Defending champion Collin Boler took down the course record, the Chatham boys got the revenge and the repeat they were seeking, and Villa Walsh and Emma Bradley of The Academy of St. Elizabeth made history at the Morris County Championships on Tuesday at Greystone Park in Morris Plains.
Boler, a senior at Delbarton, stopped the clock a 15:04 to became the fastest runner in course history!!! His time broke the record of 15:07 that Jack Jennings of Mendham ran twice in 2019. Jennings, now starring at Villanova, ran 15:07's at both the NJAC Championships and the North Jersey, Sec. 2 Group 3 races.
Boler finished 34 seconds ahead of his twin brother Brian, who was second in 15:37.
Despite the Boler's 1-2 finish, it wasn't enough to dethrone Chatham as champs.
Chatham, which lost to Delbarton on a tiebreaker at the NJAC Championships last week at Greystone, avenged that defeat with a 61-64 victory. It's the fourth county title for the Cougars, who also won in 2006, 2014, and last year.
Chatham, which averaged 16:31 and had a 1-5 compression of 1:15, was trailing Delbarton 29-40 after both teams had four runners across. But Chatham's No. 5 runner, senior Leo Valenzuela, finished 14 spots ahead of Delbarton's No. 5 man to secure the title for Chatham.
The five scorers for Chatham were senior Ryan Beegle, third in 15:47, senior Alexander Krack, 7th in 16:24, sophomore Finn Valli, 12th in 16:44, senior Charles Henne, 18th in 16:49, and Valenzuela finished 21st in 16:52. Delbarton countered by going 1-2-11-15-35.
FIRST TIME CHAMPS
The girls race featured a pair of first time winners as Villa Walsh, second last year, steamrolled its way to a 52-101 victory over runner-up Morris Hills, and Bradley, a junior, became the first winner ever from The Academy of St. Elizabeth when she crossed the line first in 19:05, four seconds ahead of runner-up Grace DelGiorno of Morristown.
Villa Walsh, which averaged 20:02 and had a 59 second 1-5 split, finished 5-6-11-16-19. Sophomore Ines Lemee was fifth for Villa Walsh in 19:30, freshman Blythe Dudley was sixth in 19:47, senior Victoria Wong placed 11th in 20:10, senior Delaney McKee finished 16th in 20:19, and sophomore Martha Smart finished 19th in 20:29.
