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Voorhees Cross Country &
Track & Field Booster Club

Voorhees Cross Country & Track & Field Booster ClubVoorhees Cross Country & Track & Field Booster ClubVoorhees Cross Country & Track & Field Booster Club

TRAIN HARDER, RACE FASTER

TRAIN HARDER, RACE FASTERTRAIN HARDER, RACE FASTER

The Viking Legacy

Coach Justina Cassavell

Coach Justina Cassavell

Coach Justina Cassavell

In her 16 years at VHS, Coach Cassavell built one of the best XC programs in NJ state history. From 1997 to 2012, she led her Viking girls' XC teams to three NJ Meet of Champions titles, 9 state group titles, 13 state sectional titles and three trips to the Nike XC national championships in Portland , Oregon. Her teams also hold the the t

In her 16 years at VHS, Coach Cassavell built one of the best XC programs in NJ state history. From 1997 to 2012, she led her Viking girls' XC teams to three NJ Meet of Champions titles, 9 state group titles, 13 state sectional titles and three trips to the Nike XC national championships in Portland , Oregon. Her teams also hold the the top two team averages ever run at Holmdel Park. In track, Cassavell led Voorhees to several sectional and state indoor and outdoor titles, and in 2002, her 4x800 squad won the Adidas Outdoor National Championship. Her teams had a remarkable streak of 15 straight years of qualifying for the 4x800 at Penn Relays. Justina is currently the coordinator of cross country and track & field for the men and women at Ramapo College.

Melanie Thompson

Coach Justina Cassavell

Coach Justina Cassavell

As a sophomore, Lanie Thompson won every XC meet she competed in, including Group and MOC titles, and culminating with a 13th place finish at the Nike National Championships. Overall from 2006-2009, Lanie won six career titles at the NJ Meet of Champions. She was the individual XC champion twice, the 3,200m champion three times (indoors a

As a sophomore, Lanie Thompson won every XC meet she competed in, including Group and MOC titles, and culminating with a 13th place finish at the Nike National Championships. Overall from 2006-2009, Lanie won six career titles at the NJ Meet of Champions. She was the individual XC champion twice, the 3,200m champion three times (indoors and outdoors) and won the outdoors 1,600m as a senior. She also won 9 Group and 8 sectional championships in XC and T&F. At the University of Oregon, Thompson set the school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and was a two-time All-American in the event. 

Chris Romero

Coach Justina Cassavell

Chris Romero

Sophomore Chris Romero's breakout  XC season came in 2015. Of the 10 meets he competed in, he finished in the top three six times, with his lowest finish being 12th place at the Nike Northeast Championships.  During his 2017 senior XC season, Chris had 10 top three performances, highlighted by championships at Sectionals and the Nike Nort

Sophomore Chris Romero's breakout  XC season came in 2015. Of the 10 meets he competed in, he finished in the top three six times, with his lowest finish being 12th place at the Nike Northeast Championships.  During his 2017 senior XC season, Chris had 10 top three performances, highlighted by championships at Sectionals and the Nike Northeast Regional Championships. In track, Chris won three sectional 1600m titles (2 outdoor and 1 indoor), an indoor sectional 3200m title, a Group  outdoor 1600m championship and was runner-up at the 2018 outdoor MOC in the 1600m. Chris continues to run for the University of Pennsylvania.

Liz Wort

Katie Petruzzellis

Katie Spratford

Despite her success in field hockey, Liz opted for cross-country and track and field her senior year and truly excelled. In 2002, she won the outdoor Meet of Champions title in the 3,200 and was a member of the Voorhees 4x800-meter relay team that ran 7:59 and won a national title. She went on to continue her career at Duke University, where she was a three-time All-American and set the school record of 9:51.76 in the steeplechase. Liz won the 2007 NCAA East Regional in the steeplechase to become Duke’s first East Regional champion in addition to serving as team captain for three seasons. After college, she coached XC and T&F at both Duke and Texas Christian University.

