The Ridge boys, led by individual champion Brenden McMahon, kept its streak alive by winning for the fifth straight time, the Pingry girls scored a dominating victory, and Julia Scrudato repeated as champion at Thursday's Somerset County Championships at Pleasant Valley Park in Bernards Township.
There have been several All-State runners who have toed the line for Ridge at Pleasant Valley Park, but none of them ever run as fast as McMahon did when the junior stopped the clock at 15:52.
McMahon, third last year, finished seven seconds ahead of junior Lukas Disko of Bridgewater-Raritan and broke the Ridge school course record of 15:53 that was set by the great Jackson Barna in 2019. McMahon is now No. 6 all-time on Pleasant Valley's all-time list. In case you are wondering, the course record of 15:26 was set by Doug Smith of Gill St. Bernard's at the 2007 Somerset County meet. Could McMahon make a run at that record next year?
McMahon's victory ignited a 1-6-7-12-16 scoring combination for Ridge, which added up to a winning total of 42. Pingry was second with 65, and Bernards, the Skyland Conference champ, was third with 69.
Boys Top 5 Finishers
| 1 |  Brenden McMahon | 11 | Ridge HS | 15:52.00 | 1 | |
| 2 |  Lukas Disko | 11 | Bridgewater-Raritan HS | 15:59.00 | 2 | |
| 3 |  Ben Connell | 12 | Bernards HS | 16:00.00 | 3 | |
| 4 |  Tyler Husar | 12 | Montgomery HS | 16:02.00 | 4 | |
| 5 | Brody Watt | 10 | Bernards HS | 16:12.00 | 5 |
Ridge's scorers were McMahon, senior Dmitry Cole, placing sixth in 16:33, senior Dev Patel, seventh in 16:35, senior Matthew Fukushima, 12th in 16:54, and junior Kaleb Huang, 16th in 17:07. Ridge's average of 16:36 was just eight seconds off the course record of 16:28 that Ridge ran last year.
In the girls competition, the University of North Carolina-bound Scrudato, who won the 1,600 at the Meet of Champions last June, threw down the No. 7 time in course history by clocking an 18:13 to finish a minute ahead of Olivia Murray of Pingry, who was a finalist at the Champs (now Foot Locker again) National Championships last year.
Scrudato, who also won the Skyland Conference title last week in 18:33 on the rugged Phillipsburg course, sliced 39 seconds off her winning time from last year. Her 18:13 is the fastest girls time at Pleasant Valley since 2012 when Marissa Ruskan of Bridgewater-Raritan won the Somerset County title in 17:56, which is No. 2 in course history. The course holder is the legendary Melanie Thompson of Voorhees, who ran 17:48 at the 2008 Skyland Conference Championships.
Girls Top 5 Finishers
| 1 |  Julia Scrudato | 12 | Montgomery HS | 18:13.00 | 1 | |
| 2 |  Olivia Murray | 12 | Pingry School | 19:14.00 | 2 | |
| 3 | Aya Krause | 9 | Montgomery HS | 19:33.00 | 3 | |
| 4 | Lucy Ambrogio | 11 | Pingry School | 19:38.00 | 4 | |
| 5 |  Jessica Borchert | 11 | Bridgewater-Raritan HS | 19:48.00 | 5 |
Pingry, which lost to Hillsborough by just three points year, blitzed the competition by cramming its five scorers in the top 13 en route to a 38-99 win over runner-up Montgomery. Pingry also won the Skyland Conference title last week.
The Columbia-bound Murray led a 2-4-9-10-13 finish for Pingry, who averaged 19:46. Junior Lucy Ambrogio was fourth in 19:38, sophomore Julia Ronnen finished ninth in 19:54, junior Kayla Kerr placed 10th in 19:57, and senior Devan Gambello finished 13th in 20:10.
Team Scores
Boys Championship
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ridge HS | 42 | 1+6+7+12+16 (30+45) | 1:15 1-5 Split | 16:36 Avg |
| 2 |  Pingry School | 65 | 8+10+13+15+19 (20+33) | 0:29 1-5 Split | 16:57 Avg |
| 3 | Bernards HS | 69 | 3+5+9+17+35 (55+62) | 1:42 1-5 Split | 16:45 Avg |
| 4 | Montgomery HS | 88 | 4+11+23+24+26 (27+37) | 1:21 1-5 Split | 16:57 Avg |
| 5 | Bridgewater-Raritan HS | 104 | 2+14+22+25+41 (53+60) | 1:59 1-5 Split | 17:07 Avg |
| 6 |  Hillsborough HS | 151 | 18+21+32+38+42 (54+57) | 0:53 1-5 Split | 17:33 Avg |
| 7 |  Watchung Hills Reg. HS | 190 | 28+29+40+46+47 (51+59) | 1:12 1-5 Split | 17:59 Avg |
| 8 |  Immaculata HS | 251 | 34+43+44+58+72 (84+89) | 2:20 1-5 Split | 18:38 Avg |
| 9 |  Somerville HS | 278 | 31+52+56+68+71 (73+81) | 2:20 1-5 Split | 18:58 Avg |
| 10 |  Manville HS | 291 | 39+50+61+64+77 (78+90) | 2:33 1-5 Split | 19:08 Avg |
| 11 |  Franklin Township HS | 299 | 36+48+66+74+75 (85+86) | 2:28 1-5 Split | 19:17 Avg |
| 12 |  Rutgers Prep | 327 | 49+65+67+70+76 (79+80) | 1:31 1-5 Split | 19:40 Avg |
| 13 |  Gill St. Bernard's School | 384 | 63+69+82+83+87 (88+91) | 2:07 1-5 Split | 20:32 Avg |
Girls Championship
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pingry School | 38 | 2+4+9+10+13 (16+21) | 0:56 1-5 Split | 19:46 Avg |
| 2 | Montgomery HS | 99 | 1+3+18+25+52 (58+62) | 4:41 1-5 Split | 20:29 Avg |
| 3 |  Hillsborough HS | 103 | 6+7+27+31+32 | 2:02 1-5 Split | 20:56 Avg |
| 4 |  Ridge HS | 131 | 15+19+22+26+49 (66+68) | 2:34 1-5 Split | 21:10 Avg |
| 5 | Bridgewater-Raritan HS | 147 | 5+11+42+44+45 (47+65) | 2:46 1-5 Split | 21:28 Avg |
| 6 |  Bernards HS | 162 | 14+23+29+36+60 (63+78) | 3:11 1-5 Split | 21:38 Avg |
| 7 |  Watchung Hills Reg. HS | 166 | 20+28+30+40+48 (61) | 2:05 1-5 Split | 21:50 Avg |
| 8 |  Somerville HS | 181 | 8+34+37+43+59 (70+77) | 3:26 1-5 Split | 21:56 Avg |
| 9 |  Mount St. Mary Academy | 253 | 33+38+54+57+71 (73) | 2:36 1-5 Split | 22:57 Avg |
| 10 |  Immaculata HS | 272 | 41+46+51+55+79 | 3:02 1-5 Split | 23:16 Avg |
| 11 |  Franklin Township HS | 276 | 17+50+64+69+76 (80+81) | 4:43 1-5 Split | 23:15 Avg |
| 12 |  Manville HS | 283 | 12+39+67+82+83 (86+90) | 5:43 1-5 Split | 23:35 Avg |
| 13 |  Rutgers Prep | 291 | 35+53+56+72+75 (87+91) | 2:59 1-5 Split | 23:30 Avg |
| 14 |  Gill St. Bernard's School | 355 | 24+74+84+85+88 (89+92) | 5:40 1-5 Split | 24:59 Avg |