Middle cross country teams each secure conference titles

Posted: October 27th 2025

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com 

The Middle Township High School cross country teams proved to be the class of the Cape-Atlantic National Conference this fall.

Both the Panther boys and girls teams each went undefeated in conference races to secure championships.

Behind emerging star junior Jamar Mack, Middle’s boys team won its first CAL title since 2014, going unbeaten against the other six teams in the conference. Mack, who won his third Big 5 race and placed fourth at both the county meet and the CAL championship meet, earned first place in every conference race.

“Jamar means a lot to us because he sets the tone in practice and in doing stuff outside practice,” said fifth-year Middle boys coach Rob Heck. “He’s a leader who puts the work in and the other guys follow him. When you go into every conference race confident that he’s going to get first place, that means a lot to the rest of the team.

“Jamar helped change the expectations, which gave us a shot to win the conference.”

Heck said one of the team’s goals this fall was to finish atop the conference.

“It was talked about at the beginning of the year,” he said. “It was definitely one of our goals.”

Middle features just one senior among its top seven runners, who include junior Champion McNeal, sophomore Rey Cruz-Bruno, sophomore Josh Heck (son of the head coach), sophomore Jeziel Sanjurjo-Burgos and senior Liam Brannon. Another senior in the program is Robert Walker.

“We’re in a good spot going forward with only losing two seniors,” Heck said.

Middle will next compete Saturday in the South Jersey Group II championship meet at DREAM Park in Logan Township. The top five teams and top 15 individuals from that meet will qualify for the state championships.

“I think if things go right and the kids run what they’re capable of, we’ll have a shot to be a top five team,” Heck said. 

Middle’s girls team emerging as the top team in the National Conference wasn’t necessarily expected this fall, especially since the team features just eight runners.

“Coming into the season, you never know what other teams have,” third-year coach Kelsey Greene said. “We were in a rebuilding phase last year so we knew this year would be better, but with only an eight-person team, you just never know.”

Greene said the team became confident it could compete for the conference title after finishing ahead of defending champion Wildwood Catholic at the Big Five meet in September.

“Wildwood Catholic won the conference last year and once we finished ahead of them at the Big Five we thought we could have a chance at it,” she said.

Middle has been led by senior Olivia Orton, its No. 1 runner. She won the Big Five meet and placed fourth in the county meet earlier this season. 

“Olivia’s been a top-seven varsity runner since her freshman year,” Greene said. “Last year she really started coming into her own and I think a lot of that was because she started lifeguarding in Stone Harbor the summer before and that made a huge difference in her training. … She’s a super quiet kid but she’s a really good leader. The other girls look up to her and they’re impressed with how she runs. I’ll be sad to lose her but on the other hand she’s done such a great job leading the other girls that I think they’re ready to take the lead.”

Middle’s other runners include junior Eden Geisel, sophomore Autumn Cannon, freshman Teagan Emmer, junior Ciara Jonassaint, junior Isabella Frame, sophomore Ali Tenaglia and junior Sydney Carlson.

Middle’s girls clinched their unbeaten season by beating Wildwood Catholic last week. It’s Middle’s first CAL title since 2019.

“The girls were excited,” Greene said. “We kind of knew that meet would be the deciding factor. We were anxious about it, but it was our best race against them this year in terms of placement, so it all worked out for us.”

Middle’s girls will also compete in the sectional meet this Saturday at DREAM Park.