From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

For the third straight year, the Kingsway boys won a team title at Shore Coaches, and for the third straight year they had to run past North Hunterdon to do it.

Kingsway boys won a dramatic dual against North Hunterdon, ranked No. 4 in the state, Saturday in the Varsity B race at Shore Coaches.

North Hunterdon led 27-28 after three runners, and Kingsway led 47-48 after three runners, and that’s what makes cross country so great – your fifth runner is just as important as your first runner.

In this case, Kingsway’s No. 5 runner, senior Stephen Wilkins III, edged North Hunterdon’s fifth runner by six seconds and three spots, giving the Dragons a 78-74 triumph

Junior Stone Caraccio led Kingsway in third place with a 16:19 on the 5,000-meter hill-fest at Holmdel County Park. Senior Gavin Wagner [10th in 16:55], freshman Kyle Rakitis [15th in 17:02], junior Ayden Magee [19th in 17:10] and Wilkins also scored.

This is Kingsway’s third straight title in Varsity B. The Dragons outscored North Hunterdon 55-90 last year and 68-81 in 2016. Kingsway also won Varsity A in 2014.

Kingsway averaged 16:56 for its five scorers to 17:02 for North Hunterdon.

The Haddonfield boys raced without three of their top five runners and still won the Varsity E race at Shore Coaches by 33 points!

With Martin Riddell, Greg Eisenhower and Andrew Gostovich taking SATs, Haddonfield cobbled together a makeshift varsity team and still averaged an incredible 16:51 over the Holmdel County Park hills.

The Bulldogs outscored neighborhood rival Camden Catholic, 49-82, to win the title.

Haddonfield’s score of 49 points is the lowest by any winning team in Varsity E in 10 years, since the 2008 Haddonfield team, led by Jon Vitez, Benn Potts and Matt Nussbaum, scored 36.

The title is the 10th for the Haddonfield boys at the Shore Coaches Invite and the second in a row.

Haddonfield packed six runners in 37 seconds, with senior Derek Gess leading the way in seventh place in 16:35.

Junior Stephen Kasko placed ninth in 16:50, with senior Ethan Spellmeyer 11th in 16:51.

Haddonfield had three more runners finish 14th, 15th and 16th – junior Grayson Fasolo [16:56] and seniors Griffin Weiner [17:07] and Sean Campiglia [17:12].

Haddonfield won its first Shore Coaches title in Group C back in 1978, when the meet was held around the corner at Brookdale Community College. The Bulldogs also won in 1989 [Group D], 1995, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2017 [Group E] and 1998 [Group F].

How deep is Haddonfield? Even after moving several runners up from the JV, they still went 1-2-3 in the JV race and won the JV Group D team title, 38-68, over St. Joe’s Prep.

Sophomore John Hurly [17:53], senior Tommy Neveling [18:04] and senior Ryan Colflesh [18:42] swept the top three spots, and freshmen Matt O’Leary, Andrew Sullivan and Ethan Welborn all finished in the top 23 out of nearly 200 runners.

Cinnaminson junior Austin Gabay ran away with the Varsity E race Saturday at the Shore Coaches Invitational with a Holmdel PR of more than a minute.

Gabay nearly broke 16 minutes on the hallowed 5,000-meter Holmdel County Park layout, running 16:01 to win by 35 meters over senior Colin Flood of Manasquan.

That’s more than a one-minute PR at Holmdel for Gabay, who ran 17:09 at Group 2 states last fall after a 17:38 at Shore Coaches.

This is the fourth time a Cinnaminson runner has won an individual title at Shore Coaches. Bill Mason won the Group D race in 1998 in 16:24 and Michael Ungvarsky won the Group D race in 2015 in 16:25 and Group E in 2016 in 15:57.

His time is third-fastest in Cinnaminson history at Holmdel, trailing only Jon Anderson, who ran 15:50 at the 2003 Meet of Champions, and Ungvarsky’s 15:57. Steve Grabowski’s 16:08 at the 2005 Meet of Champions and Matt Poskus’s 16:13 at the 2006 M-of-C give Cinnaminson a five-man average of 16:02.

