From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Syracuse is one of the top NCAA Division 1 teams in the country, and one of their top contributors right now is Cherokee graduate Shawn Wilson.

Wilson placed a very impressive 19th out of 247 runners Saturday at the NCAA Northeast Regionals at Franklin Park in Boston, helping Syracuse win its third straight Northeast Regional championship and sixth in the last seven years.

The Orange went 1-2-3 and placed all seven runners in the top 20. Their average time of 30:38 is so fast it would have placed seventh overall in the race.

Syracuse outscored second-place Iona 29-40. Iona lost by 11 despite placing its five scorers in the top 13.

Wilson covered the 10,000-meter course in 31:05, out in 15:57 and back in 15:08.

Syracuse, ranked No. 2 in the nation, behind only Colorado, races in the NCAA Championships Saturday. Colorado is seeking its third straight NCAA Division 1 title.

Syracuse last finished in the top five in 1957, when they were fifth.

The men’s race is scheduled for 1 p.m. at E.P. Sawyer Park in Louisville. Syracuse won its only national XC title in 1951 in East Lansing, Mich.

 

While at Cherokee, Wilson placed fifth in the Meet of Champions at Holmdel as a junior. He won state titles in XC as a senior in 15:39 – fifth-fastest ever at Holmdel by a South Jersey runner — and the 3,200 as a senior, when he also ran 9:04.05 at the Meet of Champs.

 

Last year was the first time ever South Jersey went 1-2 in the girls race at the Meet of Champions. That was Devin Grisbaum of Ocean City, now a freshman at Vanderbilt, edging freshman Alyssa Aldridge of Mainland.

Could it happen again?

The two two seeds coming out of states are Aldridge, who blew away the Group 3 field, and Group 2 winner Brianna Gess, who won the Meet of Champs as a freshman two years ago.

Aldridge won the Group 3 race in 18:12, and Gess won her second state Group 2 XC title in 18:40.

Gess and Aldridge rank No. 4 and No. 8 on the all-time South Jersey Holmdel performance list.

Aldridge’s previous Holmdel PR was an 18:20 at the Shore Coaches in October. Gess is No. 4 in course history with her 17:45 from her 2013 Meet of Champions win.

The only other South Jersey girl under 19 minutes Saturday was Shawnee’s Kara Bonner, who ran 18:59 in the Group 4 race.

In all, only eight South Jersey runners broke 20 minutes in the various state meets on Saturday:

18:13 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland]
18:41 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield]
18:59 … Kara Bonner [Shawnee]
19:25 … Alyssa Condell [Timber Creek]
19:34 … Alexa Weber SO Ocean City]
19:35 … Alexis Mullarkey [Kingsway]
19:36 … Briana Roberts [Pennsauken]
19:50 … Claire Rankin [Shawnee]

With her 18:13, Aldridge moved into eighth place on the all-time South Jersey list at Holmdel.

Here’s a look at everybody that’s run 19:00 minutes or faster since Holmdel County Park became the official site of the New Jersey state meet in 1979:

• 17:28 Megan Venables [Highland Reg.], 2010
• 17:40 Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1982
• 17:44 Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2008
• 17:45 Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2013
• 17:55 Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2010
• 18:09 Holly Bischof [Bishop Eustace], 2010
• 18:12 Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2004
• 18:13 Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland], 2015
• 18:17 Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2009
• 18:19 Theresa Catunna [Cherry Hill East], 2006
• 18:20 Devin Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2014
• 18:22 Vanessa Wright [Haddonfield], 2004
• 18:27 Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2000
• 18:38 Casey Doyle [Shawnee], 2007
• 18:40 Mindy Rowand [Sterling], 1984
• 18:40 Dina Iacone [Washington Twp.], 2011
• 18:41 Shelby Cain [Haddonfield], 2011
• 18:43 Amanda Goetschius [Delsea], 2005
• 18:44 Arianna McKinney [Highland], 2003
• 18:49 Mara Sschiffhauer [Seneca], 2013
• 18:50 Dawn Cody [Paul VI], 1982
• 18:50 Jamie Wisgerber [Woodstown], 1994
• 18:50 Meghan Malloy [Haddonfield], 2011
• 18:52 Lisa Burkholder [Cherokee], 2004
• 18:53 Renee Tomlin [Ocean City], 2005
• 18:57 Lori Watson [Cherry Hill East], 1983
• 18:58 Abbey Hartman [Ocean City], 1996
• 18:59 Wendy Westphal [Highland], 1982
• 18:59 Kara Bonner [Shawnee,], 2015
• 19:00 Katie Van Horn [Triton], 2004

