From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Jacob George from Haddon Township broke the Monmouth freshman pole vault record Saturday in Ewing.

George cleared a lifetime-best 15-5 ½ in winning the Rick McCorkle Invitational at The College of New Jersey, the highest clearance ever by a Monmouth freshman. The previous mark was 15-5 by Dalton Yeust from Tunkhannock High northwest of Scranton at the 2021 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference meet in Lawrenceville.

George’s 15-5 ½ is No. 7 in Monmouth history overall and 2nd-best by a South Jersey vaulter. Nick Gilanelli from Moorestown cleared 15-9 in Charlottesville in 2006.

George’s previous PR was 15-3, which he first cleared last May at the Camden County Championships on his home track at Haddon Township and again just last week in a meet in Piscataway.

At TCNJ, George cleared 14-1 ¼, 14-7 ¼, 15-1 and 15-5 ½ all on his 1st attempt. With the win secured, he had the bar moved up to 15-9, where he took three attempts.

George is currently No. 2 in the Coastal Athletic Association behind only Leighton McGee of William and Mary, who cleared 16-5 ½ in Williamsburg, Va., earlier this month.

Rider freshman Kendra Brown from Rancocas Valley bombed a big shot put PR Saturday at the Rick McCorkle Invitational in Ewing.

Brown raised her PR from 45-0 ¼ indoors at the Armory in February to 45-5 on her 3^rd throw at TCNJ. She also had a 45-0 on her 1^st attempt so she recorded two of her three-best throws ever in the span of three throws.

Her throw is 8^th-best in Rider history and best by a freshman since 2017, when Jules Fidele from Red Bank Catholic set a school record that still stands of 49-3 ¾ at the Penn Relays.

Brown’s 45-5 is tops in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference by more than two feet.

Sophomore David Godbolt from Rancocas Valley matched the best high jump clearance by a Monmouth athlete in 10 years Saturday in Ewing.

Godbolt cleared a lifetime-best 6-10 ¾ at the Rick McCorkle Invitational at The College of New Jersey, placing 2^nd on fewer misses to teammate Gavin Nelson.

Godbolt’s previous PR was 6-9 indoors at the Armory in January. His previous outdoor PR was 6-8 ¾ from Fairfax, Va., last May.

Nelson, a freshman from Northwestern Lehigh High School in Heidelberg Township, Lehigh County.

The only Monmouth jumper to go higher than Godbolt and Nelson is Joseph Marini of Boonton, who cleared 6-11 ½ at High Point, N.C., in 2016.

Godbolt passed through 6-2 ¼ and then cleared 6-4 ¼ on his 2^nd attempt and 6-6 ¼ and 6-8 ¼ on his 1^stattempt. He missed his first two tries at 6-10 ¾ before clearing on his 3^rd. He and Nelson both took three jumps at 7-0 ½. Nelson and Godbolt had identical series, other than Godbolt had that miss at 6-4 ¼, which gave Nelson the win.

There have been 14 7-footers from South Jersey and seven from Burlington County: Darren Burton from Delran [7-5 ¾ in Ylivieska, Finland, in 1989], the late great Mike Pascuzzo from Lenape [7-5 ¼ in New York in 1992], Moorestown’s Jim Pringle [7-4 ½ in Tallahassee in 1982], Willingboro’s Mike Morrison [7-4 ¼ in Landover, Md., in 2003], Seneca’s Drew Kanz [7-1 ¾ in Birmingham in 2014] and Todd Lowber of Delran [7-0 ½ in 2006 in Lisle, Ala.].

Godbolt and Nelson now share the No. 1 ranking in the Coastal Athletic Conference.

Arkansas junior Amirah Sharpe of Clayton ran 200 and 400 PRs Friday at the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville. Twin sister Arianna PRd in the 200 as well.

Amirah Sharpe placed 2^nd in the 200 in 23.39 with a 0.0 wind reading behind Ranayla Moten of Allen Community College of Iola, Kans. That lowered her PR from 23.40, which she ran last month in San Antonio. Arianna was 3^rd in the race in 23.42, which is a wind-legal PR. She ran 23.85 indoors in Fayetteville this past February. She ran 23.14 last May but with a 3.8 wind reading.

