Wildwood senior Macie McCracken cruised to a 200-meter win in a huge Tri-County Conference batch meet Tuesday featuring 88 runners from 17 schools.

McCracken ran 19:43 over 5,000 meters at Kingsway Regional in Woolwich Township, finishing clear of Williamstown junior Sophia Aldridge, who was 2nd in 20:27.

Team scoring wasn’t kept, but unofficially Williamstown won 76-104 over Delsea, with Highland 3rd with 110 points.

Others in the top 10 were Williamstown senior Delaney Harbison [3rd in 20:59], Woodstown freshman Abby Marino [4th in 21:04], Highland junior Lyana Gutierrez [5th in 21:11], Williamstown sophomore Julia Burgio [6th in ], Wildwood senior Leiah Pawlus [7th in ], Salem County Vo-Tech senior Sarah Seiden [8th in ], Woodstown sophomore Anabel Schaal [9th in ] and Delsea senior Juliana Sieminski.

Delsea graduate Nick Costello ran a lifetime-best time and won the 27th running of the Steamtown Marathon in and around Scranton this past weekend.

Costello ran 2:21.17 and finished more than two minutes ahead of Dylan Gearinger, a former Haverford runner and a 2015 graduate of Berwick (Pa.) High School near Bloomsburg. Gearinger ran 2:23.33.

Costello’s previous-best marathon time was a 2:26.35 at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn., on June 17, 2023.

Costello graduated from Delsea in 2013. He placed 4th in the 2011 state Group 3 meet at Holmdel in 16:25 and then ran 16:22 a week later in the Meet of Champions. He ran track PRs of 4:24.50 and 9:19.19, the 4:24.50 indoors when he won South Jersey Group 2 sectionals at the Bubble in February 2012 and the 9:19.19 four months later at the outdoor Meet of Champions at Old Bridge. He was also state Group 3 champ at 3,200 meters in the spring of 2012.

Costello spent the fall of 2014 through the spring of 2018 at Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colo., running 8:52.36 for 3,000 meters, 15:165.85 for the 5,000 and 31:12.55 for 10,000 meters.

After graduating with a degree in agriculture business, Costello immediately began coaching, spending the 2019-20 cross country and track seasons as a volunteer assistant at the University of Wyoming. He was hired as a full-time coach in the fall of 2019 and is now in his sixth season in Laramie.

Costello has a half-marathon PR of 1:07.54 from the Philadelphia Half in September of 2022.

He’s not far off the South Jersey alumni marathon record of 2:17.22 set by Camden Catholic’s Kevin McDonnell last October at the Chicago Marathon. McDonnell ran 2:19.52 at the Twin Cities Marathon last month in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Steamtown had a strong South Jersey flavor this past weekend. Brian Quilty of Pitman, a 2011 Rowan graduate and coach at Rutgers Camden, placed 30th in 2:53.00; Haddonfield graduate Ian Rowe-Nicholls of Cherry Hill was 65th in 3:02.09; and Andrew MacLane of Bordentown, a graduate of Middletown North, placed 72nd in 3:03.26.

In the women’s race, Nicole Dyer of Glassboro ran 3:18.29 and placed 25th, and Sharyn Freda of Upper Township – a graduate of Archbishop Wood in Warminster, Pa., also the alma mater of 3:57.59 high school miler Gary Martin – was 58th in 3:31.55.

The Steamtown course runs through 14 municipalities in Lackawanna County: Forest City, Vandling Borough, Fell Township, Simpson Township, Carbondale City, Carbondale Township, Mayfield Borough, Jermyn Borough, Archbald Borough, Jessup Borough, Blakeley Borough, Olyphant Borough, Dickson City Borough and the City of Scranton.

Junior Erik Preisner, sophomore Keenan Neuman and senior Ethan Buck all finished in the top 10 and Ocean City cruised to the Varsity A team title Sunday at the 52nd annual Manhattan Invitational.

Preisner placed 6th in 13:29, Neuman 7th in 13:37 and Buck 9th in 13:40 and Ocean City won 70-90 over St. Andrews School of Middletown, Del. (the school where Dead Poets Society was filmed).

Sophomores Nathan Aschmann and Michael Romano completed Ocean City’s top-5, Aschmann 23rd in 14:00 and Romano 31st in 14:08. Senior 6th man Zach Hutchinson wasn’t far off the pace, 39th in 14:16

That’s a 39-second gap from 1 through 5 and a 13:47 team average.

Ocean City, ranked 11th in the state, finished an outstanding 15th in a merge of 176 schools in eight varsity races and 3rd among New Jersey schools, behind the top-ranked non-public school of Lincroft and Haddonfield – the top two teams in the state.

The Ocean City girls weren’t invited to race in the Eastern States Championship at the Manhattan Invitational, but with their performance in the Varsity D class race, they proved they belonged.

Led by senior Maeve Smith in 2nd place, Ocean City – ranked 2nd in New Jersey – scored just 59 points and won the Varsity D team title by 48 over Middletown South.

