The NJSIAA has released the pole positions for the 10 state championship races at Holmdel on Saturday.
Click here for the list!
And here’s the time schedule!
When it comes to 3-time sectional XC winners, Haddonfield has an absolute monopoly!!!!!
One of the most remarkable things about Haddonfield’s nearly half century of cross country success is the number of triple winners the Bulldogs’ program has produced over the years.
It’s even more remarkable when you compare Haddonfield to other schools.
When Martin Riddell won his third straight South Jersey Group 2 title on Saturday at Delsea, he joined Jim Smith, Chris Platt, Dan Gough and Jon Vitez as the fifth Haddonfield runner to win sectional XC titles as a sophomore, junior and senior.
Incredibly, there have been only three other triple winners in South Jersey XC history – Pitman’s Sebastian Reed won his third straight in Group 1 Saturday, Mike Butynes won three straight in Group 2 for Sterling from 1969 through 1971 and Cherokee’s Alex Yersak won three in a row from 2005 through 2007.
But Haddonfield is not only the only South Jersey school with multiple triple winners, it’s the only one in the state.
There have been a total of 23 triple winners in state sectional XC history and Haddonfield is the ONLY school with more than one … and they’ve had five!
Here’s a look at all the three-time sectional XC winners:
North 1, Group 1
1973-75 … Ken Marzan, Park Ridge
2009-11 … Stephen Lewandowski, Mountain Lakes
North 2, Group 2
None
North 1 Group 3
1988-90 … Ken Flynn, Ramsey
North 1 Group 4
1991-93 … Bob Keino, Ridgewood
1994-96 … Roger Munoz, Kearny
North 2, Group 1
1992-94 … Anthony DeBenedictis, Roselle Park
1996-98 … Brian Saliter, Whippany Park
North 2, Group 2
1989-91 … Brian Walsh, Chatham
North 2, Group 3
1994-97 … Steve Slattery, Mount Olive
North 2, Group 4
1993-96 … Matt Elmuccio, Westfield
Central, Group 1
None
Central, Group 2
None
Central, Group 3
1965-67 … Russ Taintor, Brick
2001-03 … Rob Dennis, Red Bank
2007-09 … Joe Rosa, West Windsor-Plainsboro North
Central Group 4
1996-98 … John Fasulo, Hunterdon Central
2011-13 … Dylan Tarpey, Freehold Twp.
South Group 1
1984-86 … Dan Gough, Haddonfield
2017-19 … Sebastien Reed, Pitman
South Group 2
1977-79 … Jim Smith, Haddonfield
2000-02 … Chris Platt, Haddonfield
2007-09 … Jon Vitez, Haddonfield
2017-19 … Martin Riddell, Haddonfield
South Group 3
1969-71 … Mike Butynes, Sterling
South Group 4
2005-07 … Alex Yersak, Cherokee
Complete links to all 13 S.J. XC sectional stories and complete results in one place!!!!!
It was quite a day for South Jersey athletes Saturday at Delsea with some crazy fast times, some incredible team performances and a ton of teams and individuals qualifying for states at Holmdel this Saturday.
Did you miss any of our posts?
Here in one convenient place is everything along with direct links to all the results from Delsea!
Lots more to come this week and throughout the day on Saturday!
Boys Group 1: Pitman’s Sebastien Reed wins 3rd straight in SJ-1, Haddon Twp. wins #20
Boys Group 2: Haddonfield wins 16th in a row, earns 44th straight trip to states
Boys Group 3: Kevin Antczak destroys Delsea course record
Boys Group 3: Ocean City packs 5 in 15 seconds
Boys Group 4: Cherokee wins 9th SJ-4 title, Wechsler matches #3 time in course history
Boys CJ-2: Cinnaminson’s Austin Gabay wins first sectional title
Boys Robert Kiessling: Colton Johnson first PVI winner in nine years
Girls Group 1: Julia Smith leads Schalick to first SJ-1 title in 23 years
Girls Group 2: Haddonfield wins 10th title in a row in record-setting fashion
Girls Group 3: Highland freshman Grace Wassell, Ocean City dominate Group 3 girls
Girls Group 4: Kingsway girls shatter Delsea team course record
Girls Group 4: Olivia Shafer of EHT runs fastest time of the day
Girls Robert Kiessling: Paul VI girls win a close one
And results links:
Bob Kiessling Parochial Boys
Bob Kiessling Parochial Girls
South Jersey Group 1 Girls
South Jersey Group 3 Girls
South Jersey Group 1 Boys
South Jersey Group 3 Boys
South Jersey Group 2 Girls
South Jersey Group 4 Girls
South Jersey Group 2 Boys
South Jersey Group 4 Boys
Sparks, Lyons, Liberatore lead Paul VI girls to 3rd straight Kiessling team title!!!
