From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Gabriel Moronta, a 2021 Pleasantville graduate, led all qualifiers into the final in the 400-meter dash Tuesday at the Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe – the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Moronta, competing for the host Dominican Republic, ran 44.79 in the 3^rd of three semifinal races, qualifying for the final at 6:45 p.m. EST on Wednesday.

That 44.79 is his 3rd-fastest time ever.

The first two finishers in each of the three races advanced to the final automatically and the next two-fastest runners advanced as small-q qualifiers.

Moronta, 23, is ranked 36th in the world with his PR and season-best 44.67, making him the No. 2 seed in the competition.

David Brown, the NCAA Division 3 high jump champion for Rowan, will compete at the World Under-20 Championships representing Jamaica this week in Eugene, Ore.

Brown won the Jamaican Under-20 title with a 6-8 ¾ clearance last month in Kingston. but he has a 7-2 ¼ PR from a meet in February at the Ott Center in West Philly. That’s 7^th-best in NCAA Division 3 history indoors and a D-3 indoor freshman record. It’s 13^th-best on the combined indoor and outdoor list.

Brown’s outdoor PR is 7-0 ½ from his win at NCAAs in Oshkosh, Wisc., in May. That’s 20^th-best all-time in Division 3 outdoor history.

Brown’s 7-2 ¼ ranks 16^th in the world in the Under-20 Division, which is open to all athletes who are still 19 as of New Year’s Eve. He’s tied for the No. 15 seed at the World Under-20 Championships.

https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/6a6d03e1fc4ec3d39295f1c3.pdf?_gl=1*fqrnto*_gcl_au*Mjk2NTUyNzMuMTc4MDcwNzkwNw..*_ga*MjE0NTY4NDkyNS4xNzY1MDM4MjA3*_ga_7FE9YV46NW*czE3ODU2MzA3ODgkbzQ1MyRnMSR0MTc4NTYzMjg4NSRqMTEkbDAkaDA.

Brown graduated from Edison High School, where he was 2^nd in the Meet of Champions at Pennsauken in 2025 to Highland’s Jayden DeLeon.

High jump qualifying at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. EST on Thursday with the final scheduled for 9:10 p.m. Saturday.

Gabriel Moronta will race in the Central American and Caribbean Games this week in Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez at Cento Olimpico Juan Pablo Duarte in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Moronta, a 2021 Pleasantville graduate, will run the 400-meter dash with semifinals at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and the final scheduled for 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

Moronta is 2nd-fastest this year of the 18 runners entered in the 400 with his PR of 44.67 in Medellin, Columbia, in June. The only faster entrant is Javier Gomez of Venezuela, who ran 44.66 – 1-100th of a second faster at Estadio Monumental de Puerto La Cruz at José Antonio in Anzoátegui, Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela.

Moronta, who anchored South Florida’s NCAA-champion 1,600-meter relay team in June 2025 at Hayward Field, has dropped his 400 PR every year since he was in high school – from 48.79 in Toms River in 2020 to 46.24 in 2023 in Clemson, S.C., to 45.81 in 2024 in San Antonio to 45.01 last year in Jacksonville to 44.67 this year. Incredibly, he never ran a 400 in 2021 or 2022 while he was at Mississippi State before transferring to South Florida. Now he’s one of the best in the world, currently ranked 36^th.

Moronta’s 44.67 is 3^rd-fastest all-time by a Dominican quarter-miler, behind Luguelin Santos [44.11 in Beijing in 2015] and Lidio Andres Feliz [44.64 in La Nucia, Spain, in 2022.].

Moronta is the 3rd-fastest quarter-miler New Jersey has produced and fastest in 20 years.

44.28 … Andrew Valmon [Manchester Twp.], June 19, 1993, Eugene
44.30 … Lamont Smith [Willingboro], June 19, 1996, Atlanta
44.67 … Gabriel Moronta [Pleasantville], June 28, 2026, Medellin, Columbia
44.79 … Najee Glass [St. Peter’s Prep], April 24, 2015, Gainesville, Fla.
45.01 … Kevin Lyles [Franklin Twp.], April 7, 1995, Knoxville, Tenn.

