From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Led by overall winner Ryleigh Budsock, Cherry Hill East put all five scorers in the top 11 and rolled to the Division 3 team title Saturday morning at the South Jersey Open.

Budsock, a sophomore, ran an all-course lifetime-best 19:11 over 5,000 meters at DREAM Park in Logan Township and topped Winslow senior Ava Millner for the win. Millner placed 2nd in 19:28.

Senior Cate Feudtner, sophomore Gabriella Pizzo, junior Ella Davidson and junior Shaelea Conway placed 3rd, 5th, 7th and 11th, Feudtner in 19:45, Pizzo 19:53, Davidson 19:58 and Conway 20:23. They were backed up by junior Keira Conway in 13th [20:43] and sophomore Katherine Grottini in 15th [20:55].

So East went 1-3-5-7-11-13, which is about as well as seven runners can possibly do without a single one finishing in an even-numbered place.

Team scoring isn’t listed in the results but it looks like East outscored 2nd-place Vineland 27-60 with Clearview 3rd with 87 points.

Cherry Hill East – ranked 16th in New Jersey – averaged 19:50.30, very close to their fastest average time ever on the course. East averaged 19:46.76 at the 2019 Olympic Conference meet. On a perfect morning for running, it’s the 13th-fastest team average since the course near Glassboro opened in 2018.

Winslow’s Millner, a 2:18 half-miler last spring,. ran an all-course PR in 2nd place. She just broke 20 minutes for the first time with a 19:48 at Stockton University last month.

Also in the top 10 were Vineland seniors Kylee Black [4th in 19:49] and Gabrielle Brown [6th in 19:53], Hammonton senior Natalie Clauhs [8th in 20:01], Vineland sophomore Olivia Masucci [9th in 20:12] and Clearview senior Lilla Porter [10th in 20:13].

Northern Burlington’s Liliah Gordon, Glassboro’s Ty Blackman and the Haddonfield boys will take on some of the best runners in the country Sunday at the 52nd annual Manhattan College Invitational at legendary Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

There will be 42 races in all, including varsity, freshman, JV and middle school events, but the signature events at the Manhattan Invitational will be the boys and girls Eastern Championship races.

Gordon will race in the girls Easterns race at 2:56 p.m. Blackman, who placed 2nd in the Shore Coaches F race with a 16:31 at Holmdel last weekend, is entered as an individual in the boys Easterns race, along with Haddonfield, rank No. 2 in New Jersey.

Gordon ran 10:22.20 for 3,200 meters last spring and won the Varsity C race at Shore Coaches Saturday in her 2024 XC debut with an unpressed 18:21, 2nd-fastest time among all girls in all six races.

All races at Vanny are 2 ½ miles. Only when Foot Locker Northeast Regionals are held at Van Cortlandt is the 5,000-meter course used.

https://www.manhattancollegexcinvitational.com/race-course-site-map

Gordon will be chasing the South Jersey best on the historic course, 14:10.4 set by Haddonfield’s Briana Gess at the 2015 Manhattan Invitational.

Other top Vanny times by South Jersey girls: Haddonfield’s Vanessa Wright ran 14:30.4 in 2004, Mainland’s Alyssa Aldridge 14:34.6 in 2015, Haddonfield’s Erin Donohue 14:42.2 in 1998 and Ocean City’s Devin Grisbaum 14:42.5 in 2014.

Haddonfield, which held its top group out of Shore Coaches to be fresh for Manhattan, races at 2:44 p.m. The Bulldogs’ top group will include junior Luke Andresen, senior Bennett Wright, junior Ryan Gibson, junior Benjamin Andrus and junior Peter Simpson.

Haddonfield set the South Jersey team record on Van Cortlandt’s 2 ½-mile course at 13:20 at the 2018 Regis Invitational with Greg Eisenhower, Martin Riddell, Derek Gess, Stephen Kasko and Griffin Weiner.

The South Jersey course record is held by Woodbury’s Peyton Shute with his 12:18.10 from last year, when he was 2nd to CBA’s Joe Barrett. Shute broke a 36-year-old record of 12:20.5 set by Pau VI’s Jason DiJoseph back in 1987. Others from South Jersey who’ve run sub-12:30: Aaron Groff of Cherry Hill East [12:24.3, 6th in 2015], Jonathan Vitez of Haddonfield [12:25.60, 1st in 2009] and Highland’s Kevin Pumphrey [12:28.4, 3rd in 1985].

