The Moorestown girls placed all seven of their runners in the top 13 and rolled to their 18th consecutive Burlington County Scholastic League Liberty Division title Saturday over the flat 5,000-meter course at New Egypt in Plumstead Township.

Freshman Kate Inglis, sixth in the County Open, was the overall winner, crossing in 18:55. Moorestown then packed senior Emily Hurren, junior Kate Goettle and freshman Anu Bezwada in fifth, sixth and seventh, all within 20:09 and 20:26.

Moorestown’s fifth finisher was its third freshman, Claire Bodine, who ran 21:06 for 11th. Sophomore Kylie Evoy and senior Cailin Field rounded out the Quaker lineup in 12th and 13th, Field in 21:17 and Field in 21:52.

Scoring against the field, which also included Rancocas Valley, Northern Burlington and Burlington Township, Moorestown wins 26-29.

Also in the top 10 were Pennsauken freshman Natalina Nunez and senior Morgan Gallagher and junior Paige Hammond of Rancocas Valley, who all broke 20 minutes. Northern was led by junior Nicolina Zappley (8th in 20:36), with Rancocas Valley senior Grace Pagano (9th in 20:54) and Northern’s Kendra Zaleski (10th in 21:02) rounding out the top 10.

The BCSL meet was stopped after the 1990 meet and resurrected in 2000. Moorestown has won every team title since the meet was revived — by an average of 27 points.

This is the 10th time during that 18-year span Rancocas Valley has placed second. Northern Burlington has taken second the other eight years.

Here’s a look at Moorestown’s 18 consecutive Liberty Division titles, which have ranged from seven points in 2008 to 55 in 2002. Moorestown’s top finisher is listed on the right, along with her place.

2017 … Moorestown 26, Rancocas Valley 40 [Kate Inglis, 1st]
2016 … Moorestown 25, Rancocas Valley 50 [Tara Thornton, 1st]
2015 … Moorestown 30, Northern Burlington 38 [Tara Thornton, 3rd]
2014 … Moorestown 34, Rancocas Valley 57 [Genevieve Cickavage, 1st]
2013 … Moorestown 27, Rancocas Valley 50 [Genevieve Cickavage, 1st]
2012 … Moorestown 28, Northern Burlington 57 [Natalie Cooper, 2nd]
2011 … Moorestown 32, Northern Burlington 41 [Natalie Cooper, 2nd]
2010 … Moorestown 22, Rancocas Valley 45 [Tara Monihan, 1st]
2009 … Moorestown 27, Northern Burlington 38 [Emily Thompson, 3rd]
2008 … Moorestown 24, Rancocas Valley 31 [Kendall Jackson, 2nd]
2007 … Moorestown 15, Rancocas Valley 54 [Brianna Rogers, 1st]
2006 … Moorestown 17, Rancocas Valley 58 [Jessica Levin, 1st]
2005 … Moorestown 19, Northern Burlington 59 [Jessica Rogers, 1st]
2004 … Moorestown 26, Northern Burlington 70 [Meghan Hughes, 2nd]
2003 … Moorestown 28, Northern Burlington 52 [Meghan Hughes, 2nd]
2002 … Moorestown 23, Northern Burlington 78 [Meghan Hughes, 1st]
2001 … Moorestown 17, Rancocas Valley 67 [Kelsey Rinehart, 1st]
2000 … Moorestown 31, Rancocas Valley 43 [Kelsey Rinehart 2nd]

You can’t have a closer three-team finish. Barring a three-way tie.

Northern Burlington emerged as the 2017 Burlington County League Scholastic League Liberty Division champions for the first time since 2013 in a wild three-way finish with Moorestown and Burlington Township on the flat, fast 5,000-meter course at New Egypt High School in Ocean County.

Northern scored 53 points, and Moorestown and Burlington Township both scored 54, and Rancocas Valley wasn’t that far back with 70 points in fourth place.

Northern somehow won in a 32-person race without anybody in the top six. But the Greyhounds placed their five scorers from 7th through 14th in a crazy 17-second pack.

That’s right — 17 seconds separated Northern’s five scorers! That’s insane!

Junior Mike Morreale led Northern in seventh in 16:55, with freshman Daniel Boria (9th in 16:59), sophomore Kyle Stanley (11th in 17:03), senior Parker Napierala (12th in 17:10) and junior Matt Halvorsen (14th in 17:12) all close behind.

Incredibly, Moorestown and Burlington Township each put two runners ahead of Northern’s first runner, but with its tremendous pack running NBC still found a way to win.

Rancocas Valley senior Jacob Tyndale was the overall winner, crossing in 16:07, with Burlington Township soph Dakota Oyuela second in 16:20, the highest finish by a Burlington Township runner since Tim Reardon was second in 2010.

