Nick Falk broke away from Mike Ungvarsky of Cinnaminson over the final 400 meters to capture his second straight title and  lead Cherokee, No. 10 in the state rankings, to its second straight boys title at the Burlington County Open on Friday at Mill Creek Park in Willingboro.

Falk, a junior, won the race is 16:16, three seconds ahead of runner-up Ungvarsky, a junior who finished seventh in this race last year. Jack Shea of Cherokee was third in 16:22, and Isaiah Curbelo of Rancocas Valley was 4th in 16:37.

"This year our county was much deeper than last year and we had some really different types of individuals like Mike (Ungvarsky) and Isaiah Cureblo and Jack Shea and myself,'' said Falk, who sliced 26 seconds off his winning time from last year on the same course. "Mike is a grinder so it made for some fun racing. Mike and I were neck and neck the entire time pushing each other. It was a tough one to pull out, but luckily I found it in me today. Coming down the hill the second time (about a half mile to go) he (Ungvarsky) separated from me a little bit, but back around the lake I felt like I another gear or so to give and I took the lead and kind of starting rolling. My coach said go now, so I started really pushing it after we cleared the lake and just kept after until the finish line.''

Falk's victory ignited a 33-85 victory for Cherokee over runner-up Lenape. 

Cherokee, with just 2 seniors in its top 7, went 1-3-6-9-14 with a spread of 51 seconds and had a 16:42 average. 

"We know we're good this year and we're really excited to be performing as well as we've been performing,'' said Falk. "It's our second win in a row and hopefully we can keep that ball rolling. We knew what we should do today and I think we did exactly that.''

Falk said the main target for the season for Cherokee is the state Group 4 title next month at Holmdel Park.

"Winning Group 4 is our ultimate goal and one of our big competitors is obviously Cherry Hill East (defending Group 4 champions), and our first of four meets in a row is going to be with them at the Olympic Conference Championships next Friday, so that will be our first time going head to head with them this season. Just like all the other great Group 4 teams we're hoping to come out on top (at the Group 4 meet) but it certainly isn't going to be an easy task.''