Results | Photos
The Mendham and Villa Walsh girls continued their remarkable streaks of dominance, the Madison boys repeated as champs, and the Chatham boys returned to the top at Tuesday's Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Championships on the Greystone course in Morris Plains.
Individually, seniors Maya Van Horn of Morris Tech and Alex Pelov of Montville ran the fastest times of the day.
STREAKS STAY ALIVE
On the girls side, Mendham extended its amazing streak to seven championships in a row in the Large School Division. Villa Walsh won its fourth straight Small School title, and Van Horn and Katlyn Nolan of Pope John, who were both second a year ago, were the individual champs.
In the Large School girls race, Mendham finished 2-4-15-19-22 on its way to an 62-87 victory over runner-up Morris Knolls. Nolan, a senior, ran a PR of 19:03.9 to win the race by five seconds over Kate Shaw of Mendham. Nolan's previous best time on any course was the 19:14.4 she clocked at an NJAC Batch Meet at Greystone earlier this month.
Villa Walsh and Van Horn ruled the Small School Division.
Villa Walsh, ranked No. 19 in the state, jammed its five scoring runners in the top on the way to a runaway victory, 27-67, over runner-up Mountain Lakes. Villa Walsh's top five finished 2-3-5-8-9. In a race that produced three sub 19 times, Van Horn ran 18:23.3 to win the race by 12 seconds over Maggie Boler of Villa Walsh. It's the fourth major win of the season for Van Horn!
CHATHAM, MADISON, PELOV, NOLAN RULE BOYS RACES
The boys competition went as expected.
In the Large School race, No. 12 ranked Chatham, second to Mendham a year ago, regained the title, 60-84 over Mendham with No. 18 ranked Delbarton third with 98. Pelov, , third last year, was the individual winner, crossing first in 15:25.7.
The team battle came down to the No. 5 runner as Chatham and Mendham were tied at 35-35 after each team had four across the line. Chatham's No. 5 man, Thomas Haines, finished 25th in 17:02, 24 spots ahead of Mendham's No. 5 man. Chatham went 3-4-11-17-25.
The Small Schools race was all about Madison as the Dodgers, behind Jacob Nolan's victory, blitzed the field with a 51-114 victory over Mountain Lakes. Nolan, who led the charge for Madison by winning in 15:42.3, avenged his loss to Max Khan of Mountain Lakes last year. Khan was second in 16:09.
Madison's strong pack finished 1-5-11-15-19.
