From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Two races and two PRs for Washington Township’s Yashahya Brown, a sophomore at Hampton.

Brown ran 13.81 with a legal 0.7 tailwind in the trials of the Coastal Athletic Association Championships on Friday in Elon, N.C., and then placed 3^rd in the final in 13.80 with a 0.5, another PR.

His time is No. 10 on the all-time South Jersey Alumni List.

Brown’s PR previously was 13.82, which he ran last year as a freshman at Rutgers in a meet in Tampa. His best time at Hampton before this weekend was 14.03 in Lynchburg, Va., earlier this month, and his best previous wind-legal time this year was 14.09 in Greensboro, N.C., last month.

All-Time South Jersey 110-Meter Hurdles Alumni List
12.94 … Jack Pierce [Woodbury], June 22, 1996, Atlanta

13.12 … Anwar Moore [Camden], May 5, 2007, Modesto, Calif. [+1.9]

13.25 … Jamir Brown [Riverside], May 14, 2026, Louisville, Ky. [+0.7]

13.43 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], April 16, 2016, Walnut, Calif.

13.48 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], May 12, 2023, Raleigh, N.C. [+1.2]

13.51 … Martin Booker [Camden], June 7, 1986, Indianapolis

13.54 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], May 22, 2004, St-Martin, France
13.77 … Jeffrey Young [Camden], May 11, 2022, Bloomington, Ind.
13.78 … Greg Foster [Lumberton], May 11, 2025, New Haven, Conn. [+0.5]
13.80 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], May 17, 2026, Elon, N.C. [+0.5]

Huge weekend for Hampton freshman Jayden Poteat from Winslow, who recorded speedy PRs in the 200 and 400 at the Coastal Athletic Conference Championships in Elon, N.C.

Poteat moved into the all-time South Jersey alumni top-10 in both races. Hampton does not have an all-time top-10 performance list on its web site, unfortunately, so can’t tell you where he ranks in school history.

Poteat’s previous PRs were 21.05 in the 200 from last month in Greensboro, N.C., and 47.21 from the indoor conference meet in February in Boston. He dropped to 46.38 in the trials before his breakthrough 45.97 in the final.

Poteat is only the 5th New Jersey sprinter ever to run sub-21 and sub-46 at any point in his life. Olympic gold medalist Dennis Mitchell from Edgewood had PRs of 20.09 and 45.26 and Erison Hurtault of Matawan [20.86, 45.40],  Clayton Parros of Seton Hall Prep [20.85, 45.25] and Clayton Gravesande of Franklin [20.95, 45.93] also pulled off that rare double.

Poteat placed 2^nd in the 400 final. He was 7^th in the 200 after running that 20.94 in the qualifying rounds.

With his 45.97, Poteat is the No. 11 freshman in NCAA Division 1, four spots below Alabama freshman Alexander Osayemi from Clayton, who ran 45.59 at the SEC Championships at Auburn this weekend.

Peter Simpson won the 1,600 and 3,200, and the Haddonfield boys piled up 68 points in the 800, 1,600, 3,200 and 4-by-8 and rolled to their 2^nd straight sectional title and 10^th overall.

Haddonfield outscored 2^nd-place Pleasantville 109-53, with Manchester 3^rd with 51, followed by Overbrook and Pemberton [47 each], Seneca [41], West Deptford [37], Haddon Heights [34], Cedar Creek [29], Pinelands [26], Sterling [25] and Barnegat [24].

Haddonfield won its 1^st sectional title in Group 3 in 1968, then won Group 1 in 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988 and 1993 and has won Group 2 in 2015, 2016, 2024 and 2025.

Haddonfield hit the motherlode with 24 points in the 3,200, Simpson winning in 9:25.55, Ryan Gibson 2^nd in 9:30.80 and Benjamin Andrus 3^rd in 9:31.11. Simpson won the 1,600 in 4:20.19, closing in 2:06.93, and Andrus was 2^nd in 4:20.96, closin in 2:07.63. Senior Michael Sinnes placed 4^th in 4:31.67. Brandon Stoner won the 800 in 1:56.30, with junior Owen Snyder 5^th with a PR 1:59.77.