 

Aaron Groff fell a few seconds shy of winning a state title, but that was about the only disappointment in an otherwise spectacular performance Saturday by the Cherry Hill East senior.

Groff not only led Cherry Hill East to second place in the Group 4 team race [more on that later], he posted the second-fastest time of the day in the six state championship races at the historic and challenging Holmdel County Park 5,000-meter course. He just happened to be in the same race as the fastest runner of the day.

Millburn’s Matt Grossman, who finished just behind Groff at last year’s state Group 4 meet, ran 15:32 this year to win the race.  That’s the No. 15 time in course history.

Groff was just five seconds back in 15:37, No. 23 in history. Grossman and Groff were the only runners under 15:49.

Let’s put Groff’s performance in perspective:

–> It was fast enough to win all but one previous state Group 4 race since states moved to Holmdel in 1979.

–> It was the fastest time recorded at Holmdel by a Camden County runner in 27 years, since legendary Jason DiJoseph of Paul VI set a course record of 15:16.2 in the 1988 Parochial A race that stood as a course record for 18 years, till Craig Forys of Colts Neck broke it by one second in  2006.

–> It’s the third-fastest time ever recorded at Holmdel County Park by a South Jersey runner  [see list below].

OK, time for some lists.

First, let’s look at the fastest times ever run in the state Group 4 race in the 37 years states have been at Holmdel:

• 15:31 … Craig Forys [Colts Neck], 2006
• 15:32 … Matt Grossman [Millburn], 2015
• 15:37 … Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East], 2015
• 15:38 … Tim Ball [Piscataway],  2011
• 15:39 … Mohamed Khadraoui [JFK-Paterson], 2003
• 15:39 … Dylan Tarpey [Freehold Twp.], 2013
• 15:40 … Jeremy Elkaim [Livingston], 2010
• 15:40 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee],  2012
• 15:41 … Brian Leung [West Windsor-Plainsboro South], 2007
• 15:41 … Matt McDonald [North Hunterdon], 2010
• 15:44 … Nikhil Pulimood [West Windsor-Plainsboro South], 2014
• 15:45 … Peter Hess [Toms River North], 2002
• 15:45 … Tim Ball [Piscataway], 2010
• 15:45 … Keith Krieger [Cherokee], 2002
• 15:47 … Chris Pannone [Hunterdon Central], 2003
• 15:49 … Greg Hughes [Mainland Reg.], 2003

As you can see, Groff’s time is third-fastest in Group 4 state meet history, behind only Forys and Grossman. The fastest previous non-winning time was 15:41 by Matt McDonald of North Hunterdon behind Jeremy Elkaim’s 15:40 in 2010.

The fastest previous non-winning time by a South Jersey runner was Keith Krieger’s 15:45 behind Pete Hess’s faster 15:45 back in 2002.