Also scheduled to race at Vanny on Sunday: Ocean City girls are in the Varsity D race at 2:23 p.m., the Ocean Boys are in the Varsity A race at 1:32, Haddonfield’s girls at in the C race at 2:08 p.m., Williamstown boys race at 3:08 p.m. in the D race and Williamstown girls start at 3:56 p.m. in the F race.

The Manhattan Invitational has been held off and on since the early 1930s. The current meet has been held every year since 1972 with the exception of 2020.

Races will run Sunday from 9:03 a.m. until about 4:30 p.m.

Full race schedule can be found here, and race assignments are listed here. The link for live results should pop up here at some point.

Schalick senior Jordan Hadfield cruised to her 2nd straight Salem County title Wednesday, winning by about 80 meters over Abby Marino of Woodstown. And she led Schalick to the team title as well.

Hadfield covered 5,000 meters at Salem County Vo-Tech in Mannington Township in 19:15, with Marino 2nd in 20:34.

Schalick went 1-5-6-8-10 and outscored Woodstown 25-34. Schalick’s places in team competition were 1-4-5-7-8.

Schalick actually had seven of the first 12 finishers, with senior Jordan Goode [5th in 23:40], freshman Emma Cain [6th in 24:34], sophomore Ava Melnick [8th in 25:06], senior Olivia Hill [10th in 25:31], junior Emma O’Neill [11th in 26:42] and sophomore Jaedyn Wallace [12th in 26:50] following Hadfield across the line.

Also in the top 10 were Salem Vo-Tech Sarah Seiden [3rd in 22:08], Woodstown Anabel Schaal [4th in 23:08], Woodstown Arianna Mott [7th in 25:00] and Salem Gabriella Bartlett [10th in 25:31].

Hadfield, the state Group 1 champ last spring at both 1,600 and 3,200 meters, has placed in the top three in every race she’s entered this year. Next month she’ll shoot for her 2nd straight state Group 1 XC title. She didn’t run cross country until her junior year.

The Woodstown boys set a meet record for lowest team score at the 53rd annual Salem County Championships Wednesday in Manningham Township.

Woodstown went 1-2-3-5-6 for 17 points, breaking the record of 19 points set by Pennsville in the 2007 race at Schalick. Mark Kearney, T.J. Mowers, Matt Powers, Jon Scull and Justin Schmid went 1-3-4-5-6.

For Woodstown Wednesday, junior Karson Chew, junior Jacob Marino and senior Cole Lucas swept the top three spots in the 5,000-meter race at Salem County Vo-Tech, Chew inning in 17:00, Marino 2nd in 17:15 and Lucas 3rd in 17:27.

Schalick junior Salvatore Longo broke up the Wolverine sweep with a 4th-place finish in 17:50 before sophomore David Farrell and senior Jon Farrell completed the top 5 in 5th and 6th, David in 18:02 and Jon in 18:42.

Woodstown finished with a 17-41 margin of victory over 2nd-place Schalick, with Salem County Vo-Tech 3rd with 77 points.

Also in the top 10 were Schalick senior Chase Walker [7th in 18:49], Schalick sophomore Collin Bittle [8th in 18:58], Salem senior Samuel Cooke [9th in 19:01] and Schalick junior Chase Riley [10th in 19:05].

And now the 50-fastest South Jersey girls at Shore Coaches this weekend! As always, let me know if you notice any mistakes or omissions!