Katie Spratford

Katie Petruzzellis

Katie Spratford

Katie had top ten finishes at the XC and Outdoor MOC her 2007-08 senior year. Her 2007 Voorhees XC team still holds the fastest team time ever (19.01) at Holmdel! But it was her collegiate career, at the University of Richmond and Shippensburg University, where she truly flourished. At Shippensburg, Katie was an 8-time Division 2 All-American, 8-time PSAC Conference XC, Indoor, and Outdoor champion, and the 2012 Division 2 Atlantic Region XC champion. Katie continued her successes professionally after college, where she was a 5-time Team USA XC member and had 3 top-10 finishes at the USATF National Championships. She was the 2019 5000m champion at the Penn Relays and an Olympic marathon qualifier in 2020. Since Shippensburg, Katie has worked extensively to promote and coach youth XC and T&F programs in both Rhode Island and Arizona. She currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, where she continues to compete professionally and is the head XC coach at Notre Dame Prep School.

Katie Petruzzellis

Katie Petruzzellis

Katie Petruzzellis

An extremely versatile athlete,  Katie Petruzzellis established herself as a gifted runner, sprinter, hurdler, and jumper while at Voorhees, scoring 3 sectional championships, 1 state championship and and eight additional top-10 finishes at the State Championships across all four disciplines. In 2007, she placed 46th at the Nike Cross Nationals, helping her team take 13th place nationally. Katie continued her success at Villanova University where she was one of the top multi-event performers in school history. She graduated as the school record holder in the pentathlon and ranked second on the all-time Villanova performance list in the heptathlon. She also ranked fourth in the high jump and was tied for seventh in the long jump. Katie was a three-time BIG EAST champion and five-time All-BIG EAST performer.

Voorhees XC Championships

State Sectional Championships

Boys - Team

8

1981, 2011, 2014 -2019

Girls - Team

15

1997-1998, 2000-2001, 2003-2004, 2006-2012, 2016-2017

Individual

20

Randy Latza 1991

Greta Norcross  1991

Nick Ricco  1998

Sara Best  2002

Kyle Alpaugh 2003

Chris Southwick 2005-2006

Melanie Thompson 2005-2008

Harrison Brakewood 2011

Nisa Cicitta 2012

Robert Whitney 2015

Evan Minor 2016

Lauren Wagner 2016-2017

Chris Romero 2017

Emma McGill 2019

Jack Tavaglione 2020


State Group Championships

Boys - Team

5

1981-1983, 2015-2016

Girls - Team

11

2000, 2003-2004, 2006-2010, 2012,

2014, 2017

Individual

6

Rich Seitz 1999

Chris Southwick 2006

Melanie Thompson 2006-2008

Emma McGill 2019

NJ State XC Meet of Champions

Girls - Team

Girls 1990  1st place

Girls 1997  10th place

Girls 1998  12th place

Girls 1999  8th place

Girls 2000  5th place

Girls 2001  4th place

Girls 2002  8th place

Girls 2003  2nd place

Girls 2004  7th place

Girls 2005  12th place

Girls 2006  2nd place

Girls 2007  1st place

Girls 2008  1st place

Girls 2009  9th place

Girls 2010  2nd place

Girls  2011  5th place

Girls 2012  1st place

Girls 2013   9th place

Girls  2014  5th place

Boys  2015  5th place

Boys  2016  11th place

Girls 2017   7th place

Boys  2017  10th place

Girls  2018  9th place

Boys  2018  10th place

Girls  2019  13th place

Individual

Brad Hudson  1982  2nd place

Rich Seitz  1999  15th place

Sara Best 2001 9th place

Elizabeth Wort  2001  12th place

Sara Best  2002  15th place

Juli Stensland  2003  12th place

Melanie Thompson  2005  13th place

Melanie Thompson  2006  7th place

Katrina Spratford  2006  12th place 

Chris Southwick  2006  12th place

Melanie Thompson 2007  1st place

Katrina Spratford  2007  8th place

Katherine Petruzzellis  2007  12th

Melanie Thompson 2008  1st place

Colette Whitney  2008  12th place

Colette Whitney  2009  10th place

Nisa Cicitta  2010   11th place

Nisa Cicitta  2012   7th place 

Clarissa Modde  2012  12th place

Clarissa Modde  2013  11th place

Chris Romero  2015   8th place

Chris Romero  2017  2nd place

Emma McGill  2019  4th place

Nike Cross Nationals (NXN)