Now let’s take a look at the all-time South Jersey list at Holmdel, and you can see just how impressive Groff’s race was on Saturday:

• 15:16 … Jason DiJoseph [Paul VI], 1988
• 15:35 … Louis Corgliano [Hammonton], 2013
• 15:37 … Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East], 2015
• 15:38 … Gregory Hughes [Mainland], 2003
• 15:39 … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2014
• 15:40 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 2012
• 15:40 … Brett Johnson [Ocean City], 2008
• 15:40 … Steve Maine [Highland], 2013
• 15:41 … Jon Vitez [Haddonfield], 2009
• 15:42 … Ben Potts [Haddonfield], 2010
• 15:42 … Shawn Hutchison [Bishop Eustace], 2014
• 15:43 … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2001
• 15:43 … Miles Schoedler [Ocean City], 2010
• 15:45 … Keith Krieger [Cherokee], 2002
• 15:47 … Urie Ridgeway [Bridgeton], 1988
• 15:48 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2001
• 15:50 … Mike Myers [Eastern Reg.], 2000
• 15:50 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 2003
• 15:51 … Murad Campbell [Overbrook], 1998
• 15:54 … Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1978
• 15:54 … Paul Szulewski [Williamstown], 2010
• 15:54 … Skip Stiles [Haddonfield], 2001
• 15:54 … Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East], 2014
• 15:55 … Dominick Munson [Timber Creek], 2014
• 15:55 … Breton Bonnett [Haddonfield], 2001
• 15:56 … Kyle Kirk [Camden Catholic], 2012
• 15:56 … David Forward [Shawnee], 2008
• 15:57 … Nate Miller [Highland Reg.], 1998
• 15:57 … Connor Herr [Shawnee], 2010
• 15:59 … Steve Maine [Highland Reg.], 2012
• 15:59 … Anthony Dentino [Washington Twp.], 2010
• 15:59 … Robert Edwards [Bridgeton], 2002

Let’s not forget Groff’s teammates, who teamed up to give Cherry Hill East a berth in the Meet of Champions. East finished second to Old Bridge, which finished with a 54-81 margin of victory.

East packed all five scores in the top 36, with Isaiah Jean-Baptiste 19th in 16:39, Marc Meltzer 22nd in 16:43, Tyler Parsons 26th in 16:49 and Cole Parsons 36th in 16:54.

That’s a 16:32.4 team average, fourth-fastest of the day, behind only Don Bosco [16:30.0], Old Bridge [16:30.4] and Christian Brothers Academy [16:32.2].

The program has existed for 12 years. The program has won six sectional titles.

This is the remarkable story of the Seneca girls cross county program, which has never not qualified for states.

Seneca on Saturday outscored Ocean City 47-54 for its sixth sectional title in the last nine years. Incredibly, this school that has had varsity sports for only 11 years has more South Jersey Group 3 XC titles than anybody but Ocean City and now has the ninth-most South Jersey sectional championships than all but eight schools — who have all been around decades longer than Seneca.

Here’s a look at the most titles in South Jersey history:

Haddonfield 23
Shawnee 16
Haddon Township 9
Brick Township 8
Ocean City 8
Moorestown 7
Pt. Pleasant Boro 7
Toms River North 7
Seneca 6
Pitman 6
Kingsway 6

And here is a look at Seneca’s year-by-year performance at sectionals:

2004- 5th in Group 2 – 22:25 [111 points]
2005- 3rd in Group 3 – 21:08 [135 points]
2006- 5th in Group 3 – 21:00 [114 points]
2007- 1st in Group 3 – 20:22 [92 points]
2008- 1st in Group 3 – 19:48 [54 points]
2009- 1st in Group 3 – 20:13 [53 points]
2010- 4th in Group 3 – 21:22 [118 points]
2011- 2nd in Group 3 – 20:23 [101 points]
2012- 1st in Group 3 – 19:26 [44 points]
2013- 2nd in Group 3 – 19:26 [45 points]
2014- 1st in Group 3 – 19:51 [51 points]
2015- 1st in Group 3 – 19:49 [47 points]

So the program has averaged 76 points per year at sectionals since its inception [despite never scoring in the 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s].

Jenn Denn started the Seneca program and won the first three sectional titles. Former Shawnee and Princeton runner Karen O’Neil took over in 2010 and has won the last three.

