Delsea sectional record for fastest second-place time held by Cherokee’s Keith Krieger, who was second to Hess in 2002 in 15:22.
Cherry Hill East senior Oliver Adler made it three at 15:36 or faster with his third-place finish. That’s the fastest 3rd-place time ever at Delsea in any sectional race. The previous fastest 3rd-place time was 15:37 by Steve Maine of Highland in 2013.
Cherokee outscored Cherry Hill East and Kingsway, 42-80. Cherry Hill East placed second on a 6th-runner tiebreaker. East’s 6th runner placed one spot and 2-10ths of a second ahead of Kingsway’s 6th man.
Cherokee won its first sectional title in 1988, then won four straight from 1997 through 2000. They’ve since won titles in 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2019.
Only Haddonfield (39), Haddon Township (19) and Cinnaminson (11) have won more sectional titles among South Jersey schools.
Cherokee averaged 16:02, 2nd-fastest on Saturday and 4th-fastest in course history.:
15:49 … Mainland Regional, 2003, Group 4 [1st] 4 under 15:46
15:59 … Kingsway, 2017, Group 4 [1st]
16:00 … Haddonfield, 2019, Group 2 [1st]
16:02 … Cherokee, 2019, Group 4 [1st]
16:04 … Cherry Hill East, 2014, Group 4 [1st]
16:08 … Haddonfield, 2009, Group 2 [1st]
16:09 … Toms River North, 2003, Group 4 [2nd]
16:09 … Cherokee, 2016, Group 4 [1st]
16:09 … Haddonfield, 2017, Group 2 [1st]
16:13 … Haddonfield, 2018, Group 2 [1st]
16:16 … Cherry Hill East, 2015, Group 4 [1st]
16:18 … Mainland Regional, 2002, Group 4 [1st]
16:18 … Haddonfield, 2013, Group 2 [1st]
16:18 … Kingsway, 2014, Group 4 [2nd]
16:19 … Kingsway, 2014, SJO-3 [1st]
16:19 … Haddonfield, 2014, Group 2 [1st]
16:19 … Cherokee, 2015, SJO-3 [1st]
16:20 … Toms River North, 2004, Group 4 [1st]
16:20 … Cherokee, 2017, Group 4 [2nd]
The Kingsway girls destroyed the course team record at Delsea Saturday, winning their fifth straight South Jersey Group 4 championship with their five scorers averaging sub-19!
Kingsway, ranked No. 9 in the state and 2 in South Jersey behind Haddonfield, averaged 18:57 on the 5,000-meter course at Delsea Regional, breaking the course average mark of 19:01 set by Kingsway at the 2015 Group 4 meet.
Kingsway now holds the three-fastest team averages in course history.
It was an incredibly fast race all around, with four runners under 18:30 for the first time ever at a sectional race at Delsea and six under 19 minutes in all.
Egg Harbor senior Olivia Shafer ran 18:08, Cherokee senior Kate Rathman 18:13 and Shawnee freshman Kate Ruona 18:14 up front, making them the No. 20, No. 24 and No. 25 performers ever in the 18 years the Delsea course has been used for sectionals.
Rathman’s time is the 6th-fastest non-winning time ever in any group at Delsea, and Ruona’s time is the fastest third-place time ever.
But Kingsway … what a performance!
Senior Allie Pierontoni and junior Ashlynne Burke placed 4th and 5th in 18:25 and 18:41 and freshman Aubrey Pierontoni was 8th in 19:04 for the Dragons, with sophomore Allison MacFarland and senior Kennedy Waterson locking up the team title in 11th and 12th in 19:15 and 19:21.
That’s a 56-second gap from first to fifth, and junior Sydney Watts [15th in 19:36] and sophomore Allison Helkowski [20th in 19:41] made it seven of the top 20.
Pierontoni and Burke are only the fifth set of teammates to both run 18:41 or faster at Delsea since the course went into use for championship meets in 2002.
Here are the previous teammate tandems to do it:
2011, Haddonfield, South Jersey Group 2
18:35 … Meghan Malloy, [1st]
18:36 … Shelby Cain [2nd]
2013, Ocean City, South Jersey Group 3
18:21 … Bridget Flynn [1st]
18:36 … Devon Grisbaum [3rd]
2016, Kingsway, South Jersey Group 4
18:15 … Rachel Vick [2nd]
18:39 … Destiny Stanford [4th]
2016, Cherry Hill East, South Jersey Open Division 3
18:21 … Sarah Pierce [1st]
18:31 … Grace Yoon [2nd]
Kingsway outscored second-place Cherokee, 39-83. Cherokee averaged 19:24, the Chiefs’ fastest average ever at Delsea and the 12th-fastest time ever recorded at Delsea.