Fastest freshman: Riley Tolson [Ocean City], 19:48
Fastest sophomore: Carly Godfrey [Ocean City], 19:39
Fastest junior: Madeline Meder [Cherokee], 19:37
Fastest senior: Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 18:20

Fastest from Atlantic County: Paige Pacquing [Egg Harbor Twp.], 20:57
Fastest from Burlington County: Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 18:20
Fastest from Camden County: Macy Huber [Paul VI], 19:40
Fastest from Cape May County: Maeve Smith [Ocean City], 18:47
Fastest from Cumberland County: Olivia Solomon [Millville], 27:54
Fastest from Gloucester County: Sophia Aldridge [Williamstown], 20:12
Fastest from Salem County: Jordan Hadfield [Schalick], 19:44

Fastest from BCSL Freedom Division: Julia Flanagan [Holy Cross], 20:26
Fastest from BCSL Liberty Division: Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 18:20
Fastest from Cape-Atlantic: Maeve Smith [Ocean City], 18:47
Fastest from Colonial Conference: Jonalee Adames [Sterling], 19:43
Fastest from Friends League: Siyao Li [Moorestown Friends], 32:37
Fastest from Olympic Conference: Megan Niglio [Cherokee], 19:31
Fastest from Tri-County Conference: Jordan Hadfield [Schalick], 19:44

18:20 … Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 1st, Varsity C
18:46 … Maeve Smith [Ocean City], 2nd, Varsity C
19:25 … Chloe Care [Ocean City], 4th, Varsity C
19:30 … Megan Niglio [Cherokee], 4th, Varsity A
19:37 … *Madeline Meder [Cherokee], 5th, Varsity A
19:39 … **Carly Godfrey [Ocean City], 5th, Varsity C
19:40 … *Macy Huber [Paul VI], 5th, Varsity D
19:43 … Jordan Hadfield [Schalick], 3rd, Varsity F
19:43 … Jonalee Adames [Sterling], 6th, Varsity D
19:47 … **Grace Gutowski [Paul VI], 7th, Varsity D
19:48 … ***Riley Tolson [Ocean City], 7th, Vasity C
19:52 … Kaysie Luna [Sterling], 8th, Varsity D
19:52 … Nilaa Ponnappan [Camden Catholic], 9th, Varsity E
20:11 … *Sophia Aldridge [Williamstown], 6th, Varsity B
20:12 … **Theresa Albertson [Eatern], 6th, Varsity A
20:25 … Gabrielle DeJoseph [Moorestown], 10th, Varsity B
20:25 … *Julia Flanagan [Holy Cross], 14th, Varsity E
20:29 … *Natalie Dumas [Eastern], 10th, Varsity A
20:30 … Juliana Sieminski [Delsea], 13th, Varsity C
20:32 … **Ryleigh Budsock [Cherry Hill East], 11th, Varsity A
20:32 … ***Hope Edwards [Moorestown], 13th, Varsity B
20:49 … Kaylee Russen [Washington Twp.], 16th, Varsity A
20:52 … ***Peyton Blake [Paul VI], 18th, Varsity D
20:54 … ***Morgan Kuzma [Paul VI], 19th, Varsity D
20:55 … ***Erin Healy [Cherokee], 18th, Varsity A
20:57 … *Paige Pacquing [Egg Harbor Twp.], 19th, Varsity A
20:56 … Noelia Reyes [Moorestown], 22nd, Varsity B
21:00 … *Devyn Per [Egg Harbor Twp.], 20th, Varsity A
21:02 … **Madison Kelsey [Haddonfield], 20th, Varsity E
21:02… Cate Feudtner [Cherry Hill East], 23rd, Varsity A
21:02 … **Aubrey Bishop [Kingsway], 24th, Varsity B
21:05 … **Molly Mills [Haddonfield], 21st, Varsity E
21:07 … *Maya Kumar [Cherokee], 26th, Varsity A
21:09 … Paige Cline [Shawnee], 25th, Varsity B
21:09 … Grace Wojciechowski [Cherokee], 27th, Varsity A
21:10 … Lilla Porter [Clearview], 20th, Varsity C
21:15 … Tylin Reagan [Haddonfield], 22nd, Varsity E
21:16 … **Gabriella Pizzo [Cherry Hill East], 29th, Varsity A
21:17 … Katherine Asher [Haddonfield], 24th, Varsity E
21:20 … *Giovanna Mantuano [Paul VI], 25th, Varsity D
21:24… Rachael Wilson [Washington Twp.], 35th, Varsity A
21:25 … Delaney Harbison [Williamstown], 29th, Varsity B
21:27 … Kayla Leonhardt [Northern Burlington], 24th, Varsity C
21:28 … **Devon Gervasi [Haddonfield], 29th, Varsity E
21:33 … *Macie Straight [Collingswood], 31st, Varsity E
21:34 … **Katherine Grottini [Cherry Hill East], 37th, Varsity A
21:36 … Dylan Melcher [Haddonfield], 32nd, Varsity E
21:37 … ***Makayla Zell [Moorestown], 33rd, Varsity B
21:37 … **Addison Lambert [Egg Harbor Twp.], 39th, Varsity A
21:39 … ***Ella Mokienko [Mainland Reg.], 30th, Varsity C
21:39 … **Emily Lutner [Triton], 31st, Varsity C

Here’s a look at the 50-fastest South Jersey boys who raced at Shore Coaches Saturday at Holmdel County Park. Girls list coming later tonight!

