From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Smoking hot 5,000 at Bucknell Saturday with Northern Burlington’s Liliah Gordon, Atlantic City’s Maddie Dischert and Cherokee’s Kerry O’Day all running PRs and Dischert breaking the Rider school record.

All three run sub-16:40 at the Bison Outdoor Classic at Christy Matthewson Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa.

The trio of South Jersey alums ran together through 3,000 meters before separating a bit over the last 2K.

Gordon, a red-shirt freshman at Penn State, ran 16:31.18 and placed 9th out of 92 runners. Her previous PR was 16:38.54 this past June at the USATF Under-20 Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

That’s the fastest time by a Northern Burlington graduate since Laura Mason ran 16:03.71 at the 1994 Penn Relays. Although Gordon is listed as racing unattached, she is listed on the Big Ten Conference performance list on TFRRS and is the 5th-fastest freshman in the conference.

Dischert, a junior, finished just behind Gordon, placing 11th in 16:34.70. She broke the Rider record of 16:38.31 set at the same meet in Lewisburg last year by Grace Medei from Notre Dame Green Pond High in Bethlehem.

Dischert’s previous PR over 5,000 meters was 16:59.86 indoors at Boston University in January. Her time Saturday ranks No. 2 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, behind only Alex Schultz of Iona, who ran 16:15.27 in Raleigh last month.

Although Dischert is a junior for cross country and indoors, this is her first season of college outdoor track, and this was her first outdoor 5,000, and she never ran a track 5,000 in high school. So her first-ever outdoor 5K on the track and she snags the school record.

O’Day, a Bucknell sophomore, made it three South Jersey alums across the line in 12 seconds with a 16:43.08 for 15th place.

Her previous PR was a 16:55.53 at this meet last year. Teammate Kailey Granger ran 16:40.86 in the same race, and those are the fastest times by Bucknell women in five years, since Ashlyn Ramos ran 16:22.42 at the 2022 Patriot League Championships in Annapolis, Md.

O’Day is now No. 6 on the all-time Bucknell list and No. 7 this year in the Patriot League.

La Salle’s Helene Usher from Haddonfield ran 16:42.30 indoors in Boston so that’s four South Jersey college runners under 16:45 so far this spring. Hopefully, we see them all together at Penn.

Clearview’s Abby Waddington, a junior at Boston College, is knocking on the door of 17 minutes with a 17:01.90 in Raleigh two weeks ago. She ran 16:54.41 in Boston last February.

I’m going to try to put together an all-time South Jersey sub-17 list later today. That should be fun!

Hot race Saturday for Bucknell sophomore Shaelan McNally from Paul VI in her first collegiate 1,500-meter run.

McNally, who didn’t compete outdoors as a freshman last spring, ran 4:25.83 and placed 7th out of 83 runners in a loaded field on her home track at the Bison Outdoor Classic at Christy Matthewson Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa.

That converts to a 4:47.1 full mile. Her mile PR is 4:49.32 from the Ott Center in February so this is equivalent to a two-second PR.

McNally’s time is 4th-fastest in Bucknell history. Junior Katrina Torelli from Harrison, N.Y., ran 4:24.81 in the same race, and those are the fastest times by Bucknell women in eight years.

McNally closed in 2:20.76 for her final 800 meters and 69.46 for her final 400.

Her time is 11th-fastest all-time by South Jersey high school alums and fastest by a Paul VI woman in 43 years, since Westmont native Doreen Startare ran 4:16.96 for Penn State and placed 5th in the 1983 NCAA Championships in Houston.

McNally’s time is No. 8 so far this year in the Patriot League. It’s fastest by a South Jersey woman while still in college since Buena’s Kristin Siegle from Rider ran a PR 4:22.45 at the 2021 NCAA East Prelims in Jacksonville in her final collegiate race.

All-Time South Jersey 1,500-Meter List
4:03.49 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], Aug. 29, 2010, Rieti, Italy
4:08.09 … Renee Tomlin [Ocean City], May 17, 2013, Los Angeles
4:10.77 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], July 21, 2020, Portland, Ore.
4:12.29 … Greta Feldman [Haddonfield], June 29, 2012, Eugene, Ore.
4:16.41 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], May 21, 2021, New York
4:16.96 … Doreen Startare [Paul VI], June 3, 1983, Houston
4:19.34 … Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], July 27, 1983, Sherbrooke, Canada
4:22.45 … Kristin Siegle [Buena], May 27, 2021 Jacksonville, Fla.
4:24.35 … Amanda Goetschius [Delsea], May 2, 2010, Amherst, Mass.
4:25.21 … Megan McGlinchey [West Deptford], May 11, 2013, Princeton
4:25.83 … Shaelan McNally [Paul VI], April 13, 2026, Lewisburg, Pa.

