From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Julia Flanagan recorded her first career cross country invitational win Saturday when she ran away from the field at the Ray Hoagland Invitational.

Flanagan, a Holy Cross junior, ran an all-course lifetime-best 18:54 over 5,000 meters at the Rancocas Valley Sports Complex in Eastampton, finishing 120 meters ahead of 2nd-place Nilaa Ponnappan of Camden Catholic, who was 2nd in 19:23.

Flanagan’s time is 3rd-fastest in course history and 17 seconds shy of the course record of 18:37 set by Cherokee’s Nicole Clifford at the 2021 County Open. Her previous all-course 5K PR was a 19:23 earlier this month at the South Jersey Shootout at DREAM Park in Logan Township.

Last spring, Flanagan ran 5:12.12 and 11:31.30 and placed 3rd in both the 1,600 and 3,200 at the state Parochial B championships at Stockton University in Galloway Township.

Delsea put its first four runners in the top nine to win the team title, 30-45, over 2nd-place Rancocas Valley, with Camden Catholic a close 3rd with 46 points.

For the Crusaders, senior Juliana Sieminski placed 3rd in 20:13, junior Isabella Moran was 5th in 21:14, Paige Mashburn 6th in 21:27 and junior Sofia Moran 9th in 21:57. Fifth runner freshman Gyann Trabosh took 18th overall in 24:57.

Also in the top 10: Delran junior Ashley Doyle [4th in 20:40], Rancocas Valley junior Mary Casano [7th in 21:30], R.V. senior Haley Wasson [8th in 21:47] and Camden Catholic freshman madison Golden [10th in 22:36].

Isaac Linden, a senior at Moorestown Friends, ran an all-course PR of 16:58 to win the boys race at the Ray Hoagland Invitational Saturday in Eastampton.

Linden’s previous 5,000 PR was 17:08 at last year’s Friends League Championships at the George School in Middletown Township, Bucks County. He went on to place 4th at the state Parochial B Championships at Holmdel.

Linden finished 50 meters ahead of 2nd-place Christopher Gray, a Rancocas Valley senior, who ran 17:07.

R.V. had four of the top eight finishers and won the team title 39-50 over Paul VI, with Camden Catholic 3rd with 86.

After Gray, senior Christian Rouzard was 4th in 17:17, junior Tedd Jones 5th in 17:28 and senior Brady McKee 8th in 17:50. RV’s 5th and 6th runners were sophs Alex Kinney and Cody Habeck, who took 22nd and 24th in 18:36 and 18:48.

Paul VI was led by Trev Del Borrello and Nick Ablaza, who ran 3rd and 9th in 17:12 and 17:52 in their first-ever varsity race.

Also in the top 10 were Seneca junior Dominic Lera [6th in 17:49], Burlington City senior Luke Damato [7th in 17:50] and Paul VI junior Collin Conway [10th in 17:52].

Also under 18 minutes Seneca senior Connor McCafferty [11th in 17:53], Camden Catholic senior Sean Leahy [12th in 17:56] and Paul VI soph Jacob McGee [13th in 17:58].

Rowan College Gloucester County sophomore C.J. Gilmore, an Audubon graduate, won the Jersey Blues Invitational Saturday in Middletown Township, Monmouth County.

Gilmore ran 17:37 over 5,000 meters at Brookdale Community College. Gilmore is competing this fall for the first time since the fall of 2022. He ran the same course a minute slower last time he raced at Brookdale.

RCGC defeated Brookdale 21-35 to win the team title. Gavin Casella of Kingsway and Branden Lachowicz of Delsea placed 3rd and 4th for Rowan. The Roadrunners’ top five also included freshman Evan Bongard of Washington Township in 9th and Gary Schwegel from Pennsville in 10th.

Matthew Tozer of Schalick, now a freshman at Rowan College – Cumberland County of Vineland placed 8th.

In the women’s race, sophomore Autumn Mutschler of Millville , a Cumberland transfer from Messiah in Grantham, Pa., placed 6th. For RCGC, freshman Gabrielle Szwed from Delsea was 8th and sophomore Madison O’Donnell from Williamstown was 9th.

Shawnee graduate Madelyn Valasek, a junior at Stockton, placed 6th Saturday morning out of 57 runners in the Penn State Abington Invite.

