Ocean City Cross-Country Looking to Defend County Titles

It's that time of year when the Ocean City High School cross-country teams add hardware to the school's trophy case.

The Red Raider boys recently won their fifth consecutive Cape-Atlantic League American Conference championship with an undefeated season.

The girls' team also finished a perfect season, winning their first conference title in five years.

Both teams will be looking for victory at the Cape May County Championship 3:30 p.m. today at Cape May County Park.

"We are just going into it like this is any other race," Ocean City junior Kevin Scott said. "We will work hard."

Many athletes make that claim, but there is no doubt when it comes to the Ocean City cross-country programs.

The program is among the most successful in the state and has been dominant for decades locally.

Ocean City and Hammonton ended a tri-meet with Mainland undefeated on Oct. 12, however, it was the Red Raiders who walked away with their 34th straight dual-meet victory, and their fifth straight conference crown. Hammonton started its streak in 2008.

"It's still exciting to do something like that," said Scott, who finished first with a time of 16 minutes, 15 seconds. "It's the (fourth) year in a row we defended the title. We worked hard for it this season."

Scott's time was sixth-best in Ocean City history, as the Red Raiders defeated rival Mainland, 19-42, and Hammonton, 22-37, in their final regular season meet.

Dan Murray (16:37) finished second, and D.J. Gilhooley (16:56) rounded out the top-5. Louis Paone (17:02) was eighth, and Eddie Keenan (17:13) finished ninth overall.

"It means a lot," Scott said. "We work hard for it. We train hard, and we go up against good competition. I think we deserve it."

He added: "We just try to keep our pack, our top seven as close together as possible. That is our main key. We just try to work together."

The girls defeated Mainland, 17-42, and Hammonton 24-35, as Mary Kate Brelsford finished second overall with a time of 20:06. Hammonton's Christina Bettis, one of the top runners in South Jersey, was first at 18:26.

Ocean City's Kelly Williamson (20:28) was third and Kaylie Gallagher (20:40) was fourth. Rachel Stremme (21:35) and Kristen Kershbaumer (21:35) rounded out the scoring for the Red Raiders.

The girls team is going for its 24th county title, and the boys gunning for their 28th overall and 12th straight.