The Point Pleasant Boro boys ended a long drought and snapped a long winning streak and the Toms River North girls returned to the winner's circle at Tuesday's Ocean County Championships at Ocean County Park in Lakewood.
PT. BORO BREAKS THROUGH
Big shoutout to the Point Boro boys, who finally broke through to win its first county title in 53 years with a dominating and record-breaking performance, outscoring Southern, 51-77. It's the first county crown for Point Boro since 1971 and its second title overall, and it ended Southern's streak of five straight titles.
After finishing second last year, Point Boro wasn't going to be denied this year.
Riding a potent 1-2 punch of senior Cleatus Oakes, first in 15:28.6, and junior Caden Gueci, second in 15:36.7, the Panthers controlled the race up front to ignite the monumental victory. And the rest of Point Boro's strong pack all placed in the top 20! Senior Brady Ballou was 13th in 16:26.7, senior Ryan Sabia placed 18th in 16:36.5, and junior Michael DeFrancesco finished 20th in 16:41.9.
Boys Top Individual Finishers
| Place | Athlete | Team | Mark | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Cleatus Oakes | 12 | Pt. Pleasant Boro HS | 15:28.54 | 1 | |
| 2 | Caden Gueci | 11 | Pt. Pleasant Boro HS | 15:36.86 | 2 | |
| 3 |  Kyle Robert Skiendzielewski | 12 | Southern Regional HS | 15:47.16 | 3 | |
| 4 |  Ryan Macom | 12 | Toms River East HS | 15:53.14 | 4 | |
| 5 |  Gavin Oliver | 10 | Donovan Catholic HS | 15:54.89 | ||
| 6 |  Will Ashton | 12 | Manchester Township HS | 15:57.45 | 5 | |
| 7 |  Taysaun Wilson | 12 | Toms River North HS | 15:59.54 | 6 | |
| 8 |  Charlie Pettinato | 12 | Brick Memorial HS | 16:01.54 | 7 | |
| 9 | Aaron David Wyrsch | 10 | Southern Regional HS | 16:02.82 | 8 | |
| 10 | Chase Griffith | 10 | Manchester Township HS | 16:23.66 | 9 |
The scoring combination for Point Boro was 1-2-12-17-19 and the Panthers burned a school record average of 16:10 and had a 1-5 spread of 1:13. The previous school record average was 16:30 at the 2013 Ocean County Championships at OCP.
The victory by Oakes, who was 10th last year, marks the seventh time a runner from Point Boro won the boys' county title. He joins Steve Foster (1969), Mike Fleming (1973), Terence Fagan (1992), and Devin Hart, the only 3-time champ (2016, 2017, 2018).
"I am so proud of this team,'' said Point Boro coach Brian Decker. "They have been hungry since last year to win the county title since it has not been done in so long. For this team and program being competitive against the likes of Southern and Toms River North, who have great programs and are well-coached, it shows how invested they are in getting better each race. They are truly a special group that believe in each other and trust their training.''
Boys Top 5 Teams
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pt. Pleasant Boro HS | 51 | 1+2+12+17+19 (37+44) | 1:13 1-5 Split | 16:10 Avg |
| 2 | Southern Regional HS | 77 | 3+8+10+24+32 (56+61) | 1:59 1-5 Split | 16:36 Avg |
| 3 | Toms River North HS | 88 | 6+11+13+20+38 (43+46) | 2:03 1-5 Split | 16:43 Avg |
| 4 | Toms River East HS | 117 | 4+16+30+31+36 (51+76) | 2:05 1-5 Split | 17:07 Avg |
| 5 | Manchester Township HS | 119 | 5+9+15+27+63 (84) | 2:56 1-5 Split | 17:00 Avg |
TOMS RIVER NORTH, SLAVINSKI WIN GIRLS' TITLES
After close runner-up finishes last year, Toms River North and junior Ivy Slavinski of Point Pleasant Boro finished first in the girls' race.
TRN, second to Southern last year, defeated runner-up Donovan Catholic, 65-76, to capture its third title in the past four years.
Donovan Catholic had a 26-27 edge in TRN after their first three runners finished, but TRN picked up 7 points at the No. 4 spot and five more at the No. 5 spot to secure the victory.
TRN's top five finished 7-8-12-13-25, averaged 20:13, and had a 1-5 split of 1:11. Donovan Catholic went 6-9-11-20-30, averaged 20:19, and had compression of 1:32.
The five scorers for TRN were freshman Payton Moraghan, seventh in 19:37, sophomore Caroline Eubanks, eighth in 20:05, freshman Vera Don, 12th in 20:14, freshman Nora Eberle, 13th in 20:16, and senior Marrisa Lynch, 25th in 20:49.
Girls Top 5 Teams
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Toms River North HS | 65 | 7+8+12+13+25 (34+35) | 1:11 1-5 Split | 20:13 Avg |
| 2 |  Donovan Catholic HS | 76 | 6+9+11+20+30 (37+56) | 1:32 1-5 Split | 20:19 Avg |
| 3 |  Brick Memorial HS | 91 | 4+5+23+26+33 (36+40) | 1:50 1-5 Split | 20:20 Avg |
| 4 |  Pt. Pleasant Boro HS | 115 | 1+14+16+41+43 (46+50) | 3:36 1-5 Split | 20:29 Avg |
| 5 |  Southern Regional HS | 117 | 3+15+19+22+58 (62+71) | 3:57 1-5 Split | 20:40 Avg |
Slavinski, second to Jessica Abbott last year (Abbott attended TRN last year and is now at Manalapan), ran away with the individual title by running 18:14.7, 33 seconds ahead of runner-up Kiera McHugh of Brick.
Slavinski, who won the State Group 2 Championship as a sophomore last year, joined Jamie Glenn (1992) and Molly Kate Sabia (2018 and 2019) as the only girls from Point Boro to win the county XC title.
Girls Top Individual Finishers
| Place | Video | Athlete | Team | Mark | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivy Slavinski | 11 | Pt. Pleasant Boro HS | 18:14.70 | 1 | |
| 2 |  Kiera McHugh | 11 | Brick Township HS | 18:47.06 | 2 | |
| 3 | Casey Collins | 12 | Southern Regional HS | 18:57.62 | 3 | |
| 4 | Megan Albanowicz | 11 | Brick Memorial HS | 19:25.47 | 4 | |
| 5 | Katie Rogers | 12 | Brick Memorial HS | 19:28.29 | 5 | |
| 6 | Angela Gibbons | 11 | Donovan Catholic HS | 19:35.43 | 6 | |
| 7 | Payton Moraghan | 9 | Toms River North HS | 19:37.99 | 7 | |
| 8 | Caroline Eubanks | 10 | Toms River North HS | 20:05.85 | 8 | |
| 9 | Maeve Smith | 10 | Donovan Catholic HS | 20:09.55 | 9 | |
| 10 |  Rory Krier | 9 | Pinelands Regional HS | 20:12.15 | 10 |
Related
The Point Pleasant Boro boys ended a long drought and snapped a long winning streak and the Toms River North girls returned to the winner's circle at Tuesday's Ocean County Championships at Ocean County Park in Lakewood.