From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Senior Riley Fayer won the 1,600 and placed 2nd in the 800 and 3,200 for 26 huge points and the Audubon girls won their 1st state indoor championship Saturday at the Bubble.

Fayer ran 5:02.97 to win the 1,600 and placed 2nd in the 800 in 2:18.74 and 3,200 in 10:59.42. The 800 and 1,600 are both indoor PRs.

Fayer had medaled nine times at states in indoor and outdoor track and XC and won nine sectional titles, but this is her 1st individual state championship.

Senior Morganna Makuszewski cleared 10-0 on her 3rd attempt for 4th place in the pole vault for Audubon, senior Alaina Copsetta ran 1:00.57 for 4th in the 400 and freshman Emma Camm placed 5th in 1,600 in 5:23.80.

Audubon also placed 2nd in the 4-by-400 with Sophia Rizzo, Keira Baumann, Kylie Tocco and Copsetta running 4:11.23 to clinch the team title.

Audubon outscored 2nd-place Metuchen and Ramsey 44-37 to win Group 1.

For Glassboro, senior Sunsarai Moore and junior Virginia Tarsevich went 1-2 in the shot put, Moore throwing 39-0 and Tarasevich 36-0.

Haddon Township senior Casey Birdwell ran 8.95 for 2nd place in the 55-meter hurdles and joined Biz Maher, Maeve McGovern and Sydney Warne on the 4th-place relay team, which ran 4:18.73.
West Deptford senior Kayla Romanoski ran 1:00.53 for 3rd in the 400 and 2:20.37 for 4th in the 800.

For Buena, senior Hailie Bellone took 6th in the 1,600 in 5:26.80.

Josh Crawford won the 800, placed in the 400 and anchored the winning 1,600-meter relay team and Woodstown won its 1st state indoor championship Saturday at the Buble.

Crawford won the 800 in 1:57.62 and senior teammate Karson Chew was 3rd in 1:58.87 for a big 16 points in one race. Crawford also ran 51.83 for 6th in the 400 and Chew ran the second leg on the 4-by-4.

Jacob Marino led off the winning 4-by-4 and placed 2nd in the 1,600 in 4:28.65 for the Wolverines.

Joining Crawford, Chew and Marino on the clinching relay team was senior Anthony Costello. That quartet ran 3:31.03.

Woodstown outscored Glen Rock and Ramsey 35-28, with Haddon Township and Camden tied for 4th with 20 points and Glassboro – which had won the last three Group 1 state titles – 6th with 18 points.

Woodstown is the first Salem County school to win a state indoor title in 40 years, since Penns Grove won Group 1 in 1986.

Haddon Township senior Shaun Maloney won the 1,600 in 4:27.28, junior Bobby McIlvaine was 3rd in the pole vault at 12-6 and junior Kyle Stephens threw 47-2 for 4th in the shot put.

Camden got a win from junior Jaleel Dickerson-Dempsey, who ran 7.73 in the 55-meter hurdles, and a 2nd from senior Jaiden Steele, who ran 6.51 in the 55. Senior Jawan Brownlee ran 6.66 for 6th in the 55. Sophomore Terrell Davis, Brownlee, junior Aiden Jones and Steele ran 3:38.02 for 6th in the relay.

For Glassboro, sophomore Moses Robles cleared 6-4 to win the high jump, and sophomore Joe Saicic took 4th in the 1,600 in 4:29.56 and 4th in the 3,200 in 9:44.86.

Audubon senior Zach Fayer placed 5th in the 1,600 in 4:30.86, and the Green Wace took 4th in the relay, with junior Evan Calhoun, senior Aaron Pilla and senior Dylan Gallagher joining Fayer running 3:37.92.

Buena senior Yandel Montanez ran 51.37 for 2nd in the 400.

Schalick senior Salvatore Longo cleared 12-6 and placed 2nd in the pole vault.

West Deptford junior Lane McClintock ran 2:02.41 for 4th in the 800.

Penns Grove sophomore Ja’Ka Ingram placed 5th in the shot put with a 46-7 throw, and Salem senior Jailon Fletcher-Wilson was 6th with a 45-6.

Gateway senior Nathanial Martinez ran 51.79 for 5th in the 400 and joined senior Mekhi Foster, sophomore John Bradley and senior Alton Rattle on the 5th-place relay, which ran 3:37.95

Woodbury senior Elijah Young cleared 6-0 for 4th in the high jump.

