Boys’ cross-country: Highland’s Wassell must reflect on near miss in SJ Shootout

Mason Wassell loved everything about his race Saturday at the South Jersey Shootout, except for the costly mistake he made on the final turn. With a slight lead over Sanford’s Daniel Brake, the Highland senior took a wrong turn, allowing his main opponent to pull ahead and sprint to the finish line to win the day’s main event — the 5K gold championship race.

Brake, also a senior, finished with a personal best time of 15:51.71. Wassell followed suit with a second-place time of 15:59.21, but he wondered what could have been.