From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

The Vineland girls recorded the first perfect 15-point score in Cumberland County Championship history Thursday in Upper Deerfield.

Vineland swept the top seven spots in this year’s race for a 15-54 team title over Bridgeton at Cumberland Regional.

The previous lowest score in the meet’s 46-year history was 16 by Millville in 2011.

Senior Kylee Black and sophomore Olivia Masucci both ran sub-20, Black winning in 19:47 and Masucci 2nd in 19:52.

Vineland’s other scorers were senior Gabrielle Brown [3rd in 20:00], sophomore Gianna Capoferri [4th in 22:18] and sophomore Aubrey Harrell [5th in 22:35]. They were backed up by junior Marissa Strickland and sophomore Jasira Spencer, who placed 6th and 7th in 22:40 and 22:51.

Also in the top 10: Bridgeton senior Yedceii Alfaro [8th in 24:04], Millville senior Olivia Solomon [9th in 24:25] and Bridgeton senior Mariecruz Cardosa [10th in 24:34].

Vineland also swept the top eight spots in the JV race.

The Williamstown boys didn’t win a Gloucester County cross country title between 1996 and 2021. Now they’ve won two in three years.

Led by Dominic Burgio, Dylan Saber and Logan Pavelik all in the top 10, Williamstown outscored 2nd-place Kingsway 49-60 Thursday to win its 10th county title.

Ty Blackman ran 16:00 over 5,000 meters at West Deptford Park to become the second straight Glassboro runner to win the individual title. Elijah Whitaker won last year.

For Williamstown, Burgio ran 16:17 for 2nd, Saber 16:32 for 4th and Pavelik 16:56 for 7th. Jonathan Delicana and David Kershner rounded out the Braves’ top 5, Delicana with 17:52 for 18th and Kershner 17:54 for 20th.

In 2022, Williamstown edged Washington Township 46-48 to win the Gloucester County title. The Braves also won Gloucester County in 1970, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1983 and 1995.

Also in the top 10 Thursday were Clearview Ethan Worst [3rd in 16:25], Washington Township Hunter Bostwick [5th in 16:49], Kingsway sophomore Ryan Duffy [6th in 16:49], Washington Township Joshua Baseshore [8th in 17:17], Clearview Ryne Handley [9th in 17:18] and Glassboro Joseph Saicic [10th in 17:20].

Senior Maeve Smith won her 2nd straight title and the Ocean City girls won their 15th consecutive Cape May County title Thursday in Middle Township.

For the 2nd straight year, Smith, Wildwood’s senior Macie McCracken took 2nd and Ocean City’s senior Chloe Care 3rd.

Ocean City went 1-3-4-5-6-7-9, placing their first seven runners ahead of every other team’s 3rd runner. Since Wildwood didn’t field a full team, Ocean City officially had a perfect 15-point score for the 2nd straight year. The Red Raiders outscored 2nd-place Middle Township 15-72, with Wildwood Catholic 3rd at 85.

Smith ran 19:43 at Avalon XC Course and edged McCracken by 25 meters. McCracken was 2nd in 19:50.

The next five finishers were from Ocean City, ranked No. 2 in the state: Care was 3rd in 20:11, sophomore Carly Godfrey 4th in 21:06, freshman Riley Tolson 5th in 21:07, sophomore Peighton Clemens 6th in 21:15 and senior Zoe Zammit 7th in 21:40. Junior Gabrielle Henry placed 9th in 21:59.

Ocean City has won every county title since 2009, when Wildwood Catholic went 1-2-3 and edged Ocean City, 30-32. The meet was not held in 2020.

Also finishing under 24 minutes were Lower Cape May junior Jenne Hill [8th in 21:51], Middle Township junior Olivia Orton [10th in 22:06], Wildwood senior Leiah Pawlus [11th in 22:53], Lower Cape May junior Hannah Souder [12th in 23:20], Cape May County Tech junior Kirstyn McHale [13th in 23:21] and sophomore Middle Township Eden Geisel [14th in 23:38].

Highland grad Grace Wassell, a sophomore at Wake Forest, obliterated her 5,000-meter PR Saturday at the Royals Challenge in Charlotte, N.C.

Wassell ran 17:17.1 at McAlpine Greenway and placed 4th out of nearly 200 runners in the Gold race. Wake won the team title 27-61 over Charlotte. In a merge of nearly 350 runners in two women’s races, Wassell’s time was also 4th-fastest.

Wassell’s previous 5K all-course best was an 18:05.24 when she won South Jersey Group 3 sectionals in 2021 on the DREAM Park speedway in Logan Township. She ran 18:216.61 last fall in Boone, N.C., in her only previous collegiate 5K.

She even beat her 5,000-meter track PR of 17:39, which she ran on her home track in Winston-Salem in April.

Wassell was named ACC Performer of the Week for her performance in Charlotte.

Wake Forest is ranked 5th in the NCAA Division 1 Southeast Region.

Wildwood senior Macie McCracken cruised to a 200-meter win in a huge Tri-County Conference batch meet Tuesday featuring 88 runners from 17 schools.

