From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Nice race for Hampton sophomore Yashahya Brown from Washington Township, who PR’d at 7.84 Sunday and placed 3rd in the 60-meter hurdles at the Coastal Athletic Conference Championships at The TRACK in Boston.

Brown was 5th-fastest in the trials at 8.08 before his sizzling final two hours later. His previous PR was a 7.86 back in December 2024 at the Armory as a Rutgers freshman. His previous best time racing for Hampton was a 7.95 at the Ott Center earlier this month.

Brown’s 7.84 is 9th-fastest on the all-time South Jersey 60-meter hurdles alumni list. The only faster hurdler from Gloucester County is Olympic bronze medalist Jack Pierce of Woodbury.

It’s also a provisional qualifier for next weekend’s USATF Championships at Ocean Breeze. The B standard is 7.90. Today is the final day of the qualifying window.

All-Time South Jersey 60-Meter Hurdles Alumni List
7.50 … Anwar Moore [Camden], Feb. 24, 2008, Boston
7.52 … Jack Pierce [Woodbury], Feb. 25, 1995, Fairfax, Va.
7.60 … Jamir Brown [Riverside], Jan. 23, 2026, Clemson, S.C.
7.64 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], Jan. 25, 2025, Lubbock, Texas
7.72 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], Jan. 9, 2015, Houston
7.77 … Greg Foster [Lumberton / Lawrenceville Prep], Jan. 24, 2026, Philadelphia
7.80 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], Jan. 21, 2006, Carbondale, Ill.
7.80 … Marquise Young [Sterling], Dec. 2, 2022, Staten Island, N.Y.
7.84 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], Feb. 21, 2026, Boston
7.86 … Tyler Garland [Deptford], Feb. 29, 2020, South Bend, Ind.
7.87 … Devon Carter [Washington Twp.], Feb. 28, 2014, Clemson, S.C.
7.89 … Paul Klemic [Mainland Reg.], Feb. 23, 2003, Boston
7.90 … Jalen Walker [Burlington Twp.], March 8, 2015, Boston
7.91 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], Feb. 12, 2005, Ames, Iowa
7.91 … Anthony Vazquez [Egg Harbor Twp.], Jan. 19, 2024, New York
7.91 … Javon Sanders [Deptford], March 2, 2024, Brookings, S.D.
7.92 … Greg Foster [Lawrenceville Prep / Lumberton], Feb. 10, 2023, New York
7.94 … Jusson Boyd [Willingboro], Feb. 26, 2012, Winston-Salem, N.C.
7.94 … Edwin Alston [Winslow Twp.], Feb. 18, 2017, New York
7.95 … Isaiah Lewis [Winslow Twp.], Feb. 7, 2025, Cambridge, Mass.
7.96 … Naseem Smith [Deptford], Feb. 2, 2024, Cambridge, Mass.
7.97 … Chais Hill [Highland], Feb. 26, 2016, Geneva, Ohio

Stockton junior Ahmad Fogg from Egg Harbor and Rowen freshmen Anthony Parker of Salem and Bright John of Sterling locked up in a historic long jump battle Saturday at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships.

By the time the event was over, all three were ranked among the top 10 in NCAA Division 3.

Fogg wound up winning with a PR and school-record 24-9, John PR’d three times, including a 23-11 ½ on his final jump, and Parker, despite four jumps over 23 feet, finished 3^rd with a best jump of 23-10 ¾.

Fogg broke the meet record of 24-4 ¼ set at Ocean Breeze in 2019 by Montclair State’s George Alexandris from Fair Lawn High in Bergen County.

It was a wild back-and-forth competition, with Fogg, Parker and John all taking turns with the lead.

Parker, John and Montclair freshman Jalen Balbuena from Fort Lee High in Bergen County all surpassed 23 feet on their first jump, with John taking the early lead with a 23-8 ¾, his first PR of the day, Balbuena 2^nd at 23-5 ¼ and Parker at 23-3 ¼. John extended his PR to 23-9 on his 2^nd jump, Parker hit 23-6 ¾ on his 2^nd jump and Fogg jumped 23-1 ¼ on his third jump.

So going into the final, John led at 23-9, Parker was 2^nd at 23-6 ¾, with Balbuena 3^rd at 23-5 ¼ and Fogg 4^thwith a 23-1 ¼.

Fogg then jumped into the lead with a 23-10 ¼ to open the finals before Parker moved into the lead with a 23-10 ¾. Meanwhile, John passed his teammate with another PR of 23-11 ½ on his final attempt before Fogg jumped the field with his 24-9.

