From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

When Cherokee senior Justin Kelly was disqualified after winning the South Jersey Group 4 XC title, it turned Kingsway senior Joe Grandizio into the sectional champion.

When Kelly was re-instated, one of the key guys who helped in the process was … Kingsway senior Joe Grandizio.

A truly inspiring story about sportsmanship and fair play came out of the South Jersey Group 4 race Saturday at Delsea!

Kelly and Grandizio finished 1-2 in the Group 4 race, Kelly in 15:46 and Grandizio in 15:50 – the No. 1 and No. 3 times of the day over the fast 5,000-meter course at Delsea.

Grandizio led a remarkable Kingsway pack – the Dragons went 2-3-4-8-9 to win their first sectional title since 2012 and outscored Cherokee 26-64. And Southern Regional was third with 111 points. So there was no question about who won the team title and who was second.

But soon after Kelly crossed the line, the Cherokee coaches learned he had been disqualified for allegedly cutting inside a flag on a remote part of the course at about the 2.3-mile mark, behind the high school near Fries Mill Road.

With or without Kelly, Cherokee would place second and advance to states next week. But a DQ meant Kelly would be disqualified from the “tournament,” which in this case meant states and the Meet of Champions, if Cherokee qualified.

But Kelly and all the runners around him were positive he didn’t run inside that flag and cut the course. This is an experienced senior who’s run numerous times at Delsea. He knows the course. He knows the rules.

Cherokee immediately appealed the DQ to meet referee Carl Rickershauser and in most cases these things aren’t reversed, but when the official who made the initial ruling suddenly became unsure who he saw cut the course there seemed to be hope for Kelly’s reinstatement.

Then it was up to the only witnesses to the alleged infraction to tell Rickershauser what they saw.

Who were the witnesses?

Grandizio and some of the other Kingsway runners!

Nobody runs a classier program than Kingsway coach Christian Lynch, and his kids didn’t hesitate to let Rickershauser know that Kelly had definitely NOT cut inside the flag on the course. Even though it meant Grandizio might lose his sectional title, he and his teammates urged meet officials to reinstate Kelly and restore his well-deserved sectional title.

And nobody was more sure that Kelly should be reinstated than Grandizio!

Eventually, Rickershauser correctly over-ruled the official and then it was up to the Cherokee coaches to find Kelly, who by then was on his cool-down run, and let him know he had his title back.

And everybody was happy. Turner got the title he earned, Kingsway got the team title they earned and everybody at Delsea saw once again that cross country is a sport of tremendous competitiveness but even more so one of unparalleled sportsmanship.

Kingsway, ranked No. 1 in South Jersey and No. 2 in the state, ran a monster race, with three runners under 16 minutes (!!!) and two others at 16:10. It came out to an insane 15:59 average.

Senior Jonathan Connor and junior Kieran Burns placed third and fourth for the Dragons, both in 15:53, and seniors Cade and Cole Hindley finished eighth and ninth in 16:10. Senior 6th man Brian Mangiaracina ran 13th in 16:20, beating the third runner from every other team.

Cherokee, ranked No. 3 in South Jersey, didn’t run badly, with six in the top 23, including three sophomores, and a 16:20 team average.

Sophomores Chris Spisak and Chase Miller placed sixth and 16th for the Chiefs in 16:08 and 16:29, and seniors Brandon Marks and Jonathan Conn ran 16:38 and 16:40 to place 20th and 21st. Another soph, Ethan Wechsler, placed 23rd overall in 16:41 and was Cherokee’s sixth man.

The top three sophomores in the race were all from Cherokee.

Kelly joins Marc Pelerin [2001], Alex Yersak [2005-07], Shawn Wilson [2012] and Jack Shea [2017] as individual sectional champs for Cherokee. The Chiefs now account for seven of the last 17 individual titles.

Kingsway won the race Saturday, but that wasn’t even its most impressive performance of the day!

 

When you lose your top runner and STILL get all your scorers in the top 10, average sub-16:10 and score just 23 points … you know you’ve got a strong program.

That’s exactly what happened to Haddonfield Saturday in the South Jersey Group 2 sectionals.

