Eastern High graduate English Gardner, now in her second post-collegiate season, continues to prove she’s one of the best sprinters in the world.

Gardner ran a blistering 10.84 to win the 100-meter dash Saturday at the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where she ran her college track.

Gardner won one of two sections of the 100. At the time she crossed the finish line, her time was No. 1 in the world in 2015. Moments later, Olympic gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won a different section of the 100 in a world-leading 10.81, leading two others also under 10.84.

But the performance was huge for Gardner, whose best time last year was 11.01. She lowered her PR from 10.85, from when she won the 2013 U.S. title in Des Moines.

Gardner, who lost her senior year at Eastern after getting hurt in a Powderpuff Football game, now finds herself No. 4 in the world, with the top six times all coming from Eugene Saturday night. She’s also No. 2 among Americans, behind Tori Bowie, who ran 10.82 for third in the other 100 final at the Prefontaine meet.

Gardner, a two-time NCAA champ at Oregon, moved into the No. 29 spot on the all-time world list and 12 spot on the all-time U.S. list. Her time is fourth-fastest by an American woman since 2000:

• 10.49 … Florence Griffith-Joyner (1988)
• 10.64 … Carmelita Jeter (2009)
• 10.65 … Marion Jones (1998)
• 10.76 … Evelyn Ashford (1984)
• 10.78 … Dawn Sowell (1989)
• 10.78 … Torri Edwards (2008)
• 10.79 … Inger Miller (1999)
• 10.80 … Tori Bowie (2014)
• 10.82 … Gail Devers (1992)
• 10.82 … Gwen Torence (1994)
• 10.83 … Sheila Echols (1988)
• 10.84 … English Gardner (2015)
• 10.85 … Muna Lee (2008)
• 10.85 … Tianna Bartoletta (2012)
• 10.85 … Barbara Pierre (2013)

Here’s a link to the all-time world list, and the 2015 world list is here.

Gardner will be one of the favorites in the 100 at the U.S. Championships back at Hayward Field in Eugene June 25-28.

 

Three half-milers at 1:56 or faster? Three milers at 4:20 or better? A meet record in the 4-by-8? A third place in the 3,200?

The Haddonfield boys roared to their fourth outdoor Group 2 track state championship in seven years Saturday at South Plainfield, and they did it largely on the strength of an absurd performance in the longer track races.

Final team scores are still not available, but it appears that Haddonfield scored 38 of its 49 points in the 800, 1,600, 3,200 and 4-by-8.

Let’s take a look at how Haddonfield put together the fifth state championship in school history:

800-METER RUN: An incredibly fast race, with 17 runners under two minutes — including five from the unseeded heat — and 12 under 1:57. That’s insane. In fact, last place — last place — was 2:01.89.

As for Haddonfield, junior Austin Stoner ran 1:54.63 for third, junior Greg Pelose was fourth in 1:54.93 and senior Jack Wood ran seventh in 1:56.07.

Pelose has run 1:54.54, but the times were PRs for both Stoner and Wood. Stoner and Wood had both run their previous PRs at the Haddonfield Invitational, 1:54.98 for Stoner and 1:57.29 for Wood.

Pelose, Stoner and Wood now rank No. 2, 3 and 9 this year in South Jersey. They are ranked No. 6, No. 8 and No. 17 from the six state championship meets over the weekend.

10 points.

1,600-METER RUN: Pelose won in 4:15.10, with Stoner fourth in 4:19.66 and senior Danny Brennan sixth in 4:20.31. All three times are PRs of at least two seconds.

Pelose’s previous fastest 1,600 was a 4:17.41 at the Cherokee Night of Racing. Stoner’s was a 4:24.55 dating back to the Haddonfield Invitational last year, and Brennan’s was a 4:22.86 at this year’s Haddonfield Invite.

Pelose’s time is No. 11 out of all the state meets this weekend.

15 points.

3,200-METER RUN: Senior Chad Evans ran 9:39.05 for third place on a hot afternoon at South Plainfield. He ran a few seconds faster — in much better conditions — at the Cherokee Night of Racing.

3 points.

