A look at what teams and individuals to watch for at Saturday’s sectional championships
South sectional at Delsea High School
Central sectional at Thompson Park in Jamesburg
By Kevin Cranston
Runningco.com Writer
South Group 4
It has been six years since Cherokee has won a Group 4 sectional title. But that streak of years without a title won’t reach seven with this Chiefs squad.
Cherokee, ranked No. 2 in runningco.com’s Top 20, is starting to click at the perfect time, making the Chiefs the team to beat on Saturday. Cherokee stayed pretty low key in the early stages of the season, but have put together some nice team performances over the past couple weeks. In their last meet, the Chiefs posted only 30 points as they rolled to the team title at the always-tough Olympic Conference Championships. It was at the Olympic meet where the Chiefs showed off a five-man spread of 45 seconds.
Running really well for the Chiefs right now are their top three – seniors Alex Yersak and Kevin Schickling and junior Chris Applegate. The team’s four and five guys – sophomore Steve Burkholder and junior Marc Saccomanno – aren’t far behind either.
The toughest challenge for Cherokee will come from No. 6 Mainland, which has come on nicely in the latter part of the season. Fresh off their win over Ocean City at the Cape-Atlantic League Championships, the Mustangs, led by junior Matt Hernberg, will certainly come ready to race. The other team that will be in the mix for a top-three finish will be Toms River North, which always seems to be at the front of the Group 4 sectional race.
As for the final two spots to qualify for the Group 4 state meet, there are a slew of teams that could snatch up the spots. Depending on which team puts it together on Saturday, the last spots could go to any one of the following: No. 8 Cherry Hill West, No. 10 Washington Township, No. 12 Lenape, Southern, No. 13 Cherry Hill East or No. 14 Eastern.
Although he may have some company for about a mile, I can’t see anyone really challenging Yersak for the individual title. He’s a smart runner who has had a lot of success at major races. He’ll be all alone by the time he gets to the track at Delsea as he’ll claim his third straight South Jersey Group 4 title.
Individual winner: Yersak
Top 5 teams (in order): 1. Cherokee, 2. Mainland, 3. Toms River North, 4. Cherry Hill West, 5. Washington Township
South Group 3
This is a tough one to call. The two teams battling it out for this title will be No. 5 Ocean City and No. 7 Highland. Both teams have good frontrunners and some nice talent to round out their packs. There’s a very good possibility single digits will separate these teams.
At the front of the Red Raiders pack is senior Ryan Birchmeier and junior Brett Johnson. Leading the Tartans is junior Kyle Gorczynski and senior J.J. Caffarelli. Between these four, it’s virtually impossible to predict who will finish in which order. Essentially, this race could come down to whichever team has the better 3-4-5 runners. And once again, that leaves neither team with a decisive edge.
There will be plenty of individual standouts in this race, such as the four mentioned in the above paragraph, Shawnee sophomore David Forward, Triton freshman Rob Rawls, Seneca senior Jake Latini, Shawnee senior J.P. Bonner and Lacey Township’s Philip Wood and Roger Hooper. And out of this group, Forward will take the individual title. He’ll be able to hang with any type of pace and his leg speed will allow him to pull away at the end of the race.
Individual winner: Forward
Top 5 teams (in order): 1. Highland, 2. Ocean City, 3. Lacey Township, 4. Shawnee, 5. Kingsway
South Group 2
No. 1 Haddonfield enters Saturday’s race the overwhelming favorite. The Bulldawgs haven’t been threatened by any South Jersey team this season and it won’t happen at Delsea. The only other ranked teams Haddonfield will face on Saturday are No. 16 Cinnaminson and No. 18 Bridgeton.
A victory Saturday will give the Bulldawgs their fourth consecutive South Jersey Group 2 title and its 12th sectional title – both Group 2 and 1 – in the last 13 years.
Look for Haddonfield’s first four – sophomore Boo Vitez, senior Dan Carreon and sophomores Colin Baker and Ray Schlitt – to be in the top 10 and its fifth runner – sophomore David Twitchell – to finish in the top 15.
For the individual title, it appears the race will come down to Vitez and Cinnaminson junior Todd Campbell. Both ran similar times at Delsea at the South Jersey Open, with Vitez going 16:17 and Campbell going 16:18. This will be close race throughout, but I think Campbell pulls away in the final half-mile for the win.
Individual winner: Campbell
Top 5 teams (in order): 1. Haddonfield, 2. Cinnaminson, 3. Bridgeton, 4. West Deptford, 5. Pleasantville
South Group 1
Haddon Heights, which moved down from Group 2, will be matched up with defending Group 1 state champion Pennsville in this race, but it will be the No. 4 Garnets leaving Delsea with the title over the No. 15 Eagles. Pennsville once again has a talented group, but it won’t be able to make a serious dent in Heights’ pack.
With junior Josh Black and senior Mickey Borsellino leading the way, Heights should be able to put its first five in the top 15 of the race.
Individually, Black will grab control of this race early and power home for the victory. Others up front will include Borsellino, Schalick senior Eric DuBois and Pennsville senior Mark Kearney.
Individual winner: Black
Top 5 teams (in order): 1. Haddon Heights, 2. Pennsville, 3. Haddon Township, 4. Maple Shade, 5. Penns Grove
Central Jersey
No. 3 Moorestown, led by junior Ben Friedman, will seriously contend for the Group 3 title with West Windsor-Plainsboro North. WW-PN, with freshman Joe Rosa as its No. 1 runner, is considered the favorite heading into the meet, but it isn’t an absolute lock to capture the title.
The Quakers have been consistent all season, but have yet to really pop one. If the team’s top five can all click on the same day, WW-PN could be within reach.
Individually in Group 3, Northern Burlington junior Mike Bowden has a very good shot of placing in the top five. So far this season, Bowden has been a little up and down. But he certainly has the talent to run at the front of the Group 3 race.
In the Group 1 race, New Egypt is a team that could very well advance to the state meet. The Warriors have a nice top two in Sean Vazquez and Matt Smith, who should both place high individually.
