Haddonfield (Gr. 2), Haddon Heights (Gr. 1) also win; Johnson, Vitez take individual titles

By Kevin Cranston
Runningco.com Writer

HOLMDEL

To win the Group 4 race at Saturday’s NJSIAA state group championships, the Cherokee High School boys’ cross country team didn’t have to run out of their minds. What was needed, though, were smart, solid efforts from the team’s top five.

“We felt like the race was ours to win if we stayed focused and ran our race,” Chiefs coach Steve Shaklee said.

And what was needed is exactly what happened on Holmdel Park’s 5,000-meter course on a cold, damp day.

By placing its first five runners in the top 42, led by seventh- and 10th-place finishes by seniors Alex Yersak (16:21) and Kevin Schickling (16:35), the Chiefs, ranked No. 1 in runningco.com’s Top 20, captured their first Group 4 title since 2000 as they scored 104 points to distance themselves from strong Old Bridge (146) and Jackson (154) teams.

Cherokee, in winning the program’s fifth state title, ran without junior Sean Hartnett, the Chiefs’ No. 5 man last Saturday when they won the South Group 4 meet. Hartnett woke up sick Saturday morning and was unable to go. But not having one of its usual top five guys ended up not hurting the Chiefs very much.

What also didn’t hurt the Chiefs was the fact the top five didn’t get out that great.

“If you saw us through the first 1,000 of the race, it didn’t look like we were going to win this one,” Shaklee said.

But like they’ve done all year long, Shaklee’s boys closed out the race. The top five moved up nicely through the last two miles and got the Chiefs into a position to win the meet.

“We never lost focus and never got discouraged,” Shaklee said.  

Said Schickling: “Today we all just moved up slowly throughout the race. That’s just how we’ve been running all year.”

Following Yersak and Schickling for Cherokee were junior Chris Applegate (22nd, 16:53), sophomore Steve Burkholder (40th, 17:18) and junior Ryan McNair (17:18).

Along with their 57-second spread, the Chiefs turned in a team average of 16:53.0 – the top South Jersey average. Overall, Cherokee’s average was the fourth-best of the day, behind Don Bosco Prep’s 16:44.6 and West Windsor-Plainsboro North’s and Millburn’s 16:51.2.

No. 2 Haddonfield,

led by sophomore Boo Vitez’s first-place finish in a four-second Holmdel PR of 16:20, looked very good as it convincingly beat Holmdel 53-108 for its second straight Group 2 title and 10th state title overall.

From top to bottom, the Bulldawgs looked much sharper than they did at last Saturday’s sectional championships. Although Haddonfield easily won the Group 2 title, the team only had the sixth-best average of the day.

On Saturday, though, the Bulldawgs proved that last weekend was a complete fluke as they turned in a team average of 16:53.6, nearly identical to Cherokee’s South Jersey-best average of 16:53.0. Out of the six races, Haddonfield’s average was the fifth-best on the day.

“Coming in, we took all of Holmdel’s times and we knew they could run with us,” coach Nick Baker said. “It could have been close, but we took care of that happening by running extremely well.

“This was a real team challenge. It came down to matchups with us against Holmdel and all our guys came through.”

Along with Vitez, sophomore Ray Schlitt (ninth, 16:46), senior Dan Carreon (11th, 16:50), sophomore Colin Baker (13th, 16:54) and freshman Ethan Quanci (32nd, 17:38) made up the scorers.

“Vitez winning was a great start for us. He fought back and showed a lot of heart,” Baker said. “Following him were Ray, Dan and Colin, who all ran strong races. And for Ethan to run what he did for it being the first time on this course was also big for us.”

Asked how he won the race, Vitez said simply afterward: “I don’t know.”

He may not know how it really happened, but it definitely did. Vitez trailed Somerville’s Dan Stiles by about eight seconds at the 2-mile mark, but somehow was able to pull him in and take the win.

“The first mile felt real hard and it was only a 5:30,” said Vitez, the South Group 2 winner last weekend. “Stiles took off at the top of the bowl and I was really feeling it then. I knew it was going to be tough, but I was able to reel him in.”

Vitez is the 10th Haddonfield boy to win a state title and the first to do it since Chris Platt ran 16:11 to win Group 2 in 2002.

No. 5 Haddon Heights,

the favorite, put its first four in the top 11, as the Garnets scored a 46-80 victory over Verona to win the Group 1 title. No. 11 Pennsville, led by senior Mark Kearney’s fourth-place finish in 16:57, was third with 88.

For Heights, the South Group 1 champ last weekend, Saturday was the program’s first state title since 1992.

“I’m relieved,” Garnets coach Matt Martin said. “We were pretty much preordained to win this race before we actually did. That put a lot of pressure on the guys, but they ran really well.

“I thought everyone ran the first mile perfectly. They got where they needed to be and maintained their spots.

“Winning today is very satisfying. For the past couple years, we’ve been one of the better teams in South Jersey, but we’ve had nothing to show for it. But the guys came out today, got it done and earned a title.”

Leading the charge for Heights was senior Mickey Borsellino, who passed and held off Verona’s Dave Oster over the final 150 meters to take the individual title in a huge PR as both runners were clocked at 16:19. Borsellino’s best Holmdel time heading into Saturday was the 16:48 he ran at Shore Coaches.

“This is awesome,” Borsellino said after the race. “It’s been kind of a down season for me until now.

“I’ve been working for this race for a long time now. I knew it was my last opportunity to win a big race, so I just went after it.”