Goes to show you how incredibly fast this race was. Cherokee finished 44 points out of first place but still recorded the 12th-fastest time in course history.
The team title was Kingsway’s 10th overall, including five in Group 2 from 1987 through 1993 and the last five in Group 4.
Let’s take a look at the longest winning streaks in South Jersey girls XC history:
12 … Shawnee, Group 4 [1990-01]
10 … Haddonfield, Group 2 [2010-19]
5 … Kingsway, Group 4 [2015-19]
Here’s a look at all the teams that have averaged 19:30 or faster at Delsea:
18:57 … Kingsway, 2019, Group 4 [1st]
19:01 … Kingsway, 2015, Group 4 [1st]
19:06 … Kingsway, 2017, Group 4 [1st]
19:10 … Shawnee, 2017, Group 4 [2nd]
19:11 … Cherry Hill East, 2006, Group 4 [1st]
19:12 … Kingsway, 2016, Group 4 [1st]
19:15 … Haddonfield, 2019, Group 2 [1st]
19:16 … Shawnee, 2013, Group 4 [1st]
19:18 … Kingsway, 2015, SJO-3 [1st]
19:19 … Lenape, 2006, Group 4 [2nd]
19:19 … Toms River North, 2013, Group 4 [2nd]
19:20 … Lenape, 2011, Group 4 [1st]
19:21 … Haddonfield, 2007, Group 2 [1st]
19:21 … Ocean City, 2013, Group 3 [1st]
19:24 … Southern Regional, 2015, Group 4 [3rd]
19:24 … Kingsway, 2016, SJO-3 [1st]
19:24 … Cherokee, 2019, SJ-4 [2nd]
19:25 … Seneca, 2012, Group 3 [1st]
19:25 … Seneca, 2013, Group 3 [2nd]
19:26 … Shawnee, 2015, Group 4 [2nd]
19:27 … Southern Regional, 2006, Group 4 [4th]
19:28 … Cherokee, 2011, Group 4 [2nd]
Here’s rest of the top 10: Washington Township junior Maura Keane ran 18:53 for 6th, Cherokee sophomore Nicole Clifford was 8th in 19:06 and Shawnee seniors Claire Hauser and Isabella Turner ran 9th and 10th in 19:07 and 19:08.
Rathman’s time is 6th-fastest ever in any race at Delsea for second place.
Ruona broke the 3rd-place record of 18:30 set in 2011 by Lenape’s Natalia Ocasio.
Allie Pierontoni’s 18:25 is fastest ever at a Delsea sectional for fourth place, breaking the mark of 18:39 set by Stanford in 2016.
Burke’s 18:41 is fastest ever for fifth place, six seconds faster than Yoon’s 18:47 in Group 4 in 2016
Keane’s 18:53 is the 3th-fastest 6th-place time ever, behind only Stanford’s 18:49 in 2015 and Kara Bonner’s 18:50 in 2016.
Mainland senior Kevin Antczak shattered the Delsea course record Saturday, winning the South Jersey Group 3 race in 15:11.
Antczak broke the course record of 15:18 set 17 years ago by Pete Hess of Toms River North. Hess ran 15:18 to win the South Jersey Group 4 race in 2002, the first year the Delsea 5,000-meter course was used to host sectionals.
Antczak finished about 300 meters ahead of second-place Dennis Fortuna, a Triton sophomore who placed second in 16:09.
Antczak’s previous PR on the course was a 15:58 from last year’s sectionals. The previous best time by a Mainland runner was Greg Hughes’ 15:22 at the 2003 Group 4 sectionals. The fastest previous time by a South Jersey runner was a 15:22 by Keith Krieger of Cherokee in the same 2002 race that Hess ran 15:18.
The fastest previous time in a Group 3 race was run in 2013 by Toms River South’s Kyle Kroon, who won in 15:22. The fastest Group 3 time by a South Jersey runner was 15:25 by Lou Corgliano of Hammonton in the same race as Kroon.
Here’s an updated look at the 10-fastest times in course history:
15:11 … Kevin Antczak [Mainland Reg.] 2019 SJ-3 [1st]
15:18 … Pete Hess [Toms River North] 2002 SJ-4 [1st]
15:22 … Keith Krieger [Cherokee] 2002 SJ-4 [2nd]
15:22 … Greg Hughes [Mainland Reg.] 2003 SJ4 [1st]
15:22 … Kyle Kroon [Toms River South] 2013 SJ-3 [1st]
15:23 … Jon Vitez [Haddonfield] 2009 SJ-2 [1st]
15:24 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2002 SJ-2 [1st]
15:24 … Joe Kotran [Toms River North] 2009 SJ-4 [1st]
15:24 … Kyle Kroon [Toms River South] 2012 SJ-4 [1st]
15:25 … Lou Corgliano [Hammonton] 2013 SJ-3 [2nd]
15:25 … Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East] 2015 SJ-4 [1st]
For the full all-time Delsea performance list coming into today’s races click here.