Lumberton’s Greg Foster soared beyond the 27-foot barrier Saturday morning at the Ivy League Championships at the Armory.

Foster, a Princeton junior and Lawrenceville Prep graduate, became the 3rd New Jersey athlete to long jump 27 feet when he won his 7th conference title with a jump of 27-0 ½. He broke his own all-time Ivy League record of 26-10 ½ from earlier this month in Fayetteville, Ark., and smashed his own Ivy League meet record of 25-9 ½ from the 2023 meet in Hanover, N.H.

The only other New Jersey 27-footers are nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis of Willingboro, who jumped 29-1 ¼ at 1991 Worlds in Tokyo and Corey Crawford of Indian Hills, who jumped 27-2 ¼ in 2021 in Chula Vista, Calif.

Foster’s jump is No. 7 in the world this year and No. 3 among Americans. It’s also No. 2 in NCAA Division 1 this year. It’s also No. 19 in college track history.

Foster opened his series with a 26-1 ½ and a 25-4 before hitting his historic 27-0 ½. In the finals, he hit 25-7 ¼ and 26-1 ¾ and finished with a foul. He had the five-best jumps of the competition.

Foster is scheduled to race in the 60-meter hurdles qualifying Saturday afternoon.

Winslow Township sophomore Jasmine Jackson ran the 6th-fastest 60-meter hurdles in state history Saturday morning at the Ott Center.

Jackson – whose first name is now apparently spelled Jazmine, according to the results – ran 8.43 at the Circuit, lowering her PR from the 8.44 that she ran last month at Ocean Breeze.

That’s 2nd-fastest in South Jersey history behind only an 8.36 by World Champion Nia Ali of Pleasantville, who ran 8.36 at 2006 Nationals a the Prince Georges Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, Md.

Jackson’s time is fastest in New Jersey this year and 10th-fastest nationally, according to the MileSplit U.S. database.

Pennsauken senior Olivia Dupree placed 5th in 8.95.

8.10 … Taylor Cox [Union Catholic], 2025
8.17 … Sydney McLoughlin [Union Catholic], 2015
8.33 … Charmaine Walker [Plainfield], 1997
8.36 … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], 2006
8.38 … Grace O’Shea [Ramapo], 2019
8.43 … Jasmine Jackson [Winslow Twp.], 2026
8.50 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
8.52 … Alethia Jenkins [Pennsauken], 2000
8.52 … Amaya Chadwick [Union Catholic], 2016
8.55 … Abigail Dennis [Old Tappan], 2024
8.59 … Ajanae Thompson [Union Catholic], 2022
8.62 … Lenaami Morton [Camden], 2017
8.64 … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2019
8.67 … Sofia Swindell [Lawrenceville School], 2025
8.67 … Porsche Dobson [Kent Place School], 2003
8.68 … Patti Dziekonska [West Windsor-Plainsboro North], 2014
8.69 … Danielle Delgado [Franklin Twp.], 2013

Pennsauken senior Sianni Wynn ran the 4th-fastest 60 in the country Saturday morning at the Ott Center.

Wynn won the 60 final at the Circuit in 7.30, just 1-100th of a second off her state record of 7.29 from the Bubble from two years ago.

Her time is No. 4 nationally according to the MileSplit database.

Pennsauken senior Sanaya Dupree placed 7th in the final in 7.73, 4th-fastest in New Jersey this year and No. 11 on the all-time South Jersey list.

Dallas Hohney, a Glassboro graduate, smashed Rowan’s 800 school record Friday at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at the Ott Center.

Hohney, a junior, led a 1-2 Rowan finish with a winning time of 1:51.60, which broke the school record of 1:52.63 set by Nick Neville from South Brunswick High at the 2018 NJAC Championships at Ocean Breeze. Junior Teddy Wilson was 2nd in 1:51.80.

Both ran under the meet record of 1:52.02 set at the 2018 meet at Ocean Breeze by Ramapo’s Jeremy Hernandez from Clifton, the 2018 NCAA indoor mile champion.

Hohney’s PR is 1:50.71 from the Ott Centre last January while competing for Rider. That’s No. 3 in Rider history. Hohney is also Rider’s indoor school rcord holder in th 400 indoors and outdoors with identical 47.64s.

Rowan’s outdoor 800 record has stood for nearly half a century. In 1981, Pemberton’s Tavo Rivera ran 1:48.52 at New Jersey Championships in Piscataway on May 6, 1981.

