From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Peter Simpson and Ben Andrus of Haddonfield both moved into the all-time South Jersey 3,200-meter run top 20 at Holmdel Twilight Series Night of 3200s.

Simpson was fastest of nearly 500 runners, crossing the line first in the 18th and final section in 9:04.97, which is 16th-fastest in South Jersey history and 3rd-fastest on the all-time Haddonfield list, behind Jim Smith [9:00.3 converted from two miles by Jim Smith in 1980] and Seth Clevenger [9:03.65 in 2022].

No splits in the results, unfortunately. Simpson’s previous PR was 9:14.76 from last May, when he won the state Group 2 title at South Plainfield.

Andrus was 2nd in 9:05.93, which is 19th in South Jersey history and 4th on the all-time Haddonfield list.

Haddonfield becomes the first school in South Jersey history with two runners under 9:06 in the same year.

Simpson and Andrus are No. 1 and 2 in South Jersey this year and No. 6 and 7 in New Jersey.

Delsea senior Matthew Littlehaeles also broke 9:10, placing 4th overall in 9:07.84, dropping his PR from 9:12.23 from his win at the state Group 3 meet last May in South Plainfield. His time is 4th-fastest all-time by a Gloucester County runner. Littlehales also snagged the family PR from older brother Andrew, who ran 9:12.39 at 2022 South Jersey Group 3 Sectionals at Delsea.

Cherokee junior Sean Sooey ran 9:18.17, dropping his PR a whopping 20 seconds from 9:38.38 earlier this month on his home track in Marlton.

Other South Jersey two-milers under 10 minutes: Haddonfield senior Michael Sinnes [9:33.17], Cherokee junior Gavin Danielewicz [9:33.77], Cherokee freshman Hamza Salahuddin [9:37.63] and Haddonfield sophomore Brendan Casey [9:57.60].

The first girl was West Windsor-Plainsboro North’s Allison Lee, whose 9:45.78 is the fastest outdoor time in state history.Angelina Perez of Lakeland ran 9:53.29 at the state Group 2 meet in Somerset in 2022. Blair Bartlett of Lawrenceville School ran slightly faster indoors, 9:42.38 in February at Tsai Fieldhouse in Lawrenceville. Whether or not a 9:45.78 in a mixed race will stand as the state record is Jim Lambert’s problem, not mine! Either way, it’s one of the fastest 3,200s or two-miles ever run.

All-Time South Jersey 3,200 List
8:54.11 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 2024
8:55.43 … Murad Campbell [Overbrook], 1999
8:58.32 … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2015
8:59.6y … Mike Butynes [Sterling], 1972
8:59.8y … Jason DeJoseph [Paul VI], 1987
9:00.3y … Jim Smith [Haddonfield], 1980
9:00.30 … Jimmy Daniels [Sterling], 2013
9:01.89 … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
9:01.9y … Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1979
9:03.1y … Jerry Andrews [Highland], 1979
9:03.65 … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 2022
9:03.7y … Ed Blakeley [Haddon Twp.], 1975
9:03.9h … Mike Elder [Haddon Twp.], 1973
9:04.05 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 2013
9:04.94 … Louis Corgiano [Hammonton], 2014
9:04.97 … Peter Simpson [Haddonfield], 2026
9:05.12 … Sean MacPherson [Sterling], 2015
9:05.87 … Nick Kuenkel [Cherokee], 2024
9:05.93 … Benjamin Andrus [Haddonfield], 2026
9:05.98 … Steve Maine [Highland], 2014
9:06.2y … Greg Stremmel [Gateway], 1974
9:06.47 … Jonathan Vitez [Haddonfield], 2010
9:06.52 … Connor Melko [Bishop Eustace], 2019
9:06.70 … Joshua Clark [Highland], 2016
9:07.03 … Greg Hughes [Mainland], 2004
9:07.2y … Ron Faith [Paul VI], 1985
9:07.2y … Kevin Pumphrey [Highland], 1986
9:07.42 … Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East], 2016
9:07.79 … Ben Realley [Cherokee], 2025
9:07.84 … Matthew Littlehales [Delsea], 2026
9:07.7y … Marty Ludwikowski [Cherry Hill West], 1975
9:08.22 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 2004
9:08.27 … Ben Andrus [Haddonfield], 2025
9:09.17 … Bennett Wright [Haddonfield], 2025
9:09.27 … David Forward [Shawnee], 2009
9:09.38 … Kevin Antczak [Mainland Reg.], 2019
9:09.38 … George Andrus [Haddonfield], 2022
9:09.80 … Todd Campbell [Cinnaminson], 2009
9:09.91 … Jack Tindall [Cherokee], 2026

Missed this one last week, but Kingway’s Evan Corcoran, a junior at Rowan, ran a big wind-legal 200 PR in Charlottesville, Va., with a 21.23 with a 1.3 tailwind.

Corcoran’s previous 200 PR was 21.37 in Daytona Beach, Fla., last May.

Corcoran’s time is No. 16 in NCAA Division 3 and No. 3 in the NJAC going into the conference meet this weekend, behind only teammates Rajahn Dixon of Eastern [21.02] and Eli Hendricks of Penns Grove [21.08].

It’s also No. 5 in Rowan history, behind Jah’mere Beasley of Sterling [20.91 in 2022], Dixon, Hendricks and Shamar Love of Bridgeton [21.18 in 2025].

Corcoran is also No. 2 in the NJAC in the 100 at 10.36, although that was wind-aided. That’s No. 9 in Division 3. His wind-legal PR is 10.61 from last year’s NJAC meet in Ewing.

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