Junior Katie Sparks and seniors Bridget Lyons and Maria Liberatore finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th and led the Paul VI girls to the team title Saturday in the Robert Kiessling Championships at Delsea.
The title was Paul VI’s third in a row and 10th overall, all since 2002. Paul VI won 29-32 over Germantown Friends, the closest team finish since Paul VI won by two over Wildwood Catholic in 2012 (53-55). Germantown was competing for the first time ever.
Germantown runners went 1-5-6-7, but Paul VI’s fourth and fifth runners clinched the win. Senior Madison Kelly finished 8th in 21:11 and freshman Kamryn Cieslik ran 21:29 for 12th.
Sparks, Lyons and Kelly were all on the Paul VI team that placed sixth at a states last year.
Also in the top 10 Saturday morning at Delsea were Bishop Eustace senior Rachel Orr and freshman teammate Arianna Cane, who both ran 21:22. Eustace placed third with 71 points.
Colton Johnson wins Bob Kiessling Championship, first PVI winner in nine years!!!
Paul VI senior Colton Johnson warmed up for next week’s state meet by finishing first in the Robert Kiessling Meet, the unofficial South Jersey parochial school championship race.
Johnson on Saturday morning covered the 5,000-meter Delsea Regional course in 16:30, beating Ben Rosin of Germantown Friends in Philadelphia by 10 meters.
Johnson, who placed sixth last year, is Paul VI’s first Kiessling winner since Thomas Hoban won the 2010 race.
The meet was known as the Knights of Columbus Championships through 2008.
Other PVI winners in the meet’s history. It’s been held concurrently with sectionals since the early 1970s.
Germantown Academy, competing at the Kiessling event for the first time, won the team title 29-59 over Camden Catholic.
Other South Jersey runners in the top 10 included: Eustace senior Shane Voestenak [3rd in 16:37], Camden Catholic senior Matthew Denton [5th in 16:39], Camden Catholic sophomore Cristian Moore [8th in 17:07], Camden Catholic junior Warren Berman [9th in 17:09] and Holy Cross senior Matthew Ziemba [10th in 17:17].
HOLY PACK RUNNING!!!! Ocean City boys pack 5 scorers in 15 seconds in coasting to another SJ-3 championship!!!!!
The Ocean City boys put on a ridiculous display of pack running Saturday, not only gapping 15 seconds between their five scorers but placing their top six within 18 seconds and getting all seven runners across the line in the span of 25 seconds.
That’s a very difficult formula to beat, and Ocean City cruised to a 25-96 win over Highland in the South Jersey Group 3 race at Delsea for the Red Raiders’ second win in a row and seventh since 2004.
This is the 20th consecutive year Ocean City will advance to states. The Red Raiders placed 9th in S.J. 3 in 1999 and have been in the top five every year since.
Senior Luke Kramer, sophomore Owen Ritti, junior Brendan Schlatter, senior Max Kelly and senior Anthony Conte all ran between 16:26 and 16:41, and they were backed up by senior Mike Farley and junior Cameron DiTroia, who made it seven finishers in 25 seconds!!!