Junior Derek Gess, Haddonfield’s No. 1 runner and the third-place finisher at sectionals last year, was forced to drop out of the sectional race at Delsea at about the two-mile point. Gess has been sick and tried to race but was not himself. With his teammates running lights out, and the team title comfortably in the bag, there was no reason for him to continue.

His teammates sure picked him up in a big way!

Even without Gess, Haddonfield won by 55 points, 23-78, over Sterling. The team title is Haddonfield’s 14th in a row and 18th in the last 19 years. The Jon Anderson-led 2003 Cinnaminson team is the only one to beat Haddonfield at sectionals since 1999.

In all, Haddonfield has won 37 sectional titles. Since 1977, the Bulldogs have won 33 sectional championships in 41 years.

Sophomore Martin Riddell, who wasn’t even on Haddonfield’s varsity last year, won the race in 15:49, finishing about 40 meters ahead of junior teammate Greg Eisenhower in second.

The win was the first in any major XC race for Riddell, whose best previous finish was a second-place to Gess in the Colonial Conference All-Star race two weeks ago.

Junior Sean Campeggia, sophomore Stephen Kasko and junior Ethan Spellmeyer finished fourth, ninth and 10th, Campiglia in 16:04, Kasko in 16:27 and Spellmeyer in 16:31. Senior Richie Glennon ran 16:53 for 14th, rounding out Haddonfield’s lineup.

Scoring against every other school combined, Haddonfield — ranked No. 2  behind Kingsway in South Jersey and No. 9 in the state — wins 23-32. Scoring through six runners against the field, Haddonfield wins 36-43! That’s not easy to do!

 

 

South Jersey’s top two teams battled Saturday, and top-ranked Kingsway emerged with a riveting seven-point win in the South Jersey Group 4 girls race at Delsea.

More than half of the first 23 finishers across the line were from Kingsway or Shawnee, which is insane. Kingsway finished with a 42-49 margin of victory, and nobody else was within 85 points of either school.

How dominating were Kingsway and Shawnee? Either one could have rested its first two runners and still placed second in team scoring with their third through seventh girls.

This race featured six girls under 19 minutes and an incredible 28 girls under 20 minutes!!! Yeah, the course is fast, but 28 girls under 20 minutes is nuts!

Shawnee sophomore Isabella Turner was the individual winner with a swift 18:22, but junior Lauren Krott and senior Alexis Mullarkey went 2-3 in 18:43 and 18:49 for Kingsway. Shawnee sophomore Claire Hauser was Shawnee’s second across the line, sixth in 18:56.

Senior Kylie Anicic took eighth for Kingsway in 19:05, but Shawnee answered with senior Claire Rankin and junior Grace Kearns in 11th and 12th.

Kingsway’s fourth was freshman Ashlynn Burke, who ran 19:26, and was quickly followed by fifth runner Allie Pierontoni, a sophomore, who ran 19:29 for 16th.

Two more Shawnee runners quickly crossed — junior Lauren Tenet in 19:42 and senior Laura Mavracic in 19:44.

Kingsway’s sixth runner, freshman Sydney Watts, finished 23rd in 19:49 and beat the THIRD runner from every school other than Shawnee.

And Shawnee’s SEVENTH runner, senior Georgia Larzelere, ran 20:05 for 33rd and beat the fourth runner from every school other than Kingsway and Southern.

The team title was the third in a row for the Kingsway girls and eighth overall. The winning score of 42 is lowest since Shawnee won in 2001 with 35 points. And Kingsway’s average of 19:06 is the fastest in history on the Delsea course by a Group 4 school!

Incredibly, Shawnee’s scoring pack averaged 19:10, which is the fastest non-winning average time ever in Group 4!

The previous-fastest non-winning average time was Lenape’s 19:19 back in 2006. That came in a 58-60 loss to Cherry Hill East. The previous lowest non-winning score was Shawnee’s 53 points in 2002 behind Toms River East’s 46.

Kingsway, ranked No. 2 in the state, had a terrific 46-second span between Krott and Pierontoni.

Turner is the fifth individual winner in Shawnee history, joining Deanna Germano in 1985, Julia Goldstein in 1990, Liz Moore three straight years from 1992 through 1994 and Nina Benedixen in 2014.