Anybody missing???

Fastest freshman: Jack Tindall [Cherokee], 15:54
Fastest sophomore: Benjamin Realley [Cherokee], 16:37
Fastest junior: Erik Preisner [Ocean City], 16:38
Fastest senior: Ty Blackman [Glassboro], 16:31

Fastest from Atlantic County: Sean Martino [Cedar Creek], 17:22
Fastest from Burlington County: Jack Tyndall [Cherokee], 15:54
Fastest from Camden County: Brandon Lyons [Cherry Hill East], 16:33
Fastest from Cape May County: Erik Preisner [Ocean City], 16:38
Fastest from Cumberland County: Arjun Patel [Millville], 16:53
Fastest from Gloucester County: Ty Blackman [Glassboro], 16:31
Fastest from Salem County: Jacob Marino [Woodstown], 17:46

Fastest from BCSL Freedom Division: Ries Fox [Maple Shade], 19:17
Fastest from BCSL Liberty Division: Jacob Wickersham [Cinnaminson], 16:59
Fastest from Cape-Atlantic: Erik Preisner [Ocean City], 16:38
Fastest from Colonial Conference: Reggie Hernandez [Haddon Hts.], 16:54
Fastest from Friends League: Aaron Linden [Moorestown Friends], 17:57
Fastest from Olympic Conference: Jack Tindall [Cherokee], 15:54
Fastest from Tri-County Conference: Ty Blackman [Glassboro], 16:31

15:54 … ***Jack Tindall [Cherokee], 2nd, Varsity A
16:31 … Ty Blackman [Glassboro], 2nd, Varsity F
16:33 … Brandon Lyons [Cherry Hill East], 8th, Varsity A
16:37 … **Benjamin Realley [Cherokee], 9th, Varsity A
16:38 … *Erik Preisner [Ocean City], 5th, Varsity C
16:39 … Brody Bogos [Cherry Hill East], 10th, Varsity A
16:49 … *Alvin Lin [Cherry Hill East], 14th, Varsity A
16:51 … **Keenan Neuman [Ocean City], 8th, Varsity C
16:52 … Liam Tindall [Cherokee], 16th, Varsity A
16:53 … Arjun Patel [Millville], 10th, Varaity B
16:54 … *Dominic Burgio [Williamstown], 18th, Varsity A
16:54 … Reggie Hernandez [Haddon Heights], 7th, Varsity F
16:55 … Mason Wassell [Highland Reg.], 10th, Varsity C
16:59 … *Will Nelson [Cherry Hill East], 20th, Varsity A
16:59 … *Jacob Wickersham [Cinnaminson], 11th, Varsity F
17:01 … Ethan Buck [Ocean City], 11th, Varsity C
17:01 … Noah Stapleton [Shawnee], 11th, Varsity B
17:03 … **Sean Sooy [Cherokee], 22nd, Varsity A
17:04 … *Matthew Littlehales [Delsea], 13th, Varsity C
17:07 … Enzo Corona [Cherokee], 23rd, Varsity A
17:11 … *Colin Moore [Cherry Hill East], 24th, Varsity A
17:13 … **Cian Sherlock [Cherry Hill East], 26th, Varsity A
17:13 … Ethan Worst [Clearview], 17th, Varsity C
17:19 … Zach Hutchinson [Ocean City], 21st, Varsity C
17:19 … Dylan Saber [Williamstown], 29th, Varsity A
17:20 … Case Hurley [Haddonfield], 7th, Varsity E
17:22 … Benjamin Weiner [Cherokee], 30th, Varsity A
17:22 … *Sean Martino [Cedar Creek], 8th, Varsity E
17:23 … Hunter Bostwick [Washington Twp.], 31st, Varsity A
17:24 … Julian Rich [Camden County Vo-Tech / Sicklerville], 6th, Varsity D
17:26 … **Nathan Aschmann [Ocean City], 25th, Varsity C
17:28 … *Logan Bromley [Cherokee], 34th, Varsity A
17:28 … *Ryan McCann [Cedar Creek], 11th, Varsity E
17:28 … Brandon Smith [Cinnaminson], 22nd, Varsity F
17:30 … Nikhil Rahman [Cherry Hill East], 1st, JV A
17:32 … *Vincenzo Vecchio [Cedar Creek], 13th, Varsity E
17:34 … Tate Midora [Cherokee], 2nd, JV A
17:34 … *Milo Poerner [Cherry Hill East], 39th, Varsity A
17:37 … *Marcus Flagg [Gloucester], 10th, Varsity D
17:38 … **Chase Cooley [Paul VI], 24th, Varsity F
17:38 … **Michael Romano [Ocean City], 28th, Varsity C
17:40 … **Ryan Duffy [Kingsway], 33rd, Varsity B
17:40 … Ethan Caprarola [Bishop Eustace], 14th, Varsity E
17:41 … **Caden Briggs [Paul VI], 25th, Varsity F
17:45 … Owen James [Haddon Heights], 28th, Varsity F
17:45 … *Matthew McDevitt [Egg Harbor Twp.], 45th, Varsity A
17:46 … Leonardo DiCello [Haddonfield], 15th, Varsity E
17:46 … *Logan Pavelik [Williamstown], 46th, Varsity A
17:46 … *Jacob Marino [Woodstown], 31st, Varsity F
17:47 … Caleb Wiederholt [Northern Burlington], 36th, Varsity B
17:48 … **Jamar Mack [Middle Twp.], 17th, Varsity E