Really, the best way to get an idea of how well Ocean City ran is just to look at the results:
Ocean City’s 25 points is third-lowest ever in South Jersey Group 3. Here’s a look at every school that’s score under 30 points in South Jersey sectional history:
16 … Haddonfield, 2008 [Group 2]
17 … Haddon Twp., 1971 [Group 2]
20 … Pennsville, 2006 [Group 1]
20 … Haddonfield, 2010 [Group 2]
20 … Haddonfield, 2018 [Group 2
21 … Haddonfield, 2009 [Group 2]
21 … Haddon Township, 2011 [Group 1]
23 … Ocean City, 2018 [Group 3]
23 … Highland, 1989 [Group 3]
23 … Haddonfield, 2013 [Group 2]
23 … Haddonfield, 2017 [Group 2]
23 … Haddonfield, 2019 [Group 2]
25 … Mainland Reg., 2003 [Group 4]
25 … Ocean City, 2019 [Group 3]
26 … Clearview, 1965 [Group 2]
26 … Burlington Twp., 1966 [Group 1]
26 … Haddonfield, 2014 [Group 2]
26 … Kingsway, 2017 [Group 4]
27 … Burlington Twp., 1967 [Group 1]
27 … Overbrook, 1968 [Group 2]
27 … Haddon Twp., 1988 [Group 1]
27 … Highland, 1988 [Group 3]
27 … Haddonfield, 2001 [Group 2]
27 … Haddonfield, 2015 [Group 2]
28 … Haddon Twp., 2014 [Group 1]
29 … Burlington Twp., 1968 [Group 1]
29 … Williamstown, 1971 [Group 1]
29 … Cinnaminson, 2003 [Group 2]
Interesting to note that Haddonfield and Ocean City are the only schools in South Jersey sectional history to record winning point totals of 25 in back-to-back years.
EHT’s Olivia Shafer moves into all-time Delsea top-20 with blazing win in SJ-4 race!!!!!
Egg Harbor Township senior Olivia Shafer ran the fastest time of the day at Delsea Saturday, winning the South Jersey Group 4 race in 18:08 at sectionals.
Shafer’s previous PR at Delsea was 19:13 at 2017 sectionals, so she lowered that by 65 seconds. She hasn’t run at the South Jersey Open.
The fastest previous EHT runner at Delsea was Abigail Shafer, who ran 18:55 at 2011 sectionals and is Olivia Shafer’s older sister.
Shafer’s time makes her the No. 19 performer ever and No. 13 from South Jersey on Delsea’s 5,000-meter course, which has been used for sectionals and the South Jersey Open since 2002.
She’s also No. 2 performer from Atlantic County girl at Delsea. Alyssa Aldridge ran 17:41 in 2016 and 17:52 in 2015.
The full Delsea merge is here, but the Group 4 race produced all three sub-18:20 times Saturday, with Shafer leading Cherokee senior Kate Rathman [18:13] and Shawnee freshman Kate Ruona [18:14] across the line.
State-wide, the only girls to run faster than Shafer at the four sectional sites were Chloe Gonzalez of North Hunterdon, the Meet of Champions 1,600 champ last spring, who ran 17:37 at Greystone Park in Morris Plains in the North 2 Group 4 race; and Manon Stephen of Ridge, who ran 18:04 in the same race.
Delsea is a faster course than Greystone Park, but it’s still pretty good company going into states next week at Holmdel.
Shafer is Egg Harbor’s first sectional state champion.
EHT’s best previous finisher at sectionals was Abby Shafer, who was 4th in the 2012 race in 19:21.
Let’s take a look at some lists!
Here’s the all-time Delsea performers list, with the fastest times by all runners who’ve gone 18:15 or faster. For the full list of all sub-19 times – including multiple times by individuals – click here.