Woodward and Kane were dead even in the lead — well clear of the field –  as they sprinted onto the Delsea track in the South Jersey Group 3 race. They raced stride-for-stride through the turn and were still together 50 meters short of the finish line.

Woodward finally edged into the lead with about 35 meters left and held the lead through the line, finishing one second ahead of Kane.

Woodward’s one-second victory is the smallest on record in the South Jersey Group 3 meet. Individual times for non-winners are only available back into the late 1960s.

Woodward became Highland’s fifth sectional champion. Jerry Andrews won the Group 4 race, Jay Wassail won in Group 4 in 1994 and 1995. Highlands’ Group 3 winners were Kavaliauskas in 2003 and 2004 and Josh Clark two years ago.

Highland also qualified for states as a team, placing third with 82 points, only 17 behind Delsea and 14 behind second-place Mainland.

Junior Yarayah Hawkins, junior Jeremiah Clark, junior Juan Palacios and junior Chris Corsaro rounded out Highland’s pack of five scorers, with Hawkins placing third in 16:09 and Clark also under 17 minutes in 17th place in 16:48.

Kane settled for second in the individual race but did lead Delsea to the team title. The Crusaders finished with a three-point win over Mainland, with four finishers in the top 12.

The team title is Delsea’s third and second in a row. The Crusaders also won the 1997 Group 3 title behind Steve Preite, Brian Thibault and Will Webekind.

After Kane, senior George Tenenberg took seventh in 16:25, senior William Mayhew was 10th in 16:31 and senior Dylan Senatore 12th in 16:38. Delsea’s final scorer was sophomore Alex Roman, who finished 34th in 17:25.

Also in the top 10 were senior Jesse Schmeizer of Ocean City [4th in 16:15], senior Justin Earley of Central Regional [5th in 16:21], sophomore Kevin Antczak of Mainland Regional [6th in 16:22], Cumberland Regional junior Miguel Vera [8th in 16:27] and Timber Creek freshman Michael Henry [9th in 16:29].

Moorestown graduate Natalie Cooper was the overall winner and led The College of New Jersey to its 31st team title Saturday at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships.

Cooper, a junior, ran 21:44 over the 6,000-meter course at Stockton University in Galloway Township to win the race for a second consecutive year.

Cooper finished 70 meters ahead of second-place Alicia Belko of Stockton, a Rancocas Valley graduate. Belko ran 21:59. TCNJ junior Erin Holzbauer (Robbinsville) placed third, and TCNJ’s Madeleine Tattory, a junior from Delran, placed fourth in 22:57.

Cooper, Belko and Tattory gave the Burlington County Scholastic League three of the top four finishers.

TCNJ outscored Stockton 20-47 to win its fourth title in the last five years.

Also scoring for TCNJ were Gabriella DeVito of Monmouth Regional [5th in 23:01] and Abigail Faith of Freehold Township [7th in 23:21].

Others in the top 10 were Jennifer Polo of Ramapo of Cliffside Park [6th in 23:02], Stockton’s Christina Welsh from Hamilton West [8th in 23:42], Ramapo’s Alex Kyros of Ridge [9th in 23:44] and Caitlin Glynn of Stockton and Union Catholic [10th in 23:54].

The College of New Jersey has won 31 of the 37 women’s NJAC titles contested. As Trenton State, the Lions won every meet from 1981 through 1991, and after Glassboro State won three straight titles, the last two as Rowan, Trenton State won in 1995 and then won 15 more consecutive titles as The College of New Jersey. Rowan won in 2011 and 2012 and Stockton won in 2016.

Cooper is the first repeat winner since Jena Peacock of Rowan and Our Lady of Mercy, who won in 2009 and 2010. TCNJ’s last repeat winner was Beth Vesey, a Ramsey High graduate who won three straight from 2001 through 2003.

Kevin Veltre and Dan “Fitch” Henry finished 1-2 and the Rowan men’s cross country team this weekend put an end to College of New Jersey’s remarkable 23-year NJAC winning streak.

TCNJ had three of the first six finishers, but Rowan squeaked by the Lions 36-40 to win its first NJAC team title since 1993.

The College of New Jersey then won every team title from 1994 through 2016, the first two as Trenton State.

Veltre, a Brick Memorial graduate, ran 24:38 over the 8,000-meter course at Stockton University in Galloway Township, finishing about 250 meters ahead of Clearview product Henry, who was second in 25:30.