Hohney’s time is 12th-fastest in NCAA Division 3 this year. He was chased to the finish line by teammate Wilson, who PR’d at 1:51.80 for 2nd place – also under Neville’s former school record and No. 16 on the 2026 D-3 performance list. Wilson, from Toms River North, had a previous PR of 1:53.00 from May of 2024 in Corland, N.Y., and an indoor PR of 1:53.83 from last February in Boston.

Hohney came through 400 in 53.92 with Wilson at 54.27. They came through 600 in 1:22.87 and 1:22.97. Senior Thomas Blach of TCNJ from Old Bridge ran a fast 1:53.02 for 3rd.

Hohney never ran an 800 in high school, although he did win the 2022 state Group 1 400 title in 49.32 at Pennsauken. He didn’t run his first lifetime 800 until March of 2024 and didn’t break 1:56 until last January.

Hohney is also No. 10 in D-3 in the 400 at 47.75, so likely will qualify for both middle-distance races at Nationals next month in Birmingham. Indoor school record in the 400 is 47.21 by Amara Conte of Ferris High in Jersey City when he won the Division 3 title three years ago in Birmingham.

Maurice Ransome has held the Rowan outdoor 400 record of 46.19 for 36 years. Ransome, a Salem High graduate, ran that in the qualifying heats at 1990 NCAA Championships in Naperville, Ill.

Stockton’s Ahmad Fogg capped a monster horizontal jumps double with a record-setting win in the triple jump at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at the Ott Center.

Fogg, who set a school record and meet record 24-8 ¾ to win the long jump last Saturday, set a meet-record 49-9 ¼ to win a terrific triple jump battle with Rowan’s Joshua Justin on Friday.

Fogg is now No. 2 in NCAA Division 3 this year in the long jump and No. 3 in the triple jump, so he’ll have a chance to compete in both at Nationals next month in Birmingham, Ala.

Fogg, an Egg Harbor graduate, came into the meet with a PR of 47-8 ½ from outdoor NJACs in Ewing in May and an indoor PR of 47-7 ¼ from a meet in Chester, Pa., three weeks ago.

He immediately blew away his PRs with a 49-1 ¾ on his 1st jump and then PR’d again on his next two jumps with a 49-3 and the winning 49-9 ¼. He added a 49-1 and 48-7 ½ and finished with an averge of 48-4 ¼, his average of six jumps surpassing his previous PR.

Fogg’s 49-9 ¼ ranks 7th all-time by a South Jersey jumper.

Meanwhile, Rowan junior Joshua Justin, who came into the meet No. 8 in NCAA Division 3 with a 48-6 ¾ PR from Ocean Breeze in December, kept after Fogg with some strong jumps of his own, including a PR 48-11 ¾ on his 2nd attempt and then another PR 49-2 ¼ on his final jump.

Fogg and Justin are now ranked No. 2 and 4 in Division 3 this year. Montclair’s Hiven Biffot, who is No. 3 at 49-7, did not compete Friday.

Fogg broke the meet record of 49-6 ½ set in 2016 by Stockton’s Jared Lewis of Deptford at the Armory. Lewis is now an assistant coach at Stockton.

In addition to his wins in the two horizontal jumps, Fogg placed 6th in the high jump at 6-3 1/2 and 6th in the 60 with a PR 6.95.

Justin, from Passaic County Tech, broke the Rowan indoor school record of 48-11 ¾ set by Ahmir Johnson of Wissahickon High in Ambler in Boston in 2023. Johnson is also the Rowan outdoor record holder at 49-2 ½ from a meet in April 2022 in Baltimore.

Rowan also got a PR from sophomore Josiah Williams of Mainland Regional in 3rd place. Williams came in with a PR of 45-0 ½ from the Armory last month but surpassed that three times with a 45-2 ¼ PR on his first jump, a PR 45-10 on his 4th jump and another 45-foot jump with a 45-5 on his final attempt.

(A quick note about metric conversions. The NJAC listed Fogg’s winning jump as 24-9 converted from 7.54 meters, and that’s how it’s listed on the TFRRS 2026 performance list. But the USTFCCCA corrects the jump to 24-8 ¾ on the all-time Division 3 list, still past Greg Foster’s previous school record of 24-8 ½ but not quite 24-9. A 7.54 is technially 24-8.85036, which is indeed 24-8 ¾, so that’s how we’ll list it).

The only two South Jersey athletes who have jumped farther than Fogg in both the long and triple jumps are Shawnee’s Greg Foster [25-10 ¼, 53-6 ½] and Lumberton’s Greg Foster Jr. [26-10 ¼, 51-0 ½].

