Johnson and Birchmeier go 1-2 as Red Raiders defeat the Tartans 63-66

By Kevin Cranston
Runningco.com Writer

Pictures

FRANKLIN TWP.

Bill Moreland didn’t have to worry much about junior Brett Johnson or senior Ryan Birchmeier. The Ocean City High School boys’ cross country coach knew he could count on those two to be in the front of the race.

But if the Red Raiders were going to win the South Jersey Group 3 sectional title, Moreland needed his 3-4-5 runners to perform.

They did, and as a result, Ocean City left Delsea on a cool, windy Saturday with its first sectional title since 2004 as the Red Raiders, ranked No. 5 in runningco.com’s Top 20, edged No. 7 Highland 63-66.

“I was hoping Brett and Ryan could go 1-2,” Moreland said. “It would then be up to our other guys and I felt they could get it done.”

 Both Johnson and Birchmeier ran great races. The two traded the lead with one another over the final 1.1 of the race, before Johnson pulled away for good in the final 150 meters. Johnson’s time of 15:57 over Delsea’s flat 5,000-meter course was the best out of all four races. Birchmeier finished in 16:02 – tied for the second-fastest time of the day.

“I’m back,” Johnson happily said after the race. “I’ve been sick for most of the year. Ever since the South Jersey Shootout, I’ve been having breathing problems. But today I was fine and was able to race like the old me.”

Saturday marked the second straight year Ocean City had the top two finishers in the South Jersey Group 3 race. Last year, John Fennekohl and Johnson went 1-2.

After Johnson and Birchmeier, it was senior Stephen Hoffman, sophomore Michael Hagen and senior Connor Martin delivering solid efforts, with Hoffman taking 15th in 16:51, Hagen 21st in 17:11 and Martin 24th in 17:13.

“Connor has been sick this past week and has been dealing with some shin problems,” Moreland said. “He was back a little bit farther today than he usually is, but he was able to beat Highland’s fifth, which was big for us.”

At the 2-mile mark, it appeared that Highland was narrowly winning the race. But the Red Raiders were able to come back on the Tartans in the final mile.

Ocean City posted a team average of 16:38.8, which was the second-best of the day.

For Highland, its top five consisted of senior J.J. Caffarelli (third, 16:15), junior Kyle Gorczynski (seventh, 16:20), senior Brian Wirtz (14th, 16:44), senior Matt McDevitt (16th, 16:54) and junior Kris Prabakaran (26th, 17:14).

Group 4

No. 2 Cherokee, behind a 1-2 finish by seniors Alex Yersak and Kevin Schickling, scored 52 points to claim its first sectional title since 2000 and its sixth overall. No. 8 Cherry Hill West, which gave the Chiefs a race through the first 1½ miles, was second with 90. No. 10 Washington Township followed with 96.

After Yersak, who ran 16:02 (tied for the second-fastest time of the day), and Schickling, who ran 16:09, the Chiefs’ top five, which put together a 57-second spread, consisted of junior Chris Applegate (sixth, 16:24), sophomore Steve Burkholder (15th, 16:44) and junior Sean Hartnett (28th, 16:59).

Cherokee’s team average of 16:27.6 was the fastest of the four races by 11 seconds.

“I think we ran pretty well today,” Chiefs coach Steve Shaklee said. “I have to give a lot of credit to Cherry Hill West because they put the pressure on us early.

“What I liked about the guys is that they didn’t panic halfway through when we probably weren’t winning the race. The top five, and really our whole top seven, ran a nice second half of the race.”

Shaklee said he felt Saturday’s performance puts them in a good position to travel to Holmdel Park next weekend to go after the Group 4 state title.

“I think we’re definitely in the hunt,” Shaklee said. “Old Bridge and Jackson are going to be tough, so we’re going to have to race well. But we’re still on an upswing, so I think we’re ready.”

For Yersak, he was never threatened as he earned his third straight South Jersey Group 4 title. He’s the first South Jersey runner to win three straight Group 4 titles and only the fourth South Jersey runner ever to win three straight in any group.

Yersak, who was trailed by Cherry Hill West senior Kunal Sharma (who ended up third in 16:10) for the first half of the race, put the race away just after the 2-mile mark as he went on to win by seven seconds.

