From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Cherokee, Cherry Hill East, Haddonfield and Ocean City are each sending their boys and girls teams to the Nike Cross Regionals this weekend. The Paul VI girls are also making the trip.

Nike Cross Regionals are scheduled for Saturday at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County, N.Y.

The boys race is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. and the girls race at 2:25 p.m.

The Haddonfield, Cherokee, Cherry Hill East and Ocean City boys placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 9th in the Meet of Champions Saturday at Holmdel County Park. Among public schools, they finished 1-2-4-6, with only Westfield and Colts Neck breaking up South Jersey public school dominance.

Here are the lineups based on each team’s entry list:

Cherokee: Junior Logan Bromley, senior Enzo Corona, sophomore Benjamin Realley, sophomore Sean Sooy, freshman Jack Tindall, senior Liam Tindall, senior Benjamin Weiner.
Cherry Hill East: Senior Brody Bogos, junior Alvin Lin, senior Brandon Lyons, junior Colin Moore, junior Will Nelson, junior Milo Poerner, sophomore Cian Sherlock.
Haddonfield: Junior Luke Andresen, junior Ben Andrus, sophomore Andrew Blum, junior Ryan Gibson, junior Aaron Keith, junior Peter Simpson, senior Bennett Wright
Ocean City: Sophomore Nathan Aschmann, senior Ethan Buck, senior Zach Hutchinson, freshman Nevin Millstein, sophomore Keenan Neuman, junior Erik Preisner, sophomore Michael Romano.

The same four programs are also sending their girls teams. I almost missed the Paul VI girls on the entry list because their team name is listed as “Horses on Hopkins.” Paul VI is located on Hopkins Road in Haddon Township.

Cherokee, Ocean City and Paul VI placed 6th, 7th and 8th at the Meet of Champions Saturday. Cherry Hill East and Haddonfield didn’t qualify for MoC but Haddonfield placed 2nd in the state Group 2 meet and Cherry Hill East was 6th in the state Group 4 meet.

Here are their lineups:

Cherokee: Senior Emily Butler, freshman Erin Healy, sophomore Genisa John, junior Maya Kumar, junior Madeline Meder, senior Megan Niglio, senior Grace Wojciechowski
Cherry Hill East: Sophomore Ryleigh Budsock, junior Keira Conway, junior Shaelea Conway, junior Ella Davidson, senior Cate Feudtner, sophomore Katherine Grottini, sophomore Gabriella Pizzo.
Haddonfield: Senior Katherine Asher, sophomore Devon Gervasi, sophomore Madison Kelsey, senior Dylan Melcher, sophomore Molly Mills, junior Elizabeth Pappas, senior Tylin Regan
Ocean City: Senior Chloe Care, sophomore Peighton Clemens, sophomore Lillian Flora, sophomore Carly Godfrey, senior Maeve Smith, freshman Riley Tolson, senior Zoe Zammit.
Paul VI: Verina Belmonte, Peyton Blake, Grace Gutowski, Macy Huber, Morgan Kuzma, Kara Salamone, Johanna Trampe.

A handful of South Jersey runners are competing as individuals: Ty Blackman of Glassboro is in the boys race and Williamstown junior Sophia Aldridge, Holy Cross junior Julia Flanagan in the girls race. Anybody else?

The long-awaited, long-promised, long-planned new indoor track at the University of Pennsylvania is finally open for business.

Some 47 high school and college meets are scheduled for the  $70 million Jane and David Ott Center, located between Amtrak’s northeast corridor tracks and the Schuykill Expressway and just south of South Street.

If you’ve ever watched the Penn Relays javelin, the facility is just north of Rhodes Field, where Penn’s men’s and women’s soccer used to play before moving to Penns Park. You can see it clearly from South Street just east of Franklin Field or from I-76 heading east toward the sports complex.

The facility has a banked 200-meter track, room for over 1,000 spectators and best of all it’s not in Toms River.