17:22 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2009 SJO-3 [1st]
17:22 … Megan Venables [Highland], 2010 SJ-3 [1st]
17:35 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2010 SJ-4 [1st]
17:41 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2016 SJ-3 [1st]
17:46 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2009 SJO-1 [1st]
17:47 … Jillian Kelly [Montgomery Twp.], 2012 CJ-4 [1st]
17:50 … Danielle Tauro [Southern Reg.], 2006 SJ-4 [1st]
17:50 … Kelly Jankowicz [Hillsborough], 2012 CJ-4 [2nd]
17:55 … Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2003 SJ-3 [1st]
17:57 … Grace Dwyer [Hamilton North], 2012 CJ-3 [1st]
17:57 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2015 SJ-2 [1st]
17:59 … Jill Smith [Southern Reg.], 2007 SJ-4 [1st]
18:00 … Vanessa Wright [Haddonfield], 2004 SJ-2 [1st]
18:00 … Devon Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2014 SJ-3 [1st]
18:01 … Niamh Hayes [Howell], 2015 SJ-4 [1st]
18:03 … Isabella Turner [Shawnee], 2018 SJO-3 [1st]
18:05 … Holly Bishof [Bishop Eustace], 2010 KoC [1st]
18:05 … Sarah Pierce [Cherry Hill East], 2016 SJ-4 [1st]
18:08 … Olivia Shafer [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2019 SJ-4 [1st]
18:10 … Arianna McKinney [Highland], 2004 SJ-3 [2nd]
18:10 … Theresa Cattuna [Cherry Hill East], 2006 SJ-4 [2nd]
18:13 … Angela Weeks [Cherokee], 2004 SJO [1st]
18:13 … Kate Rathman [Cherokee], 2019 SJ-4 [2nd]
18:14 … Kate Ruona [Shawnee], 2019 SJ-4 [3rd]
And let’s take a look at all the sub-19 performances from Atlantic County runners on the Delsea course:
17:41 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2016 SJ-3 [1st]
17:52 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2015 SJ-3 [1st]
18:08 … Olivia Shafer [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2019 SJ-4 [1st]
18:13 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2017 SJ-3 [1st]
18:23 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2014 SJO-3 [1st]
18:40 … Kelly Bainbridge [Holy Spirit], 2004 SJO-3 [2nd]
18:48 … Christin Bettis [Hammonton], 2011 SJO-2 [1st]
18:48 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2014 SJ-3 [2nd]
18:49 … Emily Casey [Holy Spirit], 2009 SJO-2 [1st]
18:55 … Abigail Shafer [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2011 SJ-4 [6th]
18:59 … Andrea Campbell [Mainland Reg.], 2003 SJ-4 [3rd]
18:59 … Emily Casey [Holy Spirit], 2010 KoC [2nd]
Riddell, Gostovich tear up Delsea course as Haddonfield wins 16th straight SJ-2 title, advances to states for 44TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR
Led by seniors Martin Riddell and Andrew Gostovich, the Haddonfield boys won their 16th consecutive sectional title Saturday, and the Bulldogs did it in record-setting fashion.
Riddell ran 15:33 and Gostovich 15:50 in a 1-2 finish, senior Stephen Kasko was 5th in 16:06 and soph Seth Clevenger 6th in 16:06, giving the Bulldogs four across the line before anybody else had two in. Junior Calev Clevenger ran 16:22 for 9th.
Haddonfield outscored Delsea 23-58 and averaged 16:00 on the 5,000-meter Delsea course, third-fastest in course history and fastest ever by a school outside Group 4.
This will be Haddonfield’s 44th consecutive year racing at states.
Haddonfield has won 39 sectional titles in all, the most of any program in the state. Since 1999, Haddonfield has won 20 of 21 in Group 2, with the only loss coming in 2003, when a Jon Anderson-led Cinnaminson team won 29-46.
Haddonfield also won Group 2 in 1995 and 1996 and Group 1 from 1997 through 1996, so that’s 24 titles in the last 25 years.
The last time Haddonfield didn’t finish first or second was 1994, when they were 3rd in Group 2 behind Pinelands and Haddon Township.
They’ve finished in the top three 38 consecutive years dating back to a 4th-place finish in Group 2 in 1981 behind Clearview, Moorestown and Delran. And they’ve advanced to states 45 straight years since 1975. In 1974 they were 9th at sectionals.
Haddonfield’s streak of 16 consecutive sectional titles is the longest in state history. Ridgewood’s current streak of 10 straight is the next-longest streak in history state-wide. The second-longest streak ever by a South Jersey school is eight straight by Haddon Township from 2008 through 2015 in Group 1.
Haddonfield’s 16:00 average breaks the course record of 16:08 for Group 2 set by Haddonfield in 2009. Haddonfield now owns the six-fastest course averages ever recorded at Delsea in Group 2 and six of the 18 total sub-16:20 averages in course history.
Delsea’s current 5,000-meter layout has been used since for sectionals, the South Jersey Open and the Knights of Columbus Meet (now the Robert Kiessling Invitational) since 2002.