So Fogg won at 24-9, John was 2^nd at 23-11 ½, Parker 3^rd at 23-10 ¾ and Balbuena 4^th with a 23-6 on his final jump.

In all there were 16 jumps of at least 23 feet by four different jumpers, three of them freshmen.

On the updated Division 3 list, Parker remains No. 2 with his 25-0 at Ocean Breeze two weeks ago, Fogg is now No. 3, John is tied for No. 8 and Balbuena is No. 20.
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Parker, John and Balbuena are the top three freshmen in Division 3. Parker and John are No. 1 and 4 in Rowan history.

Parker is No. 16 in Division 3 history and Fogg is now No. 30.

As for Fogg, he broke a school record that was set 38 years ago by Shawnee graduate Greg Foster, who jumped a then-meet-record 24-8 ½ on March 12, 1988, at the 1988 NCAA Division 3 Championships at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. A day earlier, Foster set a meet-record 51-0 ¾ to win the triple jump, and that remains Stockton’s school record.

Foster’s son Greg is now a senior at Princeton and ranked 8^th in the world with a 26-10 ½ last weekend in Fayetteville.

Fogg, John and Parker now rank 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th on the all-time meet performance list.  Fogg, John, Parker and Balbuena all had the best marks for place in meet history.

Sophomores Nyla Jones of Timber Creek, Paige Franklin of Williamstown and Amari Pinkett of Egg Harbor helped the Rowan women record the 5^th-fastest 800-meter relay in NCAA Division 3 history Saturday at the Ott Center.

Rowan ran 1:40.65, breaking the school record of 1:40.75 set last year by a completely different lineup – Molly Lodge of Woodstown, Jasmine Pope of Pennsauken, Jasmine Broadway of Burlington Township and Nevaeh Lorjuste of Triton, also at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships in West Philly.

Rowan placed 2^nd to The College of New Jersey, who set a Division 3 record with a 1:39.69. TCNJ’s second leg was junior Kelsey Thomas from Clayton. TCNJ broke the D-3 record of 1:40.07 set by Colby College of Waterville, Maine, in Boston this past March.

Jones and Franklin ran the first two legs and Ava Reilly of Toms River East and Pickett finished, splitting 25.1 and 25.2.

On the 2026 indoor U.S. list, TCNJ is now 7^th-fastest and Rowan is 9^th-fastest.

TCNJ and Rowan now take up four of the top six spots on the all-time NCAA Division 3 list. TCNJ is 1^st with its 1:39.69 Saturday and 4^th with a 1:40.49 from the 2023 NJAC meet at Ocean Breeze, and Rowan is No. 5 with its performance Saturday and No. 6 with its 1:40.75 last year.

Stockton junior Elaina Styer from Ocean City put together one of the top pentathlon performances in NCAA Division 3 history Saturday at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at the Ott Center.

Styer ran 8.92 in the hurdles, matched her PR by clearing 5-5 ¼ in the high jump, threw the shot put 32-6 ½, long jumped 17-11 ¼ and finished by running a PR 2:21.80 for 3,747 points.

That’s No. 14 in NCAA Division 3 history and the top mark in NCAA Division 3 this year. It puts her at No. 42 among all American women.

Styer scored 927 in the opening 60-meter hurdles, 806 in the high jump, 524 in the shot put, 691 in the long jump and 799 in the 800. She had the best mark in all five events.

She came out ahead after a great competition with The College of New Jesey’s Sarah Scepkowski of Arthur Johnson High in Clark, whose 3,358 is No. 14 in Division 3 this year.

Styer wasn’t far off her PRs in the hurdles [8.83], long jump [18-0 ½] and shot [34-9].

Styer broke her own meet record of 3,628 set last year, the 1^st year the event was included in the NJAC Championships. She scored 3,570 two weeks ago in Utica, N.Y., in her previous multi this year.

Styer will compete in the NCAA Division 3 Championships in Birmingham next month.

Coniglario 21.56
Corcoran 21.62
Hendricks 22.27
Dixon 21.40

Haddonfield scored 39 points in the three distance races and won its 13^th state indoor championship Saturday at the Bubble.

Haddonfield netted 50 total points and more than doubled 2^nd-place Voorhees, winning 50-22. Haddonfield actually outscored 2^nd and 3^rd place combined by 50-40. Manasquan was 3^rd with 18 points.

If Haddonfield just brought its XC team, they would have won the meet by double digits.

Haddonfield previously won Group 1 in 1987, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2016 and Group 2 in 2017, 2019 and 2025.

The 13 state titles are tied for 4^th-most in state history and 2^nd-most ever by a South Jersey school, behind Willingboro’s 16.