The Ott opens soon – the first meet is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 6, and that will be Day 1 of the Penn Opener, a college meet. The first high school meet will be a Pennsylvania meet on Dec. 12, and South Jersey takes over the Ott on Saturday, Dec. 14, with a South Jersey Track Coaches Association meet.

We don’t have official times for these meets yet, but it looks like most of the SJTCA meets will be 8 a.m. starts.

The Ott will be very easy to get to. There’s a ton of street parking available at that hour on Walnut and there is also the Penns Park lot, which is a 10-minute walk through Penn’s athletic fields and over a foot bridge.  The University City SEPTA station is a five-minute walk away and 30th Street Station is maybe 20 minutes away.

As we get more details on start times for these meets I’ll update the list below! See you there!

** Friday, Dec. 6 – Penn Opener, Day 1
** Saturday, Dec. 7 – Penn Opener, Day 2
*Thursday, Dec. 12 – PPL Indoor #1
*Saturday, Dec. 14 – SJTCA #2, 8 p.m.
*Thursday, Dec. 19 – PPL Indoor #2
*Saturday, Dec. 21 – SJTCA #4, 8 p.m.
*Saturday, Dec. 28 – SJTCA #7, 8 p.m.
*Thursday, Jan. 2 – PPL Indoor #3
*Friday, Jan. 3 – La Salle Winter Series Boys Sprint Night
*Friday, Jan. 4 – La Salle Winter Series Girls Sprint Night
*Saturday, Jan. 4 – SJTCA #9, 8 p.m.
*Sunday, Jan. 5 – United Age Group TCA
*Wednesday, Jan. 8 – La Salle Winter Series Boys
*Thursday, Jan. 9 – PPL Indoor #4
*Friday, Jan. 10 – Delaware Valley Girls TCA
** Saturday, Jan. 11 – Penn Select
*Sunday, Jan. 12 – United Age Group TCA
*Wednesday, Jan. 15 – La Salle Winter Series Girls
** Friday, Jan. 17 – Quaker Invitational, Day 1
** Saturday, Jan. 18 – Quaker Invitational, Day 2
*Sunday, Jan., 19 – Track and Field Coaches of Greater Philadelphia #1
*Sunday, Jan. 19 – Marche Invitational
*Wednesday, Jan. 22, SJTCA #13, 5 p.m.
**Friday, Jan. 24 – Widener Division 3 Invite #1
** Saturday, Jan. 25 – Penn 10 Elite
*Sunday, Jan. 26 – PPL Indoor #4
*Sunday, Jan. 26 – Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches
*Wednesday, Jan. 29 – Pennsylvania Independent Schools Open
**Friday, Jan. 31 – Penn Relays Winter Showcase
*Saturday, Feb. 1 – Penn Relays Winter Showcase
*Sunday, Feb. 2 – PPL #5
*Sunday, Feb. 2 – Track and Field Coaches of Greater Philadelphia #2
*Wednesday, Feb. 5 – La Salle Winter Series Boys
*Friday, Feb. 7 – Henderson High School Meet
** Saturday, Feb. 8 – Penn Classic
*Sunday, Feb. 9 – PPL League Championship
*Wednesday, Feb. 12 – La Salle Winter Series Girls
*Friday, Feb. 14 – Delaware Valley Girls Track Coaches Association
**Saturday, Feb. 15 – Widener Division 3 Invite #2
*Saturday, Feb. 15 – Track and Field Coaches of Greater Philadelphia #3
*Sunday, Feb. 16 – Pennsylvania Independent Schools
*Sunday, Feb. 16- United Age Group TCA
** Friday, Feb. 21 – Philadelphia Metro
**Saturday, Feb. 22 – New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships
**Sunday, Feb. 23 – New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships
*** Saturday, March 1 – Trials of Miles
*** Saturday, March 8 – PRTC Open

* – High school meet
** – College meet
*** – Open meet

Northern Burlington graduate Nina Burden finished her college cross country career at Stevens Saturday at the NCAA Division 3 Metro Region Championships.

