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Leah Starkey delivered another ground-shaking and head-spinning performance for the ages by destroying her own course record, Gavin Schmitt scored the biggest win of his life to help CBA extend its dynasty to 18 titles in a row and the Middletown South girls returned to the winner's circle at the Shore Conference Championships on Thursday at Ocean County Park in Lakewood.
STARKEY SHREDS OCP, LEADS FLURRY OF FAST TIMES
In a lightning-fast race that produced four of the fastest times in course history, Starkey, the indefatigable sophomore at Ocean Township, led the way with a jaw-dropping victory in 16:44!!!
The fact that Starkey absolutely lit up the flat layout at OCP should come as no surprise, but to take 22 seconds off her course record dropped a lot of jaws as she stopped the clock at 16:44, tied for the second fastest time ever run by NJ girl on any course. Starkey shattered the course record of 17:06 that she ran at the season opening Battle of Ocean County Park last month.
Starkey, who was second last year, also made history by becoming the first girl from Ocean Township to win the conference XC title.
Three other runners cracked the top 10 on OCP's all-time list in this race!!!
Shore Regional junior Alexandra Klein finished second to Starkey in 17:17, No. 6 in course history, Middletown South sophomore Amelia Pattwell was third in 17:21, No. 8 all-time, and junior Kaitlyn Hathaway of Rumson was fourth in 17:29, tied for No. 10 at OCP.
While it's obviously tough to compare times from different courses because of the difference in difficulty, the 16:44 by Starkey, ranked No. 20 in the nation by MileSplit, ties her with Janet Smith of J.P. Stevens and Angelina Perez of Lakeland for the second fastest time ever run by a NJ girl. Smith ran 16:44 to win the 1983 Kinney (later Foot Locker) National Championships at Balboa Park in San Diego, and Perez ran her 16:44 in the 2021 Independent Division race at Darlington Park in Mahwah.
Blair Bartlett, a junior at Lawrenceville, ran 16:07 at the tri-meet at Peddie earlier this month, owns the fastest NJ girls' time ever run.
With Starkey's 16:44, three of the five fastest times run by a NJ girls all-time have been run this season, Bartlett, Starkey and junior Paige Sheppard of Union Catholic, who ran virtually the same time with her 16:45 at the Virginia Showcase last Saturday!! 
SCHMITT AND CBA RULE THE BOYS RACE
CBA's Gavin Schmitt had been waiting his whole career to come up with a milestone victory. He got what he's been chasing in sizzling fashion when he dropped a huge PR of 14:50 to win a great duel with Colts Neck's Jay Adimala, second in 14:53.
Schmitt, a junior, and Adimala, a senior, put their names alongside some legendary runners on OCP's all-time list as Schmitt ran the 5th fastest time in course history and Adimala ran the 7th fastest time ever on the course.
The only runners to go faster at OCP than Schmitt are Joe Barrett of CBA (14:36 in 2024), Mike McClemens of CBA (14:43 in 2013), Devin Hart of Pt. Boro (14:47 in 2018) and Dylan Tarpey Freehold Township (14:49 in 2013).
That's some fast company!!
Schmitt's victory ignited a 22-91 victory for NJ No. 1/ US No. 4 CBA over runner-up and NJ No. 17 Colts Neck. It's the 18th consecutive conference title for the Colts and 41st overall!
CBA scoring five went 1-3-4-5-11, averaged 15:19 and had a 1-5 compression of 1:06.
CBA'S 7
Place | Athlete | Time | Points |
1 | Gavin Schmitt | 14:50.00 | 1 |
3 | Sean Galvin | 15:14.00 | 3 |
4 | Ryan Collins | 15:18.00 | 4 |
5 | Wyatt Falkowski | 15:19.00 | 5 |
11 | Matt McInerney | 15:56.00 | 9 |
12 | Liam Schmitt | 15:58.00 | 10 |
37 | Justin Ventimiglia | 16:55.00 | 32 |
Team Score: 22
Team Average: 15:19
1-5 Split: 1:06
Top Two Boys' Teams
Place | Team | Points | Scorers (Places) | 1-5 Split | Avg Time |
1 | Christian Brothers Academy | 22 | 1 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 9 (10 + 32) | 1:06 | 15:19 |
2 | Colts Neck HS | 91 | 2 + 8 + 15 + 20 + 46 (72 + 91) | 2:28 | 16:10 |
THE EAGLES SOAR BACK TO THE TOP
Middletown South, ranked No. 6 in NJ, used a balanced attack to win its first girls title since 2019 and its third overall with a hard-fought victory over runner-up No. 20 ranked Shore Regional, 89-115.
Sophomore Amelia Pattwell's led the surge for the Eagles, placing third in 17:21, the 8th fastest time in course history. Middletown South packed their next four runners tightly between 14th and 27th place to seal the win.
MIDDLETOWN SOUTH'S 7
Place | Athlete | Time | Points |
3 | Amelia Pattwell | 17:21.00 | 3 |
16 | Abby Oglevee | 18:40.00 | 14 |
21 | Caitlin Brown | 18:59.00 | 19 |
29 | Keira Fetter | 19:14.00 | 26 |
30 | Reese O'Reilly | 19:14.00 | 27 |
Team Score: 89
Team Average: 18:22
1-5 Split: 1:53
