Seneca High School opened its doors only 11 years ago, but in that short amount of time, the school’s girls’ cross-country program has already established a tradition of success.
The Golden Eagles won their fifth South Jersey Group III sectional title on Saturday, Nov. 8 with a total time of 1:39:17.16, defeating Ocean City and Moorestown by more than a minute. Seneca’s win continues a recent run of dominance, marking the team’s fifth sectional crown in the last eight years.
This year’s title was a result of the team’s consistency. Though Seneca did not have any top five finishers, the team completed the 5,000-meter run with an average time of 19:51.44. Freshman Sydny Warner, junior Joey Webb, freshman Carley Tool, junior Lindsay Hoffman and senior Kristen Horn finished within 53 seconds of one another, all placing between sixth and 17th.
Sophomore Kayla Martin and senior Lauren Tocci gave Seneca all seven runners in the top 28, Martin in 21st, Tocci in 28th.
Since the inception of the girls’ cross country sectionals in 1976, only one school, Ocean City with eight, has won more South Jersey Group III titles than Seneca — an amazing stat considering Seneca didn’t exist until 2003 and hadn’t won a title before 2007.
The Seneca girls easily outpaced the Red Raiders of Ocean City winning by a score of 51–78.
Seneca’s success is not only noticeable in Group III but across the state. Seneca’s five sectional titles are 10th-most among schools in all groups. Since the program’s inception, the Golden Eagles have never finished worse than fifth as a team even in their inaugural season.
In 2003, the first year the school was open, the team was limited to just freshmen and sophomores, Seneca only had three varsity runners. But since then it has qualified for states with a top five finish every year. And it has been first or second seven of the last eight years.