Which is incredible considering she just ran her first-ever cross country race a few months ago.

It’s been quite a year for Burden. She placed 53rd out of over 250 runners at the Interregional Border Battle at DREAM Park in Logan Township last month, took 37th out of over 125 runners at the Middle Atlantic Conference meet in Grantham, Pa., and on Saturday was 86th out of nearly 200 runners at regionals.

What makes all of this so remarkable is that she never ran cross country before. Not in high school, not in college, nowhere.

Burden played soccer at Northern and was a 2nd-team all-BCSL all-star and stuck with soccer first three years at Stevens, making the MAC All-Academic Honor Roll each year.

She did run track at Northern but never ran anything longer than the 800. She had an 800 PR of 2:47.71 from indoor 2018 Group 3 sectionals at the Bubble, but she lost her senior year to COVID and her improvement has been amazing since arriving at Stevens, located along the Hudson River in Hoboken.

She placed 6th at the MAC outdoor meet in May in Chester, Pa., with a PR 2:17.98 and she also ran on top-5 4-by-4 and 4-by-8 relay teams. In all, she’s won 18 medals at the conference meet in either the 800 or on a relay team in four years with the Ducks.

Her 2:17.98 is No. 3 in school history, and her 2:20.90 from the 2023 AARTFC meet at the Armory is No. 3 on the indoor school all-time performance list.

As impressive as Burden’s track career and one year of cross country have been, she’s an even better student.

In 2022, she received the John F. Hedderich III Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Scholarship and spent 10 weeks working at Stevens’ Laboratory for NeuroInnovation studying “the use of low-frequency electrode stimulation to trigger neural immune system responses,” according to an article on Stevens’ web site.

She may be finished with XC but she’s clearly got a bright future.

Junior Joshua Cason of Sicklerville Tech placed 2nd and seniors Matthew Conaway of Haddon Township and Caleb Clevenger of Haddonfield ran 12th and 13th, and Rowan made a case for an at-large bid to the NCAA Division 3 championships with a strong 2nd-place finish at the Metro Region Championships Saturday in Galloway Township.

Moravian packed its five scorers in the top nine and won the team title 29-61, with Haverford at 89. Moravian, Rowan and Haverford were ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the most recent USTFCCCA Metro Region poll.

The winner of each of 10 regions receives an auto bid to next weekend’s NCAA Division 3 Championships in Indiana, and 22 other schools will receive at-large bids. Rowan is a bubble team and will learn its fate on Monday.It appears the Profs will either be one of the last schools in or one of the first schools out.

The top seven finishers in each region not from the winning team also qualify for nationals, so Cason and Conway – who finished 2nd and 7th among runners not from Moravian – are on their way to Indiana either way. Rowan grad student Miles Voenell of Pacific Collegiate in Santa Cruz, Calif., who was 8th, will also race at nationals.

Cason ran 24:46.5 and finished behind only Haverford senior Peter Larochelle, who won the race in 24:34.8. Voenell ran 25:06.3, Conway 25:17.4, Clevenger 25:2.1 and sophomore Colin Patterson of Haddon Heights 27th in 25:45.3. Scott Hubbard of Audubon placed 33rd in 25:49.9 and senior Giancarlo Vega of Timber Creek was 64th in 27:02.3.

Rutgers-Camden sophomore Jacob Dinerman from Haddon Township placed 21st in 25:39.3.

Rowan has made 19 trips to NCAA Division 3 Nationals, most recently in 2017. They also competed as Glassboro State every year from 1974 through 1988 plus 1991, 1992 and 1993 and as Rowan in 2017.

Their best finish ever was 3rd place in 1982 in Fredonia, N.Y., behind North Central of Naperville, Ill., and Brandeis of Waltham, Mass. Pleasantville’s Greg Rapp placed 3rd at nationals and Tim O’Brien of Westfield 24th.

