From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Maple Shade junior Ciani Floyd won the state Group 1 high hurdles title last year and is the top seed heading into this year’s state meet as well.

Floyd ran 15.69 to win the state title last year in Somerset and ran 15.48 at Group 1 sectionals this year at Lenape, earning the No. 1 seed. She’s the first Maple Shade girl to win a sectional title in the hurdles since Patrick Farquharson in 2011 and the first Maple Shade girl to win a state title in any event since Farquharson won the hurdles in 2011. She won states last spring by 4-100ths of a second over a junior who has not competed this year.

Earlier this month, Floyd PR’d with a 15.15 at the Burlington County Open, which is the fastest New Jersey Group 1 time this year by nearly half a second. That was fastest by a South Jersey Group 1 girl since Ny’era Hand-Brooks of Burlington ran 14.87 to win the 2023 state title in Somerset.

Floyd’s top competition at states will come from No. 2 seed Claire Sittig of Pequannock, the only other girl in the field who ran sub-15.70 at sectionals. Sittig ran a PR 15.63 to win North 1 Group 1 in Livington.

Also under 15.70 this year are Lore Hicks of Walkill Valley, who ran 15.62 at the Sussex County Invitational in Stanhope earlier this month, and Casey Birdwell of Haddon Township, who ran a PR 15.66 at the Camden County Championships on her home track earlier this month.

The state Group 1 meet back at Somerset is scheduled for May 29-30.

Former Iowa All-America Tionna Tobias from Winslow Township won the long jump Saturday night at the Pure Athletics Sprint Elite Meet at the National Training Center in Clermont, Fla.

Tobias had four quality jumps, opening with a wind-aided 21-0 [3.6] before a legal 21-5 ½ [0.7] and after a foul and a pass she finished with 20-11 ¼ and 21-1 ½, both also with legal wind.

That 21-5 ½ is her 2^nd-best jump this year and not far off her season-best of 21-10 ½ from a meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last month. That makes her No. 8 among U.S. women and No. 33 in the world.

Tobias is No. 22 in U.S. history with her 22-9 ¼ in Gainesville in July of 2024.

Tobias also ran in the 100 and ran a PR 10.49 but with an excessive wind of 3.4 meters per second.

Tobias will compete in the USATF Championships July 23-26 at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in Manhattan.

See if you notice a pattern here:

Glassboro’s Zacchaeus Harrigan is the top Group 1 sophomore in both the 800 at 1:55.06 and the 400-meter hurdles at 56.44. Glassboro’s Joe Saicic is the top Group 1 sophomore in the 1,600 with a 4:22.44 and also in the 3,200 with a 9:26.37. Glassboro’s Moses Robles is the top Group 1 sophomore in the high hurdles at 15.53, the high jump at 6-4, the long jump with a 23-0 ¼ and the triple jump with a 47-5.

Additionally, Aaron Johnson is the No. 2 Group 1 sophomore with a 1:59.19 and No. 5 in the 1,600 with a 4:35.12, Saicic is No. 4 with a 2:01.60, Alex Adeleye is No. 4 in the 100 at 11.38, No. 2 in the 200 with 22.91 and No. 5 with a 20-6 ½ long jump, Harrigan is No. 2 in the 400 at 51.23, the 1,600 with a 4:23.60 and the 3,200 at 9:47.65. And Gavin Rakitis is No. 4 in the 1,600 at 4:33.17 and No. 3 in the 3,200 with a 9:56.59.

You want more?

Tyler Santiago and Chance Perino are the 4^th– and 6^th-ranked Group 1 sophomores in the 110-meter hurdles, Perino and Rakitis are 3^rd and 5^th in the intermediates behind Harrigan, Miles Taylor is 4^th in the high jump, Dylan Adams is No. 5 in the pole vault.

It’s rare for a program to have one sophomore who can make an impact on the state championship level. Glassboro has a parade of them.