The Red Raiders averaged 16:10.2 for their five scorers on the 2 ½-mile Van Cortlandt Park course in the Bronx. That was the fastest average time of any team not in the Championship race and 7th-fastest overall among 133 high schools competing in eight races.

In a merge of all 133 schools, Ocean City placed 5th with 410 points, behind only U.S. No. 5 Bethlehem Central of Delmar, N.Y. [45], Champlain Valley Union of Hinesburg, Vt. [239], Princeton [363] and Auburn, N.Y. [381], who were all in the Eastern Championship race

Smith took 2nd in the D race in 15:02, finishing behind only Naomi Douglas of Fiorello H. Laguardia of Music and Art of Manhattan. Douglas ran 14:56.

Sophomore Carly Godfrey, freshman Riley Tolson and senior Chloe Care then finished 11th, 12th and 13th, Godfrey and Tolson finishing together in 16:12.8 and Care just behind at 16:16.1. Ocean City got four across the line before any other school in the field had three across. Senior Zoe Zammit ran 17:06 for 26th to complete Ocean City’s scoring pack.

Fastest Teams at Manhattan Invitational
14:56.5 … Bethlehem [1st, Championship]
15:45.7 … Champlain Valley Union [2nd, Championship]
15:57.4 … Auburn [3rd, Championship]
16:02.3 … Tatnall [6th, Championship]
16:06.8 … Princeton [4th, Championship]
16:06.8 … Liverpool [5th, Championship]
16:10.2 … Ocean City [1st, Varsity D]
16:11.3 … Cornwall [1st, Varsity C]
16:15.2 … Bolles [7th, Championship

Liliah Gordon ran the 4th-fastest time ever by a South Jersey girl at Van Cortlandt Park Sunday and the 4th-fastest time of nearly 1,000 girls in eight races at the Manhattan 52nd annual Manhattan Invitational in the Bronx.

Gordon, a Northern Burlington senior, ran 14:41 and placed 4th among some of the top runners in the Northeast in the Eastern States Championship race. She finished only 17 seconds behind winner Zariel Macchia of William Floyd High in Mastic Beach, N.Y., who ran 4:41.37 for a full mile last spring and 10:09.89 for two miles and was national runner-up at two-miles.

Her time is fastest by a South Jersey girl on the historic 2 ½-mile course since 2015, when Haddonfield’s Briana Gess ran 14:10.4 and Mainland’s Alyssa Aldridge ran 14:34.6 on the same day but in different races at Manhattan.

Gordon has only raced twice this year, winning the Shore Coaches C race in 18:21 at Holmdel and taking 4th at Manhattan. She’ll race in the Burlington County Open Friday at Mill Creek Park in Willingboro seeking to become the first girl to win three years in a row since Shawnee’s Liz Moore from 1992 through 1994. Course record at Mill Creek is 17:53.0 set in 2010 by Megan Lacy, who was inducted this past weekend into the Cherokee Hall of Fame.

All-Time South Jersey VanCortlandt Park list
14:10.4 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2015
14:30.4 … Vanessa Wright [Haddonfield], 2004
14:34.6 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2015
14:41.0 … Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2024
14:42.2 … Erin Donahue [Haddonfield], 1998
14:42.5 … Devin Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2014
14:55.3 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2008

Haddonfield confirmed their status as one of the top teams along the East Coast Sunday with a monster 2nd-place team finish in the Eastern States Championship race at the Manhattan Invitational.

The Haddonfield boys finished behind only the No. 2-ranked team in the country and beat 3rd-place Boston College High School of Dorchester, Mass., on a 6th-runner tiebreaker.

Junior Luke Andresen, senior Bennett Wright, junior Peter Simpson, junior Benjamin Andrus and junior Ryan Gibson packed from 13:09 to 13:30 – a 21-second gap on the historic 2 ½-mile course at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

The Bulldogs averaged 13:22.6 and finished 2nd in a merge of 176 schools in the eight varsity races.

I believe the lowest team average by a South Jersey school on the 2 ½-mile course at Vanny is 13:20 by Haddonfield’s Greg Eisenhower, Martin Riddell, Derek Gess, Stephen Kasko and Griffin Weiner at the 2018 St. Regis Invitational.

There doesn’t appear to be an all-time Van Cortlandt Park team average list covering New Jersey or the course in general. Hard to believe nobody maintains a Vanny all-time team average list.

Anyway, Andresen ran 13:09 in 21st, Wright 13:16 in 30th, Simpson 13:18 in 31st, Andrus 13:30 in 44th and Gibson 13:38 in 57th.

Making the difference between 2nd and 3rd was junior Aaron Keith in 90th with a 14:03. He finished 41 spots and 29 seconds ahead of Boston College’s 6th runner.