Williamstown’s Anna Sasse, a senior, and Washington Township’s Ally Wernik, a sophomore, finished 8th and 12th out of nearly 200 runners Saturday and helped the Rowan women win the NCAA Division 3 Metro Region Championship in Galloway Township.

The regional title is the first ever for the Rowan women and earned the Profs an auto bid to the NCAA Division 3 Championships Saturday in Indiana.

Rowan was ranked No. 1 in the Metro Region and lived up to its ranking by outscoring No. 2 Swarthmore 81-86.

Rowan went 6-8-12-15-40, and Swarthmore was 9-10-11-17-39 so the two teams were within three spots for all five scorers.

Sasse ran 22:18.9 over 6,000 meters at Stockton University, and Wernik ran 22:50.4.

Grad student Mia Guerra from Hasbrouck Heights led the Profs in 6th place in 22:17.1. Junior Gabriella Pagano from Pope John XXIII [15th in 23:03.3] and sophomore Emily Zanni from Sherwood High in Olney, Md. [42nd in 23:54.8] were Rowan’s 4th and 5th scorers.

Also in the top 20 was Savannah Hodgens, a TCNJ sophomore from Mainland Regional. Hodgens placed 18th in 23:13.8.

Stockton’s No. 2 runner was post-grad Amanda McNally from Seneca, who ran 23:29.2 and finished 30th.

The NCAA Division 3 nationals women’s race is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Laverne Gibson Championship Course in Grange Corner, Ind., outside Terre Haute.

The top teams in each of 10 regionals earn auto bids to nationals and 22 at-large teams will also be invited, with the full field scheduled to be announced on Monday.

This will be Rowan’s 4th trip to nationals. The 1994 team placed 11th at Lehigh and the Profs also placed 26th and 27th in 2011 and 2012.

That 1994 group, coached by legendary Bill Fritz, was led at nationals by Cherry Hill East’s Antoinette Elton of Cherry Hill East in 29th and Suzanne Mergner of Colonia in 34th. Marcia Baker of Newark West Side, Pitman’s Janet Rue, Buena’s Michelle Garbeil, Kingsway’s Erica More and Bronawyn Hagan of Keansburg were also on that 1994 Rowan team.

Cherokee, Ocean City and Paul VI placed 6th, 7th and 8th at the Meet of Champions Saturday morning at Holmdel, the 1st time in 28 years three South Jersey schools all finished among the top eight in the state.

A parochial school that draws students from all over North Jersey won with 80 points. Cherokee was 6th with 182, Ocean City 7th with 206 and Paul VI 8th with 208.

South Jersey had three top-8 schools six times – all in a row from 1990 through 1996. We’ll take a look at thoes finishes later in this post.

Cherokee’s 6th-place finish equals the Chiefs’ 2nd-best all-time. They won the 2021 meet and they were also 6th in 2010.

Ocean City’s 7th-place finish is their best since the 2003 team was 5th. They were also 4th in 1987 and 1988.

And Paul VI, competing as a team for the first time 2003, had its best finish since the 1996 team placed 7th. PVI was also 2nd in 1990, 5th in 1991, 3rd in 1992, 5th in 1993, 7th in 1994, 8th in 1995, so this is their 9th time in the top 8.

Senior Megan Niglio led Cherokee in 17th place in 19:09, with junior Madeline Meder 28th in 19:32. Freshman Erin Healy [71st in 20:14.29], senior Grace Wojciechowski [115th in 20:56.69] and junior Maya Kumar [127th in 21:26.73] also scored for the Chiefs. For team scoring purposes, they ran 6th, 14th, 36th, 58th and 68th.