Thanks in large part to its ridiculous Class of 2028, Glassboro is one of New Jersey’s top Group 1 programs and earlier this month won its 4^th straight South Jersey Group 1 championship. Next weekend, the Bulldogs shoot for their 3^rd state title after winning Group 1 in 1967 and 2009.

If they win, it’s going to be largely on the strength of their unprecedented sophomore class. If they don’t, they’re not going away and they’ll be back with an unprecedented junior class next year.

Glassboro has the potential to score close to 60 points at states, perhaps closer to 70 if a few things go right.

Saicic is the No. 2 seed in the 3,200 and No. 3 in the 1,600, senior Jaeden Wesley is top seed in the 3,200 and No. 6 in the 1,600, Harrigan is seeded No. 2 in the 800 and No. 5 in the intermediates, Robles is No. 2 in the high jump and triple jump and the 4-by-8 team of Johnson, Rakitis, junior Ryan Ejalili and senior Jason Martin is also a No. 2 seed.

And Robles may be seeded just 7^th in the long jump, but he also had an off day at sectionals and is overall ranked No. 2 in Group 1 with his 23-0 ¼ earlier this month at Delsea, so he’s certainly capable of out-scoring his seed.

The state Group 1 championships are scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Somerset, with Friday’s action starting at 2 p.m. Friday and 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

South Jersey schools have won six consecutive state Group 1 titles – Willingboro in 2019, no meet in 2020, Clayton in 2021, Audubon in 2022, Woodbury in 2023 and 2024 and Camden last year.

Delsea’s Ava Reardon and Absegami’s Josephine Buxton both threw well in the javelin at the NCAA Division 3 Championships Saturday, although they both fell just a bit short of earning 1^st-team All-America honors.

Reardon placed 10^th with a 138-10 and Buxton was 13^th at 135-9 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse, Wisc.

The top eight finishers earn 1^st-team All-America honors, and 8^th place was 141-3.

Reardon threw within an inch of her PR of 138-11, which she set in Charlottesville last month. She had three solid throws, opening at 133-6, then 136-7 and then the 138-10.

Buxton opened with a 130-6 and followed with her 135-9 before fouling on her 3^rd attempt. The cutoff for qualifying for the final and three more throws was 139-5, so both were very close.

Reardon, a transfer from Georgian Court in Lakewood, is a junior and Buxton is a freshman, and they finished 5^th and 7^th among returning throwers. Buxton, who PR’d with a 145-2 in the NJAC Championships in Mahwah earlier this month, was the top freshman at NCAAs and the top freshman in Division 3 this year.

Big throw by Curtis Thompson late Saturday night at the USATF Throws Fetsival in Tucson.

Thompson won the javelin against a strong field with a 272-1 on his 1^st throw of the competition.

That is his 16^th-best throw all-time, his 24^rd lifetime throw of at least 270 feet and his 4^th-best 1^st throw of a competition. His two-best throws this year have come on his 1^st throw. He bombed a 279-11 – No. 3 in the world this year – at the Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational in Ramona, Okla., last month.

Thompson has thrown over 270 feet in each of his last three meets.

Thompson, a five-time U.S. champion and two-time Olympian, graduated from Florence High in 2014.

Thompson ranks 3^rd in U.S. history with his PR 287-11 at last year’s Texas Relays in Austin. That’s the best throw by an American since Breaux Greer’s 299-6 in Indianapolis in 2007.

Former Penn (and Georgia) NCAA champion Marc Anthony Minichello, the No. 7 all-time American with a 275-11 last month in Des Moines, Iowa, placed 2^nd with a 266-7 on his 2^nd throw. Minichello, who attended Wyoming Area High School in Exeter Borough, outside Scranton, is world No. 6 and U.S. No. 2 behind Thompson with his 275-11.

Thompson has a 20-6 all-time record in head-to-head matchups with Minichello.