All-Time Bucknell 1,500-Meter List
4:16.54 … Christine Bendzinski, 2018
4:24.81 … Katrina Torelli, 2026
4:25.55 … Caroline Tolli, 2013
4:25.83 … Shaelan McNally, 2026
4:26.07 … Sarah Chandler, 2016
4:27.68 … Karly Forker, 2022
4:28.28 … Christa Sawko, 2006
4:28.45 … Beth Braunegg, 2013
4:29.63 … Sarah Moniz, 2010
4:29.81 … Hana Casalnova, 2014

Big race Saturday in Lewisburg, Pa., for Ocean City’s Matt Hoffman, a St. Joe’s sophomore.

Hoffman ran 3:51.44 in the 1,500 at the Bison Outdoor Classic at Bucknell, dropping his PR from 3:54.06 last April in Fairfax, Va.

Hoffman’s time is the equivalent of a 4:09.96 full mile, which would be a big PR over his PR of 4:13.47 from West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field in June 2024. His collegiate mile PR is 4:15.72 from Virginia Beach indoors in February.

Hoffman closed in 61.13 and 2:03.98 for his final 800. His time is 16th-fastest currently in the Atlantic 10.

At Ocean City, Hoffman ran 1:56.16 for 800 meters, 3:55.61 for 1,500 and 4:13.47 full mile.

Hoffman PR’d for 800 meters with a 1:53.27 last weekend in Princeton.

Sophomore Noah Wampole from Radnor and freshman David Brown from Edison both cleared 7-0 ¼ in the high jump Saturday at Rowan’s own Oscar Moore Invitational in Glassboro.

Brown had two meets over seven feet indoors, including a school-record 7-2 ¼ at the Ott Center in February, No. 3 all-time in NCAA Division 3. This was his first college outdoor meet.

Wampole’s previous PR was 6-10 ¾, which he cleared once indoors, in February at Ocean Breeze, and again last week in Daytona Beach.

Wampole and Brown are Rowan’s 2nd and 3rd outdoor 7-footers. Jeffrey JonTucker of Eastern cleared 7-2 ¼ at the 2018 Lions Invitational in Ewing.

Wampole and Brown are the 3rd and 4th 7-footers this year in NCAA Division 3. Two jumpers from Lynchburg [Va.] cleared 7-1 at a meet last weekend in High Point, N.C. They are tied for 43rd on the all-time NCAA Division 3 performance list. Tucker is 7th.

Also Saturday, junior Arrington Rhym from Hamilton West, junior Jamile Gantt from Paulsboro, junior Isaiah Davenport from Pleasantville, junior Damarion Potts from South Brunswick and sophomore Malaka Pressey from Freehold Borough all cleared 6-7 ½ and senior Anaias Hughes from Willingboro cleared 6-4 in his first high jump competition since 2023.

On the 2026 Division 3 performance list, Wampole and Brown are tied at No. 3, Potts and Arrington are tied at No. 6 with 6-9 clearances, Gantt is tied at No. 9 with 6-8 ¾ and Pressey and Davenport are tied at No. 15 with 6-7 ½. Rowan has seven of the 24 jumpers who’ve cleared at least 6-7 ½ so far this year.

The Cherokee girls ran the 4th-fastest distance medley in New Jersey this year and fastest by a South Jersey school Saturday at the Blue Devil Classic in Westfield.

Madeline Meder, Emily Couture, Sofia Recinto and Alyssa Suriano won the DMR in 12:20.00, the 6th straight year Cherokee has run 12:20.00 or faster.

The time is 14th-fastest on the all-time Burlington County list and No. 34 on the all-time South Jersey list.

Meder led off in 3:43.69 for 1,200 meters, Couture split 63.50, Recinto ran 2:18.58 and Suriano anchored in 5:14.35.

Cherokee ran unpressed, finishing 120 meters ahead of 2nd-place Rahwah, which ran 12:40.91.