Veltre is Rowan’s first NJAC XC champ since Jonathan Sewing of Notre Dame High won the 2014 race.

Rowan won its first three NJCA titles from 1961 through 1963 and then won 17 straight from 1974 through 1990 and added titles in 1992 and 1993.

The last school other than TCNJ or Rowan to win the NJAC team title was William Paterson in 1973.

Rowan then packed three runners in a 13-second span between 9th and 13th-place: Jose Figueroa of Highland [9th in 26:03], Nick Nocco of Southern Regional [10th in 26:10] and Matt Russo of Westfield [13th in 26:16].

Three South Jersey runners were in TCNJ’s pack. Robert Abrams of Cherry Hill West [5th in 25:40], Daniel Brennan [14th in 26:19] and Dale Johnson of West Deptford [19th in 26:38], who was TCNJ’s sixth man.

Stockton placed Daniel Do of Absegami seventh in 25:47 and Joe D’Amico of Central Regional 10th in 26:06.

Here’s a list of all the Rowan runners who’ve won the NJAC XC title [Rowan was known as Glassboro State through the 1991 meet]:

2017 Kevin Veltre [Brick Memorial], 24:38
2014 Jonathan Sewnig [Notre Dame], 25:30
2013 Robert Rawls [Triton], 26:37
2011 Robert Rawls [Triton], 26:03
1995 Mike Andino [Memorial-WNY], 26:04
1993 Rob Black [Pitman], 25:12
1992 Matt Martin [Haddon Twp.], 25:25
1991 John Schilling [Pitman], 26:43
1990 Rex Myers [Delran], 26:17
1989 Rich Bostwick [Vineland], 26:05
1988 Rich Bostwick [Vineland], 25:57
1987 Rich Bostwick [Vineland], 26:05
1986 John Montgomery [West Orange], 25:56
1985 Scott Costello [Highland Park], 25:54
1984 Ron Deckert [Oakcrest], 26:23
1983 Robert Rimkis [Washington Twp.], 24:15
1982 Greg Rapp [N/A], 24:25
1981 Greg Rapp [N/A], 24:19
1980 Derick Adamson [Montclair], 25:41
1979 Jack Kruse [Cherry Hill West], 24:47
1978 Jack Kruse [Cherry Hill West], 25:25
1977 Harry Frezza [Bound Brook], 24:32
1976 Jack Kruse [Cherry Hill West], 26:36
1962 Don Lang [N/A], 20:26

All-time individual winners are here. All-time team winners are here.

 

There wasn’t a lot of drama regarding the team title at Thursday’s Cape Atlantic Conference championships.

There was plenty of drama in the individual race.

How often do you see the first seven finishers in a major meet all finish within 50 meters of each other?

That’s exactly what happened at the finish of the CAL boys race at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville.

Seniors Will Berger of Lower Cape May, Nicholas Berenotto of Mainland and Jesse Schmeizer of Ocean City, along with three more Mainland runner — sophomore Kevin Antczak and juniors Ar Simons Menezes and Mikin Patel — and Egg Harbor junior Gobi Thurairajah all finished between 16:09 and 16:19.

That’s nuts!

Berger crossed the line first, in 16:09, with Berenotto 10 meters back in 16:11 and Schmeizer and Antczak each one stride back, Schmeizer in 16:12 and Antczak in 16:13.

Simons Menezes, Patel and Thurairajah followed in 16:17, 16:18 and 16:19.

Berger also won the Cape May County 1,600 title this past spring and the Cape May XC title last week. He’s also a 10-6 pole vaulter.

Mainland won the team title, 21-56, over Ocean City, with Egg Harbor third with 85 points. Ocean City had defeated Mainland for the conference title the last two years.

The team title was Mainland’s first in 10 years, since Matt Jernberg, Max Mittleman and Andrew Everett led the Mustangs to a thrilling three-point win — 42-45 over Ocean City.

Also in the top 10 were Egg Harbor junior Brian Catania (8th in 16:32), Mainland senior Tiger Carey (9th in 16:35) and Egg Harbor senior Jordan callahan (10th in 16:40).

