From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Pennsauken’s Premier Wynn from Tennessee and Clayton’s Alexander Osayemi from Alabama both ran speedy 400 legs on their 1,600-meter relay teams at NCAA East Prelims and advanced to the NCAA Championships next month in Eugene.

Wynn ran a 44.69 second leg, and Tennessee ran 3:01.06, and Osayemi anchored in 45.12 and Alabama ran 3:02.45. Tennessee and Alabama posted the 5th- and 8th-fastest qualifying times in the East and 5th- and 12th-fastest overall times including the West Regional.

Tennessee’s time broke the school record of 3:01.22 set at 2024 NCAA Championships in Eugene. It’s No. 10 on the 2026 U.S. list. Alabama’s time is a season best, No. 10 in school history and No. 15 on the 2026 U.S. list.

The top 12 teams advance to Hayward Field along with the top 12 from West Regionals. The top five qualifying times came out of the East Prelims.

Riverside’s Jamir Brown punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships with the 2nd-fastest qualifying time in the 110-meter hurdles at the East Prelims in Lexington, Ky.

Brown, a junior at Syracuse, matched his lifetime-best with a 13.25 with a legal 0.3 wind Friday. He’s No. 14 in the world and No. 8 American.

Brown will go into the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., as the No. 7 seed in the 110-meter highs behind Auburn junior Ja’Kobe Tharp, who ran 13.05. Tharp is the indoor and outdoor NCAA champion, 3rd-fastest in world history over the 60-meter highs indoors at 7.32 and was a World Championships finalist.

In the West Region in Fayetteville, five hurdlers ran faster than 13.25, including Kendrick Smallwood of Texas, the No. 1 overall seed at NCAAs with a lifetime-best a13.04

Willingboro senior Chris Johnson popped one of the longest wind-legal long jumps in South Jersey history Friday as part of a double win at the state Group 2 meet at Northern Burlington.

Johnson won the long jump at 24-6 ¾, which is No. 14 in state history regardless of wind conditions and No. 7 by a South Jersey jumper. It was recorded with a wind reading of 0.0.

His jump is longest by a South Jersey long jumper regardless of wind information in 13 years, since Anthony Averett of Woodbury hit 25-2 ½ at the 2013 Woodbury Relays with no wind gauge present.

It’s the best jump by a Willingboro boy since legendary South Jersey Hall of Famer Gerard Reynols soared 24-8 ½ at 1989 Group 3 Sectionals at Bridgeton and appears to be the best jump ever by a South Jersey high school athlete with legal wind. Even Carl Lewis’s historic 26-8 ¼ at the 1979 Pan Am Games does not have a wind reading, according to World Athletics.

Lumberton’s Greg Foster jumped 25-6 ¼ with legal wind of 1.6 at the 2022 West Philly Nationals, but although he grew up in Burlington County he attended high school in Mercer County at Lawrenceville Prep, so he’s not eligible for South Jersey lists.

Johnson is the first Willingboro boy to win a state long jump title since Mike Morrison in 2003.

Johnson also won the 100 in 10.88, becoming the first Willingboro athlete to double at states since Eric Foster won the 110-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash in 2023.

All-Time New Jersey Long Jump List
all wind conditions
26-8 ¼ … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1979
25-6 ¼ … Greg Foster [Lawrenceville School], 2022
25-2 ½ … Anthony Averett [Woodbury], 2013
25-2 … Liam Paneque [Demarest], 2024
25-0 ½ … Corey Crawford [Indian Hills], 2010
25-0 … Justes Nance [Blair Academy], 2015
25-0 … William Spearmon [Woodrow Wilson], 1996
24-11 ½ … Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains], 1977
24-11 ½ … Anthony Miles [Winslow Twp.], 2002
24-11 … Darius Pemberton [Hackensack], 1993
24-8 ½ … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 1989
24-8 … Isaac Samuels [Willingboro-Kennedy], 1983
24-7 … Ayo Sagoe [Monroe Twp.], 2026
24-6 ¾ … Chris Johnson [Willingboro], 2026
24-5 ½ … Brendan Alef [Demarest], 2026
24-5 ….….. Mike Morrison [Willingboro], 2003
24-4 ¼ … Ahmad Fogg [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2023
24-4 … Emeke Eze [Sayreville], 2012
24-3 ¾ … Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2013
24-3 ½ … Kaelen Mitchell [Piscataway], 2021
24-3 ¼ … Nils Wildberg [Princeton], 2019
24-1 ½ … Mike Boone [Burlington City], 1990
24-1 ½ … Andrew Kratee [Winslow Twp.], 2026
24-1 … Nnaemeka Amaechina [Central Reg.], 2025
24-1 … Zack Brazile [St. Joe’s-Montvale], 2014
24-1 … Ka’Ron Caesar [Winslow Twp.], 2026
24-0 ¼ … Kerry Vivett [Edgewood], 1984
24-0 ½ … Skylar McGhee [Piscataway], 2024
24-0 ½ … Railel Wiggins [Pleasantville], 2026
24-0 ¼ … Jael Hester [Toms River North], 2025
24-0 … A’nan Bridgett [West Windsor-Plainsboro South], 2018
24-0 … Donavan Anderson [Bergenfield], 2021