Hope Edwards, who was the fastest sophomore intermediate hurdler in the U.S. this past year while competing for Pennsauken, will race in the World Under-20 Championships this week in Eugene.

Edwards, who just turned 16 on July 2, will represent Haiti in the 400-meter hurdles. Her mom is from Haiti, giving her eligibility to compete for Haiti.

Edwards is the youngest of the 55 competitors in the 400-meter hurdles.

The World Under-20 Championships are open to athletes who haven’t turned 20 by the end of this year.

Edwards ran her PR of 58.72 when she placed 3rd at West Philly Nationals in June. That is 8th-fastest in state history and 3rd-fastest by a sophomore, behind Sydney McLaughlin and Natalie Dumas, who is also entered. It’s 8th-fastest in state history and 3rd-fastest in South Jersey history, behind Dumas at 55.99 and Winslow’s Krystal Cantey, who ran 56.83 in 2005.

Edwards ran 55.94 in the 400 indoors and then outdoors broke 60 in the 400IH for the first time with a 59.17 when she was 2nd to Dumas at the state Group 4 meet before her breakthrough 58.72 at Franklin Field.

Edwards is also ranked 18^th in the world in the Under-18 division.

Edwards is scheduled to race in the trials at Heyward Field at 1:41 p.m. EST Thursday. The semis are at 9:15 a.m. Saturday, with the finals following at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

The USATF finally got around to acknowledging that there is a U.S. team heading to the Under-20 World Championships this week in Eugene, and eight-time national champion Natalie Dumas is listed in the 400-meter hurdles – which we already knew – but also in the 4-by-4 relay pool.

Dumas, who graduated from Eastern in June, won the 400-meter hurdles at the U.S. Under-20 Championships at Hayward Field in 56.13 last month, automatically qualifying to represent the U.S. in the World Under-20 Championships. She became the first South Jersey woman to win an Under-20 (formerly Junior National) title since Kingsway’s Denise Liles won the 100 at the 1984 meet at L.A. Coliseum in 11.84.

One day later on the same track, Dumas won the 400 at Hayward Field Nationals in 52.21. She has a 400 PR of 51.14 from West Philly Nationals last June.

Dumas is ranked 5^th in the world and 1^st among U.S. women in the Under-20 division in the intermediate hurdlers with her 56.13 in Eugene. Her 55.99 PR, also from West Philly Nationals last June, is 12^th-fastest all-time among U.S. women under 20.

With a spot in the relay pool, Dumas becomes eligible for both the women’s 4-by-400 and the mixed 4-by-400. Both races will have semifinals and finals, and if Dumas runs a leg on any of those four races she would medal if the U.S. medals.

The meet runs from Wednesday through Sunday at Heyward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene.

The intermediate hurdles first round is scheduled for 1:41 p.m. EST on Thursday, with the semifinals at 9:15 p.m. Saturday and the final at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

The women’s 4-by-4 is two rounds – a semifinal at 1:45 p.m. Saturday and the final at 5:42 p.m. Sunday. The mixed 4-by-4 – two men, two women – has semis at 1:22 p.m. Wednesday and the final at 11:50 p.m. later Wednesday.

Dumas is the No. 3 seed in the 400 hurdles with her 56.13 behind Tumi Ramokgopa of South Africa, who ran 56.05 in Johannesburg in March, and Alexandra Stefania UȚĂ of Romania, who ran 5609 in Tampere, Finland, last month.

Ramokgopa, Stefania UȚĂ and Dumas also have the three-fastest PRs in the field, 55.55 in Tampere last August for Stefania UȚĂ, 55.90 for Ramokgopa in Potchefstroom, South Africa, last April and 55.99 for Dumas in West Philly last June.