All-Time South Jersey Triple Jump 48-Foot List*
53-6 ½ … Greg Foster [Shawnee], May 14, 1988, Flagstaff, Ariz.
53-10 ¼ … Floyd Whittaker [Highland], June 13, 2025, Eugene, Ore.
51-2 ¾ … Marcus Edghill [Pemberton], 1986, unknown
51-0 ½ … Greg Foster [Lumberton / Lawrenceville Prep], June 17, 2022, Philadelphia
50-4 ¾ … Orion Joyner [Kingsway], May 7, 2023, Amhest, Mass.
50-0 ¾ … Nick Brown [Bridgeton], April 2, 2005, Berkeley, Calif.
49-9 ¼ … Ahmad Fogg [Egg Harbor Twp.], Feb. 27, 2026, Philadelphia
49-6 ¾ … Steven Brown [Penns Grove], 2012
49-1 ¾ … Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], 2018, Philadelphia
48-9 … Dominique Irons [Haddon Heights], 2013, New York
48-9 … Zamir Chance [Bridgeton], May 31, Somerset
48-8 … Antwan Dickerson [Pennsauken], Feb. 23, 2018, Birmingham, Ala.
48-4 ½ … Reese Englehart [Moorestown], June 8, 2024, Franklinville
48-3 ½ … Ahmad Brock [Egg Harbor Twp.], May 5, 2023
48-1 ¾ … Jayden Johnson [Woodbury], Jan. 27, 2024, Boston

* – Only wind-legal marks listed

Rowan sophomore Rajahn Dixon from Eastern ran the 4^th-fastest time in NCAA Division 3 history and junior Eli Hendricks from Penns Grove ran the 12^th-fastest in a historic 200-meter dash Friday at the NJAC Championships at the Ott Center.

Dixon ran 21.15 and beat a loaded field and Hendricks ran 21.31 and placed 3^rd moving into the No. 23 spot on the all-time D-3 list. TCNJ’s Maxim Rychkov, already No. 5 in D-3 history with his 21.19 in Boston earlier this month, placed 2^nd in 21.23. Delsea grad Julian Conigliaro placed 4^th in a PR 21.54.

Dixon and Hendricks both ran under the previous Rowan and meet record – Dixon’s 21.34 when he won this race at this track last year.

Senior Masaic Byrd from Rancocas Valley ran a PR 21.92  and freshman Shakur Taylor from East Orange Campus PR’d at 22.11 for 6^th and 8^th. With its 1-3-4-6-8 finish scored 25 points just in the 200 on its way to a 265-152 win over TCNJ for its 11^th straight NJAC team title.

Dixon has run slightly faster outdoors – 21.13 with legal wind in Geneva, Ohio, in the trials at NCAA Division 3 Championships this past May. Hendricks has an outdoor PR of 21.21 with legal wind in Chester in May, but his previous indoor PR was 21.59 at NJACs last year.

Conigliaro dropped his indoor PR all the way from 21.87 last weekend in Youngstown, Ohio. His lifetime best is 21.58 last April in Atlanta.

On the 2026 NCAA Division 3 list, Dixon is No. 4, Hendricks No. 8, junior Evan Corcoran from Kingsway No. 19 and Conigliaro No. 24. Corcoran is a little banged up and didn’t race Friday.

Dixon, Conigliaro, Hendricks and Byrd set an all-division college 800-meter relay record with their 1:23.59 on Day 1 of the meet last Saturday.

Jamir Brown ran the 2^nd-fastest hurdles time in Syracuse history and 6^th-fastest ever by a New Jersey athlete Friday at the ACC Championships in Boston.

Brown led all qualifiers in the 60-meter hurdles at the TRACK in 7.58, dropping his PR from 7.60 in a meet at Clemson last month.

Brown’s time is 15^th-fastest in NCAA Division 1 this year and it’s 2^nd-fastest in Syracuse history, only 9-100ths of a second off the school record of 7.49 set by Jarret Eaton in a meet at Penn State in January 2012.

It’s also 33^rd-fastest in the world this year and No. 21 among U.S. men.

Brown, a Riverside graduate, set NCAA Division records of 7.72 and 13.60 last year while at Rowan and was the 110-meter highs national champion outdoors.