 

 

Cherokee graduate Megan Lacy returned to competitive running after a 17-month layoff when she placed third in the USATF Trail Half-Marathon Championships in Hayward, Wisc.

Lacy ran 1:33.04, finishing behind only Megan Roche of Boulder, Colo. [1:27;31] and Samantha Lewis of Moscow, Idaho [1:30:39] in the women’s race. Overall, Lacy was 17th of more than 200 runners who competed in the half marathon on the Birkie Ridge Trail, located in northwestern Wisconsin, about 50 miles east of the Minnesota border.

The race was Lacy’s first since the Mountain West Conference 5,000-meter run in May of 2017 at Utah State in Logan, Utah.

Lacy, now based in Boise, completed her collegiate eligibility at Boise State after graduating from Stanford, where she ran 5,000 meters on the track in 16:35 but spent much of her collegiate career dealing with injuries.

At Cherokee, Lacy ran 10:24.61 for 3,200 meters, winning the 2012 state Group 4 title before lowering her PR to 10:22.02 — third-fastest in South Jersey history — in placing third in the Meet of Champions. She was also a two-time state champion in cross country.

College of New Jersey senior Natalie Cooper covered 6,000 meters in 21:15 and placed second out of more than 350 runners in the Women’s Brown race at the Paul Short Invitational on Lehigh’s lower campus in Bethlehem, Pa.

Cooper, an All-America and two-time NJAC champion from Moorestown High, finished just 50 meters behind overall winner Siobhan Quinn of Canisius, who ran 21:02.

This is a tremendous result for Cooper, whose time would have placed her in the top 25 in the women’s Gold race, ahead of more than 300 NCAA Division 1 runners from some high-powered programs.

Her time is fastest ever at Lehigh by a TCNJ runner and made her the top Division 3 finisher in any of the three races.

“Going into the meet Natalie discussed with the coaching staff that the goal was to be in the top ten early in the race and assess how she felt in the first half, then in the second half if she’s feeling good to push the intensity,” TCNJ head coach Justin Lindsey said. “She ran it almost to a ’T’ with how she wanted to and it was great to watch.”

Cooper was named NJAC Runner of the Week for her performance at Paul Short.

 

Some pretty stellar pack running by the Paul VI girls Saturday in their impressive win over Mainland Regional in the Division 2 Varsity race at the South Jersey Open.

Bridget Lyons placed second and all five Paul VI’s scorers placed in the top 12, and PVI edged Mainland 33-41.

PVI went 2-4-8-9-10 with individuals removed to Mainland’s 1-5-7-11-17. Seneca was a close third with 50 points.

Mainland’s Alyssa Turner ran 19:52 over 5,000 meters on Delsea’s South Jersey fast, flat sectional course to record the overall win.

PVI then had Lyons second in 20:05, Katie Sparks fifth in 20:36 and Annie Skiles 10th in 21:42, Madison Kelly 11th in 21:50 and Hannah WHitmire 12th in 21:55.

For Mainland,  Savannah Hodgens placed sixth in 20:54, with Abby Argentiero ninth in 21:39, Lily Malone 14th in 22:11 and Giselle Obergfell 21st in 22:55.

Seneca was led by Emma Klouchek, fourth in 20:12, Morgan Hough [seventh in 21:00], Chelsea Richards [15th in 22:19], Kayla Handt [16th in 22:26] and Reilly Ritter [19th in 22:34].

Some pretty stellar pack running by the Paul VI girls Saturday in their impressive win over Mainland Regional in the Division 2 Varsity race at the South Jersey Open.

Junior Bridget Lyons placed second and all five Paul VI’s scorers placed in the top 12 and PVI edged Mainland 33-41.

PVI went 2-4-8-9-10 with individuals removed to Mainland’s 1-5-7-11-17. Seneca was a close third with 50 points.

Mainland’ freshman Alyssa Turner ran 19:52 over 5,000 meters on Delsea’s South Jersey fast, flat sectional course to record the overall win.