World Under 20 is open to athletes who aren’t 20 by midnight on Dec. 31. Dumas, 17, will turn 18 on Friday, so she will be eligible for this competition series again next summer.

Did it seem familiar when Curtis Thompson won the U.S. javelin title on his final throw?

It should because it’s happened before.

“I’ve done it before,” he said. “I think it was 2023, probably did that. But it just comes down to just trusting what we prepare for and how we prepare, it’s enough. We don’t have to do anything extra. It’s really just locking in and kind of executing the best of your capabilities. So that’s really kind of just boiled down to it.”

In 2023 in Eugene, Thompson was in 3^rd place through four rounds at 248-9. He moved up to 2^nd with a 256-7, trailing Capers Williamson, who had thrown 258-10 on his 2^nd attempt. So he had one final chance to move into the lead, and he responded with a 265-6 on his final throw to lock up his 3^rd national title.

On Saturday, the circumstances were similar. He had the lead at 254-1 before Georgia’s Jordan Davis threw 270-2 – 4^th-best throw in the world this year – on his final throw. Once again, Thompson responded, this time with the 2^nd-best throw in meet history and 3^rd-best throw of his life, winning his 6^th national title at 287-4.

“Really, it was just locking back in, settling back down, and kind of get back in the groove of things,” he told reporters covering U.S. Nationals at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York. “It just takes one throw.”

Davis’s bomb was the 2^nd-best throw of his life and 3^rd-best by an American this year. That’s what Thompson had to overcome on his final attempt after five straight throws of 254 or worse.

“I kind of looked at my coach and just kind of smiled and laughed because, you know, we’re competitors,” Thompson said. “We live for competition. We live for that type of energy and you either feed off it and use it or you ignore it and do what you can without it.

“But it was definitely exciting to have him have that throw out there and kind of get everything kind of woken up.”

Thompson is the 5^th American thrower to win six U.S. javelin titles and 1^st since Breaux Greer from 2000 through 2008. His 284-4 winner trails only Greer’s 299-6 at the 2007 meet on the all-time U.S. Championships performance list, and it’s No. 2 in the world this year, behind Sri Lanka’s Ramesh Tharanga Pathirage 303-10 – all-time world No. 8 – in Rome last month.

Thompson won the 2018 title in Des Moines as a 22-year-old, won the 2021 Olympic Trials in 2021 and 2024 in Eugene and also won national titles in Eugene in 2022, 2023 and 2025. There was no meet in 2020 so he’s won six of the last eight U.S. Championships.

“It means a lot to be able to do this again for the fourth time in a row,” he said. “Super exciting to be able to do that. I’m blessed and grateful to be able to continue to do what I love. Every single title that I’ve gained, every single championship that I’ve competed in holds a dear spot in my heart, my thoughts.”

Thompson has five more meets coming up, all in Europe. He’ll throw Aug. 21 and Aug. 27 at Diamond League meets in Sweden – Aug. 21 in Lausanne and Aug. 27 in Zurich. He’s scheduled for ISTAF Berlin on Aug. 30, the Diamond League in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 4, and then the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Sept. 13.

“I’m just going to continue building off this going into the second half of the season, it’s good. We prepared for this meet because we always want to throw far. We have to go far to win. I mean, you can see it. It just takes one throw. So, I mean, I could have not have thrown what I’ve thrown in that last throw, and Jordan would have got his title from having just one throw.

“So it’s really just continuing to gather all the experience that I’ve been gaining and just building off of it and get ready for the second half.

“Right now, I’m at the point where I’m like I don’t want to train, I just want to compete. So it’s exciting to get to that point physically and mentally and kind of just build from there. So, this is like a peak now, build a little bit, and then we’ll peak again towards the end of the year.”

Thompson is already one of the greatest javelin throwers in U.S. history. Only Thompson and Greer have thrown at least 287 feet and won six national titles. Although with Cy Young Jr. in 1952, Tom Petranoff in 1983 and Greer in 2007 he’s one of only four American throwers to medal at World Championships, which he did last year in Tokyo.