All-Time Burlington County DMR List
11:53.15 … Lenape, 2012
11:54.48 … Cherokee, 2023
12:04.39 … Lenape, 2010
12:05.01 … Cherokee, 2024
12:07.21 … Lenape 2008
12:07.43 … Cherokee, 2022
12:10.76 … Lenape, 2017
12:13.08 … Cherokee, 2025
12:14.61 … Lenape, 2013
12:16.79 … Lenape, 2015
12:18.29 … Shawnee, 2012
12:19.41 … Rancocas Valley, 2011
12:19.60 … Shawnee, 2015
12:20.00 … Cherokee, 2026

Nice 800 PR for Winslow sophomore Amariah Arango Saturday at the Lenape Girls Invitational, with Mainland senior Emma Preissman not far back.

Arango ran 2:16.48, dropping her PR from 2:17.64 from South Jersey Group 3 Sectionals last spring at Delsea. Her time is 2nd-fastest by a Winslow girl, behind Ava Millner’s 2:15.77 in that same sectional race last May.

Preissman dropped a huge 800 PR of 2:17.31 in 2nd place, a lifetime best of more than three seconds. Her previous PR was a 2:20.43 in the 2024 state Group 3 meet, also at Delsea. Looks like their times are No. 2 and 3 in New Jersey so far this year and the two-fastest 800s by South Jersey girls.

Also good to see Arango’s sister, Adaiah, also a sophomore, back in action and running 59.40 for 2nd to teammate Nylah Lovelace-Crump [58.56] in the 400 in her first race since West Philly Nationals in June.

Why a meet like Arcadia would have its intermediate hurdles race over the fraud 300-meter distance instead of the universally accepted 400-meter race is beyond me. But they did, and Natalie Dumas placed 2nd in her 1st try at the ridiculous race with the No. 2 time in South Jersey history.

Dumas ran 41.89 over 300 meters and eight hurdles Saturday at the 58th annual Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High School outside Los Angeles, the 2nd-fastest time in South Jersey history in the rarely run event. In 2005, Krystal Cantey of Winslow Township ran what was then a state-record 41.19 at the Golden West Invitational in Folsom, Calif.

The only faster time in state history, not surprisingly, belongs to four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin, who ran 38.90 at Arcadia in 2017.

Sophomore Kaahliyah Lacy of San Jacinto [Calif.] Valley Academy won the race in 40.81. It was Lacy’s 6th race just this year over the 300 hurdles.California and Pennsylvania are among the few stats that routinely run the bastardized 300 hurdles instead of the 400 intermediates.

Dumas is top-10 in U.S. history in the 400 [51.14], 800 [2:00.11] and 400 hurdles [55.99], all from last year’s West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field.

She’s 4th so far this spring in the 400 hurdles with her 59.96 at the Spartan Relays earlier this month at Deptford. She has yet to run hot in a 400 or 800 this spring.

In his first collegiate 100-meter dash, Rowan sophomore Rajahn Dixon from Eastern on Saturday ran the 4th-fastest time in NCAA Division 1 this year and one of the fastest in Division 1 history.

After a 10.71 in the trials in his first 100 since high school, Dixon won the 100 at the Oscar Moore Invitational in Glassboro in 10.32 with a legal 0.4 tailwind.

That’s No. 37 in Division 3 history and 2nd-fastest in NJAC history behind Cheickna Traore of Ramapo, who ran 10.18 at the 2023 Division 3 Championships in Rochester before transferring to Penn State.

Dixon’s official 100 PR before Saturday would have been 10.77 from 2023 South Jersey Group 4 Sectionals at Pennsauken. But no wind guage at that meet, and his fastest wind-legal PR would have been 10.93 a week later at Group 4 States in Somerset with a 1.0 tailwind. That was his last 100 before Saturday.

Dixon broke the Rowan school record of 10.46 set by Bridgeton’s Shamar Love in the prelims of the NJAC Championships this past May in Ewing.

Dixon set the Rowan indoor record for 200 meters at 20.92 last month when he won the Division 3 national title in Birmingham. His 21.02 last weekend in Daytona Beach, Fla., is only 11-100ths of a second off the Rowan outdoor 200 record of 21.91 set by Sterling’s Jah’mere Beasley in the prelims of 2022 Division 3 Nationals in Geneva, Ohio.