Antczak became the first to repeat in SJ-3 since Kroon in 2012 and 2013 and the first South Jersey runner to repeat since Miles Schoedler of Ocean City in 2009 and 2010.
Antczak’s previous all-course 5,000 PR was 15:16 from the Cape Atlantic Championships last year at Millville.
Antczak placed 8th last year at the Meet of Champions and 16th at Foot Locker Northeast Regionals.
Earlier this fall, he ran 15:32 at Holmdel.
Ocean City packed its first six runners from 3rd through 8th and had all seven runners in the top 11 to easily win the team title. More on the Red Raiders later!
Sebastien Reed ran the second-fastest time ever at Delsea by a Group 1 runner and won his third straight individual title at the South Jersey Group 1 championships. The Delsea course has been used for sectionals since 2002.
Reed, the defending state champion, remained unbeaten this fall.
Haddon Township won its second straight team title, 10th in the last 12 years and 20th overall.
Reed won in 2017 in 16:11 and last year in 16:16 but crossed the line in 15:49 Saturday, fastest by a South Jersey Group 1 runner since Luke Petela of Haddon Township ran 15:29 in 2004. The only other Group 1 runner to break 16 at Delsea is Owen Long of Haddon Township, who ran 15:58 behind Petela in 2014.
Reed becomes the seventh three-time winner in South Jersey sectional history and the first in Group 1 in more than 30 years:
Mike Butynes [Sterling], Group 3, 1969-71
Jim Smith [Haddonfield], Group 2, 1977-79
Dan Gough [Haddonfield], Group 1, 1984-86
Chris Platt [Haddonfield], Group 2, 2000-02
Alex Yersak [Cherokee], Group 4, 2005-07
Jonathan Vitez [Haddonfield], Group 2, 2007-09
Sebastien Reed [Pitman], Group 1, 2017-19
Reed won by 100 meters over senior Jake Aylmer of Haddon Township, who was second in 16:08, a second ahead of senior Dan Wyshinski of Pennsville.
Aylmer led six Haddon Township runners in the top 14, all in a 61-second gap. Township outscored second-place Audubon 40-79.
Township’s Luke Overbeck [5th in 16:34] and Ethan Bergman [8th in 16:52] were the only sophomores among the top 18 finishers, and junior Matt Conway, senior Justin Merkh and senior Ian McCauley finished 12th, 13th and 14th in 16:58, 16:58 and 17:09. Seventh-man Jackson Lutz, a junior, also broke 18, taking 26th in 17:59.
Haddon Township won its first sectional title in 1968 in Group 3, led by individual winner Ken Medlin. The Hawks then won five of seven from 1970 through 1976 in Group 2, then titles in 1988 and 1996 in Group 2, before winning eight straight from 2008 through 2015 and the last two.
Only Haddonfield (38) has won more sectional titles in South Jersey than Haddon Township. State-wide, only Bernards (27), Ridgewood (25) and Westfield (21) have also won more sectional titles.
Also in the top 10 Saturday were Audubon junior Zachary Williams, the top underclassman in 4th [16:27], Woodstown senior Xavier Seals (6th in 16:48], Maple Shade senior Sean Read [7th in 16:49], Schalick senior Jonathan Miller [9th in 16:52] and Pitman senior Tyler Jackson [10th in 16:55].
Highland freshman Grace Wassell ran 18:54 to win the South Jersey Group 3 individual title by nearly 100 meters Saturday at Delsea, and Ocean City won its third straight title and 11th overall.
Wassell became only the third Highland girl ever to break 19 minutes on the Delsea course, along with Megan Venables, who did it several times, including a 17:22 in 2010, and Arianna McKinney, who ran 18:10 in 2004.
Wassell is only the second girl from Highland to win a sectional XC title. Venables won the 2010 title on her way to the Meet of Champions title.
After placing second in both the Tri-County and Olympic Conference races, this is Wassell’s first major title. As recently as two weeks ago she hadn’t broken 19:45 on any 5,000-meter course.
We’re assuming Wassell is the daughter of Jay Wassell, who won the 1994 and 1995 South Jersey Group 4 titles for Highland and went on to place 2nd and 3rd at states those two years? If not, it’s quite a coincidence!
Ocean City placed three in the top 10 and finished with a 46-81 win over Mainland, with Seneca third with 88 points.
Junior Alexa Palmieri and senior Casey McLees went 1-2 for Ocean City, Palmieri in 19:22 and McLees in 19:43, and senior Rebecca Millar was 7th in 20:12.