On Saturday, Seneca placed its five scorers from fourth to 14th, all within a 56-second span. Junior Kayla Martin [fourth in 19:18], sophomore Sydny Warner  [seventh in 19:40], senior Joey Webb [10th in 19:52], senior Lindsay Hoffman [12th in 20:02] and freshman Reilly Ritter [14th in 20:14] were supported by freshman Jessica Sprague [15th in 20:16].

The 19:18 is a 5,000 PR for Martin on any course. This was also a big race for Warner, who is coming off an injury, and Webb, who had her best day of the season.

Next for Seneca is the state Group 3 meet. With a top-three finish, the Golden Eagles would be off to the Meet of Champions for the fourth time in school history.

He was third two years ago, he was second last year, and this time Aaron Groff wasn’t going to let anybody beat him.

Groff, Cherry Hill East’s senior, continued his terrific season Saturday by winning the South Jersey Group 4 race in 15:25, tied for ninth-fastest in course history over 5,000 flat meters at Delsea Regional.

As a sophomore, Groff finished 12 seconds behind Kingsway’s Noah Culbreath and about a second behind teammate Ben Dillon. Last year, he finished less than a second behind Culbreath. On Saturday, he left no doubt, finishing more than 10 seconds ahead of Jackson’s Ryan Rafferty.

Incredibly, Groff became Cherry Hill’s first individual sectional winner in 32 years, since Bill Stewart won the 1983 race. East’s only other individual winner was Bruce Miller in 1981.

Cherry Hill East beat a loaded field, outscoring Cherokee 54-82 to win its third straight team title. East becomes only the second school ever to win three straight South Jersey Group 4 titles. The other was Cherokee from 1997 through 2000.

Let’s take a look at the rest of Cherry Hill East’s scoring group:

10th – Isaiah Jean-Baptiste, 16:26
12th – Cole Parsons, 16:27
14th – Mark Meltzer, 16:31
17th – Tyler Parsons, 16:32

That’s two through five in a six-second span, which is incredible pack running. Especially in such a competitive race.

Groff moved into the No. 9 spot on the all-time course list:

• 15:18 … Peter Hess [Toms River North], 2002
• 15:22 … Greg Hughes [Mainland Reg.], 2003
• 15:22 … Kyle Kroon, [Toms River South], 2012
• 15:22 … Kyle Kroon, [Toms River South]. 2013
• 15:22 … Keith Krieger [Cherokee], 2002
• 15:24 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2002
• 15:24 … Jon Vitez [Haddonfield], 2009
• 15:24 … Lou Corgliano [Hammonton], 2013
• 15:25 … Joe Kotran [Toms River North], 2009
• 15:25 … Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East], 2015
• 15:27 … Connor Herr [Shawnee], 2011
• 15:30 … Jim Kavaliauskas, Highland Regional, 2003
• 15:30 … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2014

It had been four years since anybody broke 18 minutes at Delsea, and Saturday morning, Alyssa Aldridge and Briana Gess did it in the first two races of the day.

Gess, the 2013 Meet of Champions XC winner and a two-time Meet of Champions 1,600 winner, began the day by winning her third consecutive South Jersey Group 2 race in 17:57 and leading Haddonfield to its sixth consecutive team title and 10th in the last 11 years.

Then Aldridge, the Meet of Champs runner-up last year, followed in the Group 3 race by winning in 17:52. Mainland freshman Emily Dirkes finished fifth and Mainland qualified for states with a third-place finish.

The rest of Mainland’s scoring group deserves big props as well: junior Emily Forestar in 21st, junior Kelly Glenn in 27th and sophomore Gabby Boggs in 29th.

Haddonfield was typically dominating, placing its five scoring in the top 10 … but more impressively placing all seven runners in the top 13.

Supporting Gess were sophomore Lilly Minor in third and sophomore Izzy Miller in fifth — both under 20 minutes — along with junior Meg Schroeter in seventh, senior Bridget Poisel in 11th and junior Lauren Lynch in 13th.

During its streak of six straight team titles, Haddonfield has averaged 25.3 points per year. Going back to 2003, and including 2009, when the Bulldogs lost to Delsea by eight points, Haddonfield has averaged 24.0 points per year in the last 13 sectional meets.