The Moorestown girls placed all seven of their runners in the top 13 and rolled to their 18th consecutive Burlington County Scholastic League Liberty Division title Saturday over the flat 5,000-meter course at New Egypt in Plumstead Township.

Freshman Kate Inglis, sixth in the County Open, was the overall winner, crossing in 18:55. Moorestown then packed senior Emily Hurren, junior Kate Goettle and freshman Anu Bezwada in fifth, sixth and seventh, all within 20:09 and 20:26.

Moorestown’s fifth finisher was its third freshman, Claire Bodine, who ran 21:06 for 11th. Sophomore Kylie Evoy and senior Cailin Field rounded out the Quaker lineup in 12th and 13th, Field in 21:17 and Field in 21:52.

Scoring against the field, which also included Rancocas Valley, Northern Burlington and Burlington Township, Moorestown wins 26-29.

Also in the top 10 were Pennsauken freshman Natalina Nunez and senior Morgan Gallagher and junior Paige Hammond of Rancocas Valley, who all broke 20 minutes. Northern was led by junior Nicolina Zappley (8th in 20:36), with Rancocas Valley senior Grace Pagano (9th in 20:54) and Northern’s Kendra Zaleski (10th in 21:02) rounding out the top 10.

The BCSL meet was stopped after the 1990 meet and resurrected in 2000. Moorestown has won every team title since the meet was revived — by an average of 27 points.

This is the 10th time during that 18-year span Rancocas Valley has placed second. Northern Burlington has taken second the other eight years.

Here’s a look at Moorestown’s 18 consecutive Liberty Division titles, which have ranged from seven points in 2008 to 55 in 2002. Moorestown’s top finisher is listed on the right, along with her place.

2017 … Moorestown 26, Rancocas Valley 40 [Kate Inglis, 1st]
2016 … Moorestown 25, Rancocas Valley 50 [Tara Thornton, 1st]
2015 … Moorestown 30, Northern Burlington 38 [Tara Thornton, 3rd]
2014 … Moorestown 34, Rancocas Valley 57 [Genevieve Cickavage, 1st]
2013 … Moorestown 27, Rancocas Valley 50 [Genevieve Cickavage, 1st]
2012 … Moorestown 28, Northern Burlington 57 [Natalie Cooper, 2nd]
2011 … Moorestown 32, Northern Burlington 41 [Natalie Cooper, 2nd]
2010 … Moorestown 22, Rancocas Valley 45 [Tara Monihan, 1st]
2009 … Moorestown 27, Northern Burlington 38 [Emily Thompson, 3rd]
2008 … Moorestown 24, Rancocas Valley 31 [Kendall Jackson, 2nd]
2007 … Moorestown 15, Rancocas Valley 54 [Brianna Rogers, 1st]
2006 … Moorestown 17, Rancocas Valley 58 [Jessica Levin, 1st]
2005 … Moorestown 19, Northern Burlington 59 [Jessica Rogers, 1st]
2004 … Moorestown 26, Northern Burlington 70 [Meghan Hughes, 2nd]
2003 … Moorestown 28, Northern Burlington 52 [Meghan Hughes, 2nd]
2002 … Moorestown 23, Northern Burlington 78 [Meghan Hughes, 1st]
2001 … Moorestown 17, Rancocas Valley 67 [Kelsey Rinehart, 1st]
2000 … Moorestown 31, Rancocas Valley 43 [Kelsey Rinehart 2nd]

You can’t have a closer three-team finish. Barring a three-way tie.

Northern Burlington emerged as the 2017 Burlington County League Scholastic League Liberty Division champions for the first time since 2013 in a wild three-way finish with Moorestown and Burlington Township on the flat, fast 5,000-meter course at New Egypt High School in Ocean County.

Northern scored 53 points, and Moorestown and Burlington Township both scored 54, and Rancocas Valley wasn’t that far back with 70 points in fourth place.

Northern somehow won in a 32-person race without anybody in the top six. But the Greyhounds placed their five scorers from 7th through 14th in a crazy 17-second pack.

That’s right — 17 seconds separated Northern’s five scorers! That’s insane!

Junior Mike Morreale led Northern in seventh in 16:55, with freshman Daniel Boria (9th in 16:59), sophomore Kyle Stanley (11th in 17:03), senior Parker Napierala (12th in 17:10) and junior Matt Halvorsen (14th in 17:12) all close behind.