Juniors Jack West and Jack Farmer of Moorestown ran third and fourth in 16:28 and 16:38, with Burlington Township junior Sean Burnett fifth in 16:39 and R.V.’s Ian Moore sixth in 16:41 before the Northern floodgates opened.

The team title was the fourth for Northern, which also won in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Northern’s winning score of 53 points — not surprisingly in such a close three-team race — was the highest in 17 years, since Rancocas Valley won with 54 points in 2000. Just as unsurprisingly, Burlington Township’s 54 points marked the lowest third-place score in meet history.

The previous smallest margin of victory was three points, with Moorestown edging Northern 31-34 in 2008 and Moorestown defeating Rancocas Valley 43-46 in 2015.

The closest previous three-way race I could find going back to the early 1980s was 12 points separating first and third. That was in 2000, with R.V. at 54, Northern at 62 and Holy Cross 66.

Moorestown’s other scorers were senior Jesse Wun (8th, 16:58), freshman Connor Fischel (18th in 17:24) and sophomore Victor Demartini (21st in 17:35).

For Burlington Township, senior Koodsha Manjaro ran 13th in 17:11, followed by junior Steven Mendez (15th in 17:15) and senior Tyler Repici (19th in 17:28).

Rounding out the top 10 was Pennsauken senior Phillip Nguyen, who ran 17:01.

After two runners, the score was Burlington Township 7, Moorestown 7, Northern 16. After three runners, it was Moorestown 15, Burlington Township 20, Northern 27. After four runners, it was Moorestown 33, Burlington Township 35, Northern 39.

But Napierala and especially Halvorsen helped clinch the team title for Northern by defeating their corresponding runners on Moorestown and Township by a combined nine spots for Napierala and 12 spots for Halvorsen.

Moorestown officially gets credit for second place on a sixth-runner tiebreaker, with the Quakers’ sixth runner, sophomore Louis Purul, finishing in 18:24, two seconds ahead of Township’s No. 6 runner.

 

Millville swept the Cumberland County championship races Friday, with the boys outscoring Cumberland Regional 27-43 and the girls defeating Vineland by a 24-41 margin. It was the third straight title for the Millville girls.

Millville placed all seven of its runners in the top 10, led by senior Christian Bird, who ran 17:03 and placed second overall. Sophomore Nick Schlegel ran 17:52 for fourth and then Millville runners took five straight spots from sixth to 10th, with seniors Tyler Vandemark (6th in 18:04) and Benny Martinez (7th in 18:08) and sophomore Zachary Asselta (8th in 18:10) finishing in a six-second span.

Seniors John Slaney and Eric Vanaman finished ninth and 10th for Millville in 18:34 and 18:41, bumping the third, fourth and fifth runners from Cumberland Regional and Vineland. Bridgeton did not run a full team.

Cumberland junior Miguel Vera edged Bird by 30 meters, winning in 16:57. Vineland senior Jordan Pitt was third in 17:31 and Cumberland soph Damien Grooms fifth in 17:56.

In the girls race, Millville put five in the top 10, with junior Raelynne Miller clocking 19:34 on the 5,000-meter Cumberland County College course in Vineland and winning by 175 meters over Cumberland senior Sara Loew, who ran 20:16. Miller and Loew repeated their 1-2 finish of last year.

Sophomore Abbigail Markee (3rd in 21:02), junior Sydney Caromano (4th in 21:52),  senior Serena Townsend (6th in 22:43) and sophomore Rebecca Fomich (10th in 24:38) also scored for Millville.

The rest of the top 10 was all Vineland — sophomores Kimberly Zarate (5th in 22:19) and Trinity Pritchett (7th in 23:16), senior Audrey O’Neill (8th in 23:19) and junior Marianne Burgess (9th in 24:06).

The Shawnee girls packed all five of their scorers under 20 minutes and rolled to the fastest time and lowest overall merged score Friday at the Olympic Conference XC Championships at Rowan University in Glassboro.

Sophomore Isabella Turner ran 18:22 to finish first overall. Turner out-raced Bishop Eustace junior Katy Storti, who placed second in 18:25, finishing just 12 meters behind Turner.

Shawnee, ranked No. 2 in South Jersey, outscored No. 5 Seneca 45-89 with No. 4 Cherokee third with 92 points in the overall team scoring race.

Shawnee edged Seneca 24-35 in the Patriot Division team scoring. Cherokee won the American Division 37-59 over Lenape, and Paul VI won on a sixth-runner tie-breaker over Bishop Eustace after they finished tied at 31 points in the National Division.

In merged scoring, Shawnee had five of the top 15 scorers, with Isabella Turner leading the way in first in 18:22, which averages out to sub-5:55 per mile.

Also for Shawnee, sophomore Claire Hauser finished fifth overall (19:03), with junior Lauren Tenet (11th in 19:40), senior Laura Mavracic (13th in 19:43) and senior Claire Rankin (15th in 19:47) giving Shawnee an impressive 19:19 team average.