Gess and Aldridge are the first girls to break 18 minutes at Delsea since 2011, when Megan Lacy of Cherokee did it.

Gess and Aldridge are the seventh and eighth runners to run sub-18 at Delsea since sectionals moved there from Williamstown in 2002.

• 17:22 … Megan Venables [Highland], 2010
• 17:22 … Chelsea Ley (Kingsway), 2008
• 17:22* … Chelsea Ley (Kingsway), 2009
• 17:32 … Chelsea Ley (Kingsway) , 2009
• 17:35 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2010
• 17:35* … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2008
• 17:36 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2011
• 17:42 … Megan Venables [Highland], 2009
• 17:48* … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2009
• 17:51 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2009
• 17:51 … Danielle Tauro [Southern Reg.], 2006
• 17:52 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2015
• 17:55 … Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2003
• 17:56 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway],  2007
• 17:57 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield],  2015
• 17:59 … Jill Smith [Southern Reg.], 2007
• 18:00 … Devin Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2014
• 18:00 … Niamh Hayes [Howell], 2015
• 18:01 … Vanessa Wright [Haddonfield],2004
• 18:04 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield],  2013
• 18:04 …  Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2005
• 18:06 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield],  2014
• 18:10 … Theresa Cattuna [Cherry Hill East], 2006
• 18:10 … Arianna McKinny [Highland Reg.], 2004
• 18:15 … Dina Iacone [Washington Twp,], 2011
• 18:20 … Danielle Leavitt [Lacey Twp.],  2011
• 18:21 … Bridget Flynn [Ocean City], 2013
• 18:22 … Daniell Leavitt [Lacy Twp.],2012
• 18:23 … Natalia Ocasio (Lenape),  2010
• 18:22 … Danielle Tauro [Southern], 2005
• 18:23* … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2014
• 18:24 … Vickie Ajimoko [Williamstown], 2012
• 18:24 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield],  2007
• 18:25 … Jill Smith [Southern Reg.],  2008
• 18:26 … Maria Ruiz [Williamstown],
• 18:29 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2008
• 18:30 … Mara Schiffhauer [Seneca], 2012
• 18:30 … Natalia Ocasio [Lenape], 2011
• 18:30 … Arianna McKinney [Highland], 2003

Much more on the South Jersey sectionals coming up later this afternoon!!!!!!

The Kingsway girls didn’t just roll over second-place Clearview in the Tri-County Conference championship race, they rolled over the field.

Led by overall winner Rachel Vick, Kingsway went 1-3-5-6-7 to score 22 points on the 5,000-meter course at Cumberland Regional High School Thursday.

Clearview was second with 38 points, finishing 2-4-9-11-12. Clearview and Kingsway were responsible for 13 of the first finishers 17.

Scored against the field, Kingsway wins 22-34, with the field going 2-4-8-9-10.

Kingsway got all its runners in at 19:31 or under and in the span of 50 seconds, a pretty good pack considering that Vick won by 30 meters.

Following Vick across the line for Kingsway were sophomore Alexis Mullarkey [third in 18:56] and then the pack of juniors Destiny Stanford and McKenzie Nugent [both 19:29] and freshman Morgan Robinson [19:31] in fifth, sixth and seventh.

Clearview had itself a pretty good race too, packing its five scorers from second place to 12th. Sophomore Julia Rothstein [second in 18:49], senior Megan Jones [fourth in 19:13], senior Emily Schaeffer [ninth in 19:50] and senior Ava Fritz [12th in 20:09].

Kingsway got all seven of its runners in the top 20, with freshmen Lauren Krott and Laurel Hannigan placing 14th and 16th in 20:30 and 20:46.

The title was the second in a row for Vick, who was fourth as a freshman.

Kingsway is ranked No. 4 in New Jersey and No. 1 in South Jersey. Next for the Dragons is the South Jersey Group 4 race at Delsea a week from Saturday. Kingsway hasn’t won a sectional title in 22 years. The Dragons won five titles from 1987 through 1993.