Valasek ran 6,000 meters in Abington in 25:55 and was Stockton’s 2nd finisher. Stockton defeated Princeton Running Club 28-41 to win the team title.

Stockton’s 7th runner was Seneca grad Amanda McNally, 12th overall in 27:23. Also running for the Ospreys were Sarah Rutledge [15th] from Egg Harbor Township, Ave Dixon from Gloucester County Tech [16th] and Megan Faucett from Cherry Hill West [17th].

The Stockton women are ranked No. 3 in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division 3 Metro Region, behind Rowan and The College of New Jersey, who raced Friday at the Herb Lorenz Invitational.

Stockton won the men’s title 19-89 over Holy Family with junior Eric Culleny of Cedar Creek 9th in 29:07 over 8,000 meters.

St. Joe’s senior Dawson Baptiste from Delsea, Rutgers-Camden sophomore Jacob Dinerman from Haddon Township, Rowan junior Cole Mylan from Timber Creek and Rowan junior Sean Hice and senior Cole Kolodziej from Washington Township all finished in the top 10 Friday at the 2nd annual Herb Lorenz Invitational in Ewing Township.

Baptiste ran 19:07 over 6,000 meters at Green Lane Fields near The College of New Jersey campus and placed 2nd to Ramapo’s Ryan Pena, a former Hackensack runner, who won the race in 19:03.

Dinerman, a Rutgers-Camden sophomore, was 4th in 19:18, Mylan 7th in 19:24, Hice 9th in 19:40 and Kolodziej 10th in 19:44.

Other South Jersey runners in the top 25: Rowan junior Anthony Faust from Bishop Eustace [11th in 19:49], Rowan senior Ian McCauley from Haddon Township [14th in 20:06], St. Joe’s senior Cole Wassell from Highland [16th in 20:12], Rowan sophomore Aidan Brad from Williamstown [19th in 20:29], Rowan senior Cameron DiTroia from Ocean City [20th in 20:30], TCNJ junior Nate Kidwell from Washington Township [21st in 21:34] and Rowan freshman Reid Gervasi from Haddonfield [22nd in 20:37].

St. Joe’s won the team title 24-51 over Rowan.

Even without a runner in the top 10, Egg Harbor won the team title Friday at the Osprey High School Invite in Galloway Township.

The Eagles – with four underclassmen in its lead group – packed its five scorers in a 30-second span and edged Eastern 106-117 to win the team title.

Junior Matthew Reed led EHT in 13th place in 17:03 over 5,000 meters at Stockton University, with sophomore Ben Gettings 19th in 17:11, sophomore Daniel Svec 25th in 17:22, senior Aaron Wagner 29th in 17:27 and junior Matthew McDevitt 31st in 17:33.

Eastern was led by senior Ryan Haefele [14th in 17:03], junior Justin Fox [20th in 17:12], sophomore Timothy Shack [22nd in 17:15] and senior Nicholas Sirdashney [27th in 17:22].

South Jersey’s top finisher was Pleasantville senior Melvin Lewis, who ran a huge all-course PR of 16:12. His fastest-previous 5,000 was a 16:54 at last year’s Cape Atlantic Conference Championships on the same course.

Also in the top 10 were Washington Township senior Hunter Bostwick [3rd in 16:35], Camden County Vo-Tech senior Julian Rich [6th in 16:48], Cherry Hill West junior Rex Takakjy [7th in 16:51] and Woodstown junior Jacob Marino [10th in 16:56].

Also under 17:30: Woodstown senior Cole Lucas [16th in 17:05], Audubon junior Logan Camm [17th in 17:08], Winslow senior Dominic Bassey [18th in 17:09] and Bridgeton senior Kevin Gonzalez [21st in 17:21].

Anna Sasse of Williamstown, a Rowan senior, recorded her first careercollegiate cross ​country invitational win Friday when she placed 1st at the 2nd annual  in Ewing Township.

Sasse ran 18:48 and led a 1-2-3 Rowan finish over 5,000 meters on the Green Lane Fields course near The College of New Jersey.