Haddonfield also won the 4-by-8, with Stoner, senior John Leibrandt, sophomore Augustan Coley and sophomore Connor Brand running 8:08.06.

Junior Ryder Bozine scored 18 points in the hurdles, winning the 400 intermediates in 56.50 and taking 2^nd in the 110 highs in 14.75, both PRs. Junior Mark Derets placed 3^rd in the 400IH in a PR 57.71 and senior Mark DiMedio was 6^th in the highs with 15.44.

Junior Jack Brand was 3^rd in the 400 [50.34], sophomore Ian Blair placed 6^th in the pole vault [11-0] and DiMedio was 6^th in the high jump [5-8].

Haddonfield also placed 2^nd in the 4-by-4 in 3:29.07 with Brand, Bozine, Derets and Stoner.

Seneca got wins from senior Chase Horner in the javelin [164-6] and junior Bradley Cooper in the high hurdles [14.73].

Overbrook senior John Froehlich ran a PR 48.48 to win the 400, Pemberton senior Jaden Goins ran PRs of 10.66 and 21.84 to sweep the sprints and Pleasantville senior Raliel Wiggins won the long jump at 24-0 ½.

Pleasantville won both sprint relays, with Semaj Dozier, Nazir Griffin, Wiggins and Jamaad Washington running 42.12 in the 4-by-1 and Dozier, Qwasim Jackson, Todd Watson and Brandon Williams running 3:23.57 to win the 4-by-4.

The Glassboro boys, with their remarkable sophomore class, rolled to their 4^th consecutive sectional title this weekend at Lenape.

Glassboro finished with a 120-74 margin of victory over Camden in South Jersey Group 1, with Schalick 3^rd with 68 points and Woodstown 4^th with 57.

Glassboro is the 1^st school to win four straight South Jersey Group 1 titles since Bordentown from 2000 through 2003. They’re the first South Jersey school in any group to win four straight since Timber Creek in Group 3 from 2008 through 2011.

The Bulldogs’ 120 points are 5^th-most ever in Group 1. Glassboro owns four of the six-highest point totals ever in Group 1, with 181 ½ in 2009, 135 last year, 122 in 2024 and 120 this year.

The Bulldogs, missing several potential big point scorers who elected not to compete this spring, nonetheless scored in 13 of 18 events, showing tremendous balance by piling up 46 points in distance, 34 in the jumps and vault, 18 in the throws, 10 in the sprints and hurdles and 12 in the relays.

Not including relays, Glassboro 84 points from underclassmen, with juniors scoring 18, sophomores 59 and freshman adding seven.

This was Glassboro’s 5^th sectional title. The 2009 team, considered the greatest Group 1 ever in South Jersey, won the program’s 1^st sectional title but then it was 14 years until the Bulldogs embarked on their current streak.

Glassboro’s distance group led the way, scoring 46 points in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. Sophomore Joe Saicic won the 1,600 in 4:27.87 with senior Jaeden Wesley 2^nd in 4:28.87, and they switched spots in the 3,200, with Wesley winning with a PR 9:34.67 and Saicic running 9:37.24 for 2^nd.

Sophomores Aaron Johnson and Zacchaeus Harrigan and freshman Gavin Rakitis also contributed to the distance haul, Harrigan with a 2^nd in the 800 in a PR 1:55.06, 3^rd-fastest sophomore in New Jersey this year, Johnson taking 6^th in the 800 in a PR 1:59.19 and Rakitis 6^th in the 3,200 with a PR 9:56.59. Harrigan also placed 2^nd in the 400-meter hurdles in 58.24.

Sophomore Moses Robles had a huge meet, scoring 24 points with a win in the high jump at 6-2, 2^nd place in the triple jump with a PR 47-5 and 3^rd in the long jump at 21-8 ½.

