Earlier in the cross country season, Angelina Colavita was given a great barometer for where she might be by the time the bigger state meets rolled around.

“We were at a pretty big meet during the first week of the season, and I had the chance to race with the Haddonfield girls,” said the Barnegat junior following the Ocean County Championships several weeks ago. “It was a fun race, but it showed me how I had to pace the first 2 miles so I could finish strong. Haddonfield runs in a pack near the front, so hanging with them showed me a lot.”

That bit of foreknowledge helped on Oct. 31 at Dream Park in Logan Township, not far from Haddonfield High School, as Colavita finished second in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 2 Championships to qualify for this weekend’s Group 2 meet.

With all seven of the Bulldogs’ squad running at the front of the field, Colavita sandwiched herself between frontrunner Dylan Hosty and Molly Mills, as the three left everybody else behind. Ultimately, Hosty won the race in 17:53.50. Colavita wasn’t far behind at 18:17.57, some 42 seconds ahead of Mills.

Last season, Colavita finished as the sectional runner-up to Haddonfield’s Riley Austin, who graduated in June. Hosty, a sophomore, finished sixth at last year’s sectional meet.

All of Haddonfield’s runners finished among the top 10, with the Bulldogs easily winning the sectional title. Also for Barnegat, junior Taylor Landwehrle ended in 18th place with a time of 22:41.27.

Unfortunately, Pinelands Regional was running without senior Summer Sprague, but the Wildcats still accomplished something they hadn’t done in many years. They qualified as a team for the Group 2 meet after finishing fourth with 126 points.

Junior Rory Krier led the way for Pinelands, clocking a 14th-place time of 22:00.66. Sophomore Chloe Ward placed 19th overall in 22:41.33, followed by freshman Megan Barradas in 21st place at 23:08.04, sophomore Rhoda Ofori in 50th at 27:29.82, and freshman Brielle Ward, who finished 56th in 30:09.52.

LEAD THE TRAIN: Without Summer Sprague in the lineup Oct. 31, junior Rory Krier finished 14th in the SJ Group 2 meet, as Pinelands Regional qualified as a team for the upcoming group meet.

As for Southern Regional’s girls, senior Isabella Millard placed 14th overall in 19:23.47 during the South Jersey Group 4 meet, but the Rams didn’t advance to the group meet as a team, placing ninth in a loaded sectional. Senior Carly Murray was the only other Ram to place among the top 50, grabbing 48th in 21:15.94.

Southern Boys Advance to Group Meet

Southern Regional senior Jack McLennan stayed up near the front for much of the SJ4 race on Oct. 31, but he finished in third place, crossing the line in 15:36.06, about five seconds behind Cherry Hill East’s Cian Sherlock. Washington Township’s Trevor Szilier won the race in 15:12.58.

McLennan led a Southern boys’ effort that landed them in third place as a team, qualifying them for the Group 4 Championships on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Holmdel Park.

Behind him was junior Liam Lawlor in 21st place with a time of 16:16.11, followed by senior Thomas Ball in 22nd at 16:16.78, sophomore Cooper Swenson in 31st at 16:28.42, and junior Luke Stansbury in 42nd with a time of 16:49.90.

In the SJ Group 2 boys’ meet, Pinelands sophomore Simon Villanueva placed 23rd overall in 17:52.27, while classmate Ethan DeLucia was not far behind him in 33rd at 18:15.19. For Barnegat, freshmen Cameron Leach finished 41st in 18:44.02 and Rex Gehrke ended in 44th at 18:52.56.

The Meet of Champions is slated for Saturday, Nov. 14, also at Holmdel Park. To automatically qualify, individual runners must place among the top 10 fastest runners in their group, while the next 30 with the fastest times from all groups will get in as wild cards. The top teams in each group automatically qualify, with the next best eight teams by team score also earning spots.