Course: Delsea High School’s 5,000-meter layout
By Kevin Cranston
Runningco.com Writer
Division 3
Since the Cherokee Challenge, Shawnee sophomore David Forward has been battling a nagging hip injury. Some days the hip feels fine. Other days there is discomfort.
But on Saturday, Forward’s hip didn’t hamper his performance at all, especially when he hit the track for the final 300 meters of the Division 3 race.
Coming from third, Forward showed off his strong leg speed (4:29 for 1,600 meters last spring as a freshman) as he caught Cherry Hill West senior Kunal Sharma with 250 left and then passed Washington Township senior Alex Clemson with 150 remaining to take individual honors by one second in a time of 16:13 – the third-fastest time of the three boys’ races. Clemson was second in 16:14, while Sharma was third in 16:17.
“I knew it wasn’t a huge gap and that I had a shot, so I just decided to go for it,” Forward said about going from third to first in the last 300 of the race. “I consider myself more of a speed guy than a distance guy. I felt if I could hang with the leaders until we got on the track, that I could use my kick to go for the win.”
Early on in the race, though, Forward wasn’t among the leaders. As Ocean City junior Brett Johnson and senior teammate Ryan Birchmeier hit the 1-mile mark in 4:58, Forward was nine seconds back in 5:07.
By the 2-mile mark, in which then-leader Clemson went through in 10:21, Forward had gotten himself into third position. It was there Forward stayed until he turned to his kick to earn the come-from-behind victory.
Even though Johnson (fifth, 16:25) and Birchmeier (14th, 16:43) didn’t have great races, Ocean City, ranked No. 5 in runningco.com’s Top 20, still won the team title with 91 points, ahead of Toms River North (121) and No. 10 Washington Township (127).
After Johnson and Birchmeier, the Red Raiders’ top five consisted of Stephen Hoffman (19th, 16:56), Connor Martin (26th, 17:03) and Michael Hagen (37th, 17:17). The Red Raiders had the third-fastest team average at 16:52.8.
No. 2 Cherokee held six of its top seven from the race. No. 6 Mainland had only four runners compete.
Division 2
Camden Catholic senior Kevin McDonnell had no trouble picking up his second major meet title of the season as he controlled the Division 2 race from the very beginning, winning by 31 seconds in 15:47 – the top time of the day.
After the opening mile, which he ran in 4:58, McDonnell already held an 11-second advantage over Cinnaminson junior Todd Campbell, who finished second in 16:18. McDonnell then increased his lead to 24 seconds after a 5:00 second mile.
“I liked the fact that I was under 10 (minutes) for 2 miles and I still felt comfortable,” McDonnell said. “With two wins under my belt, I feel confident heading into the (Camden) County and Olympic Conference meets in the next two weeks.”
Led by Kevin Healey’s fourth-place finish in 16:31, No. 3 Moorestown put its first five runners in the top 17 to easily win the Division 2 team title, 45-78 over No. 17 Kingsway. No. 18 Cinnaminson was third with 103.
Following Healey for the Quakers, which posted a team average of 16:49.2 (second-fastest on the day), were Ben Friedman (sixth, 16:41), James Mulski (seven, 16:43), David Ringwood (11th, 16:55) and Alex Matteson (17th, 17:16).
Division 1
Holy Cross senior Mike Sheehan posted the second-best time of the afternoon as he pulled away from Haddonfield sophomore Boo Vitez in the final 1,200 meters to win the Division 1 race in 15:58. Vitez finished in 16:17 and Haddon Heights senior Mickey Borsellino was third in 16:26.
Sheehan, Vitez and Borsellino ran in a pack of about 15 as they went through the first mile in 5:10. The field strung out over the next mile, leaving Borsellino, whose 2-mile split was 10:30, Sheehan and Vitez running 1-2-3.
Over the next half-mile, Sheehan and Vitez pulled away from Borsellino and it was then a two-man race. Vitez hung with Sheehan as best he could, but the Lancer standout turned to another gear over the final 1,200 to put the race away.
With Vitez as the team’s top finisher, No. 1 Haddonfield took places 2, 5, 6, 9 and 20 to capture the Division 1 title with 40 points. No. 4 Haddon Heights, which ran without No. 1 runner Josh Black, took second with 86, while No. 11 Pennsville was third with 92.
Colin Baker (16:30), Dan Carreon (16:31), Ray Schlitt (16:54) and David Twitchell (17:30) rounded out the team’s top five. The Bulldawgs’ team average of 16:44.4 was the best of the meet.
Saturday was the 13th straight South Jersey Open title for Haddonfield, which is ranked No. 8 in the latest Northeast Regional rankings by national cross country and track and field website dyestat.com.
Photos courtesy of Dennis Smyth - XC fan and photgrapher extraordinaire.