Johnson and Rakitis also contributed legs to the 2^nd-place 3,200-meter relay team, which ran 8:20.01. Junior Ryan Ejalili and senior Jason Martin also ran on the 4-by-8.

Glassboro also got scoring performances from senior Jack O’Connell [2^nd in javelin, 156-10], junior Logan Toledo [3^rd in pole vault, 12-0], freshman Gabriel Tarasevich [3^rd in discus, 137-6], junior Joseph Delecce [4^th in discus, 131-9], junior Marley Crowl [5^th in long jump, 20-11 ¾, 5^th in triple jump, 42-11 ½] and junior Alex Adeleye [5^th 200, 22.91].

Also, Taylor, Adeleye, Crowl and Butler placed 4^th in the 400-meter relay in 43.97.

Camden’s tremendous sprint and hurdle talent earned the Panthers 2^nd place.

Senior Jaiden Steele led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 100, running 10.74 in the final, with senior Jawan Brownlee 2^nd in 10.85 and senior Christian Braxton 3^rd in 11.01. They reversed order in the 200, Braxton winning in 22.22, Brownlee 2^nd in 22.64 and Steele 3^rd with 22.65.

Junior Jaleel Dickerson-Dempsey won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.69 with a legal 1.7 wind.

Brownlee, Braxton, junior Giovanni Marshall-Edwards and Steele won the 400-meter relay in 42.32, and Brownlee, Braxton, senior Wasi Muhammad and sophomore Terrell Davis won the 4-by-4 in 3:23.15.

Schalick senior David Stewart completed his quad win, taking 1^st Saturday in the 400 [48.64] and triple jump [48-7 ¼] after taking 1^st Friday in the intermediates [55.33] and long jump [22-8 ½]. Stewart would have finished 7^th in team scoring by himself. More on his remarkable performance soon.

Other Group 1 winners were Woodstown senior Aidan Taulane [159-2 discus, 53-5 shot], Schalick senior Salvatore Longo [13-0 pole vault] and Schalick junior Gary Simonini [176-8 javelin]

Woodbury won the 4-by-8 in 8:09.42 with senior Elijah Young, senior Curtis Stokes, sophomore Elijah Smith and junior Jason Ortiz.

Riverside’s Jamir Brown won his 1^st outdoor conference title Saturday and ran the 9^th-fastest time in the world this year at the ACC Championships in Louisville.

Brown, who PR’d with a 13.28 in the trials, ran a wind-legal 13.25 in the final at Owsley B. Frazier Cardinal Park at the University of Louisville, breaking the school record he shared with Jaheen Hayles, who ran 13.28 in Austiin in 2023.

The race was delayed 3 ½ hours by a thunderstorm that struck after the runners had initially warmed up

Brown’s time is tied for 5^th-fastest ever by a New Jersey native and fastest in 14 years, since Jeff Porter of Franklin ran 13.08 at the 2012 USATF Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene. He’s 6th-fastest American this year and 5th-fastest collegian.

He’s 6^th on the 2026 U.S. list and 7^th on the 2026 collegiate list but 4^th among hurdlers with wind-legal times.

As a freshman at Rowan last year, Brown set the NCAA Division 3 record of 13.60 in the trials of the NJAC Championships in Ewing, but he didn’t race in the final. So this is his first outdoor conference title.

Brown outraced Florida State hurdlers Zach Extine [13.32] and Andre Korbmacher [13.36] in the final. Extine was the NCAA runner-up last year as a junior at Arizona State.

Brown joins Donald Pollit in 2014, Freddie Crittenden in 2016 and 2017 and Hayles in 2024 as the 4^th hurdler to win a conference title since Syracuse joined the ACC in 2014.