In the 800, senior Brandon Stoner and Aaron Keith finished 2^nd and 4^th in 2:00.06 and 2:00.63 for 12 points, in the 1,600, senior Benjamin Andrus ran 4:17.89 for 2^nd and senior Peter Simpson was 4^th in 4:23.82 for 12 more, and in the 3,200 senior Ryan Gibson was 2^nd in 9:29.47, Andrus 3^rd in 9:38.37 and Simpson 6^th in 9:45.62 for 15 points.

The Bulldogs also won the 4-by-4 in 3:30.63 with junior Jack P. Brand, junior Ryder Bozine, senior Andrew Brand and Stoner. Bozine ran 7.84 for 6^th in the hurdles.

Pemberton senior Jaden Goins ran 6.47 in the 55 to become the first Pemberton boy to win an indoor state title in 64 years. In 1962, Les Holly won the 60-yard dash at the state Group 3 meet at the Jersey City Armory in 6.7.

Willingboro senior Christopher Jones ran 50.22 for 2^nd in the 400.

For Pleasantville, junior Todd Watson was 6^th in the 400 in 52.23, and the 4-by-4 of junior Marseo Goah, Watson, senior Brandon Williams and senior Qwasim Jackson took 2^nd in the 4-by-4 in 3:31.02.

Oakcrest senior Devon Hannah ran 6.57 for 4^th in the 55.

Cinnaminson senior Shafiq Herrington cleared 6-0 for 6^th in the high jump.

The Rowan men, with four South Jersey sprinters, ran the fastest 800-meter relay in college track history and the 6th-fastest in world history.

It’s the fastest time ever run on U.S. soil in an indoor meet. It’s 2nd-fastest in U.S. history and fastest in 35 years.

Eli Hendricks from Penns Grove, Julian Conigliaro from Delsea, Evan Corcoran from Kingsway and Rajhan Dixon from Eastern ran 1:23.59 at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at the Ott Center. Corcoran split 20.76 and Dixon 20.74.

Rowan broke the all-time college record of 1:24.70 set by Penn State in State College in 2013. They smashed their own Division 3 record of 1:25.45 that they set at this meet on the same track last year with Dixon, Hendricks, Masai Byrd of Rancocas Valley and Robert McKinney of Highland.

Their time is 2nd-fastest in U.S. history behind a national team that ran a then world-record 1:22.71 in Glasgow in a U.S.-Britain dual meet on March 3, 1991, with Thomas Jefferson, Raymond Pierre, Antonio McKay and Kevin Little in the lineup.

The fastest previous time run indoors on U.S. soil was a 1:24.37 by Archbishop Carroll High of Washington, D.C., at The Track at New Balance in Boston this past March.

Rowan also ran below the NCAA Division 3 outdoor record of 1:25.04 set by the Profs last year at the Penn Relays with Hendricks, Conigliaro, McKinney and Dixon.

Dixon and Corcoran were not even sheduled to be on the 4-by-2 on Day 1 of the NJAC meet. But when Sunday’s day 2 was postponed until Friday it allowed them join the team without worrying about too many races over two days.

From the World Athletics database, here are the top-10 times ever run. Remember, for a team to be eligible for these lists all four runners must be citizens of the same country.

1:22.11 … Great Britain, March 3, 1991, Glasgow
1:22.32 … Italy, Feb. 11, 1984, Torino, Italy
1:22.71 … United States, March 3, 1991, Glasgow
1:23.04 … Russia, Jan. 30, 1993, Glasgow
1:23.51 … TV Wattenscheid 01 [Germany], Feb. 23, 2014, Leipzig
1:23.59 … Rowan [U.S.], Feb. 21, Philadelphia
1:23.71 … TJ Dukla Praha [Czech Republic], Feb. 23, 2025, Ostrava
1:23.97 … Scarborough Optimist [Canada], Feb. 26, 1983, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
1:24.00 … France, Feb. 6, 1988, Glasgow
1:24.02 … Birchfield [Great Britain], Jan. 27, 2004, Birmingham, Great Britain

The Haddonfield girls, needing to run faster than 4:06.61 to win the state Group 2 championship Saturday, responded with a season-best 4:04.86 to win their 10th indoor state title.

Going into the 4-by-4, Haddonfield and Rumson-Fair Haven were tied with 37 points each at the Bubble. Haddonfield was the top seed at 4:05.80 and Rumson-Fair Haven was 8th with a 4:16.68. But RFH ran 4:06.61 in the 3rd of four sections of the relay, which meant Haddonfield had to run faster to get the win.

