RCSJ cross country standouts Jeanine Morrow and Christion Anigilaje used a home course advantage Sunday morning in turning in impressive performances during the Roadrunner Invitational, the first major cross country meet to be held on campus since 2007.
The conditions could not have been more perfect for a triumphant return for cross country racing on the Roadrunner campus. The 2021 Roadrunner Invitational showcased NJCAA Region 19 spring xc action, with teams from the entire tri-state area in attendance.
First up were the ladies, where sophomore Jeanine Morrow led for most of the race after making a strong surge about 800 meters into the 5,000 meter race. From that first surge on, there really was no question who was going to come home with the victory ion 24:03, as the returning All-Region runner continued to push the pace on her home course and cruised to a championship by over 1:30.
Next up for the lady Roadrunners was Sabrina Baer making her xc debut, with a 3rd place finish to set her personal record in the 5k event. The remaining ladies swept the rest of the race with Amanda Aydelotte, Kaitlyn Holland, and Erin Kelly taking 4th, 5th, and 6th respectively to also give the RCSJ Roadrunners a team victory in their home invitational.
A Washington Township High graduate, Morrow held the lead from start to finish in easily completing her home course. She noted that she and her teammates were merely happy to be competing again after the pandemic shut down the Fall 2020 season.
"It's pretty cool just to be back out here running -- I didn't really care about my times, but just being out here since we didn't have this chance last fall," said Morrow. "With another year comes a new level of confidence in myself and my running ability."
On the men's side, sophomore Christion Anigilaje led the trio across the line with an impressive 4th place finish. Just a few strides behind our leader, Jacion Hammond blazed to a 6th place finish. Rounding out the team this week, and making his Roadrunner cross country debut after just a few days of practice, was Jonathan Miller with a hard fought battle to bring home 8th place with a great finishing kick. A few resting runners on the men's side kept the Roadrunners from fielding a full team this week.
"I felt the pace was pretty easy, but I sat back a little too long before making my move," said Anigilaje, a sophomore. "Other than that we've all made some nice progress in getting ready for the track season."
The winner of the 26-runner field was Brookdale's Michael Puzo, who clocked a first place time of 18:21.
Brookdale (36 points), Delaware Tech (39) and Williamson Trade (51) were the top three finishers in the team race.
The short cross country season wraps up with two more races in the next two weeks, with the Bulldog Invitational hosted by Thaddeus Stevens and a Region 19 Invitational hosted by Del Tech.
WATCH BOTH RACES BELOW:
Click Here for Photo Highlights from Roadrunner Invitational (OVER 750+ PHOTOS!)
RESULTS
WOMEN'S 5K
- Jeanine Morrow RCSJ 24:03
- Kristen Daly Brookdale 25:38
- Sabrina Baer RCSJ 26:05
- Amanda Aydelotte RCSJ 29:06
- Kaitlyn Holland RCSJ 31:27
- Erin Kelly RCSJ 33:08
TEAM SCORE
- RCSJ 15 1 2 3 4 5
MEN'S 5K
- Michael Puzo Brookdale 18:21 (1)
- Alexander Hall Union 18:26
- Nelly Theband Union 19:01
- Christion Anigilaje RCSJ 19:27
- Joseph Volk Del Tech 19:37 (2)
- Jacion Hammond RCSJ 19:38
- Hayward Boutte Jr. Del Tech 19:56 (3)
- Jonathan Miller RCSJ 20:01
- Domenic Beck Williamson 20:03 (4)
- Jacob Schmid Salem 20:10
- Kyle Morgan Williamson 20:45 (5)
- Michael Smith Brookdale 20:49 (6)
- Shane Titus Williamson 20:57 (7)
- Liam Broadhurst Brookdale 21:00 (8)
- Shea Hoff Brookdale 21:35 (9)
- Stephen Culver Del Tech 21:48 (10)
- James Volk Del Tech 21:53 (11)
- Magnus Sanchez Brookdale 22:38 (12)
- Abhinav Parbhakar Del Tech 23:14 (13)
- Nathan Brown Del Tech 23:27 (14)
- Axel Linde Brookdale 23:37 (15)
- Santos Herrera-Lopez Del Tech 23:44 (16)
- Ian Hampton Williamson 25:17 (17)
- Michael Breslin Williamson 25:28 (18)
- Cameron Wolff Williamson 26:57 (19)
- Levi McCullough Williamson 28:13 (20)
- Joshua Baldinger Williamson 28:14
TEAM SCORES
- Brookdale 36 1 6 8 9 12 (15)
- Del Tech 39 2 3 10 11 13 (14) (16)
- Williamson 51 4 5 7 17 18 (19) (20)
Meet Preview
Excitement is building around RCSJ men's and women's cross country programs this spring as the Roadrunners prepare to host Sunday's Roadrunner Invitational at the Sports Complex, the first time the school has hosted a major meet since 2007.
"I'm excited to have a home meet here -- it's been quite a few years," said Roadrunner Coach Ryan Hughes. "We have a nice, flat course here, and the weather for Sunday looks to be much nicer than our first meet at Stockton.
"It's also exciting to see how our men's and women's teams have progressed and will continue to progress as they get ready or the Spring track season."
The Roadrunners opened a short Spring 2021 season with a solid performance in the Osprey Invitational at Stockton University on March 6. For the men, Christion Anigilage and Josh Potter performed well while for the women Jeanine Morrow was the top finisher followed by Amanda Aydelotte, Kaitlyn Holland, and Erin Kelly respectively.
"It's great to be back running in major meets, and I hope we can continue to improve and lower our times," said Kelly, a sophomore.
The Roadrunner Invitational is slated to begin at 11 am and will feature a men's and women's race with teams competing from around the tri-state area.
Listen to video from Erin Kelly here
Listen to video from Amanda Aydelotte here