From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Hammonton’s Anthony Liakhnovich and Delsea’s Jonathan Harris both placed among the top 12 in the shot put over the weekend at the U.S. Under-20 Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Liakhnovich, who recently finished his freshman year at Princeton, threw a lifetime-best 61-4 and placed 9^th, and Harris, who red-shirted this past year at South Carolina, was 12^th at 60-10.

Liakhnovich went into the meet with a PR of 60-3 ¾ from the NCAA East Region Prelims last month in Lexington, Ky. Liakhnovich fouled on his first two throws, so the 61-4 came on his only legal throw. He missed advancing to the finals by 6 ½ inches.

Harris is listed with a PR of 54-9 in the World Athletics data base, but that wouldn’t be good enough to get him into Under-20 Nationals. The Under-20 performance list has him with a 57-0 ½ throw this year, but nobody seems to know where that happened. But in case, he actually PR’d three times in Eugene. He opened with a 58-2 ½, followed by a 59-5 and then his first 60-footer at 60-10.

Liakhnovich and Harris now rank 7^th and 8^th on the all-time South Jersey alumni list, and Harris is the 8^th 60-footer South Jersey has produced.

All-Time South Jersey Shot Put Alumni List
73-1 ½ … Josh Olayinka Awotunde [Delsea], July 17, Eugene, Ore.
66-3 ½ … Braheme Days [Bridgeton], April 23, 2016, La Jolla, Calif.
66-2 ¾ … Jon Kalnas [Paulsboro], May 2, 2008, Princeton
65-0 ¾ … Lucciano Pizarro [Cherokee], May 15, 2023, Bloomington, Ind.
61-8 ¼ … Steve Muse [Kennedy], March 28, 1987, Fresno, Calif.
60-11… Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], May 15, 1999, Chapel Hill, N.C.
61-4 … Anthony Liakhnovich [Hammonton], June 19, 2026, Eugene, Ore.
60-10 … Jonathan Harris [Delsea], June 19, 2026, Eugene, Ore.
58-8 ¾ … Jason Nwosu [Delsea],April 5, 2025, Gainesville, Fla.
56-3 … Art Dreher [Edgewood], March 6, 1999, Boston

It was a widely successful few days for South Jersey athletes at the season-ending West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field.

Ten individuals and 10 relay teams earned All-America honors by virtue of a top-six finish in their event.

Numerous others excelled and moved up on all-time South Jersey lists but didn’t finish in the top 10.

Here’s a look at all the top-10 finishes. If we’re missing someone, I apologize. Let me know in the comment section and I’ll add them.

How long till XC season???

BOYS
400-Meter Hurdles
Kareem Brown [Deptford], 5^th [52.37]
Long Jump
*Andrew Kratee [Winslow Twp.], 6^th [23-10 ¾]
400-Meter Relay
Winslow Twp. [Jaylon Moss, Ka’Ron Ceasar, Keyon Ali, Quayd Hendryx], 10^th [41.68]
800-Meter Relay
Deptford [Johan Hernandez, Xavion Holmes, Liam Brown, Kareem Brown], 4^th [1:26.60]
Camden [Jawan Brownlee, Christian Braxton, Wasi Muhammad, Jaiden Steele], 5^th [1:26.61]
Sprint Medley
Eastern [Keshawn Townsend, Ashton Gage, Paul Moore, Brandon Lamon], 8^th [3:29.31]
Shuttle Hurdles
Deptford [Kareem Brown, Xavion Holmes, Kamaldeep Singh, Larry Norman], 1^st [58.42]
Egg Harbor Twp. [Taj Jackson, Xavier Aucule, Sebastian Antonius, Ari Bell], 2^nd [58.91]

GIRLS
100-Meter Dash
Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], 1^st [11.27]
200-Meter Dash
Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], 3^rd [23.12]
100-Meter Hurdles
**Jasmine Jackson [Winslow Twp.], 1^st [13.04]
*Brianna Growalt [Atlantic Tech], 7^th [13.78]
400-Meter Hurdles
**Hope Edwards [Pennsauken], 3^rd place [58.72]
*Brianna Growalt [Atlantic Tech], 5^th place [59.97]
400-Meter Relay
Pennsauken [*Summer Schaffer, Sanaya Dupree, Olivia Dupree, Sianni Wynn], 2^nd [45.65]
Winslow Twp. [Jordyn Cato, *Skhye Seamon, Leeya Joseph, Amaya Jones], 6^th [46.35]
800-Meter Relay
Pennsauken [*Summer Schaffer, Sanaya Dupree, **Hope Edwards, Sianni Wynn], 1^st [1:35.21]
1,.600-Meter Relay
Winslow Twp. A [**Amariah Arango, *Cinniya Robinson, Olivia Okaro, **Jasmine Jackson], 4^th [3:43.70]
Pennsauken [*Summer Schaeffer, **Hope Edwards, Olivia Dupree, **Rai’ana Rucker], 6^th [3:48.20]
Winslow Twp. B [Jordyn Cato, Nylah Lovelace-Crump, Amaya Jones, Skhye Seamon], 10^th [3:51.44]
Four-Mile Relay
Haddonfield [Molly Mills, Harper Benjamin, Madison Kelsey, Dylan Hosty], 8^th place [20:35.31]
Distance Medley
Haddonfield [***Dylan Hosty, Saya Sood, Molly Mills, Madison Kelsey], 10^th [12:00.87]
Shuttle Hurdles
Winslow Twp. [Ma’syiah Brawner, Cinniya Robinson, Jordyn Cato, Justice Green], 4^th [1:01.65]
High Jump
Egypt Bolan [Lindenwold], 1^st [5-10 ½]
Triple Jump
Ma’syiah Brawner [Winslow Twp.], 4^th [41-1 ¾]
Timia Waters [Williamstown], 6^th [40-3 ¼]