His time is tied for 5th-fastest all-time by a South Jersey sprinter. And he’s now No. 4 in Division 3 this spring in the 100 and No. 7 in the 200. He’s the No. 39 American in the 100 this year.

All-Time South Jersey 100-Meter Dash List
9.86 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], Aug. 25, 1991, Tokyo [+1.2]
9.91 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], Sept. 7, 1996, Milan, Italy [+1.2]
10.06 … Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp.], April 4, 2026, Gainesville [+0.2]
10.27 … Barry Douglas [Willingboro], May 4, 1996, Fairfax, Va.[+1.3]
10.32 … John Stone [Mainland Reg.], April 15, 2000, Charlotte, N.C. [+1.7]
10.32 … Malachi James [Burlington City], May 16, 2025, Winston-Salem, N.C. [+0.6]
10.32 … Rajahn Dixon [Eastern], April 11, 2026, Glassboro [+0.3]
10.35 … Jamar Ervin [Camden], June 7, 2000, Piscataway[+2.0]
10.41 … Damiere Byrd [Timber Creek], June 9, 2011, Old Bridge [+0.1]
10.42 … Todd Dutch [Washington Twp.], May 15, 2005, Columbus, Ohio [+1.3]
10.42 … Anwar Moore [Camden], June 11, 2005, Geneva, Switzerland [+0.8]

Huge discus bomb Saturday by Rutgers freshman Shawn Brady, a Mullica Hill native who attended Bishop Eustace.

The results show Brady with a 171-11, but his TFRRSS profile lists the throw as 172-0. His 52.42-meter throw converts to 171.98163, which equals 171-11 but could generously be rounded up to 172.

Either way, Brady’s previous PR was 162-6 just two weeks ago in Orlando. That 172-0 ranks 8th in Rutgers history.

His throw is No. 9 on the all-time South Jersey discus performance list, as far as I’ve been able to find.

Brady PR’d in the shot put in February at the Armory with a 51-11 ¾, No. 10 in school history indoors.

204-0… Mike Mielke [Holy Spirit], May 14, 1996, Tucson, Ariz.
201-6 … Steve Muse [Kennedy], July 2, 1993, Edinburgh, Great Britain
192-10 … James Plummer [Egg Harbor Twp.], March 21, 2015, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
197-10 … Russ Willett [Penns Grove], March 17, 1990, Nassau, Bahamas
185-2 … John Mooers [Mainland Reg.], April 25, 2019, Philadelphia
181-8 … Adam Hunt [Collingswood], March 18, 2022, Orlando, Fla.
172-11 … Jason Nwosu [Delsea], May 17, 2025, Charlotte, N.C.
172-2 … Jon Kalnas [Paulsboro], April 6, 2002, Durham, N.C.
172-0 … Shawn Brady [Bishop Eustace], April 11, 2026, Piscataway
171-9 … Matt Huckabee [Timber Creek], April 19, 2014, Petersburg, Va.
170-9 … Art Dreher [Edgewood], March 6, 1999, Boston

Rowan’s hurdlers broke the NCAA Division 3 shuttle hurdles record by more than half a second Saturday at the Profs’ own Oscar Moore Invitational in Glassboro.

Rowan ran 57.58 unpressed, breaking the D-3 record of 58.18 set on April 26, 2025, by Central College of Pella, Iowa, at the Drake Relays in Des Moines.

Valentin Augustin, a grad student from Hamilton West, led off for Rowan, followed by senior Anaias Hughes from Willingboro and former D-3 national champions Jason Agyemang of North Plainfield, a junior, and senior Kwakyu Nkrumah of Teaneck.

Rowan hoped to make a run at the record last year when Division 3 record holder Jamir Brown was still in school, but they never had the chance because of bad weather. Brown is now running for Syracuse.

The NJAC web site does not list a conference record for the shuttles. Rowan’s web site shows a previous school record of 58.3 hand-timed from 1982 with Robert Abdullah from Paulsboro, Gary Smith of West Deptford, Stanley Moore of Overbrook, Anthony Abbica of Butler.

Earlier in the day, Agyemang ran 13.72 in the hurdles trials and they have finally a wind reading of 0.3 posted in the results, making it a legal race, and although he skipped the final Nkrumah ran 13.72 in the final with a 0.8. They are now tied for 2nd in Division 3 history behind only Brown, who ran 13.60 in the trials of the NJAC Championships in Ewing last May.