All-Time New Jersey Hurdles List
12.93 … Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], Aug. 19, 1981, Zürich
12.94 … Jack Pierce [Woodbury], June 22, 1996, Atlanta
13.08 … Jeff Porter [Franklin Twp.], June 30, 2012, Eugene, Ore.
13.08 … Anwar Moore [Camden], May 5, 2007, Modesto, Calif.
13.25 … Dudley Dorival [Ewing], Aug. 9, 1995, Edmonton, Alberty [Canada] [-0.3]
13.25 … Jamir Brown [Riverside], May 16, 2026, Louisville [+0.7]

It can’t get any closer than this.

Deptford won the South Jersey Group 3 championship this weekend by half a point over Wilson, finishing with a 110-109 ½ edge.

Terrific meet for both teams that came down to the final event and both programs bring a strong lineup to the state Group 3 meet in two weeks at Northern Burlington.

The team title was Deptford’s sixth and 1^st since 2021. The Spartans also won Group 3 in 1970, 1971 and 2019 and Group 4 in 1973. Winslow was seeking its sixth title and 2^nd in a row. The school has won 13 sectional titles if you include Edgewood’s eight between 1978 and 1987

Let’s take a look at how the meet went for Deptford and Winslow:

100-METER DASH [Deptford 10, Winslow 14]: Deptford senior Johann Hernandez won the race in 10.51, 9^th-fastest in South Jersey history, but Winslow took 2^nd and 3^rd with senior Quayd Hendryx running 10.66 and freshman Keyon Ali 10.76 in a wind-legal race.

200-METER DASH [Deptford 9, Winslow 16]: Four of the first seven finishers were from Deptford or Winslow. Hendryx won the race in 21.44, fastest since 2012, when Fabian Santiago of Oakcrest ran 21.00. Hernandez took 2^nd in 21.72, Winslow senior Prince Owusu-Twum was 3^rd in 21.85 and Deptford junior Xavion Holmes placed 6^th in 22.22, 8-100ths of a second ahead of Winslow’s Ali, who ran 22.30

400-METER DASH [Deptford 0, Winslow 10]: Senior Prince Owusu-Twum ran a big PR 48.12 to win the 400.

800-METER RUN [Deptford 0, Winslow 0]: Delsea’s Matthew Littlehales won the race in 1:55.41, but neither Deptford or Winslow scored.

1,600-METER RUN [Deptford 0, Winslow 0]: Littlehales won the 1,600 in 4:20.55 on his way to a triple, and Deptford and Winslow were held scoreles.

3,200-METER RUN [Deptford 0, Winslow 0]: Another one for Littlehales, who ran 9:26.79, but Deptford and Winslow didn’t score, although Winslow senior Vincent Peri ran a strong PR for 7^th in 9:52.59.

110-METER HURDLES [Deptford 18, Winslow 3]: Seniors Kareem Brown and Larry Norman ran 1-2 in the hurdles final, Brown in14.00 and Norman 14.34. Winslow senior Elijah Deanley and junior Jibril Hammond both placed, Deanley 5^th in 14.89 and Hammond 6^th in 14.92.

400-METER HURDLES [Deptford 18, Winslow 6]: Seniors Kareem Brown and Larry Norman repeated their high hurdles 1-2 finish, Brown winning with a South Jersey 2026 best 53.81 and Norman 55.11. Winslow’s Deanley placed 3^rd in 55.72.

HIGH JUMP [Deptford 0, Winslow 5 ½]: Winslow junior Cayden Hester took 4^th with a 6-0 clearance and junior Andrew Kratee tied for 5^th, also at 6-0. Timber Creek sophomore Devin Perry won it with a 6-4 on his final attempt.

LONG JUMP [Deptford 1, Wnislow 24]: Winslow swept the long jump behind some huge jumps by juniors Andrew Kratee and Ka’Ron Caesar and senior Zyaire Rothmiller-McIntosh. Kratee won with a PR 24-1 ½, best in South Jersey Group 3 since 1996, when Wilson’s William Spearman won with a 25-0. Caesar also hit 24 feet for the first time, taking 2^nd in 24-1 and both those 24-foot jumps were on the 6^th and final attempt. And Rothmiller-McIntosh jumped 23-1 for 3^rd. No wind readings in the results, although it sounds like they may have been recorded. We’ll see. Hopefully.