Shawnee’s sixth and seventh runners, junior Grace Kearns and senior Hannah Maloney, were both well under 21 minutes, Kearns taking 24th in 20:20 and Maloney 34th in 20:46.

Seneca (19:52) and Cherokee (19:51) also averaged sub-20 on the 5,000-meter course.

Also under 19 minutes on the new course at Rowan were Cherokee sophomore Kate Rathman (third in 18:41) and Lenape senior Alexa Woltjen (fourth in 18:50).

Rounding out the overall top 10 were Seneca senior Carley Tool (6th in 19:06), Seneca freshman Emma Klouchek (7th in 19:15), Cherokee senior Sophia Eick (8th in 19:16), Cherry Hill East junior Sarah Pierce (9th in 19:18) and Seneca senior Sydney Warner (10th in 19:31).

This is the 11th straight year one of the Lenape District schools has won the Olympic Conference girls team title. Lenape won in 2007 and 2011, Seneca in 2008, 2012 and 2016, Cherokee in 2009 and 2010 and Shawnee in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017. The last non-Lenape District title came in 2006, when Cherry Hill East outscored Lenape, 39-62.

 

 

 

Moorestown High School graduate Natalie Cooper and Delran’s Madeleine Tattory both finished in the top 5 and led The College of New Jersey women’s XC team, ranked No. 20 nationally in NCAA Division 3, to the team title at the Gettysburg College Invitational Saturday.

Cooper placed second in 22:35 and Tattory fifth in 22:50 over the 6,000-meter course. There were 282 runners and 31 teams in the race. Cooper and Tattory are both juniors.

In all, TCNJ runners went 2-5-8-9-17 and 2-4-7-8-15 for 36 points, finishing well ahead of second-place Ohio Wesleyan (my alma mater) of Delaware, Ohio.

Freshman Gabriella DeVito of Monmouth Regional, junior Erin Holzbaur of Robbinsville and junior Abigail Faith of Freehold Township rounded out the Lions’ scoring group. Emma Bean of Mainland Regional wasn’t far behind, placing 22nd.

The TCNJ men also raced well, with Cherry Hill East graduate Robert Abrams placing fourth overall in 26:06 over the 8K course. TCNJ placed second in the team competition to a post-graduate Georgetown Running Company team, 50-54.

A year ago, Ray Derman ran 18:16 and placed 14th in the Camden County Championships. This time, he improved by almost a full minute and finished first.

Herman led an all-underclass Camden Catholic team, ranked No. 11 in South Jersey, to the team title Friday at the Camden County Championships! The Fighting Irish packed their first four runners in 34 seconds on their way to a 36-90 win over No. 10 Cherry Hill East (which didn’t run all its top guys).

Derman, now a junior, out-raced freshman Michael Henry of Timber Creek for the win, covering the 5,000-meter Timber Creek Park course in Lindenwold and Gloucester Township in 17:17 and finishing 50 meters ahead of Henry.

Juniors Matt Coffey [4th in 17:41], Richard Castaneda [7th in 17:48] and Max Baier [9th in 18:01] also finished in the top 10 for 11th-ranked Camden Catholic. Sophomore Matthew Denton was the Irish’s fifth scorer, in 18th place in 18:28.

The rest of the top 10 included Winslow senior Darien Miller [3rd in 17:40], Triton senior Noah Cziryak [5th in 17:45], Haddonfield sophomore Andrew Gostovich [6th in 17:47], Sterling senior Cajetan Ejianreh [8th in 17:49] and Eastern junior Alex Andrews [10th in 18:08].

Haddonfield, ranked No. 2 in South Jersey, also didn’t race its top runners, and defending champion Highland didn’t race. Sterling was down several runners who were ill.

Only five times since 1997 has a team other than Cherokee won the Burlington County Open.

In 2006, Shawnee won, with Cherokee finishing third. In 2010, Lenape edged Cherokee by four points to win the team title. In 2012, Lenape won, and Cherokee was fourth, and in 2013, Northern Burlington won, and Cherokee was third. And in 2000, Shawnee won, and Cherokee didn’t race.

Every other year?

Cherokee.

That’s 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Cherokee, which also won titles in 1988 and 1989, won its 16th Burlington County Open team title in the last 21 years Friday, beating the field by 46 points. Lenape was second with 78 and Cinnaminson third at 108.

Senior Justin Kelly and sophomore Chris Spisak ran 1-2 for the Chiefs, with Kelly dipping under 16, crossing the line at Mill Creek Park in 15:56 and Spisak about 50 meters back in 16:06.

It was Cherokee’s first 1-2 finish in 16 years, since Marc Pelerin and Keith Krieger went 1-2 in the 2001 race.