Ocean City raced without No. 1 runner Maeve Smith, who has been battling injuries, but still had its best finish in more than two decades. Senior Chloe Care ran 20th in 19:19.43, sophomore Carly Godfrey placed 48th in 19:56.45, freshman Riley Tolson was 65th in 20:08.62, senior Zoe Zammit was 121st in 21:08.15 and sophomore Lillian Flora 134th in 21:36.16. Their team scores were 9th, 25th, 34th, 63rd and 75th. Soph Peighton Clemens wasn’t far back at 21:54.

For Paul VI, junior Macy Huber led the way in 41st with 19:53, sophomore Grace Gutowski was 49th in 19:57, freshman Peyton Blake 53rd in 20:01, freshman Morgan Kuzma 106th in 20:46 and freshman Johanna Trampe 142nd in 21:59, with senior Verina Belmonte just outside the top 5 in 22:03. Team scoring: 21st, 26th, 28th, 51st, 82nd.

Here’s a look at every year South Jersey has had three teams in the top eight:

2024: Cherokee [6th, 182 points], Ocean City [7th, 206 points], Paul VI [8th, 208 points]
1996: Shawnee [2nd, 93 points], Bishop Eustace [4th, 138 points], Paul VI [7th, 208 points]
1995: Bishop Eustace [2nd, 77 points], Shawnee [3rd, 87 points], Paul VI [8th, 236 points]
1994: Bishop Eustace [2nd, 77 points], Shawnee [5th, 108 points], Paul VI [7th, 208 points]
1993: Shawnee [4th, 125 points], Paul VI [5th, 157 points], Ocean City [7th, 210 points]
1992: Paul VI [3rd, 141 points], Bishop Eustace [4th, 142 points], Shawnee [6th, 159 points]
1991: Shawnee [1st, 99 points], Paul VI [5th, 138 points], Cinnaminson [8th, 195 points]
1990: Paul VI [2nd, 136 points], Shawnee [5th, 165 points], Ocean City [8th, 189 points]

Oddly, Paul VI has scored exactly 208 points and placed 7th or 8th three of the last four times three South Jersey schools finished in the top 8.

Senior Ty Blackman placed 33rd in the Meet of Champions Saturday, the best finish by a Glassboro runner in 29 years.

Blackman ran 16:34.65 at Holmdel County Park and was the top South Jersey runner not from Haddonfield, Cherokee or Cherry Hill East, who all qualified for the 53rd annual Meet of Champions as full teams.

His finish is the best by a Glassboro runner since Pat Ryan took 15th in the 1995 race (in 16:38, slower than Blackman ran in 33rd).

Also running as an individual was Cinnaminson junior Jacob Wickersham, who placed 44th in 16:42.50, a Holmdel PR.

Shawnee senior Noah Stapleton ran 16:49.88, fastest by a Shawnee runner at Holmdel since Mark Miller’s 16:41 at the state Group 3 meet in 2016.

Clearview senior Ethan Worst [16:54.05], Cherry Hill West junior Rex Takakjy [16:56.65] and Williamstown senior Dylan Saber [16:59.99] all also ran sub-17.

Liliah Gordon on Saturday morning became the 2nd South Jersey girl in the 53-year history of the Meet of Champions to place in the top eight four years in a row.

Gordon, a senior at Northern Burlington, placed 2nd in the 53rd annual meet at Holmdel County Park in 18:12 after taking 8th as a freshman, 7th as a sophomore and 5th as a junior.

Mainland Regional’s Alyssa Aldridge placed 2nd in 2014, won in 2015 and 2016 and was 2nd in 2017.

Gordon’s finish matches the best ever by a Burlington County girl. Kari Vigerstol of Holy Cross was 2nd in 1992 and Liz Moore of Shawnee was 2nd in 1993. Vigerstol and Moore placed 1-2 in the outdoor Meet of Champions 1,600 in 1993.

Gordon, a Foot Locker finalist last year, cemented her status as one of the all-time greats in South Jersey history.

Union Catholic sophomore Paige Sheppard won the race in 18:01.76. Gordon finished 60 meters clear of 3rd-place Allison Lee of West Windsor-Plainsboro North, who edged Gordon at the Central Jersey Group 3 meet before Gordon ran away with the state Group 3 title.