McCracken ran 19:43 over 5,000 meters at Kingsway Regional in Woolwich Township, finishing clear of Williamstown junior Sophia Aldridge, who was 2nd in 20:27.

Team scoring wasn’t kept, but unofficially Williamstown won 76-104 over Delsea, with Highland 3rd with 110 points.

Others in the top 10 were Williamstown senior Delaney Harbison [3rd in 20:59], Woodstown freshman Abby Marino [4th in 21:04], Highland junior Lyana Gutierrez [5th in 21:11], Williamstown sophomore Julia Burgio [6th in ], Wildwood senior Leiah Pawlus [7th in ], Salem County Vo-Tech senior Sarah Seiden [8th in ], Woodstown sophomore Anabel Schaal [9th in ] and Delsea senior Juliana Sieminski.

Delsea graduate Nick Costello ran a lifetime-best time and won the 27th running of the Steamtown Marathon in and around Scranton this past weekend.

Costello ran 2:21.17 and finished more than two minutes ahead of Dylan Gearinger, a former Haverford runner and a 2015 graduate of Berwick (Pa.) High School near Bloomsburg. Gearinger ran 2:23.33.

Costello’s previous-best marathon time was a 2:26.35 at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn., on June 17, 2023.

Costello graduated from Delsea in 2013. He placed 4th in the 2011 state Group 3 meet at Holmdel in 16:25 and then ran 16:22 a week later in the Meet of Champions. He ran track PRs of 4:24.50 and 9:19.19, the 4:24.50 indoors when he won South Jersey Group 2 sectionals at the Bubble in February 2012 and the 9:19.19 four months later at the outdoor Meet of Champions at Old Bridge. He was also state Group 3 champ at 3,200 meters in the spring of 2012.

Costello spent the fall of 2014 through the spring of 2018 at Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colo., running 8:52.36 for 3,000 meters, 15:165.85 for the 5,000 and 31:12.55 for 10,000 meters.

After graduating with a degree in agriculture business, Costello immediately began coaching, spending the 2019-20 cross country and track seasons as a volunteer assistant at the University of Wyoming. He was hired as a full-time coach in the fall of 2019 and is now in his sixth season in Laramie.

Costello has a half-marathon PR of 1:07.54 from the Philadelphia Half in September of 2022.

He’s not far off the South Jersey alumni marathon record of 2:17.22 set by Camden Catholic’s Kevin McDonnell last October at the Chicago Marathon. McDonnell ran 2:19.52 at the Twin Cities Marathon last month in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Steamtown had a strong South Jersey flavor this past weekend. Brian Quilty of Pitman, a 2011 Rowan graduate and coach at Rutgers Camden, placed 30th in 2:53.00; Haddonfield graduate Ian Rowe-Nicholls of Cherry Hill was 65th in 3:02.09; and Andrew MacLane of Bordentown, a graduate of Middletown North, placed 72nd in 3:03.26.

In the women’s race, Nicole Dyer of Glassboro ran 3:18.29 and placed 25th, and Sharyn Freda of Upper Township – a graduate of Archbishop Wood in Warminster, Pa., also the alma mater of 3:57.59 high school miler Gary Martin – was 58th in 3:31.55.

The Steamtown course runs through 14 municipalities in Lackawanna County: Forest City, Vandling Borough, Fell Township, Simpson Township, Carbondale City, Carbondale Township, Mayfield Borough, Jermyn Borough, Archbald Borough, Jessup Borough, Blakeley Borough, Olyphant Borough, Dickson City Borough and the City of Scranton.

Junior Erik Preisner, sophomore Keenan Neuman and senior Ethan Buck all finished in the top 10 and Ocean City cruised to the Varsity A team title Sunday at the 52nd annual Manhattan Invitational.

Preisner placed 6th in 13:29, Neuman 7th in 13:37 and Buck 9th in 13:40 and Ocean City won 70-90 over St. Andrews School of Middletown, Del. (the school where Dead Poets Society was filmed).

Sophomores Nathan Aschmann and Michael Romano completed Ocean City’s top-5, Aschmann 23rd in 14:00 and Romano 31st in 14:08. Senior 6th man Zach Hutchinson wasn’t far off the pace, 39th in 14:16

That’s a 39-second gap from 1 through 5 and a 13:47 team average.

Ocean City, ranked 11th in the state, finished an outstanding 15th in a merge of 176 schools in eight varsity races and 3rd among New Jersey schools, behind the top-ranked non-public school of Lincroft and Haddonfield – the top two teams in the state.

The Ocean City girls weren’t invited to race in the Eastern States Championship at the Manhattan Invitational, but with their performance in the Varsity D class race, they proved they belonged.

Led by senior Maeve Smith in 2nd place, Ocean City – ranked 2nd in New Jersey – scored just 59 points and won the Varsity D team title by 48 over Middletown South.

The Red Raiders averaged 16:10.2 for their five scorers on the 2 ½-mile Van Cortlandt Park course in the Bronx. That was the fastest average time of any team not in the Championship race and 7th-fastest overall among 133 high schools competing in eight races.

