Bulldawgs score 38 points to win Varsity E, run third-fastest team average of the day

By Kevin Cranston
Runningco.com Writer

HOLMDEL

Asked what Saturday’s Shore Coaches Invitational revealed to him about his team, Haddonfield High School boys’ cross country coach Nick Baker had a simple answer.

“It lets us know we don’t have to change much.”

The Bulldawgs certainly don’t. Because whatever they’re doing now is working just fine.

By jamming its first four runners in the top 9, and with its No. 5 man taking 17th place, Haddonfield, ranked No. 2 in Runningco.com’s Top 20, rolled to the Varsity E title at Holmdel Park with 38 points, finishing ahead of No. 5 Haddon Heights (89) and Pope John XXIII (106). It’s Haddonfield’s second straight Shore Coaches title.

The Bulldawgs’ team average of 17:07.2 was the third-fastest out of all six races on what was a very warm day that got even hotter as the day progressed. Millburn posted an average of 17:03 on its way to winning Varsity C, while Morris Hills put together an average of 17:06.2 in winning Varsity D.

“Today was really our first major meet of the season, so it’s a good start for us,” Baker said.

Sophomore Boo Vitez had another solid performance as he lead the Bulldawgs pack with a second-place finish in 16:24. After Vitez were sophomore Colin Baker (seventh, 17:04), senior Dan Carreon (eighth, 17:11), sophomore Ray Schlitt (ninth, 17:13) and sophomore David Twitchell (17th, 17:44).

“Boo ran a great time, and for Colin not running a whole lot the past couple weeks, he looked good,” Baker said. “Ray ran a PR and Carreon ran a PR. It was Twitchell’s first time on the course and he ran great. Overall, I’m really pleased with how the kids performed.”

After the race, Baker spoke often about the drastic improvement of Twitchell, who is now a top-five performer after being only the seventh best freshman on the team last year.

“Dave’s improvement is what’s making us better than just a good team,” Baker said.

Haddon Heights junior Josh Black

had his Holmdel breakthrough race on Saturday. Entering the Varsity E race with a Holmdel PR of 17:48 (from last year’s Group 2 state meet), Black dropped a ridiculous 1:27 off his previous best to win the individual title in 16:21 as he held off Haddonfield sophomore Boo Vitez (16:24) down the final straightaway. Black’s teammate, senior Mickey Borsellino, was third in 16:48.

Black’s time tied him with Camden Catholic senior Kevin McDonnell for South Jersey’s top individual time of the day.

“Going in, I knew who the major players were. I was worried about Boo,” Black said. “But I just tried to be as smart as I could. This is just an awesome confidence booster for me.”

Early on, Borsellino set a fast early pace and hit the 1-mile mark in 5:21, seven seconds ahead of Black and Vitez. By the 2-mile mark, though, Black and Vitez had reeled Borsellino in, making it a two-man battle the rest of the way.

Vitez hung tough from the 2-mile mark until the final 300 meters, which was when Black opened up a few strides to earn the three-second victory.

“I was looking back to make sure he wasn’t right there, but I was pretty confident in my kick,” Black said.

No. 1 Cherokee

ran without senior Kevin Schickling, a top-five runner who was taking the SATs, but still performed well enough to finish second in the boys’ Varsity A race with 96 points, behind Christian Brothers Academy’s 65 and ahead of Old Bridge’s 123.

The Chiefs put together a team average of 17:20.8 – second-best among South Jersey teams – and a five-man spread of 1:07.

“Some of the guys raced a little more competitive today than they did last week (at the Ocean State Invitational in Rhode Island, where Cherokee finished third in the Championship race), which I thought was good for us,” coach Steve Shaklee said. “All in all, it wasn’t a bad race for us.”

First in for Cherokee was senior Alex Yersak, who finished fourth in 16:41. Brick senior Andrew Brodeur took individual honors in 16:10.  

Yersak ran the opening mile in 5:24 and hit the 2-mile mark in 10:55.