Their times are 6^th– and 7^th-fastest all-time by South Jersey women in wind-legal 200-meter dashes.

In the 400, Amirah and Arianna ran 1-2 in 51.95 and 52.07. Amirah’s previous PR was 52.20 from Fayetteville a year ago this week. Arianna’s PR is 51.91 from another meet in Fayetteville last May. Their 400 times are 5^th– and 6^th-fastest on the all-time South Jersey alumni list.

Thanks to hot legs from former Winslow teammates Dominic Bassey and Jayden Poteat, Hampton University recorded the 10^th-fastest 4-by-4 time among all colleges in all races at the 130^th running of the Penn Relays.

Hampton ran 3:07.87 in the Championship of America 1,600-Meter Relay heats, missing a lane in the final by less than a second.

Bassey, running 3^rd, split 47.12 and Poteat blazed a lifetime-best 45.76 anchor to bring Hampton home.

Bassey and Poteat are both freshmen.

Pleasantville’s Gabriel Moronta, a national champ in the 4-by-4 at South Florida last year, won the Olympic Development 600 meters Saturday at the 130^th running of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field.

Moronta ran 1:16.08 for the 1 ½-lap race, rarely run outdoors. He initially won by 15 meters over former TCU runner Lloyd Frilot, who was 2^nd in 1:18.11. When Frilot was DQ’d, former Merrimack All-America Patrick Forest moved up to 2^nd in 1:18.48.

Moronta, who changed his national affiliation from American to the Dominican Republic in June, ran 1:15.86 in an indoor 600 in February at Ocean Breeze, breaking the Dominican Republic national record. That’s No. 12 in the world this year.

Moronta came through 200 meters in 24.62 and then ran 400 meters in 51.46.

Lumberton’s Greg Foster broke the Princeton outdoor long jump record Friday at the Rick McCorkle Invitational at The College of New Jersey in Ewing.

Foster, who broke the Princeton and Ivy League indoor record with his 27-0 ½ at the indoor Ivy League Championships at the Armory, jumped 26-3 ½ with a legal 1.0 meters-per-second tailwind on his 5^thjump.

He broke his own Princeton record of 26-1 ¾ from the 2023 Ivy League Championships at Franklin Field.

Foster also broke the overall Ivy League outdoor record of 26-2 ¾ that he set two weeks ago in Athens, Ga. That broke a 41-year-old Ivy League record of 26-2 shared by Chris Chrysotomou of Cornell and Eugene Profit of Yale, who both jumped 26-2 at 1985 IC4As in Cambridge, Mass.

Foster opened with 24-4 ¾, 24-9 ¼, 23-8 ½ and 24-6 before a foul and then the winning jump on his final attempt.

Foster is now No. 7 in NCAA Division 1.

Foster also won the 110-meter high hurdles in 13.90. He’s already No. 1 in the ivy at 13.80 from earlier this month in

Eastern’s A.J. Brooks placed 3^rd with a legal 23-1 ¾, his best jump so far this spring and he was also 3^rdin the 110 highs in 14.85.

Stockton All-America junior Ahmad Fogg from Egg Harbor was 2nd in the long jump at 23-11, an outdoor season best.

Winslow and Camden won the South Jersey 1,600-Meter Relays Saturday at the 130^th running of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field.

Winslow won the Large-School race in 3:20.58 on senior Prince Owusu-Twum’s 48.46 anchor leg. Camden won the Small-School race in 3:21.59, edging Deptford by 12-100ths of a second.

This was Winslow’s 3^rd straight Large-School win. Winslow also won in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008 and Edgewood – which became Winslow – won in 1984, 1985 and 1987.

Senior Quayd Hendricks led off for Winslow with a 50.05 split, senior Jacoby James split 51.10 and freshman Keyon Ali ran 50.98.

Eastern placed 2^nd in 3:22.07 with senior Brandon Lamon, sophomore Paul Moore, junior Keshawn Townsend and senior Ashton Gage. It was Eastern’s first top-three performance since the 2006 team placed 2^nd.

Burlington Township ran 3:27.26 for 3^rd with senior Robert Proctor, sophomore Jaylen Porter and seniors Jaydin Macklin and Suleiman Passewe.

In the Small-School race, Camden won its 7^th title and 2^nd in a row. The Panthers also won in 1999, 2005, 2009, 2012 and 2014.

