LOGAN TOWNSHIP — The Ocean City High School boys cross country team dominated at the South Jersey Group III sectionals Saturday, their low winning point total bested only by their female counterparts.
The OCHS boys and girls both earned their third straight South Jersey championship at Dream Park in Logan Township, propelling them on to the state championship this Saturday.
The boys put all five of their scorers in the top 10 finishers, with Erik Preisner and Nathan Aschmann finishing first and second, as their team scored 25 points to win, far ahead of second-place team finisher Highland Regional with 84.
The girls put six of their seven finishers in the top 10, with their seventh in 12th, to win the team title with 23 points, beating the 12 other teams. Moorestown was second with 56 team points.
The Red Raider girls swept the top three places with sophomore Riley Tolson winning in 18 minutes, 29.18 seconds, junior Lillian Flora second (18:56.03) and junior Carley Godfrey third (19:04.68).
“It was very exciting,” Tolson said about her first South Jersey individual title. “I was really happy to see all Ocean City behind me when I was running. I felt very confident in my team and I was just excited that we got the (1-2-3) sweep.”
Junior Peighton Clemens (19:39.53) and freshman Bella Cera (19:40.65) rounded out the five scorers, finishing eighth and ninth, respectively. Teammates Lenna Driscoll (19:46.02), a sophomore, and senior Gabrielle Henry (19:53.65) were 10th and 12th.
Preisner, a senior, is the individual boys Group III South Jersey champion for the second year in a row. He finished in 15:33.01. Aschmann’s time was 15:48.59.
Raider junior Keenan Neuman (16:00.02) was fourth; sophomore Nevin Millstein (16:19.15) eighth; and junior Michael Romano (16:27.62) 10th to complete the scorers. Teammate Benjamin McCarthy (16:35.16) was 12th and fellow sophomore Hayden Tarves (17:16.13) was 25th.
The Raider boys finished with an average time of 16:01 to lead the 16 teams in the South Jersey Group III sectional. The next-best average was Highland with 16:51.
Preisner had the fastest time and the Ocean City boys the fastest average of all the Group III sectionals — North 1, North 2 and Central.
For the girls, Ocean City had a 19:10 average time to best the 12 other teams in the South Jersey sectional. They also had the fastest average of the Group III sectionals.
For both boys and girls, the Group III sectionals were on different courses, which can affect the times.
Both teams won the sectional title in 2023 and 2024 and were second in 2022.
The Red Raiders now head to the state championships this weekend at Holmdel Park in Holmdel. The OCHS boys, coached by Matt Purdue, were second at states last year in Group III and the girls, coached by Tim Cook, were third.
“I think they have a good shot to compete,” Cook said about the state meet. “The goal from the beginning has been wanting to go to the Meet of Champions, so that’s our hope. I think we line up pretty well.
“I think it’s going to be a good meet so we’re getting ready. Everybody’s healthy, which is nice, too. We’ve been waiting for that,” Cook said. “We didn’t taper yet so the girls felt a little beat up and still ran well so we’re going to pull back this week and hopefully bring it on Saturday.”
The boys coach was equally pleased.
“We ran well and the guys did what we had asked as far as racing strategy and our approach,” Purdue said. “Highland is always one of the top programs, so we always know we have to be ready to race them. … We thought if we could run well, we would have a good shot at South Jersey Group III.
“The guys are now focused on the state Group III meet and trying to be among the top teams there,” the boys coach added.
Purdue said Preisner repeating as the individual South Jersey sectional champ is “a great accomplishment.”
Preisner is a senior who has been on the team three years, running with a core group that has also been part of the sectional success. That, he said, “is a testament to their dedication and work ethic.”
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