Incredibly, Moorestown and Burlington Township each put two runners ahead of Northern’s first runner, but with its tremendous pack running NBC still found a way to win.

Rancocas Valley senior Jacob Tyndale was the overall winner, crossing in 16:07, with Burlington Township soph Dakota Oyuela second in 16:20, the highest finish by a Burlington Township runner since Tim Reardon was second in 2010.

Juniors Jack West and Jack Farmer of Moorestown ran third and fourth in 16:28 and 16:38, with Burlington Township junior Sean Burnett fifth in 16:39 and R.V.’s Ian Moore sixth in 16:41 before the Northern floodgates opened.

The team title was the fourth for Northern, which also won in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Northern’s winning score of 53 points — not surprisingly in such a close three-team race — was the highest in 17 years, since Rancocas Valley won with 54 points in 2000. Just as unsurprisingly, Burlington Township’s 54 points marked the lowest third-place score in meet history.

The previous smallest margin of victory was three points, with Moorestown edging Northern 31-34 in 2008 and Moorestown defeating Rancocas Valley 43-46 in 2015.

The closest previous three-way race I could find going back to the early 1980s was 12 points separating first and third. That was in 2000, with R.V. at 54, Northern at 62 and Holy Cross 66.

Moorestown’s other scorers were senior Jesse Wun (8th, 16:58), freshman Connor Fischel (18th in 17:24) and sophomore Victor Demartini (21st in 17:35).

For Burlington Township, senior Koodsha Manjaro ran 13th in 17:11, followed by junior Steven Mendez (15th in 17:15) and senior Tyler Repici (19th in 17:28).

Rounding out the top 10 was Pennsauken senior Phillip Nguyen, who ran 17:01.

After two runners, the score was Burlington Township 7, Moorestown 7, Northern 16. After three runners, it was Moorestown 15, Burlington Township 20, Northern 27. After four runners, it was Moorestown 33, Burlington Township 35, Northern 39.

But Napierala and especially Halvorsen helped clinch the team title for Northern by defeating their corresponding runners on Moorestown and Township by a combined nine spots for Napierala and 12 spots for Halvorsen.

Moorestown officially gets credit for second place on a sixth-runner tiebreaker, with the Quakers’ sixth runner, sophomore Louis Purul, finishing in 18:24, two seconds ahead of Township’s No. 6 runner.

 

Millville swept the Cumberland County championship races Friday, with the boys outscoring Cumberland Regional 27-43 and the girls defeating Vineland by a 24-41 margin. It was the third straight title for the Millville girls.

Millville placed all seven of its runners in the top 10, led by senior Christian Bird, who ran 17:03 and placed second overall. Sophomore Nick Schlegel ran 17:52 for fourth and then Millville runners took five straight spots from sixth to 10th, with seniors Tyler Vandemark (6th in 18:04) and Benny Martinez (7th in 18:08) and sophomore Zachary Asselta (8th in 18:10) finishing in a six-second span.

Seniors John Slaney and Eric Vanaman finished ninth and 10th for Millville in 18:34 and 18:41, bumping the third, fourth and fifth runners from Cumberland Regional and Vineland. Bridgeton did not run a full team.

Cumberland junior Miguel Vera edged Bird by 30 meters, winning in 16:57. Vineland senior Jordan Pitt was third in 17:31 and Cumberland soph Damien Grooms fifth in 17:56.

In the girls race, Millville put five in the top 10, with junior Raelynne Miller clocking 19:34 on the 5,000-meter Cumberland County College course in Vineland and winning by 175 meters over Cumberland senior Sara Loew, who ran 20:16. Miller and Loew repeated their 1-2 finish of last year.

Sophomore Abbigail Markee (3rd in 21:02), junior Sydney Caromano (4th in 21:52),  senior Serena Townsend (6th in 22:43) and sophomore Rebecca Fomich (10th in 24:38) also scored for Millville.

The rest of the top 10 was all Vineland — sophomores Kimberly Zarate (5th in 22:19) and Trinity Pritchett (7th in 23:16), senior Audrey O’Neill (8th in 23:19) and junior Marianne Burgess (9th in 24:06).