Gordon has been the top South Jersey finisher at the Meet of Champions all four years. Aldridge was 2nd to Ocean City’s Devin Grisbaum in 2014, so Gordon is the first girl to lead all South Jersey runners at a M-of-C since Haddonfield Olympian Erin Donohue, who was 10th in 1997, 2nd in 1998 and 1st in 1999 and 2000.

Cherokee, Ocean City and Paul VI, South Jersey’s three full teams racing Saturday, placed 6th, 7th and 8th, and we’ll have more on them later.

But in terms of South Jersey individuals, Schalick senior Jordan Hadfield ran 19:28.71 to place 25th for the 2nd straight year and Mainland senior Sofia Day was 33rd in 19:38.90.

Haddonfield packed five runners within 20 seconds and placed 2nd, Cherokee packed its five scorers in 31 seconds and placed 3rd and Cherry Hill East made it three South Jersey teams in the top-5 for the first time in 10 years Saturday morning at the 52nd annual Meet of Champions.

Junior Benjamin Andrus, senior Bennett Wright, Junior Peter Simpson, junior Luke Andresen and junior Ryan Gibson all ran between 16:11 and 16:31, and Haddonfield averaged 16:21 over the historic 5K course at Holmdel County Park

Cherokee placed five runners in the top 40 to take 3rd and Cherry Hill East averaged under 17 minutes to place 5th.

Haddonfield scored 83 points in 2nd place, Cherokee scored 103 in 3rd and Cherry Hill East scored 135 in 5th. Ocean City made it four South Jersey schools in the top 10 with a 9th-place finish.

Haddonfield has placed in the top 10 an incredible 23 times since 1980 and in the top 10 an astounding 14 times.

Their 83 points is the lowest score at a Meet of Champions by a South Jersey school since Mainland Regional won with 68 points in 2003 and Haddonfield’s lowest score ever at a MoC – lower even than when they won the race in 2001.

Haddonfield’s finish is the best by a South Jersey school since the Bulldogs placed 2nd in 2018. Haddonfield has now placed in the top 5 seven consecutive years – or eight if you include the unofficial 2020 MoC.

Their 16:21.79 average is a virtually tie for 3rd-fastest ever at Holmdel by a South Jersey school. Haddonfield averaged a hand-timed 16:21 last weekend at the state Group 2 meet, where FAT timing wasn’t used.

Here is a look at Haddonfield’s astounding 23 top-10 finishes:

2024 – 2nd , 83 points
2023 – 7th, 200 points
2022 – 6th, 183 points
2021 – 3rd, 134 points
2020 – 4th, 121 points
2019 – 3rd, 129 points
2018 – 2nd, 86 points
2017 – 6th, 178 points
2015 – 4th, 145 points
2014 – 5th, 186 points
2013 – 7th, 237 points
2010 – 2nd, 98 points
2009 – 4th, 128 points
2008 – 4th, 139 points
2007 – 3rd, 159 points
2006 – 3rd, 162 points
2001 – 1st, 87 points
2000 – 10th, 255 points
1996 – 10th, 279 points
1990 – 9th, 244 points
1989 – 5th, 189 points
1986 – 8th, 240 points
1980 – 8th, 206 points

Andrus led Haddonfield in 16th place in 16:11.39, Wright was 18th in 16:12.07, Simpson 22nd in 16:23.48, Andresen 26th in 16:30.08 and Gibson 28th in 16:31.95.

Aaron Keith and Case Hurly also ran for Haddonfield, Keith crossing in 17:18.68 and Hurly in 17:50.77.

Cherokee, which averaged 16:34 when it won the state Group 4 meet last weekend, lowered its average to 16:30.45, their 2nd-lowest ever behind a 16:28.4 at the 2022 Meet of Champions.