In a merge of all 133 schools, Ocean City placed 5th with 410 points, behind only U.S. No. 5 Bethlehem Central of Delmar, N.Y. [45], Champlain Valley Union of Hinesburg, Vt. [239], Princeton [363] and Auburn, N.Y. [381], who were all in the Eastern Championship race

Smith took 2nd in the D race in 15:02, finishing behind only Naomi Douglas of Fiorello H. Laguardia of Music and Art of Manhattan. Douglas ran 14:56.

Sophomore Carly Godfrey, freshman Riley Tolson and senior Chloe Care then finished 11th, 12th and 13th, Godfrey and Tolson finishing together in 16:12.8 and Care just behind at 16:16.1. Ocean City got four across the line before any other school in the field had three across. Senior Zoe Zammit ran 17:06 for 26th to complete Ocean City’s scoring pack.

Fastest Teams at Manhattan Invitational
14:56.5 … Bethlehem [1st, Championship]
15:45.7 … Champlain Valley Union [2nd, Championship]
15:57.4 … Auburn [3rd, Championship]
16:02.3 … Tatnall [6th, Championship]
16:06.8 … Princeton [4th, Championship]
16:06.8 … Liverpool [5th, Championship]
16:10.2 … Ocean City [1st, Varsity D]
16:11.3 … Cornwall [1st, Varsity C]
16:15.2 … Bolles [7th, Championship

Liliah Gordon ran the 4th-fastest time ever by a South Jersey girl at Van Cortlandt Park Sunday and the 4th-fastest time of nearly 1,000 girls in eight races at the Manhattan 52nd annual Manhattan Invitational in the Bronx.

Gordon, a Northern Burlington senior, ran 14:41 and placed 4th among some of the top runners in the Northeast in the Eastern States Championship race. She finished only 17 seconds behind winner Zariel Macchia of William Floyd High in Mastic Beach, N.Y., who ran 4:41.37 for a full mile last spring and 10:09.89 for two miles and was national runner-up at two-miles.

Her time is fastest by a South Jersey girl on the historic 2 ½-mile course since 2015, when Haddonfield’s Briana Gess ran 14:10.4 and Mainland’s Alyssa Aldridge ran 14:34.6 on the same day but in different races at Manhattan.

Gordon has only raced twice this year, winning the Shore Coaches C race in 18:21 at Holmdel and taking 4th at Manhattan. She’ll race in the Burlington County Open Friday at Mill Creek Park in Willingboro seeking to become the first girl to win three years in a row since Shawnee’s Liz Moore from 1992 through 1994. Course record at Mill Creek is 17:53.0 set in 2010 by Megan Lacy, who was inducted this past weekend into the Cherokee Hall of Fame.

All-Time South Jersey VanCortlandt Park list
14:10.4 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2015
14:30.4 … Vanessa Wright [Haddonfield], 2004
14:34.6 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2015
14:41.0 … Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2024
14:42.2 … Erin Donahue [Haddonfield], 1998
14:42.5 … Devin Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2014
14:55.3 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2008

Haddonfield confirmed their status as one of the top teams along the East Coast Sunday with a monster 2nd-place team finish in the Eastern States Championship race at the Manhattan Invitational.

The Haddonfield boys finished behind only the No. 2-ranked team in the country and beat 3rd-place Boston College High School of Dorchester, Mass., on a 6th-runner tiebreaker.

Junior Luke Andresen, senior Bennett Wright, junior Peter Simpson, junior Benjamin Andrus and junior Ryan Gibson packed from 13:09 to 13:30 – a 21-second gap on the historic 2 ½-mile course at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

The Bulldogs averaged 13:22.6 and finished 2nd in a merge of 176 schools in the eight varsity races.

I believe the lowest team average by a South Jersey school on the 2 ½-mile course at Vanny is 13:20 by Haddonfield’s Greg Eisenhower, Martin Riddell, Derek Gess, Stephen Kasko and Griffin Weiner at the 2018 St. Regis Invitational.

There doesn’t appear to be an all-time Van Cortlandt Park team average list covering New Jersey or the course in general. Hard to believe nobody maintains a Vanny all-time team average list.

Anyway, Andresen ran 13:09 in 21st, Wright 13:16 in 30th, Simpson 13:18 in 31st, Andrus 13:30 in 44th and Gibson 13:38 in 57th.

Making the difference between 2nd and 3rd was junior Aaron Keith in 90th with a 14:03. He finished 41 spots and 29 seconds ahead of Boston College’s 6th runner.

Haddonfield, ranked No. 2 in New Jersey and No. 1 among public schools, is scheduled to race at the Camden County Championships at Timber Creek Park in Gloucester Township Friday and the Colonial Conference Championships at West Deptford Park a week from Thursday before racing at South Jersey Group 2 sectionals Nov. 2 at DREAM Park in Logan Township.

It’s possible their next full-effort race will be the Meet of Champions Nov. 16 at Holmdel Park.