From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Huge intermediate hurdles PR for Timber Creek graduate Nasir Ali Saturday at the Raleigh Relays.

In his first outdoor race for Chicago State after spending last year at Long Island University, Ali ran 53.39, lowering his PR nearly a full second.

Ali’s best time in his one year at LIU was 54.23 in a meet last April in Storrs, Conn. He placed 2^nd in the Northeast Conference Championships in Easton, Mass., with a 54.71.

Ali resurfaced this indoor season at Chicago State and ran 49.17 indoors in a meet in Chicago. This was his first outdoor race competing for the Cougars.

There’s no all-time performance list on the Chicago State web site – come, Chicago State sports information people, get on the ball. They do list  a school record of 52.52 in the 400 hurdles set last year by Raymond Oriakhi, although TFRRS shows his fastest time as 52.73 with no sign of a 52.52. Oriakhi is now at Pitt.

At Timber Creek, Ali had a 400IH best of 55.09 from 2024 Group 3 Sectionals at Delsea and a 400 best of 48.96, also in a meet at Delsea.

Huge intermediate hurdles PR for Timber Creek graduate Nasir Ali Saturday at the Raleigh Relays.

In his first ougdoor race for Chicago State after spending last year at Long Island University in Brooklyn, Ali ran 53.39, lowering his PR nearly a full second.

Ali’s best time in his one year at LIU was 54.23 in a meet last April in Storrs, Conn. He placed 2nd in the Northeast Conference Championships in Easton, Mass., with a 54.71.

Ali resurfaced this indoor season at Chicago State and ran 49.17 indoors in a meet in Chicago. This was his first outdoor race competing for the Cougars.

No all-time performance list on the Chicago State web site, but they do show a school record of 52.52 in the 400 hurdles set last year by Raymond Oriakhi, so after just one race Ali is now less than a second off that mark.

At Timber Creek, Ali had a 400IH best of 55.09 from 2024 Group 3 Sectionals at Delsea and a 400 best of 48.96, also in a meet at Delsea.

Aliya Garozzo ran the fastest 400-meter hurdles race ever by a South Jersey woman Saturday at the Raleigh Relays on Paul Derr Track on the North Carolina State campus.

Garozzo, a Paul VI graduate who competed for Penn and then Duke, won the 400 hurdles in 55.69, smashing her PR of 55.77, which she ran last April at Duke in nearby Durham.

Her time is No. 2 in the world this year, behind only four-time Australian champion Sarah Carli, who ran 55.36 in Perth last month.

The only faster woman from New Jersey over the 400-meter hurdles is world record holder and four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin, who ran 50.37 in Paris when she won the 2024 Olympic gold medal.

Garozzo gave an indication of her fitness level when she PRd at 400 meters in February indoors at Clemson with a 52.43. That made her 26^th-fastest American woman this past indoor season.

Garozzo broke the meet record of 57.05 set in 1995 by Rebecca Russell, running unattatched, and broke the facility record of 55.75 set in 2021 by Andrenette Knight of Virginia. Braelyn Baker, Garozzo’s former Duke teammate, was 2^nd with a personal-best 55.77. Baker and Garozzo both ran on Duke’s 4-by-4 team that placed 5^th at NCAAs last June at Hayward Field.

All-Time South Jersey 400-Meter Hurdles Top-10
55.69 … Aliya Garozzo [Paul VI], March 28, 2026, Raleigh, N.C.
55.78 … Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], April 21, 1996, Walnut, Calif.

55.99 … Natalie Dumas [Eastern], June 20, Philadelphia
56.11 … Arianna Smith [Pennsville], May 17, 2025, Norfolk, Va.
56.21 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], May 26, 2007, Gainesville, Fla.
56.87 … Evann Thompson [Lenape], May 30, 2014, Jacksonville, Fla.
57.16 … Jewel Ash [Eastern], May 9, 2022, High Point, N.C.
57.31 … Danielle Myricks [Willingboro], May 19, 2002, Columbia, Mo.

57.31 … Eusheka Bartley [Highland], May 29, 1996, Atlanta
58.28 … Nylah Perry [Winslow], May 27, 2023, Sacramento, Calif.

Anthony Barber, an Arcadia freshman from Burlington Township, threw a javelin PR on the first throw of his first college meet and then added three more PRs before his day was over.

What a college debut for the former Falcon!

Barber PR’d on each of his first three throws and and again on his 6^th attempt and placed 3^rd at the Danny Curren Invitational at Widener University in Chester, Pa.