Strong race for the Moorestown girls Saturday in the B race at Shore Coaches, with the Quakers placing 3rd behind Princeton and Ridgewood and taking 10th among every school from six races.

Senior Gabrielle DeJoseph, freshman Hope Edwards and senior Noelia Reyes led the way, DeJoseph in 10th [20:26], Edwards 13th [20:33] and Reyes 22nd [20:57]. Freshman Makayla Zell [33rd in 21:38] and junior Lilliana Stack Maya [37th in 21:54] made it five scorers in the top 40, and they were backed up by sophomore Sophia DiFiore [49th in 22:35] and senior Sarah Brown [61st in 23:08].

Moorestown averaged 21:05 for its five scorers, 11th-fastest among all schools who raced at Holmdel County Park Saturday, and the performance elevated the Quakers from 18th to 14th in the MileSplit state rankings.,

The top South Jersey finisher in the B race was Williamstown junior Sophia Aldridge, who was 5th in 20:12.

Also in the top 50: Kingsway sophomore Aubrey Bishop [24th in 21:03], Shawnee senior Paige Cline [25th in 21:09], Williamstown senior Delaney Harbison [29th in 21:26], Kingsway senior Alaina Zabielski [35th in 21:48], Shawnee freshman Kelsey Beer [42nd in 22:05], Shawnee senior Kayla Dilks [44th in 22:17] and Williamstown sophomore Julia Burgio [45th in 22:18].

The Haddonfield boys placed 3rd in the Varsity E race at Shore Coaches Saturday with a 61-second gap between their 1st and 5th runners and a 17:57 team average.

Pretty impressive, right?

What makes it more impressive is that Haddonfield didn’t run any of its top group.

Haddonfield is racing at the Manhattan College Invitational Sunday at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, and it doesn’t make sense to for them to schedule two hard efforts on challenging courses a week apart.

So Haddonfield used its second group, who are all very good runners in their own right and would be in the top five on most other New Jersey teams.

Senior Case Hurly led the way for Haddonfield in 7th place in 17:20, senior Leonardo DiCello was 15th in 17:45 and senior Linus Kucer and sophomore Owen Snyder both ran 18:09 and placed 28th and 29th. Junior Michael Sinnes rounded out Haddonfield’s top 5 in 36th place in 18:21.

