After repeating as the Ocean County champions, the Southern Regional boys cross country team’s goal for the Shore Conference Championships on Oct. 23 was to stay as close to Christian Brothers Academy as possible.

“I want to sit on the CBA guys and let them pull me through with a fast time,” Southern senior Jack McLennan said after the county meet 10 days earlier. “I know all of their guys will be up near the front, so I want to stay close to the front two and see where it gets me. If they can pull me and I can pull our guys closer to the front, we’ll be in good shape.”

Of course, the Colts won – that’s a regular occurrence, after all – but McLennan’s plan apparently worked out well. The Rams finished second as a team with 104 points. CBA held the top spot with 25 points, placing its top five runners among the top 10.

McLennan finished fourth overall with a time of 15:24.93, about seven seconds separating him from Donovan Catholic’s Gavin Oliver in second and a mere two seconds behind CBA’s Max Kemp. The Colts’ Gavin Schmitt easily won the conference title in 14:38.69.

Behind McLennan, Cooper Swenson managed to grab 11th place in 15:53.50, while Liam Lawlor placed 27th overall in 16:23.49, and Thomas Ball (16:36.96) and Luke Stansbury (16:38.60) finished 33rd and 34th.

In the girls’ race, Barnegat’s Angelina Colavita placed 14th overall in 18:51.98, several minutes behind defending state champion Leah Starkey of Ocean Township, who won the race by nearly 34 seconds.

Southern’s Isabella Millard placed 30th overall at 19:16.72, while Pinelands Regional’s Rory Krier snagged the 45th position in 19:55.15.

Zoladz Finishes 12th in Conference Competition

Competing all-around in the Shore Conference Championships for the first time in her career, Southern Regional senior gymnast Kaci Zoladz placed 12th among the Shore’s best on Oct. 24.

Zoladz recorded a total score of 35.15, just 0.25 behind Howell’s Brenna Velez and 0.35 behind Toms River East’s Olivia Seaman. Zoladz scored 8.9 on the vault, 8.975 on the uneven bars, which was good enough for seventh place, 8.375 on the balance beam, and 8.9 on the floor exercise.

Also on the vault, Leah Rigby recorded a score of 8.6. McKenne Fenkel scored 8.075 on the bars, while Gianna Ilaria placed 11th on the beam with a score of 9.15. Rigby’s score on the beam was 8.625. Rigby also scored 8.35 on the floor.

Southern, Barnegat Enter Football Playoffs

For the first time since Barnegat High School opened its doors in 2004, all three Southern Ocean County football teams earned spots in the state playoffs during the same season.

FLIP THROUGH IT: Southern Regional senior Kaci Zoladz finished 12th among the Shore Conference’s best on Oct. 24. Zoladz snagged seventh in the conference on the uneven bars.

While Southern Regional was awarded the second seed for NJSIAA South Jersey Group 5 despite a 14-13 loss to Brick Memorial on Oct. 23, the Bengals locked up a position in Central Jersey Group 3 with a solid, 49-27 victory against Long Branch.

Barnegat (7-2) scored three consecutive touchdowns in the first quarter to take a commanding 21-0 lead and carried a 21-13 lead into the second half before reeling off four straight TDs bridging the third and fourth quarters.

Chris Santero scored on a 47-yard run to start the scoring, then returned a fumble 47 yards to give the Bengals a two-touchdown lead, before Ryan Fitzpatrick added a 5-yard TD run. Anthony Dringus kicked all three extra points to give Barnegat a 21-point cushion.

After the Green Wave scored twice to cut into the gap, Barnegat unleashed another four scores, starting with Santero’s 8-yard TD run in the third quarter. Fitzpatrick opened the fourth quarter with an 8-yard run, followed by Santero with a 23-yard TD, and Fitzpatrick finished off Long Branch with a 5-yard TD burst.

Zach McCrohan completed eight of nine passes for 70 yards, and Fitzpatrick tallied 109 yards on 12 carries. Santero finished with 101 yards on eight carries, as the Bengals totaled 223 yards on the ground.

With the seventh seed for the state playoffs, the Bengals will open on the road against second-seeded Camden on Friday, Oct. 30.

Meanwhile, Southern wrapped up its regular season at 6-3 despite the one-point loss to Brick Memorial. Quarterback Carson Abbato threw 16 completions for 217 yards and a pair of touchdowns and also ran the ball 81 yards on eight carries.

Abbato threw a 6-yard TD pass to Mason O’Brien during the second quarter, and Levi Foote kicked the extra point to tie Brick, 7-7, by halftime. After the Mustangs scored in the third quarter to take a 14-7 lead, Abbato found Chris Raub on a 24-yard scoring strike to make it 14-13, but the PAT was blocked.

Raub hauled in seven passes for 86 yards and Luke Iorio snatched five passes for 79 yards. Defensively, Niko Iliescu totaled 10 tackles and a sack.

Southern enters the South Jersey Group 5 playoffs as the second seed and will meet seventh-seeded Triton at home on Friday, Oct. 30, starting at 7 p.m., with the winner slated to meet either third-seeded Toms River North or sixth-seeded Manalapan in the quarterfinals next week. Washington Township is the top seed, and the sectional championship is set for Friday, Nov. 13.