North Hunterdon girls, Voorhees boys repeat as HWS Champs. Romero and Gonzalez win titles and Cornetta returns
The NJ #1 North Hunterdon rolled to its third title in a row and the NJ #10 Voorhees boys made it five straight titles at Thursday's Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Championships at the new layout at the Phillipsburg Athletic Complex.
Senior Chris Romero led a strong frontal attack for Voorhees with his winning time of 16:15. Voorhees went 1-4-5-10-15 and averaged 17:02 on its way to a 35-46 win over Pope John.
Romero finished 24 seconds in front of defending champion Justin Cornetta of Hunterdon Central, who placed second (16:39) in his first race since January. Cornetta, one of the state's best distance runners, had been sidelined with injuries.
In the girls competition, North Hunterdon's all underclassmen lineup swept the top three places as part of a 1-2-3-8-13 finish as the Lions defeated NJ #7 Voorhees, 27-47. North Hunterdon, which averaged 19:48, was led by sophomore Chloe Gonzalez, the individual winner in 19:07.
Next up for North Hunterdon is a showdown with NJ #3 Ridge at next Thursday's Skyland Conference Championships at Natirar Park in Gladstone.
There were some notable absences from this meet.
NJ #5 North Hunterdon held out its top boys and Alexa Westley of Warren Hills, the 3,200 Meet of Champions winner last spring, skipped the meet because they are gearing up for Saturday's Eastern States Championships at the Manhattan Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park.
Boys Top Finishers - Full Results
| 1 | Chris Romero | 12 | Voorhees HS | 16:15.25 | ||
| 2 | Justin Cornetta | 12 | Hunterdon Central HS | 16:39.28 | ||
| 3 | Jimmy Zignorski | 12 | Pope John XXIII HS | 16:44.05 | ||
| 4 | Maxwell Page | 11 | Voorhees HS | 16:50.53 | ||
| 5 | Joseph Capone | 12 | Voorhees HS | 17:01.95 | ||
| 6 | William Sauerborn | 10 | Hunterdon Central HS | 17:10.28 | ||
| 7 | Liam McHale | 11 | Pope John XXIII HS | 17:13.03 | ||
| 8 | Cameron Gec | 12 | Wallkill Valley HS | 17:16.01 | ||
| 9 | Kyle Robison | 12 | Hunterdon Central HS | 17:20.95 | ||
| 10 | Dylan Fritz | 10 | Voorhees HS | 17:22.28 | ||
| 1 | Voorhees HS | 35 | 1+4+5+10+15 (23+45) | --:-- 1-5 Split | 17:01 Avg | ||
| 2 | Pope John XXIII HS | 46 | 3+7+11+12+13 (24+70) | --:-- 1-5 Split | 17:14 Avg | ||
| 3 | Hunterdon Central HS | 61 | 2+6+9+16+28 (31+43) | --:-- 1-5 Split | 17:24 Avg | ||
Girls Top Finishers - Full Results
| 1 | Chloe Gonzalez | 10 | North Hunterdon HS | 19:07.61 | ||
| 2 | Elena DiMarcello | 11 | North Hunterdon HS | 19:21.71 | ||
| 3 | Emily Nugent | 11 | North Hunterdon HS | 19:22.91 | ||
| 4 | Nicole Cassavell | 12 | Voorhees HS | 19:30.71 | ||
| 5 | Laurel Kurtz | 9 | Hunterdon Central HS | 19:53.70 | ||
| 6 | Lauren Wagner | 11 | Voorhees HS | 19:53.94 | ||
| 7 | Emma McGill | 9 | Voorhees HS | 20:16.07 | ||
| 8 | Angela Kearsley | 11 | North Hunterdon HS | 20:20.44 | ||
| 9 | Rachel Herrman | 12 | Phillipsburg HS | 20:20.77 | ||
| 10 | Julia Herraiz | 11 | Pope John XXIII HS | 20:33.88 | ||
| 1 | North Hunterdon HS | 27 | 1+2+3+8+13 (15+18) | --:-- 1-5 Split | 19:48 Avg | ||
| 2 | Voorhees HS | 47 | 4+6+7+11+19 (28+31) | --:-- 1-5 Split | 20:22 Avg | ||
| 3 | Hunterdon Central HS | 81 | 5+12+17+21+26 (32) | --:-- 1-5 Split | 21:09 Avg | ||