The only South Jersey hurdlers to run faster than Brown are Camden’s Anwar Moore, who ran 7.50 in Boston in 2008, and Olympic bronze medalist Jack Pierce of Woodbury, who ran 7.52 in Fairfax, Va., in 1995. Brown’s 7.58 is tied for 6^th-fastest ever by a New Jersey hurdler, just behind Chris Serrao of East Brunswick High and Rutgers, who ran 7.55 last month at the Ott Center.

The hurdles final is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Brown will be in Lane 4.

All-Time New Jersey Hurdlers List
7.46 … Jeff Porter [Franklin Twp.], Feb. 1, 2014, Mondeville, France
7.50 … Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], March 10, 1989, Madrid, Spain
7.50 … Anwar Moore [Camden], Feb. 24, 2008, Boston
7.52 … Jack Pierce [Woodbury], Feb. 25, 1995, Fairfax, Va.
7.55 … Devon Hill [Trenton], March 10, 2012, Nampa, Idaho
7.58… Jamir Brown [Riverside], Feb. 27, 2026, Boston
7.64 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], Jan. 25, 2025, Lubbock, Texas
7.66 … Cory Poole [East Orange], Feb. 14, 2020, Clemson, S.C.
7.68 … Chris Serrao [East Brunswick], Jan. 16, 2026, Philadelphia
7.69 … Guy Rose [Wayne Hills], Feb. 24, 2001, State College, Pa.
7.71 … Jamir Brown [Riverside], Dec. 6, 2024, Staten Island
7.72 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], Jan. 9, 2015, Houston
7.73 … Todd Matthews [Notre Dame], Feb. 17, 2001, Blacksburg, Va.

All-Time Syracuse Hurdles List
7.49 … Jarret Eaton, 2012
7.58 … Jamir Brown, 2025
7.61 … Jaheem Hayes, 2023
7.65 … Freddie Crittenden, 2017
7.69 … Angelo Goss, 2018
7.74 … Matt Moore, 2018
7.75 … Donald Pollitt II, 2014
7.81 … Amadou Gueye, 2013
7.82 … Emanuel Joseph, 2025
7.85 … Richard Floyd, 2018
7.86 … Tyler Garland, 2020
7.87 … David Gilstrap, 2017
7.91 … Anthony Vazquez, 2024
7.93 … Brevin Sims, 2021
7.94 … David Peters, 2025

One long jumper, two 400 runners and three throwers are set to represent South Jersey this weekend at the USATF Championships at Ocean Breeze.

The heat sheets are finally out and Winslow’s Tionna Tobias will long jump, Arianna Smith of Pennsville and Aliya Garozzo of Paul VI will run the 400, Cherokee’s Jessica Woodard and Delsea’s Josh Awotunde will throw the shot and Delsea’s Elisia Lancaster is entered in the weight throw.

Most South Jersey qualifiers will be in action instead this weekend in their college conference meets.

Let’s take a look at what to expect this weekend:

TIONNA TOBIAS: Tobias will compete in the long jump starting at 3:05 p.m. Saturday. Tobias, a former Big Ten Conference heptathlon champion, has a long jump PR of 22-9 ¼ and a season best of 20-11 ½, which ranks her 19^th among U.S. Women.

ARIANNA SMITH: Smith, a 56.11 intermediate hurdler, ran a lifetime-best 53.93 last weekend at Ocean Breeze. She’ll be in the second of four heats of the 400 qualifying at 3:48 p.m. Saturday.

ALIYA GAROZZO: Garozzo, like Smith an intermediate hurdler outdoors, ran a PR 52.43 at Clemson earlier this month. She has a 400IH PR of 55.77. Garozzo is racing in the third heat of the 400 trials at 3:48 p.m. Saturday.

JESSICA WOODARD: Woodard has a shot put PR of 63-7 ¾ and a season best of 59-5 ¼ going into nationals. She throws at 3:15 p.m. Saturday in a field of nine women.

JOSH AWOTUNDE: Awotunde has a season best of 68-4 ¾ from France earlier this month and a lifetime-best 73-8 ½ from his 3^rd place at 2022 Worlds at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The men’s shot put starts at 1:25 p.m. Sunday.

ELISIA LANCASTER: Lancaster is one of only four women entered in the weight throw, which is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. Sunday. World Athletics doesn’t recognize the weight throw, so there are no U.S. or world rankings available, but I think her season best is 71-11 ¾ from last month at the Ott Center and as far as I can tell with no help from World Athletics (and of course no help ever from USATF) her lifetime-best is 78-2 ¼ from a meet in Bloomington, Ind., in 2024.