The Haddonfield boys, led by their bottomless distance team, piled up 36 points on Day 1 of the state Group 2 championships in Mansfield Township.

Senior Peter Simpson won the 3,200 in 9:25.15, leading a 1-2-4 Haddonfield finish for 22 points. Senior Benjamin Andrus took 2nd in 9:30.46, and senior Ryan Gibson was 4th ihn 9:33.63.

Senior Brandon Stoner added six points in the 800 with a PR 1:53.71 for 3rd place.

It wasn’t all the distance crew. Junior Ryder Bozine ran 54.40 for a close 2nd in the 400-meter hurdles. Bozine finished just 3-100ths of a second out of first.

Going into Day 2 at Northern Burlington, Haddonfield holds a 36-21 ½ lead over 2nd-place Willingboro, with Shabazz [18], Voorhees [17 ½] and Demarest [16] not far back.

Haddonfield is seeking its sixth state championship but first since 2015.

Sianni Wynn and the Pennsauken girls got off to a hot start Friday on Day 1 of the state Group 4 meet in Somerset.

Pennsauken goes into Saturday with a 29 ½-21 ½ lead over Passaic County Tech, with Hillsborough and Eastern tied for 3rd with 20. Pennsauken is bidding to become the first school in more than a decade to win consecutive state Group 4 titles.

Wynn won the 100 in 11.53, her 8th individual outdoor state title, and also anchored Pennsauken’s record-setting 400-meter relay team, which ran 46.35, breaking the meet record of 47.24 that Pennsauken set last year. Junior Summer Schaffer and senior cousins Sanaya and Olivia Dupree ran the first three legs. Pennsauken set a state record of 45.30 last month at the Penn Relays with the same lineup.

Sophomore Hope Edwards placed 2nd to Natalie Dumas in the 400-meter hurdles with a 59.17, the 10th-fastest time in state history, and Sanaya Dupree tied for 5th in the 100 with a 12.28.

Wynn races the 200 and the 4-by-4 on Saturday, Edwards is among the top seeds in the 400 as are Sanaya Dupree in the 200 and Olivia Dupree in the 100-meter hurdles.

Winslow build some distance between the field in the state Group 4 meet with a 1-2-3 sweep in the 100-meter dash Friday at Somerset.

Senior Olivia Okaro won the race in 12.26, junior Amaya Jones was 2nd in 12.31 and senior Leeya Joseph took 3rd in 12.32, the three Winslow sprinters finishing within 6-100ths of a second of one another.

The 24 points gives Winslow 58 points through just five events and a 31-point lead over Ramapo, which has 27 points.

Winslow is seeking its 3rd straight state Group 4 title and 10th in the last 13 years.

Pennsauken sophomore Hope Edwards chased Natalie Dumas around the track in the 400-meter hurdles Friday in Somerset and emerged with one of the fastest times in state history.

Dumas, the national champion from a year ago, won the Group 4 400-meter hurdles as expected in 58.06, and Edwards was 2nd in 59.17, 4th-fastest in South Jersey history and 10th-fastest on the all-time New Jersey list.

Edwards was the fastest freshman in the U.S. last year while attending Moorestown with a 1:00.32 at West Philly Nationals.

Her 59.17 is 5th-fastest in state history by a sophomore and 2nd-fastest by a South Jersey 10th-grader, behind Dumas’s 58.32 when she won 2024 West Philly Nationals.

According to the MileSplit U.S. database, Edwards’ time is 2nd-fastest nationally among sophomores this year, behind only Nia Armstrong of Sickles High School in Tampa, who ran 57.97 in a meet last month in Jacksonville

Brianna Growalt, a junior at Atlantic County Tech, was 3rd with a PR 1:00.55 -5th-fastest all-time Atlantic county – and Kingsway junior Norah Brown was 5th with a PR 1:02.35, making it a 1-2-3-5 South Jersey finish.

