Alyssa Aldridge of Mainland, the two-time Meet of Champions cross-country winner, continued her comeback from injury by making history at Thursday's Atlantic County Championships at Hammonton Lake Park in Hammonton.
In just her second race of the season, the Georgetown-bound Aldridge, who had been sidelined by a heel bone injury suffered over the summer, became the first girl in meet history to ever win four Atlantic County titles when she covered the 2.9-mile flat course in 17:19. Aldridge's first race of the season was a dual meet victory vs. Vineland on Oct. 10.
Aldridge, the reigning Foot Locker Northeast Regional champion who was 13th at the FL Nationals last year, will be seeking to become just the fourth girl in N.J. history to win three straight M of C XC titles next month.
In the girls team competition, Egg Harbor won its second title in three years with a great display of pack running by going 4-5-6-7-8 with a 46 second compression and an 18:29 average on the way to a 30-62 victory over runner-up Mainland. It's the seventh county title overall for the Egg Harbor girls.
In the boys race, Mikin Patel led a 1-2-4-5-11 finish for Mainland with a winning time of 15:08 as the Mustangs rolled to a 23-44 victory over runner-up Egg Harbor. Mainland, which averaged 15:21, raised its meet record to 19 overall county boys titles.
Girls Top Ten - Full Results
| 1 | Alyssa Aldridge | 12 | Mainland Reg.HS | 17:19.00 | ||
| 2 | Angela Bannan | 11 | Holy Spirit HS | 17:32.00 | ||
| 3 | Paige Sofield | 11 | Holy Spirit HS | 18:06.00 | ||
| 4 | Madelyn Shick | 11 | Egg Harbor Twp HS | 18:17.00 | ||
| 5 | Gianna Scarangelli | 10 | Egg Harbor Twp HS | 18:21.00 | ||
| 6 | Rachel Roesch | 12 | Egg Harbor Twp HS | 18:42.00 | ||
| 7 | Olivia Shafer | 10 | Egg Harbor Twp HS | 18:56.00 | ||
| 8 | Mikki Pomatto | 9 | Egg Harbor Twp HS | 19:03.00 | ||
| 9 | Ariana Ramirez | 11 | Atlantic Co. Tech | 19:17.00 | ||
| 10 | Diane Hoffman | 12 | Hammonton HS | 19:40.00 | ||
Boys Top Ten - Full Results
| 1 | Mikin Patel | 11 | Mainland Reg.HS | 15:08.00 | ||
| 2 | Nicholas Berenotto | 12 | Mainland Reg.HS | 15:12.00 | ||
| 3 | Gobi Thurairajah | 11 | Egg Harbor Twp HS | 15:17.00 | ||
| 4 | Kevin Antczak | 10 | Mainland Reg.HS | 15:18.00 | ||
| 5 | Tiger Carey | 12 | Mainland Reg.HS | 15:21.00 | ||
| 6 | Mike Liberty | 10 | Oakcrest HS | 15:25.00 | ||
| 7 | Brian Catania | 11 | Egg Harbor Twp HS | 15:34.00 | ||
| 8 | Jordan Callahan | 12 | Egg Harbor Twp HS | 15:35.00 | ||
| 9 | Keishaun Joga | 11 | Absegami HS | 15:39.00 | ||
| 10 | Justin Winkler | 12 | Egg Harbor Twp HS | 15:43.00 | ||