Borsellino is Heights’ first state champion since John Salisbury ran 16:31 in 1992 to also win the Group 1 title.

Borsellino led Oster and junior teammate Josh Black through the first mile. It was ascending the bowl during the second mile that Borsellino and Oster pulled away from Black (third, 16:51), the South Group 1 winner. After the 2-mile mark, Borsellino put a couple strides on Oster, before Oster caught up and grabbed the lead. It wasn’t until the final 150 that Borsellino got back in the lead.

“With the race being that close, I couldn’t let it go,” Borsellino said. “It hurt so much, though.”

Added Martin: “I’m really happy with the way he ran. He’s been sick for the last three weeks with strep throat. But he never lost confidence in himself. He came out today and ran smart and made moves at the right time.”

After Borsellino and Black, Heights pack consisted of junior Andrew Whitman (ninth, 17:08), sophomore Colin Lynch (11th, 17:12) and junior Colin Cole (35th, 17:59).

Heights posted a team average of 17:05.8, which was the third-fastest average by a South Jersey team.

Ocean City junior Brett Johnson

was sitting in about eighth place with 1.1 miles to go in the Group 3 race when he decided he was going to make a push for the win.

“I told myself it was make it or break it time,” Johnson said.

And over the final stages of the race, Johnson one-by-one started to reel in the guys ahead of him. And finally, with about 400 left in the race, Johnson passed then-leader and teammate Ryan Birchmeier and powered his way to the finish line to take the race in a six-second Holmdel PR of 16:07 – the fastest time turned in by a South Jersey runner on the day and the fourth-fastest out of all six group races.

“At first, I didn’t think I had it in me,” Johnson said of trying to go from eighth to first. “But once I got past the first two guys, I just started flying. Then I thought I could do it.”

With the win, Johnson became the first Ocean City boy to ever capture a state title. His 16:07 is the second-best Holmdel time in school history, behind John Fennekohl’s 16:03 from the 2006 M of C.

Johnson, the South sectional champ, got out pretty conservative and was only in fourth through the first mile. He then lost a few more spots during the second mile and fell to eighth. He wasn’t in eighth long, though, before going full-bore toward the front of the race and capturing the title.

“It has definitely been a roller coaster the last few weeks with all the ups and downs,” Johnson said. “But my breathing was fine today and I felt great.

“I felt the race was between a couple guys and that I could win it.”  

Ocean City senior Ryan Birchmeier,

who was passed by Johnson with about 400 to go, held on to finish second in a monster Holmdel PR of 16:10, which is 1:05 off his previous best time on the course. His time was the second-best by a South Jersey runner on the day.

For Birchmeier, Saturday has been a long day coming since he missed last year’s state meet with an injury.

“It’s a relief to come to a state meet healthy,” Birchmeier said. “I’m really happy with the way I ran. It’s so cool to be in the front of one of these big races.”

It was Birchmeier who held the lead a couple different times during the race before he had to settle for runner-up to his teammate.

With Johnson and Birchmeier going 1-2 in the Group 3 race, they are the first teammates to take the top two spots at a state meet race since Will Melofchik and Patrick Ryan did it for Christian Brothers Academy in Parochial A in 2003.

Holy Cross senior Mike Sheehan

ran South Jersey’s third-fastest time of the day as he turned in a 16:14 to place second in the Non-Public A race to Bishop Ahr’s Teddy Brinkofski, who won the race in 16:04.

The 16:14 is the fastest time ever run on Holmdel by a Holy Cross runner. Sheehan’s second-place finish is the highest by a Holy Cross boy at the state meet since Mike Robertson ran 16:51 to finish third in Parochial A in 1992.

“I didn’t win, but I’m very happy with the race,” said Sheehan, who last weekend won the South Jersey Parochial title. “It was my first race at Holmdel this season (Sheehan didn’t race at Shore Coaches), so it was good. Its my fastest time here by 45 seconds.”

“The race was decided after the second mile. The Bishop Ahr kid started to pull away and I couldn’t really go with him. I tried to move up, but he was too far ahead, so I just made sure I maintained where I was at.”

No. 4 Moorestown

finished fourth in the Group 3 race, but earned an at-large bid into the M of C, based on having one of the top two total team times out of all fourth and fifth place teams (with place never being overruled by time). The Quakers had a total team time of 1:25:54 (17:10.8 average).

Moorestown was lead by senior Kevin Healey, who was 17th in 16:48.

Moorestown Friends,

fresh off its victory last week at the South Jersey Parochial Championships, put five runners in the top 27 to finish second in the Non-Public B race with 70 points to earn its first-ever trip to the M of C. Prerace favorite Mater Dei won the title with 36, while Pingry was third with 77.

Top finisher for the Foxes was senior Sean Denson, who was sixth in 17:21. Also having another strong race for Friends was sophomore No. 2 man Bob Engel, who finished ninth in 17:36.

Other Individual M of C Qualifiers

Shawnee sophomore David Forward, who took fifth in the Group 3 race in 16:16; Schalick senior Eric DuBois, who was 10th in the Group 1 race in 17:11; Highland junior Kyle Gorczynski, who was 11th in Group 3 in 16:30 but earned a wildcard and Clearview senior Zachariah Rocco, who also earned a wildcard out of the Group 3 race by running 16:47.

Camden Catholic senior Kevin McDonnell,

who hasn’t raced since the Camden County Championships on Oct. 18 due to a stress fracture in his left foot, tried to give it a go in the Non-Public A race. Unfortunately, McDonnell never made it to the finish line as he dropped out after the opening mile.