TRIPLE JUMP [Deptford 2, Winslow 8]: Camden Tech’s Jabari Woodard won it by one inch over Winslow junior Ka’Ron Ceasar, Woodard jumping 45-11 and Casaar a lifetime-best 45-10. Deptford senior Damon Morton placed 5^th with a 44-10.

POLE VAULT [Deptford 17, Winslow 0): Senior Mason Henry won the vault with a 14-0 clearance, senior Kamaldeep Singh was 3^rd at 12-0 and senior Dominic DiPietro was 6^th, also at 12 feet.

SHOT PUT [Depford 0, Winslow 0: Delsea went 1-2-6, with junior Sheldon Goldsborough throwing 53-6 ¼, sophomore Eneas Tavella 52-1 ¾ and freshman Holden Roskoski 48-3.

DISCUS [Deptford 0, Winslow 0: Highland senior Zion Josia Brockenbaugh threw a lifetime-best 166-3 for the win, while Deptford and Winslow didn’t score.

JAVELIN [Deptford 8, Winslow 1]: Deptford senior Kaden Roane threw 169-8 for 2^nd to Cumberland Regional senior Richard Pierce, who threw 175-7 for the winner. Winslow’s Hammond threw 145-4 for 6^th place.

400-METER RELAY [Deptford 10, Winslow 8]: Deptford ran 41.76 to Winslow’s 41.93 to win the race. Liam Brown, Xavion Holmes, Johann Hernandez and Kareem Brown ran for Deptford and Keyon Ali, Quayd Hendryx, Elijah Deanley and Jalen Moss for Winslow.

1,600-METER RELAY [Deptford 10, Winslow 8]: The deciding race saw Deptford win in 3:20.15, with Winslow 2^nd in 3:24.02. For Deptford, Kyle Wilson led off with a 49.25, Norman split 51.42, Hernandez ran 50.96 and Brown anchored in 48.54. Winslow ran with senior KaRon Ali, freshman Keyon Ali, Ka’Ron Caesar and Deanley, with KaRon Ali splitting 49.13, Caesar 49.32 and Deanley anchoring in 47.44.Triton leadoff Mukthat Abdulhakeem spliit 49.97 and the Mustangs were 3^rd with a 3:24.33.

3,200-METER RELAY [Deptford 8, Winslow 0]: Ocean City was 1^st in 7:56.84 with Keenan Neuman, Nathan Aschmann, Nevin Millstein and Erik Preisner, with Deptford placing 2^nd in 7:59.13 with Anthony Schilling, Christian Ramirez, Zach Harrison and John Collier, who anchored in 1:57.69.

Juniors Jade Pinder and Trinity Brapoh turned in massive performances for Willingboro in the Central Jersey Group 2 Sectionals at Hillsborough, both winning three events and placing in a 4^th.

Pinder won the 100 in 12.34 after a 12.25 in the trials, ran a PR 24.23 to win the 200 and ran 57.51 to win the 400. She also jumped a big long jump PR 18-4 ½ to finish 2^nd to Brapoh.

Brapoh won the 100-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump, all with PRs. She hurdled 14.35 and jumped 18-11 ¼ and 37-3. She also took 3^rd in the high jump at 4-10.

Brapoh and Pinder recorded the best long jumps by Willingboro girls in 47 years, since Olympian and former U.S. record holder Carol Lewis set the national schoolgirl record of 21-7 3/4 at the Liberty Bell Classic at Franklin Field. Willingboro’s only other 18-footer since Lewis is Shanavia Thomas, who went 18-0 in 2009.