The last 1-2 finish was by Northern Burlington’s Chris Martin and Harrison Scott in 2013.

Four of Cherokee’s first five across the line were underclassmen. Sophomores Ethan Wechsler and Chase Miller placed sixth and 11th in 16:44 and 16:53, and junior Jonathan Conn was 12th in 16:56.

Senior Brandon Marks (19th in 17:17) and junior David Jackson (21st in 17:19) also broke 17:20 for the Chiefs.

Cherokee’s 32 points matched the lowest winning score since 2004, when Cherokee won by over 100 points — 22-124 over Lenape.

Cinnaminson sophomore Austin Gabay and senior Justin Arnold placed third and fourth in 16:20 and 16:36, and Lenape’s Kevin Lauer was fifth in 16:43. Also in the top 10: Moorestown junior Jack Farmer (7th in 16:44), Rancocas Valley senior Jacob Tyndale (8th in 16:47), Burlington Township sophomore Dakota Oyuela (9th in 16:51) and Cinnaminson (10th in 16:51).

Kelly’s winning time matched the fastest in the County Open since Krieger ran 15:43 in 2002. In 2012, Shawn Wilson of Cherokee also ran 15:56.

 

 

Incredible performance Thursday by the Kingsway girls, who scored a perfect 15 in winning the team title at the Gloucester County Championships at West Deptford Park.

What’s even more incredible is that all five Kingsway scorers broke 20 minutes. Granted, it’s not a hilly course, but that’s impressive anywhere. Even on a 400-meter track!

Senior Lexi Mullarkey led the way in 18:59, with senior Kylie Anicic second in 19:29, junior Lauren Krott third in 19:39, sophomore Allie Pierontoni fourth in 19:46 and freshman Ashlynn Burke fifth in 19:57.

No other runners broke 20 minutes.

Freshmen Sydney Watts and Caleigh Kupniewski also finished inside the top 15 for the Lady Dragons. Watts placed 10th in 20:25 and Kupniewski was 14th in 20:43.

Kingsway finished with a 15-72 win over Clearview, with Washington Township third in 92 and Delsea fourth with 107.

Even if Kingsway hadn’t run its top two runners, the Lady Dragons would have still defeated second-place Clearview, 26-62, with Washington Township third with 82 and Delsea fourth at 97 points.

This was the third consecutive win for the Kingsway girls at the county championships. Clearview won it 2014.

The Kingsway girls are ranked No. 1 in South Jersey and No. 2 in the state.

Anas Bensaoud of Clearview has emerged this fall as one of the leading freshman runners in New Jersey this year.

As a middle schooler, Bensaoud placed second at the South Jersey Open Middle School race last fall, covering the 2,500-meter course at Delsea in 8:54.15.

He opened his scholastic career last month with a sixth-place finish in the Cherokee Challenge freshman race, where he ran 10:42 over two miles and was the top South Jersey finisher.

Then at the South Jersey Shootout, he skipped the freshman race in favor of the Varsity 1-2-3 race and was Clearview’s No. 2 runner, covering the 5,000-meter course at Rowan in 16:59. Senior Colin Gardina was the Pioneer’s top finisher that day in 10th with a 16:50.

Bensaoud placed 13th in the Tri-County Championships in 17:11, where he was Clearview’s No. 1 runner and the only freshman under 18:40, and Clearview placed fourth out of 17 schools.

Then this past weekend, Bensaoud got his first crack at the historic 5,000-meter layout at Holmdel County Park, and instead of racing in the freshman race, he ran in the Varsity A race with his teammates and finished 36th overall in 17:36, one second and two spots behind Gardina.

Bensaoud was the only freshman under 18 minutes in the Varsity A race and the No. 2 freshman in the entire meet behind only Edwin Klanke of St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, who ran 17:21 and placed 29th in the Varsity B race.

The only other freshmen under 18 minutes in the various Shore Coaches races were Will McGlynn of Westfield (17:41 in the JV A race) and Domenick Wallace of Morris Hills (17:56 in the Varsity C race).

Clearview runs in the Gloucester County Championships on Thursday afternoon in West Deptford.

College of New Jersey senior Dale Johnson from West Deptford High placed third overall in the DeSales Invitational Saturday on the DeSales campus in Upper Saucon Township, Pa., just outside Bethlehem.

Johnson covered the 8,000-meter course in 26:10, finishing about 100 meters behind overall winner Jacob Jodat of Wisconsin Lutheran in Milwaukee.

The College of New Jersey finished seventh in team scoring out of 28 teams.

Chris Coombs of Burlington Township and Noah Priehs of Cherry Hill East also ran for TCNJ, Coombs placing 94th in 28:52 and Preihs 140th in 29:59.

College of New Jersey is ranked 7th in the USTFCCCA (United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) Division 3 Atlantic Region rankings.