NXN Northeast Championships

7

2007  Girls    2nd

2010  Girls    1st - Champions

2012  Girls    2nd

2014  Boys    24th

2015  Boys     8th

2016  Boys   15th

2017  Boys    17th

 

(Top 25 finishers)

12

2007  Melanie Thompson  2nd

              Katie Petruzzellis     5th

              Katrina Spratford    7th

              Colette Whitney     18th

2010  Nisa Cicitta                  8th

              Clarissa Modde       19th

              Kristen Erickson     22nd

2012  Clarissa Modde          7th

              Nisa Cicitta                 10th

2015  Chris Romero            10th

              Robert Whitney       20th

2017  Chris Romero               1st



NXN National Championship

3

2007   Girls   13th

2010   Girls    20th

2012   Girls    22nd

Voorhees Indoor Track & Field Championships

State Sectional Championships

Girls - Team

4

2008-2010, 2012

Individual

26

800m  Sarah Rhodes, 1998


State Group Championships

Girls - Team

2

2001, 2012

Individual

23

Girls 4x800m Relay 1989

* Denotes Groups 2 Championship Records

NJ State Meet of Champions Winners

Individual

3

3200m Melanie Thompson, 2008-09

Voorhees Spring Track & Field Championships

State Sectional Championships

Team

10

Boys 1979

Girls 1988, 1990-91, 2002, 2007-10

             2012

Girls Individual

58

Shot Put  Beth Whitmore, 1987-88

Boys Individual

31

440 yd  Brad Lewis, 1977-79

880 yd Brad Lewis, 1979

330 yd IH Steve Snyder, 1979

LJ    Steve Snyder, 1979

400m IH   Dave Pesce, 1981-82

PV  S. Crans, 1981

1600m J. Dishner, 1982

PV   Brett Crans, 1983

PV  Charley Hildebrant, 1986

HH    Roy Kushner, 1990

LJ     Roy Kushner, 1990

200m Pat O'Rourke, 1998-99

100m Pat O'Rourke, 1999

3200m Nick Ricco, 1998-99

3200m Kyle Alpaugh, 2003

PV   Brad Lawrence 2005

3200m Chris Southwick, 2006

HJ Alex Mauer, 2007-8

1600m  Harry Brakewood, 2012

3200m Harry Brakewood, 2012

1600m Chris Thompson, 2013

Boys 4x800m, 2013-14

1600m Chris Romero 2016*

4x800m Relay  Max Page, Joseph Capone, Evan Minor, Chris Romero 2017*


* Sectional Records


State Group Championships

Individual

15

Pole Vault Terry Crans, 1979, 1981

Shot Put-Beth Whitmore, 1988

1600m  Chris Thompson 2013

Discus  Danielle Thurgood, 1991

3200m   Liz Wort, 2002

Girls 4x400m Relay  Joanna Perez, Lauren Rugge, Lindsey Owen, Sara Best 2002-03

800m   Lindsay Owen, 2003

1600m  Melanie Thompson, 2007-09

3200m Melanie Thompson 2008

Javelin  Samantha Camisa, 2015

4x800m Relay Joseph Capone, Max Page, Evan Minor, Chris Romero      2017

1600m Lauren Wagner 2019

NJ Meet of Champions Winners

Individual

3

3200m  Liz Wort,  2002

3200m Melanie Thompson 2008

1600m Melanie Thompson, 2009

Adidas Outdoor T&F National Championships

Individual

1

4x800m  Liz Wort, Joanna Perez, Sara Best, Lauren Rugge, Lindsay Owen  1st place overall  2002


Photo Gallery (Click on the photos)


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