Haddonfield, ranked No. 2 in New Jersey and No. 1 among public schools, is scheduled to race at the Camden County Championships at Timber Creek Park in Gloucester Township Friday and the Colonial Conference Championships at West Deptford Park a week from Thursday before racing at South Jersey Group 2 sectionals Nov. 2 at DREAM Park in Logan Township.

It’s possible their next full-effort race will be the Meet of Champions Nov. 16 at Holmdel Park.

Haddon Township junior Shaun Maloney ran a huge all-course 5K PR Saturday to win the Division 1 race at the South Jersey Open.

Maloney ran 16:51, dropping more than half a minute from his previous-best 5,000 on any course. He ran 17:25 when he placed 17th last October at the Colonial Conference Championships at Pennypacker Park in Haddonfield and Cherry Hill.

The win was the first for Maloney in any major cross country or indoor or outdoor track race.

Maloney finished 40 meters ahead of Bishop Eustace senior Ethan Caprarola, who placed 2nd in 16:58.

Other South Jersey runners in the top 10: Gloucester Marcus Flagg [3rd in 17:03], Woodstown Jacob Marino [5th in 17:09] and Cole Lucas [6th in 17:11], Gloucester Vincent Kelly [7th in 17:29], Haddon Township Manolo Foote [8th in 17:30] and Collingswood Graham Reynolds [9th in 17:34].

Kinnelon of Morris County went 3-7-9-11-19 and edged Haddon Township 49-55 to win the team title, with Gloucester 3rd with 70 points.

Holy Cross junior Julia Flanagan won the individual title, and Audubon won the team title by one point in Division 1 at the South Jersey Open Saturday.

Flanagan ran 19:05 over 5K at DREAM Park in Logan Township and edged Camden Catholic senior Nilaa Ponnappan, who was 2nd in 19:21.

Flanagan’s time is fastest ever at DREAM Park by a Holy Cross runner. She held the previous course best of 19:23 from the South Jersey Shootout last month.

Audubon finished with a 91-92 margin of victory over Haddon Township, with visiting Kinnelon of Morris County 3rd with 97 points.

Audubon didn’t have a runner in the top eight but had three finishers between 9th and 15th – freshman Sophia Brassill 9th in 21:25, freshman Romina Macko 14th in 22:12 and senior Josephine Albanese 15th in 22:19. Senior Avery Lundell [40th in 26:03] and sophomore Sophia Rizzo [44th in 26:18] also scored for the Green Wave.

Haddon Township was led by junior Blake Kemery [10th in 21:42] and sophomore Tanner Lajoie [12th in 22:00].

Schalick senior Jordan Hadfield placed 3rd in 20:16 – she’s placed in the top three in all seven invitationals she’s raced in this fall – Maple Shade senior Crystal Benito 4th in 20:32, West Deptford sophomore Taylor Sierzega 5th in 20:37, Collingswood junior Macie Straight 6th in 20:45, Kinnelon senior Hope Sirinides 7th in 21:02 and Gloucester Dejia senior 8th in 21:15.

Widener’s Thomas Flear, a sophomore from Clearview, finished first among 100 runners Saturday at the DeSales Invitational in Upper Saucon Township outside Bethlehem.

Flear ran 26:07 and finished 40 meters ahead of 2nd-place Louka Fetter, a junior at Messiah University in Grantham, Pa.

It was only Flear’s 2nd race this fall. He was 2nd at the Messiah Invitational last month. He’s won conference titles on the track at 5,000 meters indoors last year and 10,000 meters outdoors.

Widener, ranked 9th in the NCAA Division 3 Metro Region, finished 3rd with 64 points, behind Messiah [40] and DeSales [59].

Flear has blossomed at Widener after recording PRs of 2:07.59, 4:47.26 and 10:21.49 in high school.

Led by junior Andrew Dopkin and senior Andrew Kellem, Highland put all five scorers in the top 10 and coasted to the Division 2 team title Saturday morning at the South Jersey Open.

Dopkin ran 16:57 and Kellem 17:24 over 5,000 meters at DREAM Park in Logan Township, and Highland had its 5th runner across the line before any other school’s 2nd runner.

Highland finished with a 32-67 margin over 2nd-place Delsea.

Delsea junior Matthew Littlehales won the race in 15:55, fastest time of the day and 2nd-fastest in course history by a Delsea runner behind older brother Andrew’s 15:38 when he placed 2nd at the 2021 South Jersey Group 3 sectionals.

Paul VI senior Sean Alemi and Cherry Hill West junior Rex Takakjy ran 2nd and 3rd in 16:28 and 16:33 before Highland took five of the next seven spots.

Sophomore Colin Roznowski, junior Daniel Gee and junior Pierce Dopkin packed in 8th, 9th and 10th in 17:32, 17:47 and 17:54, giving Highland a 57-second gap from their 1st through 5th runners.

Also in the top 10 were Middle Township sophomore Jamar Mack [5th in 17:07] and Seneca senior Connor McCafferty [7th in 17:25].