3,200-METER RELAY: Stoner, Wood, Pelose and senior Chris Goings won by 30 meters over Pleasantville in 7:53.27, not far off their season-best and South Jersey #1 7:52.11 from sectionals.

The Bulldogs broke the meet record of 7:58.43 set last year by a Haddonfield that included Pelose, Stoner, Goings and John Greenberg.

10 points

The Bulldogs’ 11 other points came in the field, from Jake Walter (third, shot put, 52-7 1/4), Kevin Wolf (fourth, discus, 152-3) and Ian Picking (sixth, pole vault 13-0).

Haddonfield’s previous state titles came in 1987 in Group 1 and in 2009, 2010 and 2011 in Group 2.

 

A monster triple by Sterling Pierce carried Rancocas Valley to the first state title in the program’s long and storied history this weekend.

Pierce was simply too good to be denied.

He won the 100-meter dash in 10.76.

He won the 200 in 21.77.

He anchored the 400-meter relay team, which ran a New Jersey-best 42.20 and broke the meet record of 42.60, set last year by Sayreville.

Rancocas Valley – a dead program before Jeff Dzuranin took over in 2013 — outscored Old Bridge, 47-36 to become the first Burlington County school to win Group 4 since Fred Rucker’s Lenape group 15 years ago.

And the Villanova-bound Pierce became Burlington County’s first triple winner at states since Delran’s Todd Lowber in 2000 and the first in Group 4 since future Olympic gold medalist Lamont Smith won the 200 and 400 and anchored the winning 4-by-4 in 1991.

For the sake of comparison, Pierce in one meet won more outdoor state titles than every Rancocas Valley boy in the previous 30 years combined. He’s the first R.V. boy ever to win two events (or three) at a state meet.

Here’s a list of all Rancocas Valley state champs in the program’s history:

2015 Outdoor
Sterling Pierce, Group 4 100-Meter Dash (10.76)
Sterling Pierce, Group 4 200-Meter Dash (21.77)
JeSean Foster, Shaun Ellis-Bradley, Dyson Scott, Sterling Pierce, Group 4 400 Relay (42.20)
2006 Indoor
Phil Reid, Group 4 200-Meter Dash (23.01)
1999 Outdoor
Jason Cowden, Group 4 Javelin (190-11)
Jason Cowden, All-Group Javelin (202-8)
1991 Outdoor
Dan Morris, Group 3 400-Meter Intermediate Hurdles (54.70)
Dan Morris, All-Group 400-Meter Intermediate Hurdles (53.48)
1984 Indoor
Eugene Munford, Group 3 55-Meter High Hurdles (7.4)
1980 Indoor
Doug Atkinson, Group 3 3,000-Meter Run (8:57.8)
1977 Indoor
Barry Anderson, Group 3 High Jump (6-8)
1976 Indoor
Barry Anderson, All-Group High Jump (6-6)
1974 Outdoor
Greg Honsby, Group 4 880-Yard Run (1:54.9)
Greg Honsby, All-Group 880-Yard Run (1:54.7)
1973 Outdoor
Bill Robinson, Roger Schneider, Jerry Felton, Ken Maxson, Group 4 Mile Relay (3:24.2)
1969 Outdoor
Al Rich (Rancocas Valley), All-Group 120-Yard High Hurdles (15.0)
1964 Outdoor
*Don Mims (Rancocas Valley), Group 3 120-Yard High Hurdles (14.8)
1963 Outdoor
Herm Butler (Rancocas Valley), Group 3 Long Jump (21-10)
1961 Outdoor
John Stroud (Rancocas Valley), Group 3 High Jump (6-0?)

Pierce — coached by R.V. sprint coach Eric Warren — was incredible, but this wasn’t a one-man show.

Senior Zakiyy Williams placed second in the triple jump with a 46-6 3/4, senior Diante Bah tied his PR of 6-6 for fourth in the high jump, junior Robert Marks threw a personal-best 179 4 for fourth in the javelin and junior Isaiah Curbelo ran 1:56.26 for sixth in the 800.

And junior JeSean Foster and seniors Shaun Ellis-Bradley and Dyson Scott joined Pierce on the winning 400-meter relay team.