Willingboro, which competed this spring without a couple returning sectional point scorers from indoors and last spring, fell two points shy of winning the team title, but also got big performances from junior Maya Bolden, who was 3^rd in the 100 with a 12.54 after a 12.41 in the trials, and 4^th in the 400 in 59.07, and freshman Erin Scott, who took 3^rd in the 200 in a PR 25.58, 4^th in the intermediates with a PR 1:08.88 and 6^th in the 100 in 12.80 after a PR 12.38 in the trials.

Sophomore Annalyse Brown placed 2^nd in the intermediates in 1:08.08, also a PR.

Senior Riley Fayer repeated her 2024 distance triple, leading the Audubon girls to their 2^nd sectional title in three years.

Fayer won the 800 in 2:16.66, the 1,600 in 4:57.97 and the 3,200 in 11:21.91 amd Audubon piled up 153 points to win the South Jersey Group 1 Sectional at Lenape.

She’s the first girl to triple the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 in multiple seasons since Haddonfield’s Briana Gess did it in Group 2 in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and Annika Merkh did it in Group 1 in 2015 and 2016.

Audubon won by 50 points over Glassboro, which scored 103 points. Audubon’s 153 points are the most ever in South Jersey Group 1 and 4^th-most in any South Jersey sectional. The previous high in Group 1 was Penns Grove’s 148 points in 2013.

Other Audubon winners were senior Julianna Laxton, who cleared 5-2 in the high jump, and senior Morganna Makuszewski, who cleared 9-0 in the pole vault.

Freshman Emma Camm had a big weekend, placing 3^rd in the 1,600 [5:21.66] and 3,200 [PR 11:30.82] and 4^thin the 800 [PR 2:23.98].

Senior Marissa DeValerio placed in four events, taking 4^th in the high jump [4-10] and long jump [16-7], 5^th in the hurdles [17.26 into a 3.7 meters-per-second headwind] and 6^th in the triple jump [34-0].

Junior Sophia Rizzo was 2^nd in the 400 [59.80] and 4^th in the 200 [26.83], junior athryn McGuire
was 2^nd in the 100 [12.79] and 3^rd in the 200 [26.51], freshman Kathryn Black cleared 4-10 for 3^rd in the high jump, junior Lydia Gravante placed 6^th in the 1,600 [5:34.75] and 3,200 [12:08.19],  senior Julianna Laxton placed 4^th in the hurdles [17.23], senior Kyle Tocco was 4^th in the 400 [1:01.30] and freshman Sabrina Passon took 3^rd in the intermediates [1:08.95] and 6^th in the highs [17.28].

Audubon won the 3,200-meter relay with junior Isabella Legatie, seniors Tallulah Witherington and Charlie Owens and freshman Amanda Drummond running 10:18.53. Rizzo, Passon, Tocco and junior Ava Lebb ran 4:05.99 for 2^nd in the 4-by-4, and McGuire, Rizzo, Tocco and Laxton ran 50.29 for 2^nd in the 4-by-1.

Washington Township’s Ajani Dwyer, a Penn State sophomore, ran the 7^th-fastest 100-meter dash time by an American sprinter this year in the trials of the Big Ten Championships in Lincoln, Neb.

Dwyer led all qualifiers with a wind-legal time of 10.04, the 3^rd-fastest time ever by a New Jersey native behind Olympic gold medalists Carl Lewis [9.86 in 1991] and Dennis Mitchell [9.91 in 1996].

Dwyer’s time, made with a legal 1.9 meters-per-second tailwind, is 2^nd-fastest legal time by a collegian this year, behind a 10.00 by John Caleb of Minnesota last month in Gainesville.

Dwyer has run a wind-aided 9.96 this year, but his previous legal PR was a 10.06 in Gainesville (at a different meet). That was also the previous Penn State school record.

Dwyer will race in the final at 2:52 p.m. Sunday, starting in Lane 5.

Jelani Watkins
Nketia
Ajayi
Kaalund
Okon
Mosebi
Caleb
Ian Johnson
J. Reid
Fakorade