From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Cedar Creek seniors Sean Martino, Vincenzo Vecchio and Ryan McCann swept the top three spots in a tri-meet with St., Augustine and Mainland Regional Tuesday in Richland Township .

Martino ran 16:38, Vecchio 16:39 and McCann 16:51 over 5,000 meters at St. Augustine. Team scoring wasn’t kept, but Cedar Creek went 1-2-3-6-10 for 22 points.

St. Augustine was led by freshman Braden Bernardini in 4^th in 17:18, and Mainland was led by sophomore Chris Sanchez in 5^th in 17:51.

Also in the top 10 were Cedar Creek freshman Valentino Vecchio [6^th in 18:18], Mainland junior Mark Wurzer [7^th, 18:20], Cedar Creek senior Franesco Malone [8^th, 18:48], St. Augustine freshman Chase Bernardini ‘9^th, 18:50] and Cedar Creek senior Louis Flynn [10^th , 19:05].

The Haddonfield boys, ranked 21^st in the U.S. and No. 2 in New Jersey, packed four scorers in the top five in the Senior Race and raced to the team title at the Run the Night Powered by –> Insert Shoe Company Name Here <– Invitational in Manalapan.

In all, Haddonfield had seven of the 13-fastest times in the meet merge and outscored West Windsor-Plainsboro North 27-54.

Haddonfield went 1-2-4-5 in the Senior Race, with Aaron Keith winning in 10:13 over two miles, Brandon Stoner 2^nd in 10:17, Michael Sinnes 4^th in 10:25 and John Leibrandt 5^th in 10:29.

Lucas Laganella and Owen Snyder finished 2^nd and 3^rd in the Junior Race in 10:15 and 10:16, so they were actually Haddonfield’s 2^nd and 3^rd scorers, with Stoner and Sinnes 4^th and 5^th. Andrew Blum was 5^th in the Junior Race in 10:30.

Connor Brand placed 4^th in the Sophomore Race in 10:38, and Logan Tripician ran 10:54 for 3^rd in the Freshman Race.

In the overall merge, Haddonfield went 3-4-5-6-9-12-13-18.

Northern Burlington senior Jimmy Cataline, who ran 10:57 for two miles last year, placed 3^rd in the Senior Race in 10:17 and NBC’s Kael Schilling ran 12^th in the Junior Race in 10:57.

Sophomore Makayla Zell and juniors Sophia DiFiore, Catherine Hipple and Siyana Sheth all ran sub-21 and led the Moorestown girls, ranked 18th in New Jersey, to a sweep of the top 10 spots Tuesday in an Olympic Conference batch meet at DREAM Park.

Zell won the race in 20:35, DiFiore ran 20:45 and Hipple and Sheth both crossed the line in 20:56.

Senior Celia Frederico, sophomore Katherine Simpson, freshmen Juliet Stack Maya and Armani Robinson and juniors Jenna Dionis and Reagan Tickner finished 5^th through 10^th.

In a separate race, Eastern junior Theresa Albertson, who placed 3^rd at South Jersey Group 4 sectionals last fall, ran 20:19 to finish first among 71 runners from six schools.

Also in the top 10: Lenape junior Audrey McCorkle [22:04], Rancocas Valley senior Mary Casano [22:54], Winslow sophomore Amariah Arango [23:06], Lenape junior Elizabeth Sunlitis [23:10], Winslow sophomore Annabella Cassidy [23:15], Eastern senior Alexis Marella [23:19], Rancocas Valley senior Madison Popovich [23:38], Lenape freshman Emma Fisher [23:40] and Eastern junior Jordyn Waterman [23:47].

Eastern senior Natalie Dumas, U.S. champion in the 400, 800 and intermediate hurdles, did not race Tuesday.

Gateway senior David Houck finished first in a four-team Colonial Conference batch meet Tuesday at Pennypacker Park in Haddonfield and Cherry Hill.

This apears to be Houck’s first cross country race, and he won by 61 seconds. The MileSplit database shows him running track in past years but not XC, although last fall he wrote an eassy for the Gateway student web site on the challenges of cross country, so he was on the team a year ago. Just no record of him racing.