Rancocas Valley won every meet it entered this year – every dual meet, the Woodbury Relays, the BCSL and County Open, sectionals and states. Egg Harbor was second at Woodbury, sectionals and states.

Finally, here’s a list of all the South Jersey schools to win the boys Group 4 team title. R.V. finds itself in pretty good company!

1969 – Vineland*
1970 – Millville*
1975 – Camden
1979 – Willingboro
1981 – Willingboro
1982 – Willingboro
1983 – Edgewood
1984 – Edgewood
1985 – Edgewood
1990 – Willingboro
1991 – Willingboro
1992 – Shawnee
1993 – Willingboro
1994 – Willingboro
1995 – Camden
1996 – Camden
1997 -Camden
1999 – Millville
2000 – Lenape
2001 – Millville
2002 – Winslow Twp.
2003 – Winslow Twp.
2004 – Winslow Twp.
2008 – Absegami
2011 – Oakcrest
2015 – Rancocas Valley

* – Team title not officially awarded from 1968-1970.

Haddonfield always has tremendous distance runners. Penns Grove always seems to have terrific high hurdlers. And Bridgeton always has terrific throwers.

Willingboro is the same way with intermediate hurdlers.

Kenny Brosier on Friday became the 10th Willingboro intermediate hurdler to run sub-54 seconds when he won the state Group 2 title at South Plainfield in a personal-best 53.86.

No other South Jersey school is close to Willingboro in producing standout intermediate hurdlers.

Here’s a list of the 10 Boro 400 hurdlers who’ve broken 54 seconds. The list includes Chauncey Lamar, who ran 53.7 for Kennedy in 1978.

• 52.89 … Devon Patton, 1990
• 52.71 … Mike Morrison, 2003
• 52.92 … Shareef Muhammad, 2003
• 53.14 … Michael Bolling, 2000
• 53.1h … Darryl Merriman, 1982
• 53.5 ….. Marc Dickerson, 1979
• 53.63 … Dwayne Joseph, 2004
• 53.79 … Brandon Hill, 2013
• 53.86 … Kenny Brosier, 2015
• 53.7h … Chauncey Lamar, 1978 [JFK]
• 53.92 … Gerard Reynolds, 1990

Brosier edged Deptford senior Shaqulle Dixon by about 1 1/2 meters to win the state title Friday. Dixon ran 54.03.

Brosier has posted big PRs in his last two races. He took a PR of 55.06 from the Moorestown Invitational into sectionals, which he won in 54.48.

Here are the top 10 seeds for the Meet of Champions next week, with five of the top nine from South Jersey:

• 51.73 … Taylor McLaughlin (Union Catholic), 1st, Parochial A
• 52.93 … Cory Poole (East Orange), 1st, Group 4
• 53.35 … Ray Clark (Abraham Clark), 1st, Group 1
• 53.50 … Chris Mesiano (Schalick), 2nd, Group 1
• 53.59 … Thomas Zor (Millville), 2nd, Group 4
• 53.86 … Kenny Brosier (Willingboro), 1st, Group 2
• 54.03 … Shaquille Dixon (Deptford), 2nd, Group 2
• 54.05 … Marco Joseph (Paterson Eastside), 3rd, Group 4
• 54.08 … Ali-Quan Stokes (Oakcrest), 1st, Group 3
• 54.13 … Kelvin Almonte (Memorial-WNY), 4th, Group 4

For all of Willingboro’s 400IH tradition, Brosier is the first to win a state group title in the event in 21 years. Michael Bolling won the Meet of Champs in 2000 after placing second to Dwight Ruff in the state Group 4 meet. Ruff was called for a disputed false start in the Meet of Champs.

Here’s a list of Willingboro’s state champions in the intermediate hurdles:

• 1979 – Marc Dickerson, Group 4 (38.6) [330 yards]
• 1982 – Darryl Merriman, Group 4 (53.1)
• 1989 – Gerard Reynolds, Group 4 (54.0)
• 1990 – Gerard Reynolds, Group 4 (53.92)
• 1990 – Devon Patton, Meet of Champions (52.89)
• 1994 – Kenyon Reid, Group 4 (54.48)
• 2000 – Michael Bolling, Meet of Champs (53.60)

Brosier on Friday also took fifth in the 400 in 49.71. Teammate David Miller was sixth in 49.96. With Tyler Davidson going 49.26 at the County Open, Willingboro now has three 400 guys under 50 seconds this year.