279-11

Curtis Thompson All-Time 270-Foot Throws
287-11 … Texas Relays, Austin, Texas, March 28, 2025 [2^nd throw]
287-9 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 9, 2022 [2^ndthrow]
286-2 … NACAC, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Freeport, Bahamas, Aug. 17, 2025 [2^nd throw]
284-4 … World Championships, Tokyo, Sept. 18, 2025 [1^st throw]
282-8 … NACAC, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Bahamas, Aug. 20, 2025 [3^rd throw]
279-11 … Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational, Ramona, Okla., April 10, 2026 [1^stthrow]
279-10 … World Championships, Tokyo, Sept. 18, 2025 [3^rd throw]
277-11 … World Championships qualifying, Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 17, 2025 [2^nd throw]
277-8 … Drake Relays, Drake Stadium, Des Moines, Idaho, April 23, 2026 [5^th throw]
276-11 … Texas Relays, Austin, Texas, March 28, 2025 [3^rd throw]
276-4 … NACAC, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Bahamas, Aug. 20, 2022 [3^rd throw]
275-2 … USATF Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 31, 2025 [4^th throw]
274-11 … Athletissima, La Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland, Aug. 26, 2022 [1^st throw]
273-4 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 9, 2022 [1^stthrow]
272-5 … Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, June 23, 2024 [1^st throw]
272-1 … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 23, 2026 [1^st throw]
271-11… Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, July 4, 2016 [1^st throw]
271-10 … Spitzen Leichtathletik, Luzern, Switzerland, Aug. 30, 2022 [3^rd throw]
271-9 … Texas Relays, Austin, Texas, March 28, 2025 [4^th throw]
271-7 … Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, June 21, 2021 [6th throw]
271-0 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 13, 2024 [1st throw]
270-6 … USATF Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 31, 2025 [6th throw]
270-3 … Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Invitational, Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland, Aug. 6, 2022 [2nd throw]

It took one of the greatest performances in NCAA Division 3 history to deny Rowan a national championship.

Rowan scored 85 points this weekend in the NCAA Division 3 Championships, 5th-most in meet history under the current scoring system, which went into effect in 1985 and enough to win the last 17 national titles. But you can’t play defense in track and field, and host Wisconsin-La Crosse scored a record 106 to lock up its 3^rd straight win and 18^th overall.

The 2^nd-place finish is Rowan’s best since they won their 5^th straight national title in 1984.

This is Rowan’s 5^th straight top-5 finish and 15^th overall. The Profs won five straight outdoor titles from 1980 through 1984.

Rowan’ 85 points are the most ever by a non-winning team under the current scoring system. Mount Union scored 100 when the Purple Raiders placed 2^nd to Rowan in 1984 at Carleton, Minn., but that’s when the NCAA scored 12 places instead of the current eight.

The previous high for a 2^nd-place team under the current scoring system was 76 by Lincoln University of Lower Oxford Township, Chester County, in the 1993 meet in Berea, Ohio.

So this was an all-time performance by the Profs. Just not quite enough to topple mighty Wisconsin-La Crosse on its home track, a mile east of the Minnesota border.

Rowan competed short-handed after indoor national 3,000 and 5,000 national champion Seth Clevenger  scratched from the meet with an injury and Rowan’s deep crew of four long jumpers failed to score on Thursday. That put Rowan in a hole it never recovered from, although the Profs kept things close all weekend.

Rowan set five school records and scored 21 points in the high jump, 14 in the two relays, 14 in the 200, 11 in the high hurdles, 10 in the javelin, six in the 100, five in the 800 and four in the intermediates.

In the high jump, freshman David Brown from Edison won at 7-0 ½, sophomore Noah Wampole from Radnor took 3^rd at 6-11 ½ and junior Jamile Gantt from Paulsboro was 4^th with a 6-10 ¼ clearance.