Sectionals should be a terrific showdown between Kingsway and Shawnee, both ranked among the top five in the state and No. 1 and No. 2 in South Jersey.

Even for a tiebreaker, this race was ridiculously close.

With their first five runners across the line at the Olympic Conference XC Championships Friday at Gloucester County College, Cherokee and Cherry Hill East were in a dead heat.

Cherokee went 2-4-6-12-20 for 44 points.

Cherry Hill East went 1-7-9-10-17 for 44 points.

Any race that comes down to a sixth-runner tiebreaker is thrilling, but in this one, the sixth men from Cherokee and Cherry Hill East came across the line next to each other.

Cherokee senior Steve Gravlin was 21st overall in 16:53.62, and East junior Marc Meltzer was 22nd in 16:57.10.

And that was the difference. We knew Cherokee and Cherry Hill East were very even, but this was ridiculous.

Cherokee’s five scorers were juniors Jack Shea [2nd in 15:26] and Nick Falk [4th in 15:46], sophomores Justin Kelly [6th in 16:14] and Brandon Marks [12th in 16:25] and senior Michael Zurzolo [20th in 16:49].

Cherry Hill East countered with overall winner Aaron Groff in 15:13.29, followed by seniors Cole Parsons [7th in 16:15.09] and Isaiah Jean-Baptiste [9th in 16:19], junior Tyler Parsons [10th in 16:21.69] and senior Ryan Federline [17th in 16:44].

The team title was Cherokee’s first since 2011.

Once upon a time, the Shawnee girls dominated Burlington County cross country. Not to mention South Jersey and the entire state.

Shawnee won 16 consecutive county XC titles from 1983 through 1998 and added two more in 2002 and 2003. During that span, the Renegades also won an astounding 15 sectional titles, eight state titles and four Meet of Champions titles — three more than every other South Jersey school combined.

Now the Shawnee girls are starting some new streaks. On Friday, they won a close three-team battle with Seneca and Moorestown to win their third consecutive County Open XC title at Mill Creek Park in Willingboro.

Shawnee finished with 31 points, Seneca with 47 and Cherokee 80.

This is the first time anybody has won three straight Burlco Open titles since Moorestown from 1999 through 2001, and it’s the first time Shawnee has won three straight in 17 years — from 1996 through 1998.

The Renegades placed all five scorers among the top 13 Friday, led by junior Kara Bonner, who ran 19:29 and won comfortably over Northern Burlington’s Ashley Dunteman, second in 19:44. Soph Claire Rankin placed third for Shawnee, also under 20 minutes, with soph Georgia Larzelere fifth, freshman Grace Kearns ninth and soph Laura Mavracic 13th.

Next for Shawnee is sectionals, where they will shoot for their third straight South Jersey Group 4 championship. Shawnee is ranked No. 6 in the state and No. 3 in South Jersey, behind Kingsway and Haddonfield.

Mainland Regional sophomore Alyssa Aldridge continued her assault on cross country courses throughout the Northeast Saturday, obliterating a loaded field in the 33rd annual Brown Invitational in Rhode Island.

Aldridge ran an insane 17:07 over the flat 5,000-meter Goddard Park East course in East Greenwich, R.I., finishing a whopping 125 meters ahead of Elisabeth Danis of Coe-Brown Academy in Northwood, N.H.

Aldridge led four girls under 18 minutes, with another 14 under 19 minutes, in the Championship race.

The winning time is fastest in this annual meet since at least 2008, or as far back as results are listed on the Rhode Island Milesplit web site.

It’s third-fastest in course history, according to track historian Jim Lambert, and only 15 seconds off the course record of 16:52, set in 2003 by Nicole Blood of Saratoga Springs [N.Y.] High.

Aldridge placed fourth in the Group 3 state meet last year and second to Ocean City’s Devin Grisbaum in the Meet of Champions at Holmdel.