From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Led by senior Matt Hoffman, Ocean City swept the top seven spots and pitched a perfect 15-point score Wednesday at the Cape May County Championships at the Cape May Zoo in Middle Township.

The win was Ocean City’s 8th in a row and 22nd the last 23 times the meet was contested.

Hoffman ran 15:45.46 over the 5,000-meter course, breaking the listed course record on MileSplit of 15:47 turned in by Ocean City’s Kevin Scott at the 2012 Cape May County meet.

Also in Ocean City’s lead group were junior Ethan Buck [2nd in 16:16], junior Zach Hutchinson [3rd in 16:26], sophomore Erik Preisner [4th in 16:29] and junior Kal Heyman [5th in 16:45]. They were backed up by sophomore Robert Cesari [6th in 17:08] and freshman Nathan Aschmann [17th in 17:28].

Also in the top 10 were Wildwood senior Jorge Cruz Valle [8th in 17:54], Middle Township freshman Jamar Mack [9th in 18:27] and Cape May County Tech sophomore Evan Feliciano [10th in 18:51].

Ocean City outscored Middle Township 15-71 to win the team title. It was the first sweep since 2019, when Anthony Conte led the Red Raiders to a 1-2-3-4-5-6 finish and a 15-64 win over Lower Cape May Regional.

Ocean City won 14 consecutive county meets from 2000 through 2013. Middle Township won the 2014 meet 23-34 and Ocean City won each meet since. The meet wasn’t held in 2020.

Led by senior Raine Guidarelli, Cherry Hill East packed its five scorers within 20 seconds – and all seven within 29 seconds – and rolled to a commanding win in Division 3 at the South Jersey Open Saturday.

Guidarelli won the race in 16:02, edging Williamstown Dylan Saber, who placed 2nd in 16:04. It was Guidarelli’s first major individual win in track or cross country.

Cherry Hill East, ranked 7th in the state, went 1-3-5-6-7 to score 22 points and finished with a 22- 68 margin of victory over Cherokee, which did not race its top group.

Juniors Nikhil Raman and Brody Bogos also placed in the top five, Raman 3rd in 16:10 and Bogos 7th in 16:22. Sophomore Colin Moore was 6th in 16:20, sophomore Alvin Lin 7th in 16:22 and junior Brandon Lyons 11th in 16:31. Sophomore 6th man Benjamin Sautter also dipped under 17 minutes, placing 19th in 16:58.

Including fractions (which I don’t include in my posts), Cherry Hill East averaged 16:14.05, the fastest average in the six years the South Jersey Open has been at Dream Park and tied for the 10th-fastest average in course history.

The fastest previous average at DREAM Park in this meet looks like Cherry Hill East’s 16:46 at the 2021 South Jersey Open.

Other South Jersey runners in the top 10: Washington Township senior Aaron Kolosowsky [4th in 16:19], Cherokee sophomore Logan Bromley [8th in 16:21] and Williamstown sophomore Dominic Burgio [9th in 16:25].

Also under 17 minutes: Cherokee junior Anthony DiBattista [12th in 16:35], Williamstown junior David Kershner [13th in 16:35], Cherokee junior Enzo Corona [14th in 16:40], Clearview junior Ethan Worst [15th in 16:45], Cherokee sophomore Dominic Pileri [16th in 16:50], Eastern junior Ryan Haefele [17th in 16:52] and Cherokee senior Andrew Free [18th in 16:53].

Here’s what I came up with for the fastest average team times in the course’s brief history (as always, let me know of any errors and omissions in the comments section! Thanks! )

15:48 … Cherokee, 2022 [South Jersey Group 4 Sectionals]
15:52 … Haddonfield, 2021 [South Jersey Group 2 Sectionals]
15:52 … Haddonfield, 2022 [South Jersey Group 2 Sectionals]
16:00 … Cherokee, 2019 [Olympic Conference Championships]
16:00 … Southern Regional, 2022 [South Jersey Group 4 Sectionals]
16:10 … Cherokee, 2022 [Olympic Conference Championships]
16:13 … Cherokee, 2021 [South Jersey Group 4 Sectionals]
16:14 … Cherokee, 2018 [Olympic Conference Championships]
16:15 … Highland, 2022 [South Jersey Group 3 Sectionals]
16:15 … Cherry Hill East, 2023 [South Jersey Open]
16:19 … Southern Regional, 2021 [South Jersey Group 4 Sectionals]

Camden Catholic graduate Kevin McDonnell ran 2:17.22 at the Chicago Marathon Sunday morning and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.

McDonnell, a former St. Joe’s runner from Moorestown now living in Cherry Hill, ran 38 seconds under the qualifying standard of 2:18.00 with a cutoff date of Dec. 5. He placed 32nd out of an estimated 45,000 entrants and was the 15th U.S. runner across the line.