And the Bulldogs responded with the team of Riley Austin, Saya Sood, Edith Green and freshman anchor Dylan Hosty.

Haddonfield previously won Group 1 in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2013, 2014 and 2016 and Group 2 in 2008 and 2020.

Hosty, in her 1st state meet, won the 1,600 in 4:56.89 and placed 2nd in the 800 in 2:18.57, just ahead of Austin, who was 3rd in 2:20.31. Junior Molly Mills gave Haddonfield three point scorers in the 800 in 6th with a 2:22.37.

Austin placed 3rd in the 400 in 59.65 and junior Nina Fisicaro cleared 10-6 for 3rd in the pole vault.

For Willingboro, junior Trinity Brapoh won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.16, breaking the meet record of 8.20 set in 2012 by Kaprice James of Roselle, and junior Jade Pinder ran 57.60 for 2nd in the 400 and 7.32 for 3rd in the 55. Willingboro also placed 4th in the 4-by-4 in 4:10.83 with Jaden Murry, Brapoh, Kaila Speight and Pinder. Brapoh also cleared 5-0 for 6th in the high jump.

Lindenwold senior Egypt Bolan cleared 5-8 to win the high jump

Seneca junior Jaden Eberman placed 6th in the 400 in 59.97.

Freshman Taylor Banks of Overbrook ran 7.39 for 5th in the 55.

Collingswood senior Phallen Still jumped 5-2 for 4th in the high jump.

Delran senior Ashley Doyle ran 11:12.41 for 6th in the 3,200.

Sophomore Jasmine Jackson won the hurdles and placed 3rd in two other events to lead the Winslow girls to their 11th indoor state title with the 2nd-highest point total ever in Group 3.

Jackson won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.06 and took 3rd in the 55 in 7.22 and the 400 in 57.12.

Winslow outscored 2nd-place Ridge 66-40, with Pennsauken 3rd with 37 points. Winslow’s 11 state indoor championships are the most by any public school in the state since the inception of the girls indoor state meet in 1981. Union Catholic, a regional parochial school, has also won 11.

Winslow won Group 4 in 2003 and also won Group 3 in 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2025.

Also for Winslow, Senior Ma’Syiah Brawner won the high jump at 5-2 and was 5th in the hurdles with an 8.47. Senior Olivia Okaro ran 7.13 for 2nd to Pennsauken’s Sianni Wynn in the 55.

Jackson, junior Cinniya Robinson and sophomore Amariah Arango opened the meet by picking up 12 points in the 400, Jackson in 3rd, Robinson 58.3 in 4th and Arango 59.10 in 5th.

Winslow finished things off by winning the 4-by-4 in 3:58.70 with Okaro, Robinson, sophomore Nylah Lovelace-Crump and senior Leeya Joseph

Arango also scored in the 800, running 2:19.11 for 5th place.

For Pennsauken, Wynn won that 400 as part of her 55-400 double, setting a meet record of 55.24. Wynn broke her own record of 56.06 from last year. Wynn has now won 14 state group titles in addition to her 10 Meet of Champions wins. More on her tremendous performance soon!

For Pennsauken, senior Olivia Dupree placed 2nd to Jackson in the hurdles with an 8.24, sophomore Hope Edwards ran 59.11 for 6th in the 400, senior Sanaya Dupree placed 4th in the 55 in 7.26.

Pennsauken also placed 4th in the 4-by-4, with senior Olivia Dupree, Wynn, Edwards and sophomore Rain’ana Rucker running 4:07.09.

Ocean City junior Carly Godfrey won the 800 in 2:14.93 for her first state title. She also anchored the Red Raiders’ 4-by-4 team, which placed 3rd in 4:06.99. junior Alana Clevenger, junior Kai Linthicum and sophomore Julianne Goodman ran the first three legs.

Mainland senior Comryn DeMorat placed 4th in the hurdles in 8.45 and senior teammate Emma Preissman was 5th in the 1,600 in 5:12.18. Mainland sophomore Alaya Steinberg cleared 4-10 and tied for 5th in the high jump and senior Madison Taylor took 5th in the 800 with a 2:19.75.

Led by 14 points by pole vaulter Mason Henry and hurdlers Larry Norman and Kareem Brown, Deptford won its first indoor state championship in 56 years Saturday at the Bubble.

Henry won the pole vault at 15-0 – which he cleared on his 1st attempt – and Norman and Brown ran 2nd and 3rd in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.60 and 7.67 and Deptford finished with a 41-29 margin of victory over Winslow, with Delsea 3rd with 24 points in a 1-2-3 South Jersey finish.