Senior Jawan Brownlee led off with a 50.02, senior Christian Braxton ran 50.71, senior Jeremiah Steeley split 51.59 and senior Jaiden Steele anchored in 49.27. Steeley and Steele were also on the winning team last year.

Deptford ran 3:21.71 for 2^nd with senior Johann Hernandez, junior Xavion Holmes and seniors Kyle Jackson and Kareem Brown, and Salem placed 3^rd in 3:28.96 with senior Xavier McGriff, junior Jerry Seals, senior Gradin Buzby and junior Timothy Gregory.

All sub-50 splits in the two races. If the order of runners is incorrect and the wrong runner is credited with the sub-50 split let me know!

48.46 … Prince Owusu-Twum [Winslow], 4^th leg
48.78 … Keshawn Townsend [Eastern], 3^rd leg
49.11 … Kareem Brown [Deptford], 4^th leg
49.27 … Jaiden Steele [Camden], 4^th leg
49.43 … John Froelich [Overbrook], 4^th leg
49.80 … Johann Hernandez [Deptford], 1^st leg
49.89 … Jaylen Porter [Burlington Twp.], 2^nd leg
49.93 … Tymir Gayle [Cherry Hill East], 4^th leg

Sophomore Riley Tolson and juniors Alana Clevenger, Lillian Flora and Carly Godfrey ran the 3^rd-fastest distance medley in South Jersey history Friday at the 130^th running of the Penn Relays.

Godfrey’s 4:54.06 anchor leg brought Ocean City up from 6^th to 4^th place and got the Red Raiders across the line with a Cape May County record.

Tolson led off in 3:42.02 for 1,200 meters and got Ocean City into the lead group from the start. Clevenger split 61.34 and Flora ran 2:19.24 to keep the Red Raiders near the front, and Godfrey finished the race off in style with a personal-best 1,600 split.

Ocean City broke the county record and school record of 11:58.64 set last year by Ocean City with Chloe Care on the 1,200, Clevenger on the 400, Godfrey running the 800 and Maeve Smith anchoring.

The only faster times in South Jersey history were recorded by Lenape’s 11:53.15 with Camille Franklin, Ana de las Heras, Emily McGee and Natalie Ocasio at 2012 Greensboro Nationals and Cherokee’s 11:54.4 with Megan Niglio, Madison Van Haren, Kelsey Niglio and Kerry O’Day in 2023 at West Philly Nationals.

So Ocean City ran within 3 ½ seconds of the South Jersey record.

All-Time South Jersey Distance Medley List
11:53.15 … Lenape, 2012
11:54.48 … Cherokee, 2023
11;56.65 … Ocean City, 2026
11:58.48 … Cherokee, 2023
11:58.64 … Ocean City, 2025
12:00.47 … Haddonfield, 2021
12:00.64 … Ocean City, 2004
12:02.34 … Haddonfield 2000
12:02.37 … Haddonfield, 2014
12:04.39 … Lenape, 2010
12:05.01 … Cherokee, 2024
12:05.39 … Ocean City 2005
12:05.98 … Sterling, 2017
12:06.73 … Ocean City 1994
12:07.21 … Lenape 2008
12:07.43 … Cherokee, 2022
12:08.61 … Ocean City, 2014
12:10.75 … Sterling, 2016
12:10.76 … Lenape, 2017
12:11.70 … Ocean City, 2024
12:12.24 … Millville, 2009
12:13.08 … Cherokee, 2026
12:13.16 … Bishop Eustace, 2011
12:14.05 … Cherry Hill East, 2007
12:14.24 … Highland, 2004
12:14.61 … Lenape, 2013
12:15.42 … Ocean City, 2015
12:16.79 … Lenape, 2015
12:18.27 … Bishop Eustace, 1995
12:18.29 … Shawnee, 2012
12:19.26 … Woodrow Wilson, 2001
12:19.41 … Rancocas Valley, 2011
12:19.46 … Ocean City, 2013
12:19.60 … Shawnee, 2015
12:19.79 … Haddonfield, 2015