McDonnell’s time is 36 seconds off the South Jersey alumni record of 2:16.46 set at the 1980 Boston Marathon by Moorestown graduate Paul Friedman and he bumped legendary Herb Lorenz for the No. 2 spot. Lorenz ran 2:17.44 in 1975 at Boston.

He ran his 5Ks in 16:31, 16:10, 16:26, 16:06, 16:01, 16:02, 16:08 and 16:31 with the final 1.34 miles in 7:27. So he ran the 12.4 miles from 15K to 35K in 1:04:17.

https://results.chicagomarathon.com/2023/?content=detail&fpid=list&pid=list&idp=9TGG9638288380&lang=EN_CAP&event=MAR&num_results=100&search%5Bsex%5D=M&search%5Bage_class%5D=%25&search_event=MAR

McDonnell’s previous marathon PR was a 2:28.43 at the Houston Marathon in January of 2022. But he ran 1:07.26 last month to win the Philly Half. He’s the South Jersey alumni record holder at 10,000 meters with a 29:16.01 in Lewisburg, Pa., in 2013.

Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum won the race in 2:00.35. breaking the world record of 2:01.09, set by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin in September 2022.

Conner Mantz, the 2020 and 2021 NCAA cross country champ for BYU, was the top American in 6th place in 2:07.47, 4th-fastest ever by an American.

The fastest all-time New Jersey marathoner is North Hunterdon graduate Matt McDonald, who is No. 24 in U.S. history with his 2:09.49 in Chicago last year.

The U.S. Marathon Trials are scheduled for noon on Feb. 3, 2024, in Orlando, Fla.

Clearview’s Anas Bensaoud, a sophomore at Rowan College South Jersey, placed 14th out of more than 100 runners Saturday at the 40th annual DeSales University XC Invitational.

Bensaoud covered the 8,000-meter course in Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, in 27:17 and was RCSJ’s first finisher. Bensaoud is a transfer from SUNY Stony Brook. Last spring, he earned All-America honors in two events with a 3rd in the 1,500 in 4:03.98 and a 5th in the 3,000 in 15:53.90 at the NJCAA Division 3 National Championships in Utica, N.Y.

According to the TFRRS database, it looks like Bensaoud did not run XC at Stony Brook, he only ran one year of indoor track in 2022, so this is his first year of XC since the COVID-shortened 2020 season, when he placed 2nd at the South Jersey Group 4 sectionals at DREAM Park behind Southern Regional’s Jackson Braddock, who’s now at Texas.

Rowan College placed 5th in team scoring with 159 points. DeSales won the team title with 28 points. DeSales sophomore Forrest Miller from Triton placed 52nd overall.

For RCSJ in the women’s race, Courtney O’Hara of Gateway placed 26th, freshman Alexandra Campo from Woodbury 44th and Madison O’Donnell from Williamstown 46th. DeSales’ junior Eileen Murphy from Cherry Hill East placed 35th and Hailey Bloom of Atlantic City, a Gwynned Mercy junior, was 42nd.

TCNJ junior Katherine Rice from Haddonfield placed 5th in the Highlander Invitational XC Challenge Saturday at Branch Brook Park in Newark.

Rice ran a lifetime-best 18:59.8 over 5,000 meters and finished behind four runners from Army West Point. TCNJ finished 3rd with 117 points, behind Division 1 Army and Division 2 West Chester.

Rice’s previous 5K best on any course was a 20:07.9 at the Herb Lorenz Invitational last month at the Green Lane Fields in Ewing, where she placed 2nd.

Rice won the mile and anchored the winning DMR last winter at the NJAC Championships at Ocean Breeze.

TCNJ is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division 3 Metro Region.

Holy Family freshman Maya Harper from Pleasantville placed 24th in 19:59.5, an all-course 5,000 PR.

Northern Burlington junior Liliah Gordon made the trip to North Carolina worth it with a 5,000-meter PR in the Great American Cross Country Festival girls championship race at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., outside Raleigh.

Gordon, racing some of the top girls in the country, placed 17th in a field of 320 girls with an all-course PR of 17:53.6.

Her previous 5K PR was a 17:56.10 at the Burlington County Scholastic League Championships last October at New Egypt High School in Plumstead Township, Ocean County.

Gordon has run 10:38.20 for 3,200 meters and is a two-time state Group 3 champ at 3,200 meters and defending state Group 3 champ in cross country.

On Friday, Gordon will look for her 2nd straight Burlington County Open title at Mill Creek Park in Willingboro. The course record is 17:53 set in 2010 by Megan Lacy of Cherokee.

Julia Smith, a Seton Hall sophomore from Schalick, placed 9th Saturday in the Metropolitan XC Championships at Branch Brook Park in Newark.