Haddonfield’s likely top five in New York next weekend will be junior Luke Andresen, senior Bennett Wright, junior Ryan Gibson, junior Benjamin Andrus and junior Peter Simpson.

Haddonfield is ranked 2nd in New Jersey and 1st among public schools.

Cedar Creek placed 5th in Varsity E, with juniors Sean Martino, Ryan McCann and Vincenzo Vecchio all in the top 15. Martino ran 17:23 for 8th, McCann 17:29 for 11th and Vecchio 17:33 in 13th. Senior Evan Hendrickson [49th in 18:46] and senior Brayden Parker [93rd in 19:49] rounded out Cedar Creek’s top 5.

Also under 18 minutes was Bishop Eustace senior Ethan Caprarola [14th in 17:41].

Junior Macy Huber and sophomore Grace Gutowski placed 5th and 7th Saturday and led Paul VI its 5th Shore Coaches team title and 2nd in a row.

Huber ran 19:41 – a 49-second Holmdel PR – and Gutowski 19:48 – an 80-second Holmdel PR – and Paul VI averaged a school-record 20:31 and outscored Rumson-Fair Haven 65-80 to win the Varsity D team title. Rumson is ranked 16th in the state. Paul VI wasn’t ranked in the most recent MileSplit state poll.

Paul VI also won Group A in 1982 and 1987, Group C in 1997 and Group D last year. Their 20:31 average was 6th-fastest of 132 schools that fielded a full team in the six girls races Saturday at Holmdel County Park and 3rd-fastest among South Jersey schools, behind Ocean City’s 19:53 – fastest ever by a South Jersey school at Shore Coaches – and Cherokee’s 20:28.

Freshmen Peyton Blake and Morgan Kuzma finished virtually together, taking 18th and 19th in 20:53 and 20:55 in what was their first race ever at Holmdel, and junior Giovanna Mantuano locked up the team title in 22nd place in 21:21 in her first race of the year.

Paul VI’s top five was backed up by another freshman, Johanna Trampe, who ran 22:20 and placed 39th, and sophomore Kara Salamone, 45th in 23:00.

PVI had all seven in before anybody else in the race had their 5th runner across the line. Their 1:40 gap from 1 through 5 was lowest in the field.

Sterling placed 3rd in the D race, with seniors Jonalee Adames 6th in 19:44 and Kaysie Luna 8th in 19:53. Also in the Silver Knights’ scoring group were senior Isabella Patruno [40th in 22:32], senior Amber Wilsey [44th in 22:52] and freshman Riley Sharp [59th in 23:32].

Also, West Deptford sophomore Taylor Sierzega placed 30th in 21:45 and Gloucester senior Dejia Robert was 34th in 22:03.

Rowan senior Joshua Cason, a graduate of Camden County Vo-Tech, became Rowan’s fastest runner at Lehigh since at least 2005 Saturday at the Paul Short Invitational.

Cason placed 16th of nearly 400 runners in the White race in 25:02. That’s the fastest time on record by a Rowan runner on Lehigh’s 8,000-meter course in Bethlehem and Lower Saucon Township. I went back to 2005 and couldn’t find a faster time by anyone from Rowan at Lehigh.

The fastest previous Rowan time at Lehigh I could find was a 25:16 by Lenape’s Kevin Lauer in 2019.As usual, Rowan’s athletics web site was zero help.

Cason, a Sicklerville native, ran more than a minute and a half faster Saturday than in his only previous race at Lehigh, a 26:43 at last year’s Paul Short.

His 25:02 is an all-course 8K PR. He ran 25:07 last year at the NCAA Division 3 Metro Region Championships at DREAM Park in Logan Township, a much faster course.

Cason was NJAC 3,000 champ indoors last year at Ocean Breeze. This is his 2nd year at Rowan.He started at Camden County College but it appears he only ran track and not cross country while he was there.

Rowan placed 12th in the White race and tops among NJAC teams. Junior Matthew Conway from Haddon Heights ran 25:49 and was the Profs’ 2nd finisher, freshman Colin Patterson, also from Haddon Heights, was 4th man across in 26:09, Caleb Clevenger was Rowan’s 5th finisher in 26:14, junior Giancarlo Vega from Timber Creek ran 26:23 and sophomore Scott Hubbard from Audubon 26:25.