The Red Raiders then packed juniors Erin Hanlon and Isabella Padula and senior Emma sandy in 16th, 18th and 19th in a six-second span from 20:54 to 21:00 to lock up the team title. Senior Reghan Handley wasn’t far back in 33rd in 21:49.
Ocean City won its first four title from 1986 through 1989 and won again in 1993. They won two more in 2003 and 2004 and again in 2013 before starting their current winning streak in 2017.
Only Haddonfield (19) and Shawnee (15) have won more South Jersey sectional titles than Ocean City.
The top 10 also included Seneca junior Emma Klouchek (4th in 19:50), Toms River South freshman Lily Oliver (5th in 19:54), Timber Creek freshman Juliana Grasso (6th in 19:57), Mainland sophomore Savannah Hodgens (8th in 20:17), Timber Creek sophomore Vanessa Marinero (9th in 20:21) and Toms River South senior Jade Tricomy (10th in 20:30).
Tomahawk Timing is posting results from Delsea moments after the last finisher crosses the line in each race.
Here are direct links to those results as they become available:
Bob Kiessling Parochial Boys
Bob Kiessling Parochial Girls
South Jersey Group 1 Girls
South Jersey Group 3 Girls
South Jersey Group 1 Boys
South Jersey Group 3 Boys
South Jersey Group 2 Girls
South Jersey Group 4 Girls
South Jersey Group 2 Boys
South Jersey Group 4 Boys
Junior Julia Smith won her second straight individual title and led the Schalick girls to their first sectional championship in 23 years Saturday.
Smith ran 19:40 and junior teammate Chloe Gerstenbacher was second in 20:11, and Schalick outscored second-place Haddon Township, 27-64, to win the South Jersey Group 1 title at Delsea.
It’s the first 1-2 finish by teammates in the SJ-1 race since Kiersten Lapp and Sarah Meighan of Pitman went 1-2 in 2013.
Schalick’s 27 points is the 7th-lowest score ever in South Jersey Group 1, the lowest since that same Pitman team scored 22 in 2013.
Senior Marleigh Puglia (5th in 20:50), sophomore Mia LaMarra (8th in 21:12) and sophomore Autumn Heaton (12th in 21:35) gave Schalick five scorers in the top 12.
Pitman was led by senior Sarah Brennan and sophomore Angelina Harris in 3rd and 4th in 20:28 and 20:49.
Others in the top 10 were senior Darby Williamson (6th in 21:04) and sophomore Regan Shemeley (7th in 21:08) of Haddon Township, senior Danielle Gallo of Buena (9th in 21:21) and junior Lindsey Robbins of Cape May County Tech (10th in 21:25).
The 1996 Schalick team, led by Jen Struck in 3rd and Sandy Ogbin in 6th, won South Jersey Group 1 by three points, 49-52, over Maple Shade.
Pitman and Haddon Township had won the previous 14 South Jersey Group 1 girls XC titles, Pitman in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 and Haddon Township in 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2016.
The last school other than Pitman or Haddon Township to win the Group 1 sectional title was Gloucester back in 2004.
Smith is the first repeat winner in SJ-1 since Alicia Pipkin of Haddon Township in 2011 and 2012. Other repeat winners throughout the event’s history are Renee DeFeo of Clayton (1976, 1977), Ruth Lockbaum of Glassboro (1984, 1985), Pitman’s Janet Rue (1991, 1992), Haddonfield’s Erin Donohue (1997, 1998) and Allyson Krayl (1999, 2000, 2001) and Lindsey Ritchings (2003, 2004) of Point Pleasant Beach.
Junior Tia Furbush (29th in 23:42) and sophomore Molly Wood (32nd in 23:55) also raced for Schalick.
Delsea Regional High School in Franklin Township will host the South Jersey XC sectionals along with the Bob Kiessling parochial races Saturday for the 18th consecutive year, with races starting at 10 a.m. and and running every 25 minutes throughout the morning and early afternoon.
Here are links to all the information you need to get ready for race day and find results moments after each race ends.
Dress warmly and enjoy the day!
NJSIAA Cross Country Classifications
All-Time Sectional Boys Individual and Team Winners
All-Time Sectional Girls Individual and Team Winners
2019 South Jersey Sectional Program
2019 Central Jersey Sectional Program
NJSIAA Cross Country Regulations
Delsea Course Map
Delsea Boys All-Time Performance List
Delsea Girls All-Time Performance List
MileSplit New Jersey XC Rankings
SJTCA South Jersey XC Rankings
Saturday’s Order of Events
MileSplitNJ’s South Jersey Sectional Meet Hub
Tomahawk Timing Results Page
N.J. MileSplit Sectional Predictions!