“I thought the race went out slow through the first mile, so I felt pretty comfortable,” Yersak said. “But once we got out of the woods (just after the 2-mile mark) I kicked it into another gear.”

Group 2

No. 1 Haddonfield, despite having its normal No. 5 runner finish as its No. 7 runner, still took places 1, 4, 5, 8 and 17 to easily take the Group 2 title with 35 points over No. 18 Bridgeton (76) and No. 16 Cinnaminson (77). For the Bulldawgs, Saturday was their fourth straight Group 2 sectional title and the program’s 27th overall sectional title.

At the front of the Bulldawgs’ pack, which had a spread of 1:17, was sophomore Boo Vitez, who won the individual title in 16:13 over Manchester Township senior Chris Poss (16:28) and Cinnaminson junior Todd Campbell (16:30).

Vitez held a 4-second lead over Campbell after 1½ miles and no one in the field got any closer the rest of the way.

“I tried to take it out hard and then just keep pounding,” Vitez said. “I wanted to try and drop everyone before I got out of the woods (about 1¼ into the race).”

Sophomore Ray Schlitt (16:31), sophomore Colin Baker (16:41) and senior Dan Carreon (16:53) finished as the team’s No. 2, 3 and 4 guys. The Bulldawgs’ fifth man on Saturday was freshman Matt Nussbaum, who ran 17:30. Sophomore David Twitchell, who has been the team’s fifth man for all but one race this season heading into Saturday, struggled at the end of the race and finished as Haddonfield’s No. 7 runner, running 17:45 for 21st.

And although they won the race, the Bulldawgs weren’t at their sharpest on Saturday. Their team average of 16:45.6 was only the sixth-best of the day.

“We haven’t all clicked in a race yet this season,” Vitez said. “We can run better than we did today. We just need to come together.”

Group 1

Led by the 1-2-4 finish of junior Josh Black, senior Mickey Borsellino and junior Andrew Whitman, No. 4 Haddon Heights earned a 35-44 victory over No. 15 Pennsville for the Group 1 title. No. 20 Haddon Township was third with 90.

Saturday was Heights’ first sectional title since 1992 and the third in program history.

“I’m really happy with what we did today,” Garnets coach Matt Martin said. “Whitman came up really big. Mickey has been sick all week with strep throat, so for him to be right with Josh in the front of the race was real nice. Pennsville is a solid team who came to race, so we had to run well.”

Rounding out the top five for Heights were sophomore Colin Lynch (ninth, 16:57) and junior Colin Cole (17:44).

Through the first 1½ of the race, Black was joined in the front pack with Borsellino, Pennsville senior Mark Kearney (third, 16:27) and Whitman. It was just before the 2-mile mark that Black and Borsellino made it a two-man race by getting away from Kearney. Black finally pulled away from his teammate in the final 75 meters to take the victory.

“I felt really sluggish, but I still had the strength to win,” Black said. “I’m not that happy about the time, but I knew today wasn’t about that. It was more about getting the win and helping the team out.”

South Jersey Parochial Championships

The ankle Mike Sheehan rolled at the Burlington County Open, a race he didn’t finish, gave him no trouble Saturday as the Holy Cross senior ran solo the entire way to win the South Jersey Parochial title by 30 seconds in 16:17.

“The ankle was good,” Sheehan said. “After it happened, I put some ice on it and I it was fine a couple days later.”

Sheehan took control of the race right from the gun and no one was able to go with him.

“The whole time I was trying to break 16 (minutes),” Sheehan said. “But it was just me out there. I had no one to draft off.”

After his win Saturday, Sheehan is hoping he can do the same next week at Holmdel at the Non-Public A state meet.

Asked what he was looking for next Saturday, Sheehan said: “A state championship.”

He added: “The time doesn’t matter to me, but I’m figuring it will have to be under 16:20.”

By placing its first five runners in the top 15, Moorestown Friends defeated No. 17 Camden Catholic, running without injured No. 1 runner Kevin McDonnell, 46-86 to win the team title. The Foxes were led by Sean Denson, who finished second in 16:47.