In any case, Houck, competing under the Gateway-Woodbury Co-op banner, ran 16:35 over 5,000 meters at Pennypacker and finished 1st among more than 50 runners.

Although Houck has no apparent history of racing on the trails, he did run 10:05.35 for 3,200 meters last spring and placed 4th at South Jersey Group 1 Sectionals.

Team scoring wasn’t kept, but Haddonfield runners took the next five spots and 15 of the next 17 places, with some of Haddonfield’s top runners chilling along in mid-pack.

Haddonfield, ranked No. 2 in New Jersey and No. 21 nationally, packed seniors Ryan Gibson, Michael Sinnes, Peter Simpson, Brandon Stoner and Aaron Keith 2nd through 6th all between 17:36 and 17:43, which means this was a workout more than a race for the Bulldogs.

The Haddonfield girls, ranked 9th in New Jersey, swept the top four spots and 12 of the top 14. Senior Riley Austin ran 20:12, followed by freshman Dylan Hosty [20:13], junior Molly Mills [20:14] and junior Madison Kelsey [20:16].

The West Deptford duo of senior Kayla Romanoski and junior Taylor Sierzega broke up the Haddonfield pack, taking 5th and 6th in 20:42 and 20:46.

Also in the top 10 were Haddonfield’s senior Elizabeth Pappas, junior Harper Benjamin, freshman Tatum Russo and junior Saya Sood, who all ran between 21:12 and 21:22.

Abigail Leonhardt of Northern Burlington won the freshman girls race Friday at the Run the Night Powered by – Insert Show Company Name Here – at Manalapan Recreation Center.

Leonardt ran two miles in 13:02 and won by 25 meters over West Windsor-Plainsboro’s Anita Bhatia, who was 2nd in 15:09.

Northern had five of the first 21 finishers in the freshman race, with Willow McCadden 8th in 14:09, Adelina Floyd 10th in 14:28, Kelly Coughlin 14th in 14:53 and Reilly Pullen 21st in 15:53.

All five were competing in their first high school race.

For team scoring purposes, Northern went 1-2-4-6-8 for 21 points and won the team title, 21-42, over Westfield.

Williamstown senior Sophia Aldridge ran an all-course 5,000 PR Tuesday and finished 1st out of more than 100 runners in a 17-team Tri-County Conference batch meet in Upper Deerfield Township.

Aldridge ran 18:53 at Cumberland Regional and finished 130 meters ahead of 2nd-place Audrey Bishop, a junior at Kingsway.

Aldridge’s previous 5,000 best was a 19:03 on the DREAM Park speedway in Logan Township when she placed 6th in November at South Jersey Group 4 sectionals.

Her time is fastest on any course by a Williamstown runner since Vickie Ajimoko ran 18:24 when she won 2013 South Jersey Group 4 sectionals at Delsea in 18:24.

There was no team scoring kept in the batch meet, which in addition to Williamstown and Kingsway included runners from Delsea, Gloucester County Tech, Woodstown, Washington Township, Clearview, Highland, Schalick, Triton, Pennsville, Timber Creek, Pitman, Glassboro, Wildwood, Salem County Tech and Cumberland Regional. Unofficially, Delsea scored 76, Washington Township 78 points and Clearview 101.

Also in the top 10: Woodstown sophomore Abby Marino [3rd in 20:29], Williamstown junior Julia Burgio [4th in 20:59], Williamstown sophomore Yazmire Bonhomme [5th, 21:18], Delsea freshman Brooke Mashburn [6th, 21:36], Delsea senior Olivia Mashburn [7th, 21:37], Gloucester County Tech sophomore Jordan Moczydlowski [8th, 21:37], Delsea senior Isabella Mordan [9th, 21:40] and Woodstown junior Anabel Schaal [10th, 21:43].

Williamstown seniors Dominic Burgio and Logan Pavelik went 1-2 in the boys race, with over 150 runners. Burgio won in 16:12 and Pavelik ran 16:14. Washington Township sophomore Trevor Szilier [3rd in 16:15], Kingsway sophomore Michael Beaver [4th in 16:35] and Highland senior Andrew Dopkin [5th in 16:36] also ran sub-17.