Smith ran an all-course lifetime-best 18:18.56 and was Seton Hall’s first finisher. Smith’s previous best 5,000-meter time on any course was an 18:33.0 on the same course (but a different meet) last October.

Smith was a three-time South Jersey Group 1 cross country champion at Schalick and also a five-time sectional champ on the track in the 1,600 and 3,200.

Highland graduate Nia Holden of St. John’s, a grad student and transfer from American, fnished just 10 seconds behind Smith in 11th place in 18:29.05, also a PR for her.

Holden was St. John’s 2nd finisher and helped the Red Storm win the team title, 68-77, over Manhattan. Seton Hall was 3rd with 99 points.

Her previous 5K PR was a 20:06.6 in September of 2021 for American in a race in Cockeysville, Md. Holden ran 2:14.43 at American and will have one year of track eligibility at St. John’s.

Senior Anya Kazemi placed 3rd and Bishop Eustace placed all five scorers in the top 16 to win the Division 1 team title Saturday at the South Jersey Open.

Kazemi ran 19:21 – by far her fastest 5,000 ever on any course – and finished behind only overall winner Jordan Hadfield, a junior at Schalick [18:50], and junior Nilaa Ponnappan of Camden Catholic [19:14], who both also ran all-course PRs.

For Eustace, junior Donna Presenza took 8th in 22:52, sophomore Sophia Kaloustian 12th in 23:44, senior Amelia Ingersoll 13th in 13:46 and freshman Embry Doody 16th in 23:58.

Eustace finished with a 40-54 margin of victory over 2nd-place Wildwood Catholic, with Camden Catholic 3rd with 73 points.

Also in the top 10 were Holy Cross sophomore Julia Flanagan [4th in 20:23], Maple Shade junior Crystal Benito [5th in 21:26], Buena senior Melissa Krail [6th in 22:38], Wildwood Catholic sophomore Angelina Richards [7th in 22:43], Holy Cross junior Anna Fonseca [9th in 22:52] and Wildwood Catholic senior Ally Grandizio [10th in 23:23].

Audubon senior Aiden Williams was the individual winner and Schalick had three finishers in the top 10 and won the team title in the Division 1 race at the South Jersey Open.

Williams covered the 5,000-meter course at DREAM Park in Logan Township in 16:18 – only four seconds off his DREAM Park PR from sectionals last year – and won his second invitational this fall following a win at Varsity D at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational in Jackson. He was also 3rd in the Shore Coaches Varsity G race.

Williams finished 150 meters ahead of Bishop Eustace senior Ryan Gaulrapp, who placed 2nd in 16:49.

Schalick outscored 2nd-place Gloucester 37-64 to win the team title, led by the trio of senior Charles Fuerneisen, senior Matthew Tozer and sophomore Salvatore Longo, who placed 6th, 7th and 10th, Fuerneisen in 17:40, Tozer 18:05 and Longo 18:42. Senior Wyatt Juczak and Chase junior Walker also scored for the Cougars, Juczak in 16th in 19:31 and Walker 23rd in 19:56.

Eutace runners went 2-3-4, with Matt Colden and Ethan Caprarola finishing just behind Gaulrapp, Colden in 3rd in 17:10 and Caprarola 4th in 17:13.

Also in the top 10 were Moorestown Friends junior Isaac Linden [5th in 17:17], Palmyra senior Colin Broadbelt [8th in 18:25] and Gloucester junior Trey Fitzpatrick [9th in 18:30].

Collingswood senior Elijah Forrest continued his outstanding fall with a win Saturday morning in the Division 2 race at the South Jersey Open.

And Highland packed all five of its scorers in the top 20 to win the team title.

Forrest covered 5,000 meters at DREAM Park in Logan Township in 16:19, finishing 75 meters ahead of Delsea sophomore Matthew Littlehales, who placed 2nd in 16:33.

Forrest placed 2nd to Cherokee’s Nick Kuenkel at the Battle at Ocean Park in Lakewood and won the Varsity E race at the Shore Coaches last weekend at Holmdel.

Highland went 3-4-9-12-19 and outscored 2nd-place Delsea 38-65, with Timber Creek 3rd with 87 points.

Senior Aziz Muhammad-Kane and junior Mason Wassell placed 3rd and 4th in 16:35 and 16:37, junior Andrew Kellem was 9th in 17:27, sophomore Andrew Dopkin 12th in 17:56 and sophomore Daniel Gee 19th in 18:40.

Also in the top 10 were Moorestown sophomore Peter Simpson [5th in 16:43], Timber Creek senior Robert Wakefield [6th in 16:51], Cinnaminson sophomore Jacob Wickersham [8th in 17:25] and West Deptford junior Aiden Fronza [10th in 17:33].