This was Cherokee’s 7th consecutive top-10 finish and 20th overall. The Chiefs have placed in the top 5 10 times. The 3rd-place finish equals their best since they placed 2nd in 2000, and their 103 points is their lowest total since that 2000 team scored 69.

Freshman Jack Tindall, who missed a significant amount of training camp the last couple weeks, led Cherokee in 13th place in 16:10.18. Sophomore Benjamin Realley placed 23rd in 16:25.14, junior Logan Bromley ran 16:35.81 for 31st, senior Liam Tindall was 38th in 16:39.96 and senior Enzo Corona placed 40th in 16:41.15. Sophomore Sean Sooy was also under 17 minutes in 16:54.47 and senior Benjamin Weiner ran 17:02. Note the official results show Corona in 31st and Bromley in 40th, but their finishes were flip-flopped.

Three of the top freshmen and sophomores in the entire race were from Cherokee.

Cherry Hill East’s 5th-place finish is their best since the 2014 team placed 3rd. East has also placed in the top 10 in 2013 [9th], 2019 [8th] and 2021 [8th].

Senior Brody Bogos had a very strong race for Cherry Hill East, placing 11th in 16:06.62, a Holmdel PR and 3rd-fastest ever by a Cherry Hill East runner. Seniro Brandon Lyons ran 16:29.43 for 24th, juniors Alvin Lin and Will Nelson came across virtually together in 42nd and 44th in 16:42.55 and 16:42.94 and junior Milo Poerner was 84th in 17:05.99 for a 16:51.83 team average. Senior Nikhil Raman ran 17:18.22 and sophomore Cian Sherlock ran 17:50.01 for East.

And Ocean City had three runners under 17 minutes – junior Erik Preisner [35th in 16:38.50], senior Ethan Buck [55th in 16:49.99] and sophomore Keenan Neuman [64th in 16:55.06]. They were backed up by sophomore Nathan Aschmann [81st in 17:04.24] and senior Zach Hutchinson [107th in 17:20.38]. Sophomore Michael Romano [18:05] and freshman Nevin Millstein [18:19] also raced for Ocean City, which averaged 16:57.83.

This is the 5th time three South Jersey schools placed in the top five at a Meet of Champions:

2014: Cherry Hill East [3rd], Kingsway [4th], Haddonfield [5th]
2001: Haddonfield [1st], Cherokee [4th], Mainland Regional [5th]
1999: Paul VI [2nd], Cherokee [3rd], Washington Township [4th]
1998: Cherokee [2nd], Washington Township [3rd], Shawnee [4th]
1989: Paul VI [1st], Highland [2nd], Haddonfield [5th]
1988: Paul VI [1st], Highland [3rd], Bridgeton [5th]

Cinnaminson’s Austin Gabay placed 8th out of more than 200 runners Friday and Butler placed a strong 3rd at the NCAA Division 1 Great Lakes Regional Championship.

Butler, ranked 21st in Division 1, finished behind only No. 19 Notre Dame and No. 9 Wisconsin. Notre Dame won with 70 points, Wisconsin scored 82 and Butler 104, beating Michigan State on a 6th-runner tiebreaker.

Gabay was in 23rd place at 7K in 20:47.9, so he covered the last 3K in 8:40.4.

Gabay ran 29:28.3 on the 10,000-meter course at Silver Creek Metro Park in Norton, Ohio, about 35 miles south of Cleveland.

Gabay’s previous 10K PR was 29:58.4 last year at the Southeast Regional in Spartanburg, S.C., competing for Duke.

Most college races are held at 8K, and Gabay’s 8,000 PR is 23:36.6 from a meet last month in Chicago. He ran a faster pace Friday for an extra 1.24 miles. He probably came through 8,000 meters in 23:50 or so before running the final 1,000 in about 2:38.

The top two teams in each of nine regions automatically qualify for NCAA Championships Nov. 23 at the Thomas Zimmer Course at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Thirteen other schools will receive at-large bid to nationals.