With Brosier, Miller, Davidson and Tyshen Hernendez, Willingboro is the No. 4 seed in the 1,600-meter relay on Saturday.

It’s been a long time since Ocean City’s Devon Grisbaum lost a 3,200, and she’ll face a loaded field Saturday when she shoots for a state Group 3 title.

Grisbaum, the Meet of Champions winner indoors, ran the fastest 3,200 in New Jersey this year at sectionals, winning by over 90 meters with a 10:41.57. She wasn’t far off her PR of 10:39.15, set when she was sixth at Meet of Champions last spring.

Even though she’s a Meet of Champions winner, Grisbaum has actually never won a state group title. But she’s been close. Grisbaum ran a very fast 18:33 at Holmdel at the state Group 3 XC meet, taking third behind West Morris Central’s Sierra Castaneda and Catherine Pagano of Northern Highlands. This winter, she ran 10;54 at indoor states at the Bubble, taking second to Grace Dwyer of Hamilton North, who ran 10:50.

On Saturday, she’ll be one of five girls that broke 11 minutes at sectionals toeing the line at states at South Plainfield. Pagano is the No. 2 seed at 10:45.33, with Olivia Viparina of Roxbury (10:53.37), Castaneda (10:55.86) and Amanda Bakley of Pennsauken (10:59.56) also under 11 and Julia Guerra of Indian Hills (11:00.51) and Dwyer (11:01.57) very close.

Grisbaum hasn’t lost a 3,200 since indoor states. She holds the Cape May County and the Cape-Atlantic League outdoor records with her 10:39.15 (although Brittany Sedberry ran 10:19.30 indoors in 2006).

Here’s a look at all the all-time South Jersey outdoor 3,200-meter list:

• 10:12.8 ….. Michelle Rowen (Washington Twp.), 1983
• 10:19.31 … Chelsea Ley (Kingsway), 2009
• 10:22.02 … Megan Lacy (Cherokee), 2012
• 10:28.6 ….. Erin Donohue (Haddonfield), 2001
• 10:30.57 … Dina Iacone (Washington Twp.), 2012
• 10:32.4 ….. Mindy Rowand (Sterling), 1985
• 10:33.22 … Holly Bischof (Bishop Eustace), 2012
• 10:33.25 … Megan Venables (Highland), 2011
• 10:34.79 … Theresa Cattuna (Cherry Hill East), 2007
• 10:35.59 … Amanda Goetschius (Delsea), 2007
• 10:37.47 … Meghan McGlinchey (West Depford), 2009
• 10:37.53 … Vanessa Wright (Haddonfield), 2005
• 10:39.15 … Devon Grisbaum (Ocean City), 2015
• 10:40.24 … Katie Van Horn (Triton), 2005
• 10:42.22 … Jenn Rawls (Highland), 2009
• 10:45.12 … Brianna Gess (Haddonfield), 2014
• 10:49.95 … Erika Kemp (Rancocas Valley), 2013
• 10:43.3 ….. Deanna Germano (Shawnee), 1985
• 10:44.23 … Brittany Sedberry (Ocean City), 2004

Nothing like a 15-foot PR to make your weekend.

That’s what Middle Township senior John Mooers pulled off at the South Jersey Group 2 meet at Central Regional.

Mooers extended his discus PR from 170-11 to 185-11, No. 6 in South Jersey history, a meet record and a Cape May County record.

The previous meet record was a 185-0 set by Bridgeton’s legendary Braheme Days Jr. at the 2013 meet.

Mooers’ PR coming into his senior year was 163-3 from last year’s sectional meet, where he placed second. He extended it to 170-11 when he won the Woodbury Relays.