All-Time New Jersey 400IH List
53.82 … Sydney McLaughlin [Union Catholic], 2017
56.83 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2005
57.48 … Tawana Watkins [Paterson Kennedy], 2000
58.32 … Natalie Dumas [Eastern], 2024
58.44 … Amber Allen [Passaic County Tech], 2009
58.6h … Tracy Nelson [Plainfield], 1981
58.91 … Reanda Richards [West Essex], 2018
59.03 … Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], 1988
59.16 … Leslie Njoku [McNair Academic], 2007
59.17 … Hope Edwards [Pennsauken], 2026
59.33 … Kim Duke [Mount Olive], 1984
59.35 … Ugonna Ndu [Union], 2009
59.48 … Angela Lee [Franklin Twp.], 1995
59.49 … Shana-Gaye Tracey [Manchester Twp.], 2007
59.56 … Torie Robinson [Winslow Twp.], 2013
59.63 … Morgan Harvey [North Hunterdon], 2013
59.66 … Mandie Dulin [Shawnee], 1997
59.69 … Shelley Mitchell [Lakewood], 1988
59.72 … Abigail Dennis [Old Tappan], 2024
59.73 … Nichole Candelaria [Newark Tech], 2012
59.78 … Siobhan Counts [Plainfield], 2002
59.80 … Sophia Curtis [Ocean City], 2024
59.81 … Erin Crawford [Hillsboro], 2002

Winslow sophomore Jasmine Jackson opened up a busy weekend at the state Group 3 meet at Northern Burlington with a big PR victory in the 400-meter hurdles.

Jackson lowered her PR from 1:01.79 from sectionals earlier this month to 1:00.98, which is 7th-fastest in Camden County history and 4th-fastest among sophomores.

Jackson won by nearly a second over Ramapo’s Sandra Vitolo, who was 2nd in 1:01.86. Winslow junior Cinniya Robinson took 3rd in 1:02.13 for 16 big team points.

All-Time Camden County 400-meter hurdles list
55.99 … Natalie Dumas [Eastern], 2025
56.83 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2005
59.56 … Torie Robinson [Winslow Twp.], 2013
1:00.16 … Aliya Rae Garozzo [Paul VI], 2018
1:00.47 … Shaquanda Meylor [Wilson], 2006
1:00.48 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
1:00.98 … Jasmine Jackson [Winslow Twp.], 2026

Kareem Brown on Friday raced to his 1st state title and the 7th-fastest 400-meter hurdles time in Gloucester County history.

Brown lowered his PR from 53.81 from sectionals two weeks ago at Delsea to 53.07 and won the state Group 3 race at Northern Burlington by more than a second over Teddy Goebbert of Northern Highlands.

Brown is the 2nd Deptford runner to win the state Group 3 intermediates title in four years. Lathan Brown, now at Rutgers, won it in 2023.

Brown’s time is 2nd-fastest in New Jersey this year. Kasey Kinsley of Hunterdon Central ran 52.49 in White Plains, N.Y., earlier this month. Kinsley will run later Friday in the Group 4 state meet in Somerset.

All-Time Gloucester County 400-Meter Hurdles List
51.62 … Fred Sharpe [Paulsboro], 1997
52.10 … Tim Carey [Washington Twp.], 2009
52.65 … Lathan Brown [Deptford], 2023
52.66 … Aaron Younger [Delsea], 2007
52.70 … Alexander Osayemi [Clayton], 2025
52.72 … Devon Carter [Washington Twp.], 2000
53.07 … Kareem Brown [Deptford], 2026
53.22 … Will Washington [Delsea Reg.], 2006

Natalie Dumas got her final state Group 4 meet off to a flying start with a meet record in the 800.

Dumas broke a 46-year-old meet record when she ran 2:04.19 to win the 800 in Somerset. That’s just off her season-best 2:04.00 from Icahn Stadium earlier this month. Dumas ran a state-record 2:00.11 when she won West Philly Nationals last June.

Dumas broke the meet record of 2:04.5 hand-timed by four-time Olympian Joetta Clark of Columbia in Piscataway in 1980. That was the oldest Group 4 record on the books.

Dumas won by 80 meters over Addison Hansen of Bergen Tech, who was 2^nd in 2:12.54.