Junior Dametrius Hester from Mahwah contributed 10 points with a win in the javelin with the No. 2 throw in Division 3 history, 245-10, and Rowan added a couple seconds on Saturday with the 400-meter relay team – including Kingsway’s Evan Corcoran, Penns Grove’s Eli Hendricks and Eastern’s Rajahn Dixon – running 39.56, No. 5 in D-3 history, and senior hurdler Kwaku Nkrumah running 13.76 in the 110-meter highs. Senior Jason Agyamang added three points in the hurdles in 6^th place.

Also Saturday, Dixon, Hendricks and Corcoran went 2-4-8 in the 200, giving Rowan an additional 14 points, Corcoran was 3^rd in the 100 in 10.30, Glassboro’s Dallas Hohney placed 4^th in the 800 in 1:49.68 and Sterling’s Samuel Agbessi placed 6^th in the 400-meter hurdles in 52.21. The Profs closed out the meet with a school-record and the 15^th-fastest time in D-3 history in the 4-by-4.

The school records came in the 4-by-1 , 4-by-4, 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and javelin.

The only seniors who scored are hurdlers Jason Agyemang and Kwaku Nkrumah and sprinter Evan Corcoran. Everyone else has additional outdoor eligibility.

Most points in meet history
[current scoring system, since 1985]
106 … Wisconsin-La Crosse, 2026 [1st]
101 … Wisconsin-La Crosse, 2004 [1st]
97 … Wisconsin-La Crosse, 1993 [1st]
91 … North Central [Ill.], 1998 [1st]
85 … Rowan, 2026 [2nd]
80 … Lincoln [Pa.], 1995 [1st]

Here’s a look at Rowan’s top-10 finishes in meet history:
Rowan Top-10 Finishes
2^nd … 1978
2^nd … 1979
1^st … 1980
1^st … 1981
1^st … 1982
1^st … 1983
1^st … 1984
8^th … 1985
9^th … 1996
T8^th … 1997
5^th … 1998
8^th … 2012
T7^th … 2017
3^rd … 2018
4^th … 2021
T5^th … 2022
T3^rd … 2023
T3^rd … 2024
3^rd … 2025
2^nd … 2026

Rowan’s 1,600-meter relay team, with freshman Marquis Taylor of Woodbury, sophomore Samuel Agbessi of Sterling and junior Dallas Hohney of Glassboro, ran the 15^th-fastest time in NCAA Division 3 history at the D-3 Championships Saturday in La Crosse, Wisc.

The Profs placed 3^rd in 3:08.24, with the top four teams all running sub-3:09. The race produced the three-fastest times in Division 3 this year.

Rowan broke the school record of 3:08.74 that it set at the 2023 NCAA Championships in Rochester with Sterling’s Marquise Young, Nana Agyemang from Parsippany, Sterling’s Jah’mere Beasley and Amara Conte from Ferris High in Jersey City.

SUNY-Geneseo won the race in 3:07.62, 6^th-fastest in D-3 history, and Wisconsin La Crosse was 2^ndin 3:08.20, 13^th-fastest on the all-time D-3 list.

Taylor and Agbessi ran the first two legs, getting the btaon to Toms River North’s Teddy Wilson, who split 47.07. Hohney anchored in 46.22.

Rajahn Dixon from Eastern and Eli Hendricks blazed speedy 200-meter dash times, placing 2^nd and 4^th Saturday in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Division 3 Championships at La Crosse, Wisc.

Dixon and Hendricks, seeded just 12^th and 7^th, ran the two-fastest 200 times in Rowan history, Dixon placing 2^nd in 20.76 and Hendricks 4^th in 20.86. Senior Evan Corcoran, racing soon after he took 3^rd in the 100, placed 8^th in 21.31.

The race was held with a legal 1.7 wind reading.

The previous school record was 20.91, which Sterling’s Jah’mere Beasley ran at the 2022 National Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

Dixon’s time is 21^st-fastest in NCAA Division 3 history. Hendricks is No. 45.