The only other throwers in New Jersey over 180 feet this year are Sean Brennan of Union Catholic, who threw 182-2 at the Parochial A North meet this weekend, and Kevin Benson of Toms River North, who threw 180-2 at the South Jersey Group 4 sectionals.

Mooers is the No. 1 seed in the Group 2 state meet by more than 20 feet. The next-best Group 2 throw at the various sectional meets was a 164-3 by sophomore Jordan West of Rahway at the North 1 Group 2 meet.

The Cape-Atlantic League has always been a hotbed for throwing, and not surprisingly four of the top six discus throwers in South Jersey history are from the Cape-Atlantic.

Mooers is No. 6 in South Jersey history. Here’s the full list of 180-foot throwers:

• 216-11 Ron Dayne (Overbrook), 1996
• 199-6 Braheme Days Jr. (Bridgeton), 2013
• 197-0 James Plummer (Egg Harbor Twp.), 2013
• 192-5 Josh Awotunde (Delsea), 2013
• 189-7 Ray Wilks (Bridgeton), 1995
• 185-11 John Mooers (Middle Twp.), 2015
• 185-10 Russ Willett (Penns Grove), 1985
• 185-7 Matthew Huckabe (Timber Creek), 2010
• 185-5 Ken Manahan (Deptford), 1976
• 181-10 Jason Winrow (Cumberland Reg.), 1989
• 180-3 Howard Clark (Pennsauken), 1998

Good luck trying to figure out Gabrielle Bennett’s best event.

She’s the No. 1 hurdler in New Jersey after running 14.47 in the trials on her way to winning the 110 highs at the South Jersey Group 3 meet at Central Regional.

She’s the No. 1 high jumper in New Jersey after a 5-8 at the Woobury Relays, and that matches the No. 3 mark in South Jersey history. She won sectionals this past weekend at 5-6.

She’s even the No. 5 triple jumper in South Jersey with a 36-11 1/2 for second place at sectionals.

Bennett, who will continue her career as a jumper, hurdler and pentathlete at U. Mass, is so versatile she throws the shot put sometimes in dual meets and even ran cross country in the fall.

But Bennett’s strongest event is probably the long jump, and she became only South Jersey’s 10th 19-foot jumper Saturday in Bayville.

Bennett added a foot to her PR with a 19-2 1/2 jump to win the Group 3 sectional title. Her previous PR was 18-1 1/4 from the Woodbury Relays. It’s the No. 1 jump in New Jersey this year.

Bennett now ranks No. 7 in South Jersey history including both indoor and outdoor performances and is less than seven inches from the school record of 19-9 1/4 set by former teammate Cidae’a Woods two years ago.

We figured we’d take a look at every long jumper in South Jersey history who’s gone 18-5 or better, indoors or outdoors. Here’s what that list looks like:

• 21-7 1/2i       Carol Lewis (Willingboro), 1980
• 20-0 1/2        Teneacia Smith (Cherry Hill East), 1992
• 19-9 1/4        Cidae’a Woods (Winslow Twp.), 2013
• 19-7 1/2i       Helen Wilks (Bridgeton), 1993
• 19-4 3/4        Gabrielle Farquharson (Williamstown), 2011
• 19-4                Emily Carson (Haddonfield), 2013
• 19-2 1/2        Gabrielle Bennett (Winslow Twp.), 2015
• 19-2                Robin Taylor (Deptford), 1980
• 19-1                Nena Moore (Cherry Hill West), 1995
• 19-1                Yvonn Wolfe (Middle Twp.), 2012
• 18-11 3/4      Shaytika Bryant (Bridgeton), 1995
• 18-10 1/4      Shameeka Marshall (Oakcrest), 2001
• 18-10 1/4      Vashti Hanna (Cumberland Reg.), 2015
• 18-10             Shana Williams (Bridgeton), 1989
• 18-9 1/2        Frances Bundy (Pleasantville), 1999
• 18-9                Shameeka Speed (Bridgeton), 2003
• 18-8 3/4i       Artrelia Turner (Woodrow Wilson), 1986
• 18-8 3/4        Tacquaya Tobias (Our Lady of Mercy), 2011
• 18-8 1/2        Ashley Edwards (Northern Burlington), 2015
• 18-8 1/2        Tina Walls (Williamstown), 1982
• 18-7 1/2        Tisifinee Taylor (Woodbury), 2001
• 18-7 1/2        Sable Lober (Woodrow Wilson), 2005
• 18-7 1/4i       Shelly Bailey (Woodbury), 1982
• 18-7                Jamie Walker (Haddon Heights), 2007
• 18-6 1/2        Tina Johnson (Burlington Twp.), 1996
• 18-5 3/4i       Lindsey Walsh (Lenape), 2008
• 18-5 3/4        Javona Ford (Millville), 2010
• 18-5 3/4        Sydney Pierce (Rancocas Valley), 2011