“Singin’ to an Empty Chair,” Ratboys
“Lost on You,” Tigers Jaw
“I Used to go to this Bar,” Joyce Manor
“For the First Time Again,” Tyler Ballgame
“Autotelic,” LAPêCHE
“Something worth Waiting for,” Friko
“Long Time Caller, First Time Listener,” Vegas Water Taxi
“Clearly Cursed,” Pony
“The Escape Artist,” Bird Streets
“Crawlspace of the Pantheon,” Guided by Voices
“Corporate Pudding,” Dogpark
“Brink,” Girl Scout
“Porto,” 54-40
“Nothing’s about to Happen to Me,” Mitski
“Holy Island,” Sister Ray Davies
“I Built you a Tower,” Death Cab for Cutie
“Mavis Sings Mavis,” Flight of Mavis
“Everyone for 10 Minutes,” Bleachers
“Managee This,” Kiwi Jr.
“Train on the Island,” Aldous Harding
“Hoopla,” Weird Nightmare
“Horrorful Heights,” Bevis Frond
“Concerns Of Wasp And Willow,” The Corner Laughers
“Parallel Stride,” Doug Gillard
“Julia,” Julia Cumming
“Sunny, I Was Wrong,” Joe Pernice

The Winslow and Pennsauken girls closed out the high school track season by earning All-America honors in the 1,600-meter relay in the final event of the four-day West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field.

Winslow ran 3:43.70 and placed 4^th and Pennsauken ran 3:48.20 without Sianni Wynn and placed 6^th. They are No. 1 and 2 in South Jersey history with their 3:40.64 and 3:41.89 at the Penn Relays.

For Winslow, sophomore Amariah Arango, junior Cinniya Robinson, senior Olivia Okaro and sophomore Jasmine Jackson ran, with Okaro splitting 55.72 and Jackson 57.52 shortly after running the 7^th-fastest 100-meter hurdles in U.S. scholastic history.

Pennsauken ran junior Summer Schaffer, sophomore Hope Edwards, senior Olivia Dupree and sophomore Rai’ana Rucker. Schaffer and Edwards got the stick around in 1:54.12, Dupree split 57.34 and Rucker anchored in 56.74.

Pennsauken won the 800-meter relay, placed 2^nd in the 400-meter relay and took 6^th in the 1,600-meter relay. Winslow was 4^th in the shuttle hurdles (without Jackson), 6^th in the 4-by-100 and 4^th in the 4-by-4.

A Winslow B team took 10^th overall in 3:51.44, with junior Jordyn Cato, sophomore Nylah Lovelace-Crump, junior Amaya Jones and junior Skhye Seamon, who anchored in 56.91.

Moorestown also broke four minutes, with freshman Armani Robinson, sophomore Payton Derer, senior Noora Rashid and junior Sophia DiFiore running 3:59.44.

Sianni Wynn concluded her spectacular high school track career with a 3rd-place finish in the 200-meter dash Sunday at West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field.

Wynn, who won the 100 and anchored the winning 800-meter relay on Friday, ran 23.12, finishing 18-100ths of a second behind winner Malise Brown from Cass Tech in Detroit.

Wynn, one of the greatest track athletes in New Jersey history, also won the 100 last year and doubled the 60 and 200 at Boston Nationals this past indoor season.

She also anchored Pennsauken’s 400-meter relay team, which placed second earlier Sunday. She’s now an 11-time All-America with five 2nd-place finishes and a 3rd to go with her five 1sts.

Wynn’s 23.03 with a legal wind at the Camden County Championships last month at Haddon Township is 3rd-fastest in state history and just 7-100ths of a second off the state record of 22.96 set at the 2017 Parochial A meet at Egg Harbor by Sydney McLaughlin.

