Bulldawgs Winter Track Wins Championship: Haddonfield Sports Week

It was a special week for the Haddonfield Memorial High School girls track program as the Bulldawgs brought home a Group 1 State championship. Meanwhile, the boys and girls swim teams each competed in a South Jersey championship and the girls basketball team had its best week of the season.

WINTER TRACK

The Haddonfield girls team reached the top of the mountain last weekend, capturing the NJSIAA Group 1 State championship. Emily Carson led the charge by capturing a state title in the 55-meter dash. Carson sprinted across the line in 7.16 seconds to edge the second-place finisher by .08. Carson also provided the team with points in the 400 by finishing fifth.

The long distance running duo of Meghan Malloy and Shelby Cain was also in top form under the pressure of the finals. Cain set the pace by finishing second in the 1600 and third in the 3200, while Malloy was right behind her, placing fourth in the 1600 and third in the 3200.

Olivia Blaber showed off her hurdling skills, placing second in the 55-meter hurdles. She also helped the Bulldawgs pick up a point in the 800 by placing fifth. Haddonfield was able to clinch the title with a third-place finish in the 4x400. Carson, Blaber Erica Pascocello and Grace Baccare compiled a time of 4:07.81.

On the boys side, a pair of Bulldawgs earned top-5 finishes. Luke Pease took fourth in the pole vault, while Rob Keegan was fourth in the 55-meter dash.

SWIMMING

The Haddonfield boys and girls swim teams gave everything they had at the South Jersey finals last week, with each side coming up just short of winning a championship. The Haddonfield girls fell to Mainland, 87-83, in a meet that came down to the very last race.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so proud,” said senior Emily Rollo, who won the 100 free and 200 medley. “Despite the loss, we had so many best times. Every girl literally left it in the pool today. It would have been nice to go on but I couldn’t be any more proud. We have come such a long way from the beginning of the year. I don’t think anyone even thought we would go this far.”

The boys also lost a heartbreaker by the same 87-83 score to Moorestown. The Bulldawgs entered as underdogs, but competed admirably until the very end.

“When you prepare for a meet against a team as strong as Moorestown, you know it is going to be a really tough meet," Haddonfield coach Bob Querubin said. “What we didn’t realize is just how much these Haddonfield boys had it in them to come out and do best time in events. We have guys getting best times in events they don’t even normally swim in, and doing it by five or six seconds. It was an awesome, awesome experience. There is no better learning environment than to come in here and compete against a team like that.”

WRESTLING

The Bulldawgs tuned up for the district tournament by taking on a pair of large schools in Eastern and Washington Township last week. Haddonfield
earned a 37-31 win over Eastern thanks to three pins and a dramatic overtime win. Jake Klaus, Joe Tedeschi and William Benedict recorded six-point pins, while Crawford Oswalt recorded a 3-1 sudden victory at 145 to swing the victory to the Bulldawgs. Haddonfield also hung tough with Washington Township, but ultimately fell, 40-28.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Haddonfield (22-2) continued to roll through the Colonial Conference, claiming a 60-44 win over Woodbury on Tuesday. Robby Depersia had the hot hand in the contest, collecting 19 points, while also providing strong defense against the Thundering Herd’s talented guards. Billy Griffin added 15 points in the win. Two days later, the Bulldawgs took it to Group 4 Cherry Hill West. Chris Biddle could not be contained as he poured in a game-high 28 points to lead his team to an 86-48 victory. Depersia netted 17 and Griffin had 14.

The Bulldawgs closed the week with a 52-41 loss to Eastern.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Haddonfield had its best week of the season, going 3-0 to improve to 14-10. The Bulldawgs opened the week with a 44-39 win over Woodbury. Hayley Raymond netted 18 points, while Taylor Sehdev had 13. Raymond kept it going against Paulsboro, scoring a team-high 17 points in Haddonfield’s 50-41 defense. The Bulldawgs closed the game strong on the defensive end, limiting Paulsboro to four points in the fourth quarter.

Haddonfield wrapped up its week with a 55-49 win over Pemberton on Saturday. Maddie Betley fueled the offense with 17 points.