What a year it’s been so far for Bennett, who scored 38 points at sectionals, leading Winslow to its third consecutive sectional title. She’s unbeaten in the hurdles, unbeaten in the high jump other than the Penn Relays, and No. 1 in the state in three events.

At the Group 3 state meet this weekend at South Plainfield, Bennett will be the top seed in the high hurdles, top seed in the long jump, she’ll share the No. 1 seed in the high jump and she’s No. 4 seed in the triple jump.

 

 

Sterling Pierce entered sectional weekend with PRs of 10.87 and 21.75.

So much for that.

Pierce, Rancocas Valley’s speedy senior, ran three races this weekend and PR’d in each one. Competing at the South Jersey Group 4 sectionals at Egg Harbor Township’s Eagle Stadium, he ran 10.73 in the 100-meter dash trials, 10.72 to win the 100 final and 21.64 to win the 200.

The 10.72 and 21.64 are the fastest times any New Jersey sprinter ran over the weekend at the 18 various sectional meets.

It’s also the fastest 100-200 double in the FAT era at the South Jersey Group 4 meet. The previous fastest was by T.J. Johnson of Egg Harbor, who won the two sprints in 10.75 and 21.68  in 2009.

Pierce, who’ll be a freshman at Villanova this fall, is Rancocas Valley’s first sectional double winner in 11 years and only the third since 1975!

The others were hurdler Edgar Gantt in S.J.-4 in 1998 (14.3 and 54.2 hand-timed) and Ian Waterhouse as a junior in C.J.-4 in 2004 (1:53.2 and 4:19.3).

Pierce, whose father Jack ran for Woodbury High School and was an Olympic bronze medalist in the 110 hurdles at the 1992 Olympics, helped Rancocas Valley win its first sectional title since 1977 with his double win.

He also anchored R.V.’s winning 400-meter relay team, with JeSean Foster, Dyson Scott and Zakiyy Williams, and anchored the Red Devils’ 4-by-4 team, which also included Isaiah Curbelo, Joshua DeJesus and Samuel Keleekai.

RV’s secret weapon over the weekend was tireless senior Diante Bah, who scored 22 points in four events (second in 110HH, third in HJ, third in LJ, fifth in 400IH).

All in all, it was a remarkable performance by Rancocas Valley, whose 136 points are second-most in meet history, behind only Winslow’s 140 in 2003.

The Red Devils scored across the board, with 27 points in the sprints, 22 in the distance races, 10 in the hurdles, 26 in the relays, 30 in the jumps and 19 in the throws.

You don’t cover all the events without a terrific staff, and third-year head coach Jeff Dzuranin has one, with Eric Warren coaching sprints and Matthew Joseph throws. They’re assisted by Damon Petras, a former Lenape athlete under Fred Rucker and currently an RV girls assistant, who works with the horizontal jumpers, and Lonnie Stanley, who helps out with the hurdlers.

To understand how special this year has been for R.V., consider where the program was before Dzuranin and his staff took over in 2013. The program had one dual meet win in two years and had scored 19, 10 and 12 points in the last three County Opens.

Now they’re in position to challenge for the first state title in school history.

 

The NJSIAA has released the performance lists for this weekend’s state championship meets.

To download the lists covering the Group 2, Group 3 and Parochial A meets at South Plainfield, click here. For the lists covering the  Group 1, Group 4 and Parochial B meets at Egg Harbor, click here.

For a copy of the state championship program, with meet records and all-time team champions, click here.