Following last year’s Ocean County Cross Country Championships, it was easy to believe Barnegat’s Angelina Colavita had a shot to some day win the county crown. She placed third, less than a dozen seconds behind Toms River North’s Payton Moraghan.

Point Pleasant Borough’s Ivy Slavinski graduated in June, so the battle between the two juniors this season was imminent. But then Addison Sheehy, a freshman phenom from Toms River East, entered the picture.

“She’s impressive,” Colavita said on Oct. 13 following this year’s county race at Ocean County Park, during which the Bengals junior placed second in 18 minutes, 52.55 seconds: 23 seconds ahead of Moraghan, but 41 seconds behind Sheehy. “She’s fast. She’s pretty incredible, really.”

Once the pack left the starting line and ran through the first 200 meters, Sheehy was out front the entire 3.2 miles. The question was how long Colavita and Moraghan could stay somewhat close to the lead, along with North junior Nora Eberle.

By the midpoint of the race, Sheehy was several hundred meters out front, and it was clear nobody was catching her.

“I was using the North girls as a measure of where I needed to be,” Colavita said. “I wanted to keep them close or stay in front of them. I didn’t get too hung up on anything related to time. I just wanted to compete and see where I ended up, learn from it and use that experience for the next meet.”

With a mile to go, Colavita created enough distance from the North duo to comfortably cruise to the finish, even as Sheehy inched farther away with each stride.

“The struggle for me so far this season has been the last mile,” Colavita said. “Usually, I back off a little at the end instead of leaning in. This race showed me how I need to improve, but that should change with the next two races. When there are more girls at the front, that will help me.”

CRUISING ALONG: Southern Regional senior Isabella Millard heads into the final mile during the county championship meet at Ocean County Park.

Later this week, Colavita and the rest of Ocean County’s best will compete in the Shore Conference Championships, with the state sectional meets slated for Oct. 31.

Unfortunately, Colavita was one of just three Barnegat runners in the varsity race, so the Bengals couldn’t advance as a team. However, Southern Regional and Pinelands Regional placed second and seventh, respectively, to earn spots in the conference meet, set for Thursday, Oct. 22, also at Ocean County Park.

“It’s super exciting that we tied for seventh and qualified for the conference meet,” said Pinelands coach Anthony Alloca, whose Wildcats were led by senior Summer Sprague and junior Rory Krier. “It’s been a few years for us, but the girls have been working hard all season, and that work has paid off.”

With Moraghan and Eberle finishing third and fourth ahead of another Toms River East freshman, Brielle MacDonald, Southern senior Isabella Millard grabbed sixth in 20:23.16, and Sprague was right behind her in seventh with a time of 20:28.31.

“Seventh is good,” Sprague said. “The top five was realistic because last week in the B South meet, I ran sub-20 at 19:56, but this was a harder race. It was a little warm today and there was more competition, but I had a good race. I felt relaxed.”

Sprague and Krier ran through the first mile together, not far from the lead pack. But as the frontrunners began to separate, Sprague led the way for Pinelands while Krier settled back a bit. As Millard made her push forward, Sprague stayed close behind, never more than 25 meters back through the final mile.

“I had a good summer training, but coming into today I wasn’t really sure where I was compared to other girls in the county,” Sprague said. “After the B South race last week, I had a better idea, and I knew I could finish pretty high here. The big goal this season was to build up our program, so to make it through to the conference meet as a team is great.”

BIG FINISH: Pinelands Regional senior Summer Sprague churns through the final 100 meters to take seventh in Ocean County on Oct. 13.

Krier placed 13th overall with a time of 20:56.18, with sophomore Chloe Ward taking the 40th position in 23:03.91, freshman Megan Barradas placing 57th in 24:38.18, and sophomore Rhoda Ofori and freshman Brielle Wood finishing 73rd and 74th in 30:39.02 and 30:45.28.

“Summer and Rory are the glue that keeps the team together,” Alloca said. “They’re outstanding leaders, and they’re always encouraging the rest of the girls and leading by example. Now the goal is to somehow get the whole team through the sectional meet.”

As for Southern, the goals are similar.

“Our Group 4 section is really hard, one of the best sections in the state,” Millard said. “But we’re going to do our best in the Shore Conference and sectional meets, and hopefully keep our season going into the Group 4 meet. This season, we’ve really been working hard to be a team, being there for one another and having good races.”

Behind Millard, senior Carly Murray finished 21st overall in 21:57.26, while junior Payton Stansbury placed 24th in 22:15.26; sophomore Annika Ngo ended in 31st at 22:34.73; and senior Alyson Flores grabbed 42nd in 23:07.42. The Rams’ 113 points were two ahead of Point Borough, while the Mariners won with 50 points.

“After the A South race last week, we were really happy with where we placed,” Millard said. “Our goal was to go a little higher today. It was hot, so it was a hard race for us, but all of us did well.”

McLennan Snags Second as Southern Boys Repeat

Following the girls’ race, the boys took off from the starting line, and almost immediately Donovan Catholic’s Gavin Oliver and Southern’s Jack McLennan jumped out to the lead. The two seniors ran side by side through most of the course. Ultimately, Oliver won the battle.

“Warming up, I felt OK, but not the best,” said McLennan, who finished second in 15:49.28. “He won B South and I won A South, so I figured we’d be at the front. It was a hot day, so it was tough. But I have no excuses. I could have been a little better, but it wasn’t my day.”

LIKE GLUE: Southern Regional senior Jack McLennan stays on the heels of Donovan Catholic’s Gavin Oliver as they cruise through the final mile of the county race on Oct. 13. McLennan finished second.

With McLennan right on his heels through the first 2½ miles, Oliver kept his pace steady as he and the Southern senior maintained several hundred meters of a gap between them and Toms River North’s J.C. McLean, Tahj Wilson and Greg Alcid, as well as Toms River South’s Jack O’Leary, Brick’s Anthony Wilson and Southern junior Liam Lawlor.

During the final half mile, Oliver pulled away from McLennan, finishing some 75 meters ahead in 15:37.72.

“He started going with about 800 meters to go, and I had nothing left,” McLennan said. “Gavin is an awesome runner, and he pulled off the win today. But as a team, we finished first, so that’s all that matters.”

The Rams’ top five runners all placed among the top 15 and led the team standings with 43 points, capturing their second straight county title. Behind McLennan were Lawlor in sixth with a time of 16:27.48; sophomore Cooper Swenson in ninth at 16:32.82; senior Thomas Ball in 11th at 16:58.28; and junior Luke Stansbury in 15th at 17:9.54.

Brick Memorial placed second with 88 points, followed by Toms River North with 96.

“My goal was to lead the way,” McLennan said, “set a good pace, don’t get too tactical, and just help the guys push through. Their job was to stay on the guys near the front, especially the North guys, because those were the guys trying to keep up with me, and run as a pack, which we did for the first mile.”

Pinelands’ boys were led by sophomore Simon Villanueva, who placed 48th overall in 18:52.26, while Barnegat’s boys were led by freshman Rex Gehrke, who finished 55th with a time of 19:10.56.