PVI then had Lyons second in 20:05, sophomore Katie Sparks fifth in 20:36 and senior Annie Skiles 10th in 21:42, junior Madison Kelly 11th in 21:50 and senior Hannah Whitmire 12th in 21:55.

Mainland freshman Savannah Hodgens placed sixth in 20:54, with sophomore Abby Argentiero ninth in 21:39, freshman Lily Malone 14th in 22:11 and sophomore Giselle Obergfell 21st in 22:55.

Seneca was led by Emma Klouchek, fourth in 20:12, Morgan Hough [seventh in 21:00], Chelsea Richards [15th in 22:19], Kayla Handt [16th in 22:26] and Reilly Ritter [19th in 22:34].

Pitman junior Sebastien Reed continued his hot running Saturday with a 30-second victory in the Varsity E race at the Six Flags Wild Safari XC Invitational in Jackson.

Reed covered the 5,000-meter course in 15:42, finishing about 160 meters ahead of second-place Gabriel Cannavo of Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn.

The next-fastest time in any of the five varsity races was 15:57 by Colin Flood of Manasquan. Next-fastest time by a South Jersey runner was a 16:34 by Ocean City junior Anthony Conte, who ran 16:34 to place third in the Varsity C race.

Reed shaved one second off his overall 5,000-meter XC PR of 15:43, which he set at the Osprey Invite last weekend. Reid is undefeated over 5,000 meters this year. His only loss came at 3,200 meters in the junior race at the Cherokee Challenge.

Reed’s time is fastest at Six Flags since 2015, when Connor McMenamin of Souderton Area High ran 15:41. His time is fastest by a New Jersey runner since 2013, when Highland’s Steve Maine ran 15:38.

Pitman placed fourth of 20 schools in team scoring, with juniors Thomas Jackson and Tyler Jackson taking 15th and 16th in 17:33 and 17:40, senior Walter Foard 31st in 18:18 and junior Kamryn Dove 67th in 19:27.

For the first time in his college XC career, Cinnaminson graduate Tom Long was Rider’s first runner across the line in a major invitational.

Long ran 26:52 over 8,000 meters at the Crossings at Colonie in Latham, N.Y., to pace Rider in its sixth-place finish in the season-opening Siena Invitational. Monmouth won the event with 27 points.

Long placed 38th overall

“Tom Long had a really good race today,” said Rider coach Bob Hamer, the former Council Rock star. “He was a strong performer for us last year and he had another good performance today.

“He’s a tough kid who is willing to put himself out and in the race. When you do that and you are willing to grind, you get good results.”

Ben Woodward of Highland and Isaiah Jean-Baptiste of Cherry Hill East were Rider’s next two finishers, placing 43rd and 44th.

Junior Martin Riddell and senior Greg Eisenhower placed second and third, both in 16:19, as Haddonfield raced against a loaded field Saturday at the Bowdoin XC Classic in Wappingers Falls, N.Y.

Devin Hart, the national two-mile champ from Point Pleasant Boro, ran 16:14 for the win, with Riddell and Eisenhower just behind.

La Salle Academy of Providence, R.I., went 4-5-6-9-10 to take the team title, but Haddonfield placed its five scorers in the top 22 and took second out of 26 schools.

La Salle finished with a 29-53 win over Haddonfield, the No. 2 team in New Jersey and No. 1 in South Jersey. La Salle and Haddonfield are ranked No. 4 and 5 in the Northeast.

Junior Stephen Kasko was Haddonfield’s third runner, 12th in 16:58, with senior Sean Campiglia and junior Andrew Gostovich 19th and 22nd in 17:14 and 17:20 on the 5,000-meter course at Bowdoin Park.

Riddell and Eisenhower became the third- and fourth-fastest Haddonfield runners ever on the famed Bowdoin Park layout, behind Jon Vitez, who had a 15:41 and a 16:11 in 2009, and Ben Potts, who ran 16:11 in both 2009 and 2010.