Here’s a look at the fastest course averages ever run at Delsea:
15:49 … Mainland Regional, 2003, Group 4 [1st]
15:59 … Kingsway, 2017, Group 4 [1st]
16:00 … Haddonfield, 2019, Group 2 [1st]
16:02 … Cherokee, 2019, Group 4 [1st]
16:04 … Cherry Hill East, 2014, Group 4 [1st]
16:08 … Haddonfield, 2009, Group 2 [1st]
16:09 … Toms River North, 2003, Group 4 [2nd]
16:09 … Cherokee, 2016, Group 4 [1st]
16:09 … Haddonfield, 2017, Group 2 [1st]
16:13 … Haddonfield, 2018, Group 2 [1st]
16:16 … Cherry Hill East, 2015, Group 4 [1st]
16:18 … Mainland Regional, 2002, Group 4 [1st]
16:18 … Haddonfield, 2013, Group 2 [1st]
16:18 … Kingsway, 2014, Group 4 [2nd]
16:19 … Kingsway, 2014, SJO-3 [1st]
16:19 … Haddonfield, 2014, Group 2 [1st]
16:19 … Cherokee, 2015, SJO-3 [1st]
16:19 … Cherry Hill East, 2019, SJ-4 [2nd]
16:20 … Toms River North, 2004, Group 4 [1st]
16:20 … Cherokee, 2017, Group 4 [2nd]
Riddell’s 15:33 is 16th-fastest in course history and makes him third-fastest in Haddonfield history at Delsea, behind Jon Vitez [16:23 in 2009] and Chris Platt [15:24 in 2002] as well as third-fastest ever in a Group 2 race.
Riddell ran 15:49 at Delsea last year. Gostovich becomes the 11th Haddonfield runner under 16 minutes at Delsea. Here’s a look at that list:
15:23 … Jon Vitez [Haddonfield] 2009 SJ-2 [1st]
15:24 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2002 SJ-2 [1st]
15:33 … Martin Riddell [Haddonfield], 2019 SJ-2 [1st]
15:41 … Greg Halla [Haddonfield] 2012 SJ-2 [2nd]
15:49 … Martin Riddell [Haddonfield] 2017 SJ-2 [1st]
15:50 … Greg Pelose [Haddonfield] 2015 SJ-2 [1st]
15:50 … Andrew Gostovich [Haddonfield], 2019 SJ-2 [2nd]
15:54 … Ben Potts [Haddonfield] 2010 SJ-2 [1st]
15:54 … Derek Gess [Haddonfield] 2016 SJ-2 [3rd]
15:58 … Greg Eisenhower [Haddonfield] 2017 SJ-2 [2nd]
15:59 … Matt Nussbaum [Haddonfield] 2010 SJ-2 [2nd]
It wasn’t all Haddonfield.
Brady Shute of Woodbury-Gateway Co-Op had a terrific race, becoming the first runner from Woodbury or Gateway to break 16 minutes at Delsea and placing third, and Delsea senior Noah Deckert also broke up the Haddonfield pack, taking fourth in 16:05, an all-course 5,000 PR for him.
Others in the top 10 included Delsea junior Raja Brooks [7th in 16:20], Collingswood junior Josh Forrest [8th in 16:22] and Delsea junior Dawson Baptiste [10th in 16:30.
Cinnaminson’s Austin Gabay races to first sectional title at Central Jersey Group 2 race!!!
Cinnaminson senior Austin Gabay won his first career sectional title in track or cross country Saturday, running away from the field at the Central Jersey Group 2 race at Thompson Park in Jamesburg.
He’s Cinnaminson’s ninth sectional XC champ but the first in Central Jersey and the first in 13 years. He’s also the first South Jersey runner ever to win a Central Jersey XC title in any group.
Gabay ran 16:13 over 5,000 meters, winning by 35 meters over Voorhees senior Dylan Fritz.
Gabay had been second at sectionals three times in track and cross country but had never previously won a sectional title. He was 3rd at the Central Jersey Group 2 meet last year.
Previous Cinnaminson sectional winners are Gary Noa [1971], Chris Lopez [1989], John Keevey [1990], Matt Feeley [1993], Bill Mason [1998], Jon Anderson [2003], Steve Grabowski [2005] and Brian Tetreault [2006].
The rest of Cinnaminson’s lineup included five freshmen and a sophomore.
Boys and girls South Jersey sectional XC individual and team merges are here!!!!!
The fastest girl and fastest boy from Saturday’s various South Jersey sectional races both come from Atlantic County.
The fastest teams Saturday are two of the most successful programs in South Jersey history.
Check out how everybody stacks up against everybody else in the official South Jersey sectional merges, courtesy of Cal and everybody at Tomahawk Timing!
