Original Photo by Patty Morgan for MileSplit
West Deptford HS, The Lawrenceville School, Lenape Reg. HS, Lacey Twp. HS, Haddonfield Mem. HS, and A P Schalick HS all attended this wet and rainny show down at the Belmont Plateau.
GIRLS
Briana Gess of Haddonfield put on a display of strength in the Girls Championship race taking first place with a time of 18:40. That was 48 seconds faster than second place, Gabrielle Wilkinson of Friends' Central (PA). In fact if you combined all of the races Gess' time was still a whopping 46 seconds faster than the second best time of the meet on Saturday!
Looking back at the Briarwood meets Briana Gess' 18:40 time as a sophomore marks the 9th best overall since 2001.
With Gess's one card the rest of the Haddonfield girls stepped us as well and finished up 5th as a team out of the 6 in the championship race.
| 5 | Haddonfield Mem. HS | 99 | 1+21+22+27+28 (32+34) | 2:44 1-5 Split | 20:34 Avg | ||
Abby Gauthier of Lacey competing at Briarwood on Saturday. / Photo by Patty Morgan for MileSplit
In the Girls Division 1 race New Jersey was led by Lacey Twp's sophomore Abby Gauthier who placed 7th with a time of 21:42. Lenape's Camille Franklin was right behind her in 9th with a time of 22.01. These girls would lead their teams to 5th and 6th place finished for the Division 1 standings.
| 5 | Lacey Twp. HS | 124 | 7+15+24+34+44 (45+50) | 4:26 1-5 Split | 23:30 Avg | ||
| 6 | Lenape Reg. HS | 125 | 9+12+32+33+39 (43) | 2:33 1-5 Split | 23:19 Avg | ||
Amy Orser of The Lawrenceville School tries to close in on the leaders at Briarwood. / Photo by Patty Morgan for MileSplit
Looking at the Girls Division 2 race The Lawrenceville School girls earned 3rd place with 118 points and a team average of 23:15. They were led by Amy Orser, the junior placed 7th clocking 21:23. West Deptford and AP Schalick placed 10th and 11th in this division as well. AP Schalick was led by Senior Olivia Gerstenbacher who took 9th overall with a time of 21:33. West Deptford's number one runner was sophomore Heather Ward who placed 54th overall with a time of 26:31.
( 23:15 1:56:14 3:34)
( 28:08 2:20:40 8:47)
( 27:15 2:16:14 2:07)
BOYS
Austin Stoner (left) and Greg Pelose (right) bring it home at Briarwood. / Photo by Patty Morgan for MileSplit
Now onto the boys performances. In the Division 2 Boys race South Jersey schools swept the TOP FOUR places in the team standings! Haddonfield Memorial boys took first overall with an average time of 17:05! The top five for Haddonfield all finished in the top 10 overall. They were led by Austin Stoner who won the race with a time of 16:53 and Greg Pelose who was literally right on his tail finished second with a time of 16:53 as well. The Haddonfield squad only split 28 seconds between start and finish and their average was over 50 seconds faster than second place AP Schalick's 17:57! Danny Brennan (4th / 17:07), Chad Evans (5th / 17:08), and Colin Gallagher (6th / 17:21) sealed the deal just missing a perfect score.
AP Schalick was led by 7th place Cosmo Pirozzi who ran 17:29, Samuel Gerstenbacher also cracked the top ten with a 17:33. West Deptford placed three in the top ten; Mitchel Wileczek broke up Haddonfield's attempt the perfect score with a third place finish clocking 17:05. A.J. Kilpatrick took 8th with a time of 17:32, and Ryan Zuzulock 9th with the same time.
The Lawrenceville School placed 4th as a team and were led by Dan Goldman who placed 13th with a time of 17:49.
In the Division 1 race New Jersey saw Lenape Regional earn third as a team with 79 points and an 18:13 team average. They were led by Matt Zubrzycki who placed 4th with a time of 17:29.