Thompson’s 287-4 Saturday was just seven inches off his PR of 287-11, which he threw in Austin last year.

He’ll shoot for U.S. title No. 7 next spring – only Greer has won more than six – and compete at the World Championships in Beijing and then compete for his 3^rd U.S. Olympic berth in 2028.

“It’s never a given that you’ll make the team so continue to try and do our best to make the team and once you make the team go get some hardware from those meets,” he said. “I mean that’s that’s been a a new standard that we’re trying to create. Not just going to these meets, we’re going to get that get some hardware and bring it back.”

Delsea’s Josh Awotunde recorded his 11^th consecutive top-8 finish in the shot put at U.S. Nationals Sunday at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York.

Awotunde, the defending champion with a lifetime-best 73-8 ½ last year in Eugene, placed 8^th with a best throw of 66-5 ¾ on his 1^st attempt. He fouled on his next four throws before finishing with a 65-9 ½.

Awotunde has a season-best 69-1, which ranks 21^st in the world this year and 8^th among Americans. His 73-8 ½ from last year is No. 17 in world history and 10^th on the all-time U.S. list.

Josh Awotunde Year-by-Year Nationals Performances
2017 Indoors, did not compete
2017 Outdoors, 14^th, 62-4 ¾
2018 Indoors, did not compete
2018 Outdoors, 7^th, 66-0 ¾
2019 Indoors, 3^rd, 67-8
2019 Outdoors, 5^th, 68-9 ½
2021 Outdoors, 5^th, 71-8
2022 Indoors, 2^nd, 71-3 ¾
2022 Outdoors, 3^rd, 70-6 ¾
2023 Indoors, did not compete
2023 Outdoors, 2^nd, 72-6
2024 Indoors, did not compete
2024 Outdoors, 5^th, 71-5
2025 Indoors, 3^rd, 69-0 ½
2025 Outdoors, 1^st, 73-8 ½
2026 Indoors, did not compete
2026 Outdoors, 8^th, 66-5 ¾

Aliya Garozzo of Sicklerville and Paul VI placed 6^th in the 400-meter hurdles Sunday at the U.S. Championships at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York.

Garozzo, racing out of challenging Lane 1, ran 56.11 after a 55.47 in Saturday’s qualifying rounds. She ran her lifetime-best 54.90 in Des Moines, Iowa, in April.

This was Garozzo’s first final in her 4^th U.S. championships. She raced the intermediates at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials and last spring and this past indoor season in the flat 400.

Garozzo is the first woman from Paul VI to place in the top eight at U.S. Nationals since high jumper Priscilla Frederick tied for 7th at 6-0 1/4 in 2012.  Her 6th-place finish is best by a PVI woman since another high jumper, Deirdre Mullen, was 4th in the 2008 meet at 6-3.

It’s the best finish by a South Jersey woman in the 400-meter hurdles at Nationals, topping consecutive 7th-place finishes by Rancocas Valley’s Tonya Lee in 1995 and 1996. She ran 57.61 in 1995 and 56.59 in 1996 in the Olympic Trials.

Despite just one legal mark, Winslow’s Tionna Tobias placed 7^th in the long jump Sunday at the U.S. Championships at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York.

Tobias jumped 20-5 ¼ on her 1^st attempt before fouling on her five final jumps.

Still, that 20-5 ¼ held up for her 2^nd straight top-8 finish at nationals. She placed 4^th at indoor nationals at Ocean Breeze in February with a wind-legal 21-5 ½.

Tobias is ranked 9^th among Americans this year with her season-best 21-10 ½ in Addis Ababa, Ethiopa, in April. She’s 23^rd in U.S. history with a 22-9 from a meet in Gainesville, Fla., in July 2024.

Tobias becomes the first girl from Winslow to place at U.S. Nationals and the first South Jersey woman to place in the top eight in the long jump since Shameka Marshall of Oakcrest took 7th in the 2011 meet in Eugene, Ore., with a wind-aided  21-8 1/2.