From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Williamstown senior Jasiah Gibbons placed 4th in the 60-meter hurdles final at Virginia Beach Nationals Sunday afternoon.

Gibbons, racing for the third day in a row after qualifying Friday and semifinals Saturday, ran 8.01 in the final. He PR’d with 7.94 in the semifinals.

Gibbons moved up to 7th-fastest in South Jersey history and 15th-fastest in state history.

All-Time New Jersey 60-Meter Hurdles List
7.63 … Cory Poole [East Orange Campus], 2017
7.64 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
7.65 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2024
7.73 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1997
7.74 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2024
7.79 … Nathaniel Rayan [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 2023
7.85 … Chris Serrao [East Brunswick], 2022
7.87 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2002
7.88 … Yverson Alexandre [Hillside], 2025
7.90 … Corey Nelms [Neptune], 2006
7.90 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
7.90 … Essien Plummer [Neptune], 2026
7.92 … Michael Perry [North Brunswick], 2026
7.92 … Elvin Marte Feliz [North Brunswick], 2026
7.94 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], 2001
7.94 … Ihmir Marsette [Weequahic], 2017
7.94 … Akeem Lindo [East Orange Campus], 2017
7.94 … Jasiah Gibbons [Williamstown], 2026
7.95 … Herb Reid [Lenape], 2000
7.95 … Ron Jules [Toms River East], 2003
7.96 … Danyne Brown. [Camden], 1999
7.96 … Joshua Evans [Irvington], 2009
7.96 … Andrew Aguilera [Governor Livingston], 2017
7.97 … Jason Keiser [East Brunswick], 2025
7.97 … Jermaine Collier [Trenton], 2011
7.99 … Zach Gizzone [Union Catholic], 2013
7.99 … Naseem Smith [Deptford], 2019
7.99 … Chais Hill [Highland], 2015

All-Time South Jersey 60-Meter Hurdles List
7.64 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
7.65 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2024
7.73 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1997
7.74 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2023
7.87 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2002
7.90 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
7.94 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], 2001
7.94 … Jasiah Gibbons [Williamstown], 2026
7.95 … Herb Reid [Lenape], 2000
7.96 … Danyne Brown. [Camden], 1999
7.99 … Naseem Smith [Deptford], 2019
7.99 … Chais Hill [Highland], 2015

Cinnaminson’s Malicah Etienne, a Georgian Court junior from Cinnaminson High and Edgewater Park, started his outdoor season out with a discus win at the Stockton Invitational Saturday.

No series information available, but Etienne threw 163-2 and won by nearly 30 feet.

Etienne threw within about six feet of his PR 169-5 from a meet in April 2024 at Shippensburg.

Etienne also threw 49-10 ¾ for 2nd place in the shot put and 1st among collegiate throwers.

Etienne is 3rd in school history in the shot indoors at 53-9 ¼, 5th in the shot outdoors at 51-5 ½ and 2nd in the discus at 169-5.

Delsea’s Josh Awotunde placed 6^th in the shot put Sunday morning at the World Championships at Kujawy Pomorze in Torun, Poland.

This is Awotunde’s 4^th top-8 finish in five trips to Worlds. In 2022 indoor Worlds in Belgrade, Serbia, he placed 5^th with a throw of 71-2 ¼ and then outdoors that spring in Eugene he placed 3^rdwith a 73-1 ½. In 2023 in Budapest, Hungary, he placed 11^th at 65-6 ½. Then last year outdoors in Tokyo he placed 7^th in the final with a 69-4 ¼.

Awotunde opened with a 67-1 ½, then threw 67-11 ¾ on his 2^nd before hitting 68-9 on both his 3^rd and 4^th throws, moving up to 6^th place. He fouled on his 5^th attempt and finished with a 67-1 ¼.

Awotunde qualified for Worlds by placing 3^rd at the U.S. Championships at Ocean Breeeze earlier this month with a season-best 69-1.

He threw his PR 73-8 ½ when he won the 2025 U.S. Championship at Oregon’s Hayward Field. That’s No. 17 in world history and No. 10 in U.S. history.

Tom Walsh of New Zealand won the competition by an inch with a 71-0 ¾ on his 5th attempt, bumping American Jordan Geist out of the lead. Geist wound up 2nd with a 70-11 ¾. The other American, Roger Steen, placed 3rd with a 70-6 on his final attempt.

Running unchallenged in the 800, Natalie Dumas raced to her 6^th national title Saturday night at Virginia Beach Nationals. It was her final indoor race competing for Eastern.

Dumas set a meet-record 2:06.75 running away from the field and winning by 25 meters over Stella Blanchard of the Wilberforce School in Plainsboro.