His PR coming into his college debut was 175-7 when he placed 6^th in his last high school meet, the Meet of Champions at Pennsauken last June.

On Saturday, he threw 179-4, 179-8 and 180-3 on his first three attempts and then finished with a 181-5 for his 4^th PR of the afternoon.

The 181-5 is the best throw by an Arcadia freshman as far back as TFRRS goes back, which is 2010. A lot of those years Arcadia doesn’t seem to have had a track team. I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s a school freshman record. Can’t tell you what the school record is. Arcadia is one of a very small number of colleges that doesn’t list school records

Tey’ana Ames came within 3 ¼ inches of the Rutgers shot put record Saturday with a PR at the Central Florida Knights Invitational in Orlando.

Ames, a Rutgers senior from Atlantic County Tech, threw 53-1 ¾ on her final attempt, falling just shy of the Rutgers school record of 53-5 set by Jasmine Van Note of Sayreville at the 2022 Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis.

Indoors, Ames PR’d with a 52-9 ½ at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., last month. That’s also No. 2 in Rutgers history, behind Van Note’s 54-5 ¼ at the Armory in 2023.

Ames is No. 3 in That’s No. 3 in South Jersey history, behind Jessica Woodard of Cherokee [63-7 ¾ in Tucson in 2021] and Jamine Moton of Delsea [58-6 ¼ in Clemson, S.C., in 2001]. She’s No. 9 all-time among New Jersey women.

In her first college race over the 100-meter high hurdles, Washington Township’s Dakota Jones broke the NJIT school record.

Jones ran 14.69, breaking the New Jersey Institute of Technology record of 14.78 set by Oluanifemi Olufowobi at a meet in Durham, N.H., this past May.

Jones ran 14.69 to win the event at the Danny Curren Invitational at Widener University in Chester, Pa. Teammate Kayla Kelsick from Science Park in Newark. Kelsick ran 14.78, tying the previous school record.

One of NJIT’s assistant coaches is Jerome Robinson, the 1986 state Group 1 high jump champion for Bordentown.

Jones ran 14.41 with an assisting wind of 2.2 meters per second at South Jersey Group 4 sectionals last year at Pennsauken, but her wind-legal PR is 14.54 from 2024 West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field.

West Chester sophomore Brodyn Wolfert from Cherokee PR’d to win both the discus and hammer in his season opener with all-time West Chester top-10 marks in both events.

In the discus, Wolfert threw 155-10 at the Rams’ own WCU Purple and Gold Open last weekend. His previous PR was 137-6 at the same meet last year, so this is an 18-foot PR in his first outdoor meet this year. That makes him the No. 6 performer in school history.

In the hanmmer, Wolfert won with a 152-11. It was only his third time throwing the hammer and second time getting a legal mark. His previous PR was 111-6 last April in another home meet, so this was about a 40-foot PR. It’s also No. 5 in school history.

Wolfert also PR’d with a third place in the javelin at 165-9. His previous jav PR was 148-1 last April in a home meet. So another huge PR.

Through two weekends of the outdoor season, Wolfert is No. 1 in the PSAC in the discus, No. 7 in the hammer and No. 16 in the javelin.

West Chester freshman Molly Minor from Haddonfield ran 58.73 in her first outdoor college 400 last weekend in Charlotte.

That time is only 7-100ths off Minor’s PR of 58.66 from South Jersey Group 2 sectionals at Delsea in May.

Her time makes her 5^th-fastest overall so far in the PSAC and the fastest freshman. Her best time indoors was 60.12 at the Ott Center.

She is WCU’s fastest quarter-miler since 2019, when Allison King ran 58.05 in Chester, and the Rams’ fastest freshman since 2013, when Janna Wilson ran 58.48 at the PSAC Championships in Millersville.

Minor also ran a leg on West Chester’s 400-meter relay team, which ran 47.38, 5^th-fastest in school history.

I thought it would be fun to put together a list of the top marks in every event by South Jersey athletes in this year’s indoor season.

Am I overlooking anybody? Any errors or omissions? Let me know in the comment section is someone is missing! This will be fun to do again after the outdoor season! Maybe I’ll go three-deep outdoors!