Also in the top 10: Woodstown senior Jacob Marino [6th, 17:00], Highland junior Colin Roznowski [7th, 17:08], Woodstown junior David Farrell [8th, 17:16], Gloucester County Tech sophomore Wyatt Evans [9th, 17:20] and Pitman junior Rhys Blackman [10th, 17:23].

No team scoring but unofficially, looks like Highland 67, Washington Township 81, Woodstown 87.

Two members of last year’s Haddon Heights cross country team enjoyed successful college debuts this past weekend.

Scranton freshman Owen James placed 9th in the Ranger Invitational in Clark and was Scranton’s 5th finisher overall.

James ran 17:33 at Oak Ridge Park, helping Scranton win the team title 17-47 over host Drew.

And Wilmington University freshman Reggie Hernandez of Haddon Heights, also in his first college XC race, placed 5th out of 81 runners Saturday at the Philadelphia Cross Classic.

Hernandez ran 29:26 over 8,000 meters on the challenging Belmont Plateau course in Fairmount Park.

Wilmington went 1-4-5-6-11 and won the team title, 27-48, over Jefferson of Philadelphia.

Hernandez placed 4th in the South Jersey Group 2 XC sectionals last fall at DREAM Park in Logan Township, helping Heights place 2nd overall.

Also racing for Wilmington were freshman Julian Rich, who ran cross country for Camden County Tech (and track for Winslow, Camden Counthy Tech doesn’t have track), and freshman Kevin Gonzalez from Bridgeton. They placed 11th and 15th overall in their first college races.

Jefferson’s 7th runner was senior Ryan Kopervos of Absegami, who placed 21st overall.

In the women’s race, Jefferson junior Amy Chomo and sophomore Angie Chomo, both of Schalick, placed 16th and 21st. Jefferson won the team title 19-66 over Wilmington.

In her first college race, Rhode Island freshman Jordan Hadfield of Schalick placed 7th out of nearly 100 runners at the Shawn M. Nassaney Invitational.

Hadfield ran 18:51 over 5,000 meters on Bryant College’s campus in Smithfield, R.I., the Patriots’ training camp site from 1976 through 2002.

Hadfield was a state Group 1 cross country champ at Schalick and eight-time South Jerey Group 1 winner in indoors, outdoors and cross.

At Smithfield, Hadfield was Rhode Island’s 2^nd finisher behind senior Lily Saul from Montoursville, Pa. She was the first freshman in the race, three seconds ahead of teammate Kearney Bayha from Pilgrim High in Warwick, R.I.

Host Bryant edged Rhode Island 36-47 for the team title.

Lafayette sophomore Anya Kazemi from Bishop Eustace placed 18th out of 72 runners at the season-opening Temple Owls Invitational at Temple’s Ambler Campus in Upper Dublin Township.

Kazemi ran 15:35 over 4,000 meters, and Lafayette placed 2nd with 45 points, behind only Villanova, who won with 26.

Also racing for Lafayette were junior Ava Severino from Haddon Heights [27th in 15:51] and freshman Megan Niglio from Cherokee [31st in 16:05].

Washington Township’s Chris Colavita opened his senior year of cross country at Florida Southern by placing 9th out of 119 runners at the University of Northern Florida Invitational.

Colavita ran 25:04 over 8,000 meters at Cecil Field in Jacksonville and was the Moccasins’ 2nd finisher, crossing the line less than a second behind sophomore Michael Toppi.

Colavita placed 2nd in the Sunshine State Cross Country Championships last fall at Holloway Park in Lakeland, Fla., and was 15th in the NCAA Division 2 South Region Championships in Huntsville, Ala.,

Indoors, Colavita is Florida Southern school record holder at 3,000 meters [8:26.76] and outdoors he’s 3rd at 10,000 meters [30:38.36], 4th at 5,000 meters [14:33.96] and 8th at 1,500 meters [3:54.70].