Wynn raced nine times at Franklin Field since Friday – trials, semis and finals in the 100, semis and finals in the 200, 4-by-1 and 4-by-2. She finished 3rd or better in every race and earned four more All-America honors.

Winslow junior Andrew Kratee, in the 5^th track meet of his life, earned All-America honors at West Philly Nationals with a 6^th-place finish in the long jump Sunday at Franklin Field.

Kratee had a strong series, averaging 22-3 ½ on his five legal jumps. His best jump was a 23-10 ¾ on his 3^rdattempt, placing him half an inch ahead of 7^th place in the final All-America position.

Kratee is a 1^st-year jumper who never competed in track in the past and didn’t compete indoors. His first meet was the Olympic Conference Championships in late April at Rancocas Valley, where he jumped 20-10 ½.

Two weeks later, he hit 24-1 ½ at South Jersey Group 4 Sectionals at Delsea and then he won states at 24-1 ¼ at Northern Burlington.

The wind reading for every jump by every jumper in the competition was 0.0 so either there was no wind gauge or it wasn’t operating correctly because there’s no way more than 150 wind readings could all be exactly 0.0.

The Haddonfield girls ran the 7^th-fastest distance medley in South Jersey history Sunday morning at West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field.

Freshman Dylan Hosty, junior Saya Sood, junior Molly Mills and junior Madison Kelsey ran 12:00.87 and placed 10^thoverall. With the championship mile coming up, Hosty ran the 1,200 instead of anchoring and split 3:29.36, the fastest leadoff leg in the race.

Sood ran 58.40 for 400 meters, Mills split 2:18.73 and Kelsey anchored in 5:14.39 for Haddonfield.

Haddonfield’s time is 2^nd-fastest by a South Jersey school this year. Ocean City ran 11:56.65 at the Penn Relays but didn’t race Sunday.

Cherokee ran 12:16.49, 8^th-fastest on the all-time Burlington County list, and Audubon was 16^th in 12:21.02, fastest time ever by a South Jersey Group 1 school.

Senior Madeline Meder led off with a 3:45.48 for 1,200 meters, sophomore Erin Healy split 63.85, senior Sofia Recinto sped a 2:13.72 and senior Alyssa Suriano anchored in 5:13.46. Cherokee’s previous fastest time this year was a 12:20.00 in a meet in April in Westfield.

This is the 5^th straight year Cherokee has run sub-12:20. No other New Jersey school has done that.

For Audubon, freshman Emma Camm led off by covering three laps in 3:55.54, junior Sophia Rizzo ran 58.97 for 400, junior Lydia Gravante split 2:29.74 and senior Riley Fayer finished her brilliant high school career with a 4:56.78 anchor leg.

Audubon broke the South Jersey Group 1 record of 12:21.45 set by Haddonfield at the 1998 East Coast Relays with

All-Time South Jersey Distance Medley List
11:53.15 … Lenape, 2012
11:54.48 … Cherokee, 2023
11;56.65 … Ocean City, 2026
11:58.64 … Ocean City, 2025
12:00.47 … Haddonfield, 2021
12:00.64 … Ocean City, 2004
12:00.87 … Haddonfield, 2026
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, 2025
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
12:16.49 … Cherokee, 2026
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

In one of the most remarkable performances in New Jersey track history, Winslow’s Jasmine Jackson equalled the 7^th-fastest time in U.S. history and destroyed the state record in the 100-meter high hurdles.

Jackson won West Philly Nationals in an otherworldly 13.03, dropping her PR from 12.24 in the trials on Saturday.

In the fastest hurdles race in high school track history, She broke the state record of 13.18 set last year at the Meet of Champions in Pennsauken by Taylor Cox and ran within 2-100ths of the national sophomore record of 13.01 set by Tia Jones of Walton High in Marietta, Ga., at the 2016 U.S. Junior National Championships in Clovis, Calif.

Her time is 12^th-fastest in U.S. history by 8^th-fastest with legal wind. The race was run with a 0.7 tailwind.

Jackson’s time is 35^th-fastest by an American woman this year. It’s 5^th-fastest on the world Under-20 list and fastest on the world Under-18 list. It’s No. 11 on the all-time world Under-18 list.

Jackson edged Kassidy Hopkins of Bullis School in Potomac, Md., by 2-100ths of a second. Hopkins was 2^nd in 13.06, the 9^th-fastest wind-legal time in U.S. history.

Both ran under the meet record of 13.18 set by Hopkins in the semifinals on Saturday.

Only four New Jersey women have ever run faster than Jackson: 2019 World Champion Nia Ali [12.30], four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin [12.65], Neptune’s Dawn Bowles [12.74] and Taylor Cox [12.81].

Atlantic County Tech junior Brianna Growalt closed out her remarkable season by placing 7th in 13.78.