Men
60-Meter Dash: Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp.], 6.52, Clemson, S.C., Jan. 10
200-Meter Dash: Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp.], 20.52, Philadelphia, Jan. 23
400-Meter Dash: Alex Osayemi [Clayton], 46.80, Albuquerque, N. Mex., Feb. 7
600-Meter Run: Alex Osayemi [Clayton], 1:21.22, Bloomington, Ind., Jan. 16
800-Meter Run: Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], 1:50.62, Indianapolis, Feb. 7
Mile Run: Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 3:59.41, Staten Island, Feb. 6
3,000-Meter Run: Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 7:54.87, New York
5,000-Meter Run: Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 13:32.09, Boston
60-Meter Hurdles: Jamir Brown [Riverside], 7.60, Clemson, S.C., Jan. 23
Long Jump: Greg Foster [Lumberton], 27-0 ¼, New York, Feb. 28
Triple Jump: Floyd Whitaker [Highland], 53-11 ¼, College Station, Texas, Feb. 26
High Jump: Jamile Gantt [Paulsboro], 6-10 ¼, New York, Jan. 16
Pole Vault: Nico Morales [Delsea], 17-4 ½, Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 16
Shot Put: Josh Awotunde [Delsea], 65-1 ½, New York, Feb. 1

Women
60-Meter Dash: Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], 7.24, Boston, March 15
200-Meter Dash: Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], 23.10, Boston, March 15
400-Meter Dash: Aliya Garozzo [Paul VI], 52.43, Clemson, S.C.., Feb. 13
600-Meter Run: Natalie Dumas [Eastern], 1:28.10, New York, Feb. 1
800-Meter Run: Natalie Dumas [Eastern], 2:05.30, New York, March 14
Mile Run: Shaelan McNally [Paul VI], 4:49.32, Philadelphia, Feb. 7
3,000-Meter Run: Helene Usher [Haddonfield], 9:45.20, New York, Jan. 23
5,000-Meter Run: Alyssa Condeell [Timber Creek], 16:11.60, Boston, Feb. 14
60-Meter Hurdles: Jailya Ash [Eastern], 8.39, Albuquerque, Feb. 7
Long Jump: Tionna Tobias [Winslow Twp.], 21-5 ½, New York, Feb. 8
Triple Jump: Sophia Curtis [Ocean City], 40-8 ½, Clemson, S.C., Jan. 30
High Jump: Egypt Bolan [Lindenwold], 5-10, Staten Island, Jan. 24
……………………Jenovia Logan [Sterling], 5-10, Philadelphia, Jan. 10
Pole Vault: Hannah Byrd-Leitner, 13-3, Blacksburg, Va., Feb. 6
Shot Put: Jessica Woodard [Cherokee], 59-5 ¼, State College, Pa., Feb. 20

Here’s one I missed last month: Timber Creek graduate Alyssa Condell ran a hot 5,000 PR at Boston University, recording the 8th-fastest time ever by a South Jersey woman.

Easy to miss someone in a meet as massive as B.U.’s annual David Hemery Valentine Invitational. (Now that I’m looking back, Alyssa is actually not listed in the live results, although she is in the *.pdf results that are linked on the main site. So not totally my fault on this one!)

But Condell, who ran collegiately for Penn, graduating in 2021, ran 16:11.60 at B.U. in her only indoor race this year, lowering her PR from 16:29.45, which she ran outdoors at Princeton at the 2024 Larry Ellis Invitational. Her previous indoor PR was 16:31.47 at the Armory this past December.

Condell’s fastest 5,000 at Penn was a 16:56.36 at the 2019 Ivy League Championships, also at Princeton’s Weaver Stadium.

Condell’s 16:11.60 ranked 59th among U.S. women indoors in 2026. She’s fastest 5,000 runner from South Jersey since Olympian Marielle Hall ran 15:31.47 at Icahn Stadium in May 2023, the last time she raced on the track.

All-Time South Jersey Alumni 5,000-Meter Run List
15:02.27 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], July 9, 2019, Azusa, Calif.
15:10.10 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], May 29, 2021, Attleboro, Mass.
15:41.78 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], May 1, 2011, Palo Alto, Calif.
15:53.74… Megan McGlinchey [West Deptford], Dec. 7, 2013, Haverford, Pa.
15:56.73 … Mindy Rowand [Sterling], March 9, 1990, Indianapolis
16:03.71 … Laura Mason [Northern Burlington], April 28, 1994, Philadelphia
16:06.92 … Amanda Goetschius [Delsea], March 12, 2020, Fayetteville, Ark.
16:11.60… Alyssa Condell [Timber Creek], Feb. 14, 2026, Boston
16:12.62 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], April 7, 2012, Williamsburg, Va.
16:14.07 … Kylie Anicic [Kingsway], April 12, 2024, Azusa, Calif.
16:16.52 … Melody Sye [Ocean City], April 28, 1994, Philadelphia
16:17.67 … Lori Townsend [Kingsway], April 27, 1995, Philadelphia