Deptford’s only previous indoor state championship came in 1970, when the Spartans outscored JFK Iselin 22-20 in the Group 3 meet at the Jersey City Armory, with John Boxley winning the 60-yard dash and Bob Cooper the 880-yard run.

In addition to Henry, Norman and Brown, senior Johann Hernandez picked up eight big points in the 55-meter dash with a 2nd-place with a lifetime-best 6.53.

Sophomore John Collier and senior Zach Harrison ran 4-6 in the 800 for five more points, Collier in 1:59.84 – his first time under two minutes – and Harrison with a PR 2:00.72. Senior Kamaldeep Singh was 4th in the pole vault for the Spartans at 12-6.

The 400 was a 1-2-3-4 South Jersey sweep, with Winslow senior KaRon Ali winning in 50.17, Moorestown senior Sean Sobin 2nd in 50.96, Highland senior Elijah Capra 3rd in 51.17 and Triton senior Justin Travaglini 4th in 51.23. Timber Creek junior made it five South Jersey quarter-milers in the top six with a 51.44 for 6th.

Winslow won the 1,600-meter relay in 3:28.52 with senior KaRon Ali, freshman Keyon Ali, Prince Owusu-Twum and Jaylon Moss.

Keyon Ali ran 6.59 for 3rd in the 55, and Winslow also got a 5th and a 6th in the hurdles from junior Jabril Hammond [7.82] and senior Elijah Deanley [7.87].

Delsea got a win from senior Matthew Littlehales, who was 1st in the 1,600 in 4:16.64, a 2nd from senior pole vaulter Mason Murray, who cleared 14-6 and a 3rd from junior Sheldon Goldsborough, who PR’d in the shot with a 53-5.

Ocean City senior Erik Preisner ran 9:34.13 for 6th in a fast 3,200.

Burlington Township ran 3:28.89 for 2nd in the 4-by-4 with senior Robert Proctor, senior Solomon Wesley, senior Jaydin Macklin and sophomore Jaylen Porter, and Moorestown was 5th in 3:31.86 with senior Shaymus Derer, junior Ethan Taylor, junior Lucas Horner and Sobin.

Cherry Hill West sophomore Supreme Stradford cleared 6-6 and got 2nd on misses in the high jump. Junior teammate Elijah Triche was 4th at 6-2.

Mainland Regional senior Jackson Larimer cleared 12-0 for 6th in the pole vault.

Delsea senior Hannah Nuhfer broke her own South Jersey shot put record Saturday with a 48-0 bomb at the state Group 3 meet at the Bubble.

Nuhfer had just set the South Jersey mark of 47-6 at Ocean Breeze two weeks ago. That broke the South Jersey record of 47-5 ¾ set in 2018 by Schalick’s Zyra Thomas at Armory Nationals.

Nuhfer’s throw is No. 10 in state history. She also surpassed her own South Jersey outdoor record of 47-9 at the state Group 3 meet last spring at Delsea, so this is the best throw ever by a South Jersey girl.

Her throw is No. 5 in the U.S. this year, according to the MileSplit national database.

She also became the 8th thrower from South Jersey ever to hit 48 feet and the 5th from Gloucester County, following Jamine Moton of Delsea [58-6 ¼], Victoria Imbesi of Our Lady of Mercy 50-5], Shamere Rothmiller of Glassboro [49-10 ¾] and Tara Daniels of Kingsway [49-10].

Nuhfer averaged 45-0 on her six throws. She opened with a 45-7 ½ before hitting 48-0 on her 2nd throw. She finished the trials with a 44-3 before throwing 45-10 ½, 44-0 ½ and 42-2 in the finals. She had the six-best throws of the competition.

Nuhfer broke the meet record of 47-0 set by Jackie Hudgins of Hightstown in 2001 at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym.

Nuhfer was the national discus champion last spring with a South Jersey-record 178-9 at Franklin Field.

Her throw looks like No. 3 this year in the U.S. Under-20 division, according to the World Athletics database.

All-Time New Jersey Indoor Shot Put List
57-5 ½ … Alyssa Wilson [Donovan Catholic], 2017
57-4 ½ … Jessica Oji [Livingston], 2025
54-7 ½ … Nicolette Dunbar [Whippany Park], 2016
51-9 ½ … Nicole Sims [Plainfield], 1991
50-2 … Shelby Bigsby [Montclair], 2018
49-10 … Jessica Molina [Westwood], 2015
48-6 ½ … Kelly Fazekas [Northern Valley], 2003
48-6 ½ … Julia Santos [Toms River South], 2025
48-0 ¾ … Theresa Picciallo [Immaculate Heart], 2012