All-Time U.S. High School Wind-Legal Hurdles List
12.84 … ***Tia Jones [Walton, Washington, D.C.], 2019
12.92 … Dior Hall [George Washington, Denver], 2014
12.93 … Alexis Duncan [DeSoto (Texas)], 2016
12.95 … Tara Davis [Agoura, Calif.], 2017
12.95 … *Chanel Brissett [Cheltenham (Pa.)], 2016
13.03 … *Vashti Thomas [Mt. Pleasant (Calif.)], 2007
13.04 … Tonea Marshall [Seguin, Arlington, Texas], 2016
13.04 … **Jasmine Jackson [Winslow], 2026
13.06 … Kassidy Hopkins [Bullis School, Potomac, Md.], 2026

All-Time U.S. High School All-Conditions Hurdles List
12.83w … Tara Davis [Agoura, Calif.], 2017
12.84 … ***Tia Jones [Walton, Washington, D.C.], 2019
12.92 … Dior Hall [George Washington, Denver], 2014
12.93w … Jalaysi’ya Smith [DeSoto (Texas)], 2021
12.93 … Alexis Duncan [DeSoto (Texas)], 2016
12.95w … *Candace Young [Beaver Falls (Pa.)], 1979
12.95 … *Chanel Brissett [Cheltenham (Pa.)], 2016
12.96w … Akala Garrett [Albermarle (N.C.)], 2023
12.98w … Kaylah Robinson [El Cerrito (Calif.)], 2017
12.99w … Anisa Bowen-Fontenot [San Diego], 2025
13.03 … *Vashti Thomas [Mt. Pleasant (Calif.)], 2007
13.04 … Tonea Marshall [Seguin, Arlington, Texas], 2016
13.04 … **Jasmine Jackson [Winslow], 2026
13.06 … Kassidy Hopkins [Bullis School, Potomac, Md.], 2026
13.08 … Brandee Johnson [Nansemond River, Suffolk, Va.], 2016
13.10w … Thalia Waters [Atlantic, Delray, Fla.], 2024

Glassboro ran one of the fastest distance medleys ever by a New Jersey Group 1 school Sunday morning at West Philly Nationals.

Senior Jaeden Wesley, junior Marley Crowl, sophomore Zacchhaeus Harrigan and sophomore Joseph Saicic ran 10:14.37 and placed 14^th overall at Franklin Field.

Wesley led off with a 3:10.42 for 1,200 meters, Crowl split 52.03, Harrigan ran the 800 in 1:54.05 and Saicic anchored in 4:17.88.

The time is 6^th-fastest in South Jersey history and fastest ever by a South Jersey Group 1 and fastest by any New Jersey Group 1 since Bernards ran 10:06.2 to win the 1984 Penn Relays on the same track. It’s No. 2 in Gloucester County history, behind only Washington Township’s 10:10.74 at the 2000 Penn Relays.

All-Time South Jersey DMR List
10:00.9h … Willingboro, 1983
10:06.48 … Haddonfield, 2025
10:10.62 … Haddonfield, 2016
10:10.74 … Washington Twp., 2000
10:10.8y … Haddon Township, 1973
10:12.65 … Mainland Reg., 2004
10:14.37 … Glassboro, 2026
10:15.4y … Paul VI, 1976
10:15.5y … Highland, 1980
10:15.9y … Williamstown, 1973
10:16.11 … Cherokee, 2001
10:16.14 … Haddonfield, 2010
10:16.29 … Highland, 1991
10:17.2y … Williamstown, 1974
10:17.3y … Haddonfield, 1979
10:18.74 … Shawnee, 1991
10:19.11 … Washington Twp., 2009
10:19.47 … Cherokee, 2012
10:19.4y … Haddon Twp., 1972
10:19.4y … Paul VI., 1974
10:19.5y … Holy Cross, 1971
10:19.67 … Haddon Twp., 2015
10:19.90 … Cherry Hill East, 2016

Even without Jasmine Jackson, one of the top hurdlers in the country, the Winslow girls placed 4^th in the shuttle hurdles Sunday morning at West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field.

Jackson, South Jersey record holder the No. 2 sophomore in U.S. history, is the top seed going into the 100-meter hurdles final later Sunday morning, and although she was originally listed as Winslow’s anchor, when they declared for the race they listed a lineup of senior Ma’Syiah Brawner, junior Cinniya Robinson, junior Jordyn Cato and junior Justice Green.

That group ran 1:01.65 and earned All-America honors for Brawner, Robinson, Cato and Green.

Winslow’s time even without Jackson would rank 15^th in South Jersey history. Winslow ran 59.10 with Jackson at the Woodbury Relays, No. 6 in state history.

Brawner, who was 4^th in the triple jump, is now a double All-America this year. She’s long jumping later Sunday.