“He wasn’t real sharp today, but I didn’t really expect him to be today,” Shaklee said. “He’s been putting in a lot of hard work lately to prepare for the end of the season.”

Running a huge race for the Chiefs was junior Ryan McNair. In the JV lineup up until Saturday, McNair filled in for Schickling and finished as the team’s No. 4 man, placing 28th overall in 17:40.

Also in Cherokee’s top five was junior Chris Applegate (ninth, 17:05), junior Sean Hartnett (22nd, 17:30) and sophomore Matt McCarroll (36th, 17:48).

“What I liked from the guys today was even if they weren’t completely satisfied with where they were or how they felt, they just kept on racing,” Shaklee said. “That is what allowed us to keep places and get second in the race.”

Camden Catholic senior Kevin McDonnell

ran a 25-second Holmdel PR to finish second in the Varsity D race in 16:21, 19 seconds back of Somerville senior Dan Stiles, who finished in 16:02.

McDonnell’s PR heading into Saturday was 16:46, which he ran at last year’s Shore Coaches Invitational to take ninth in the Varsity D race.

Out with Stiles right from the start of the race, McDonnell, running in his first major meet since winning the Cherokee Challenge senior race on Sept. 15, ran the first mile in 5:30 and hit the 2-mile mark at 10:37.

It was at the 2½-mile mark when Stiles began to pull away and McDonnell was unable keep up with the pace.

“We were together at the 2-mile mark, but I just couldn’t hang,” McDonnell said. “He just gradually pulled away from me and I couldn’t go with him.”

Although it was a second-place finish and the fastest time he’s ever run at Holmdel, McDonnell was still a bit disappointed after the race.

“I was trying to get under 16 (minutes),” McDonnell said. “I just had nothing left after the bowl. Once I heard 10:37 at the 2-mile mark, I knew I wasn’t going to be under 16.” 

No. 12 Pennsville

captured its second straight boys’ Varsity F race as the Eagles put their first five runners in the top 22 to take the team title with 63 points. Verona was second with 81 and Metuchen followed in third with 108.

Pennsville, the defending Group 1 state champion, had a team average of 17:46.8 and a five-man spread of 1:17.

“They really ran tough,” Pennsville coach Geoff Shute said. “They went out a little faster than I would have liked at this point in the season, but they got after it and held on to their places.

“Coming in, we thought we had a shot at the top three. We knew Mater Dei (one of the teams expected to challenge for the team title) didn’t have everyone because of SATs, but there were some other quality teams in there. The guys knew they could run well and they came out and showed it today.

Senior Mark Kearney, who ran 5:43 for the first mile and 5:33 for the second, caught two guys over the final half mile to finish fifth in 16:56. The top South Jersey finisher in the F race was Schalick senior Eric DuBois, who was fourth in 16:55. Pennington School junior Philip Wood won the race by 31 seconds with a time of 16:22.

“Mark is a little disappointed with his performance, but I’m happy it,” Shute said. “He has missed some time in the last few weeks because of hip problem. We’ve cut back a little bit, but I thought he looked good today.”

Following Kearney for Pennsville were senior Anthony Mowers (12th, 17:37), senior Matt Powers (17th, 17:58), sophomore Jon Scull (20th, 18:10) and junior Justin Schmid (22nd, 18:13).

Ocean City junior Brett Johnson

held off sophomore David Forward and J.P. Bonner of Shawnee and Triton freshman Rob Rawls over the final 300 meters to take second in the boys’ Varsity B race in 17:00. Forward finished in 17:02, Bonner 17:05 and Rawls 17:06.

From the B race came the fastest time of the day as West Windsor-Plainsboro South senior Brian Leung ran 15:52. He was the only runner to break 16 minutes out of all six races.

No. 3 Moorestown

finished fourth in the boys’ Varsity C race with 101 points. Millburn (48), West Windsor-Plainsboro South (75) and Mendham (89) took the top three spots.

The Quakers, who were led by senior Kevin Healey’s 10th-place finish in 17:14, had a team average of 17:40.2.