Top-seeded Kai Smith of Salisbury [Md.] won the race in 20.42, making him 3^rd-fastest in NCAA Division 3 history.

Dixon’s 20.76 is 6^th-fastest ever by a South Jersey high school alum, and Hendricks’ 20.86 is 8^th-fastest. Dixon is fastest from Camden County since Olympic gold medalist Dennis Mitchell. Hendricks is fastest ever from Salem County.

With 14 points in the 200, Rowan increased its total to 79, 12 behind leader Wisconsin-La Crosse and 24 more than 3^rd-place Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

The full list of sub-21 sprinters is below.

19.75 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], June 19, 1983, Indianapolis

20.09 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], June 2, 1989, Provo, Utah

20.51 … Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp.], Feb. 28, 2026, Indianapolis

20.61 … John Stone [Mainland Reg.], May 22, 1999, Atlanta [-0.4]

20.64 … Bruce Owens [Deptford], May 29, 2010, Greensboro, N.C. [1.1]
20.76 … Rajahn Dixon [Eastern], May 23, 2026, La Crosse, Wisc. [1.7]

20.83 … Todd Dutch [Washington Twp.], May 7, 2005, Columbus, Ohio
20.86 … Eli Hendricks [Penns Grove], May 23, 2026, La Crosse, Wisc. [1.7]

20.88 … Kevin Holloway [Palmyra], April 21, 1979, Bloomington, Ind.

20.90 … Jack Pierce [Woodbury], May 23, 1984, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

20.91 … Jah’mere Beasley [Sterling], May 26, 2022, Geneva, Ohio [1.9]
20.94 … Jayden Poteat [Winslow], May 16, 2026, Elon, N.C.
20.97 … Matt Rose [Bordentown], May 24, 1987, Villanova, Pa.

Sterling’s Sam Agbessi, a Rowan sophomore, earned All-America honors in the 400-meter hurdles Saturday in his 1^st individual race ever at an NCAA Championships.

Agbessi ran 52.21 and placed 5^th at the Division 3 Nationals in La Crosse, Wisc. On Thursday, in his NCAA debut, he ran a leg on Rowan’s 1,600-meter relay team, which qualfied for the final later Saturday.

Agbessi is Rowan’s 1^st NCAA medalist in the 400-meter hurdles since Anthony Salemo from Ramsey High placed 2^nd in the 2018 meet in 51.06 in his final collegiate race, also on the La Crosse track.

Agbessi never broke 55 at Sterling and ranked 22^nd in New Jersey as a high school senior in the spring of 2023. But now he’s an NCAA Division 3 All-America with a chance at a 2^nd All-America performance later Saturday.

With Agbessi’s four points, Rowan increased its total to 65 in 2^nd place behind host La Crosse, which now has 86. Rowan is 16 ahead of 3^rd-place Wisconson Oshkosh.

Glassboro’s Dallas Hohney, who barely qualified for the final, placed 4^th in the 800 Saturday in the NCAA Division 3 Championships in La Crosse, Wisc.

Hohney, a Rowan junior, ran 1:50.46 in the qualifying rounds on Friday, earning the 9^th and final spot in the final.

On Saturday, he ran 1:49.68, not far off his PR and school-record 1:49.26 from the NJAC Championships in Mahwah earlier this month.

Hohney is the first Rowan half-miler to place at nationals since Nick Neville was 6^th in the 2018 meet on the same track. His 4^th-place finish is best by a Rowan 800 runner since Brad Leak from Union took 3^rd at the 1993 meet in Berea, Ohio, in 1:52.34 after a 1:50.01 in the trials.

This is Hohney’s 1^st All-America honor. He qualified for the 400 at indoor nationals but did not finish the race.

With Hohney’s five points in the 800, Rowan is up to 61 points, trailing only host Wisconsin La Crosse, who has 86 through 16 of 21 events.