The previous meet record was 2:08.92 by Kate Putnam of North Syracuse High in Cicero, N.Y., in 2023.

Dumas went out in 29.73 and came through 400 in 60.74 and already had a 15-meter lead. With an insurmountable lead, she cruised home with 32.56 and 33.47 final 200s.

Dumas still ran within 1 ½ seconds of her indoor PR and South Jersey record of 2:05.30, which she ran at Armory Nationals last weekend.

Last winter, Dumas won the 400 at Virginia Beach Nationals in 53.66 and then outdoorst she won national titles in the 400, 800 and 400-meter hurdles at West Philly Nationals. She won her 5^th U.S. title Saturday night when she anchored Eastern’s mixed 1,600-meter relay.

Delaware junior Kadence Dumas from Eastern, Villanova freshman Maeve Smith from Ocean City and La Salle sophomore Gillian Lovett Mainland Regional all ran 1,500 PRs, finishing a couple seconds from each other in the Penn Challenge Saturday at Franklin Field. Smith doubled back and PR’d in the 800 as well.

Dumas placed 3rd in the 1,500 in 4:30.50, Smith ran 4th in 4:32.65 and Lovett was 6th in 4:33.52.

Dumas’s previous 1,500 PR was a 4:39.95 in Richmond a year ago this week. She ran a 4:56.28 mile across the railroad tracks at the Ott Center in January. Her 1,500 Saturday is 7th-fastest in Delaware history and converts to a 4:52.14 full mile.

Smith’s 1,500 converts to a 4:54.46 full mile, which is well below her college mile best of 4:59.59 also from the Ott Center in January in the same race Dumas ran her 4:56.28. She ran a 4:53.27 outdoors at West Philly Nationals this past June.

Lovett’s 4:33.52 drops her PR from 4:33.69 in Chester this past April. She ran her full mile PR 4:55.59 in that same January race at the Ott. This 1,500 converts to 4:55.40.

Smith’s 2:17.06 is a giant PR. At Ocean City her fastest 800 was a 2:21.18 in the 2023 Cape-Atlantic meet at Bridgeton, and this was her first collegiate 800.

Dumas doubled back to run a leg on Delaware’s winning 4-by-4, which ran 3:47.07. The results don’t list who ran which leg, so can’t tell you her split.

Stockton freshman Josephine Buxton opened her collegiate career with the best javelin throw by an Osprey woman in 12 years.

Buxton, an Absegami graduate, threw 132-7 to win the javelin at the season-opening Stockton Invitational in Galloway Township.

That’s the best throw by a Stockton woman since Emily Higbee of Holy Spirit hit 135-0 in a meet in Lakewood in May 2014.

Buxton’s lifetime best is a 138-8 from her win at the state Group 3 meet this past May at South Plainfield.

No field series in the results, but Delsea graduate Ava Reardon of Rowan, a transfer from Georgian Court, threw 129-8 for 2^nd place. She threw 139-2 last year and won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference meet in Lakewood.

Rowan senior Diamond Eaddy from Salem placed 4^th with a 125-5, just five feet off her PR 130-7 from last spring in Chester, Pa.

Rowan’s Damitrius Hester popped the No. 7 javelin throw in NCAA Division 3 history Saturday at the season-opening Stockton Invitational in Galloway Township.

Hester, a Mahwah graduate, threw 236-4 on his 2^nd attempt, breaking the Rowan and NJAC records and recording the best throw by a D-3 athlete in three years, since Will Lawrence of Wisconsin-Platteville threw 236-8 at the 2023 Division 3 Championships in Rochester, N.Y.

Greg Peloso from Wayne Valley held the previous Rowan and NJAC record with the new implement at 230-11 in Ewing in April of 2022, and that was the top mark in NCAA Division 3 that year. Peloso went on to place 2^nd to Lawrence at 2023 Division 3 nationals with a 227-9.

Hester’s previous PR was 218-4 from his 2^nd-place finish at D-3 Nationals this past May in Geneva, Ohio.

Hester only took three throws, but each was beyond his previous PR. He opened with a PR 224-6, then hit the monster 236-4 and a 231-6. He passed his final three throws.

Montclair freshman Markos Hantsoulis from Highland Park, who won West Philly Nationals this past June, was 2^nd with a 221-7 on his final throw. That’s a nearly 20-foot PR over his 203-9 from a meet last April in Old Bridge. In his first college meet, he’s now No. 4 all-time in NJAC history behind Hester, Peloso and Rutgers-Camden national champ Tim VanLiew from Deptford, the D-3 record holder at 247-10 from 2013 nationals in LaCrosse, Wisc.