Sasse, a three-time New Jersey Athletic Conference champ in the 1,500 and steeplechase, finished 35 meters ahead of Allyson Wernik, a sophomore from Washington Township. Wernik ran 19:04 for 2nd place. That’s a lifetime 5K all-course PR for Wernik, whose previous best was 19:55 in a high school meet at Stockton. Mia Guerra, a senior from Hasbrouck Heights, was 3rd in 19:11 for Rowan.

All three ran well under the course record of 20:05 set at last year’s inaugural meet by Emily Hoegler of The College of New Jersey

Also in Rowan’s top 5 were sophomore Emily Zanni of Sherwood High in Olney, Md. [12th in 20:08] and sophomore Sharon Stakelback of Toms River East [18th in 20:48].

Rowan is ranked No. 1 in this week’s USTFCCCA NCAA Division 3 Metro Division poll.

Gloucester juniors Marcus Flagg and Vincent Kelly swept the top two spots out of 68 runners in a Colonial Conference batch meet.

Flagg ran 17:44 and Kelly 18:02 over 5,000 meters at West Deptford Park.

Haddon Township took the next three spots and edged Gloucester 52-48 for team honors.

Juniors Shaun Maloney and Luke Wolfram and senior Manolo Foote ran 3rd, 4th and 5th in 18:11, 18:21 and 18:28. The Hawks’ top five also included freshman James Strimel [11th in 19:07] and senior Santiago Caballero [20:12].

Also in the top 10 were Collingswood senior Graham Reynolds [6th in 18:41], Sterling sophomore Giovanni Fuchs [7th in 18:46], Gloucester senior Trey Fitzpatrick [8th in 18:52], Collingswood junior Landon Forero [9th in 18:59] and Woodbury/Gateway Co-Op junior David Houck [10th in 19:10].

Luke Andresen broke 16 minutes for the first time on any course and led Haddonfield to a 19-47 win over Haddon Heights in a four-team Colonial Conference batch meet Tuesday at Pennypacker Park in Haddonfield and Cherry Hill.

Andresen won the race in 15:55 in a field of 66 runners, finishing 250 meters ahead of 2nd-place Reggie Hernandez, a Haddon Heights senior.

Andresen’s previous all-course PR for 5,000 meters was 16:17 last October on the same course.

Also under 17 minutes were Haddonfield junior Ryan Gibson [3rd in 16:54], Haddonfield junior Benjamin Andrus [4th in 16:54] and Haddonfield senior Bennett Wright [5th in 16:56].

Also in the Bulldogs’ top seven were junior Peter Simpson [6th in 17:08], senior Linus Kucer [8th in 17:13] and junior Michael Sinnes [10th in 17:31].

Haddon Heights runners who joined Hernandez in the top 10 were freshman Zacchaeus Harrigan [7th in 17:09] and senior Owen James [9th in 17:19].

Others who ran under 18 minutes: Audubon junior Logan Camm [11th in 17:41], Haddonfield sophomore Owen Snyder [12th in 17:46], Audubon junior James Barone [13th in 17:46], Haddonfield reshman Augustan Coley [14th in 17:49], Haddonfield senior Leonardo DiCello [15th in 17:49], Haddonfield junior John Leibrandt [16th in 17:50], Haddonfield junior Brandon Stoner [17th in 17:50], Haddonfield junior Aaron Keith [18th in 17:50], Haddonfield sophomore Andrew Blum [19th in 17:51], Paulsboro senior Stephen Lane [20th in 17:53] and Haddon Heights senior Lewis Iannucci [21st in 17:57].

Collingswood junior Macie Straight finished more than a minute ahead of the rest of the field in a Colonial Conference batch meet Tuesday in West Deptford.

Straight ran 20:18 over 5,000 meters at West Deptford Park and finished about 300 meters ahead of 2nd-place Taylor Sierzega, a West Deptford sophomore.

Also in the top 10 were Sterling seniors Kaysie Luna [3rd in 21:51] and Jonalee Adames [4th in 21:51], Gloucester senior Dejia Robert [5th in 22:47], Haddon Township sophomore Tanner Lajoie [6th in 23:54], Sterling seniors Isabella Patruno [7th in 23:57] and Amber Wilsey [23:58], Gloucester senior Cameron Harris [9th in 24:32] and Haddon Township sophomore Biz Maher [10th in 24:45].

Team scoring was not kept, but Sterling would have won with 33 points over Haddon Township with 69.