All-Time South Jersey Distance Medley List
11:12.20 … Union Catholic, 2025
11:24.26 … Union Catholic, 2026
11:32.29 … Red Bank Catholic, 2011
11:37.86 … Red Bank, 2003
11:40.81 … Southern Regional, 2007
11:42.16 … Roxbury, 2008
11:42.17 … Red Bank, 2002
11:45.54 … Southern Regional, 2006
11:47.67 … Southern Regional, 2008
11:47.95 … Voorhees, 2002
11:48.04 … Columbia, 1997
11:49.73 … Randolph, 2019
11:50.03 … Roxbury, 2006
11:50.73 … Ridgewood, 2012
11:50.7h … Summit, 1981
11:51.76 … Voorhees, 2007
11:52.24 … Bernards, 2012
11:53.13 … West Windsor-Plainsboro South, 2015
11:53.15 … Lenape, 2012
11:54.22 … Ridgewood, 2019
11:54.48 … Cherokee, 2023
11:54.9h … Summit, 1982
11:55.13 … Randolph, 2010
11:55.41 … Red Bank, 2001
11:55.49 … West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 2025
11:55.55 … Red Bank Catholic, 2012
11:56.10 … Mount St. Dominic, 2013
11:56.65 … Ocean City, 2026
11:56.60 … Southern Regional, 2004
11:56.69 … Ramapo, 2007
11:56.98 … Ridgewood, 2026
11:57.10 … Union Catholic, 2024
11:57.17 … Metuchen, 2022
11:57.56 … Ridge, 2026
11:57.85 … Northern Highlands, 2015
11:57.88 … Roxbury, 2007
11:57.96 … Bernards, 2013
11:58.08 … Oak Knoll School, 2025
11:58.33 … North Hunterdon, 2017
11:58.4h … North Hunterdon, 1987
11:58.43 … Randolph, 2007
11:58.64 … Ocean City, 2025
11:58.74 … Southern Regional, 2009
11:59.6h … Ridgewood, 1982
11:59.78 … Mendham, 2012

The Winslow boys ran the 2nd-fastest 400-meter relay among New Jersey schools Friday at the 130th Penn Relays at Franklin Field.

Junior Jaylon Moss, junior Karon Ceaser, freshman Keyon Ali and senior Quayd Hendryx ran 41.63, 10th-fastest in Camden County history and fastest since Pennsauken ran 41.57 at the 2017 Meet of Champions in Mansfield Township.

Winslow’s time was 18th-fastest of more than 600 schools that competed. The only faster New Jersey school at Penn this year was Bergen Catholic of Oradell, which ran 41.59 – 4-100ths of a second faster.

Winslow’s time is fastest this year at any meet by a south Jersey school.

The Eagles qualified for the Northeast Championship race, scheduled for 4:25 p.m. Saturday. Deptford also qualified for that race with a 42.07 with Liam Brown, Kareem Brown, Xavion Holmes and Johann Hernandez.

All-Time South Jersey 400-Meter Relay List
40.75 … Burlington Twp., 2025
40.92 … Winslow, 2003
41.09 … Camden, 2000
41.25 … Camden, 2004
41.25 … Camden, 2001
41.26 … Washington Twp., 2026
41.29 … Rancocas Valley, 2025
41.45 … Timber Creek, 2014
41.47 … Deptford, 2018
41.50 … Timber Creek, 2013
41.53 … Lenape, 2026
41.54 … Camden, 2002
41.57 … Pennsauken, 2017
41.55 … Deptford, 2017
41.62 … Camden, 2003
41.63 … Winslow Twp., 2026
41.64 … Winslow Twp., 2004
41.69 … Willingboro, 1982
41.71 … Edgewood, 2000
41.71 … Salem, 2017
41.72 … Deptford, 2018
41.80 … Oakcrest, 2012
41.83 … Camden, 1997
41.83 … Oakcrest, 2011
41.83 … Camden, 1997
41.85 … Camden, 2024
41.86 … Winslow Twp., 2025
41.7h … Camden, 1996
41.7h … Edgewood, 2001
41.85 … Pennsauken, 2016
41.86 … Pennsauken, 2017
41.87 … Pennsauken, 2023
41.93 … Deptford, 2026
41.7h … Camden, 1996
41.7h … Edgewood, 2001
41.96 … Paul VI, 2018
41.99 … Rancocas Valley, 2021