Rowan, which won the Division 3 indoor national championship earlier this month, only brought its javelin throwers to Stockton Saturday. Freshman Dylan Fitzpatrick from Burlington Township, in his collegiate debut, threw a PR 195-1 for 3^rd place. Fitzpatrick’s high school PR was 188-1 from Central Jersey Group 3 Sectionals in Jackson this past May. He had four throws beyond that Saturday, with a 190-6, a 192-4 and a 192-10 in addition to his 195-1.

Another Rowan freshman, Drue Chauhan from Quakertown, placed 4^th with a 185-10 on his 1^st collegiate throw. That’s just shy of his PR 187-10 last May in Coatesville.

Rowan’s school record with the old javelin is 258-5 by Hopatcong’s Mike Juskus, who won three D-3 national titles and a D-1 national title after never throwing the javelin in high school. That 258-5 remains the meet record at D-3 Nationals with the old jav.

Williamstown senior Jasiah Gibbons lowered his PR again Saturday morning and raced his way into the 60-meter hurdles final at Virginia Beach Nationals.

Gibbons, who ran 7.95 in the qualifying Friday, ran 7.94 in the first of two semifinals, and his time was 5^th-fastest overall of the 16 hurdlers in the semis.

He advanced to the final as a “small-Q” qualifier with the fastest time in the field that didn’t place first or second in one of the semis. The final is scheduled for 1:56 p.m. Sunday.

Gibbons moved up to 7^th-fastest in South Jersey history and 15^th-fastest in state history.

All-Time New Jersey 60-Meter Hurdles List
7.63 … Cory Poole [East Orange Campus], 2017
7.64 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
7.65 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2024
7.73 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1997
7.74 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2024
7.79 … Nathaniel Rayan [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 2023
7.85 … Chris Serrao [East Brunswick], 2022
7.87 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2002
7.88 … Yverson Alexandre [Hillside], 2025
7.90 … Corey Nelms [Neptune], 2006
7.90 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
7.90 … Essien Plummer [Neptune], 2026
7.92 … Michael Perry [North Brunswick], 2026
7.92 … Elvin Marte Feliz [North Brunswick], 2026
7.94 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], 2001
7.94 … Ihmir Marsette [Weequahic], 2017
7.94 … Akeem Lindo [East Orange Campus], 2017
7.94 … Jasiah Gibbons [Williamstown], 2026
7.95 … Herb Reid [Lenape], 2000
7.95 … Ron Jules [Toms River East], 2003
7.96 … Danyne Brown. [Camden], 1999
7.96 … Joshua Evans [Irvington], 2009
7.96 … Andrew Aguilera [Governor Livingston], 2017
7.97 … Jason Keiser [East Brunswick], 2025
7.97 … Jermaine Collier [Trenton], 2011
7.99 … Zach Gizzone [Union Catholic], 2013
7.99 … Naseem Smith [Deptford], 2019
7.99 … Chais Hill [Highland], 2015

All-Time South Jersey 60-Meter Hurdles List
7.64 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
7.65 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2024
7.73 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1997
7.74 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2023
7.87 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2002
7.90 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
7.94 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], 2001
7.94 … Jasiah Gibbons [Williamstown], 2026
7.95 … Herb Reid [Lenape], 2000
7.96 … Danyne Brown. [Camden], 1999
7.99 … Naseem Smith [Deptford], 2019
7.99 … Chais Hill [Highland], 2015

In her first outdoor college meet, Vanderbilt freshman Sofia Day of Mainland Regional ran a big PR of 4:32.32 Thursday to win the 1,500 at the River City Relays at Hodges Stadium on the North Florida campus in Jacksonville.

That’s the equivalent of a 4:54.11 full mile. Day’s lifetime best was a 4:55.19 last month indoors in Nashville. Day won by a full 20 meters over Ana Markovina of the host Ospreys.

Day came through 1,100 meters in 3:23.86 and then closed in a blazing 68.47 for her final 400 meters.

Day doubled back Friday and ran 2:12.21 in the 800. That’s an outdoor PR and just off her lifetime-best 2:02.05 from the 2024 indoor Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze.

Day ran one 800 indoors last month in Nashville and was timed in 2:12.88. That was part of a double where she ran a lifetime-best 4:55.19 mile.

Day had a very abbreviated outdoor season as a high school senior, with just two low-key 400 races. These were her first 800 or 1,500 / 1,600 / mile races outdoors since June of 2024, when she won state Group 4 titles in the 800 and 1,600 at Delsea.