Click below for all-time state champions, meet records, meet program, classifications, performance lists and more!
All-time boys state team champions
All-time girls state team champions
Official Meet program with meet records and order of events
Official Entry Lists [Groups 1, 4, Parochial A]
Official Entry Lists [Groups 2, 3, Parochial B]
Ta’riq Thomas, already the most decorated athlete in Delaware Valley College history, earned two more All-America honors at the NCAA Division 3 nationals at La Crosse, Wisc.
Thomas placed second in the long jump with a 24-11 1/4 jump and third in the triple jump with a personal-best 49-10.
He’s now a SEVEN-TIME NCAA Division 3 track All-America for the Doylestown-New Britain, Pa., school.
He’s also a three-time Middle Atlantic Conference Field Event Athlete of the Year, a nine-time MAC champion and a three-time Mideast Region Athlete of the Year.
Thomas averaged 24-6 on his six attempts in the long jumps, with a best of 24-11 1/4 on his first jump of the competition. He had to settle for second behind a Beamonesque jump by Montclair’s George Alexandris, a graduate of Fair Lawn – like Woodstown, a Group 1 school.
Alexandris broke the NCAA Division 3 record with a wind-aided 26-foot leap after beginning the day with a PR of 24-9.
The second-place finish is Thomas’s best ever in the long jump at nationals.
In the triple jump, Thomas’s PR 49-10 jump came on his third jump. Just like the long jump, he had a very consistent series, with a 49-0 opener, a 48-5 1/2, the PR 49-10, then a 48-7 and a 48-10 1/2 before he closed with a foul.
Thomas matched his best outdoor finish in the triple jump with his third place. He’s earned All-America honors in the triple jump alone five times.
Here’s a look at Thomas’s seven career All-America performances:
2018 outdoors
Long Jump – 24-11 1/4 [2nd]
Triple Jump – 49-10 [3rd]
2018 indoors
Long jump – 23-7 [3rd]
2017 outdoors
Triple jump – 47-10 3/4 [6th]
2017 indoors
Triple jump – 48-1 1/2 [2nd]
2016 outdoors
Triple jump – 48-8 1/4 [3rd]
2015 outdoors
Triple jump – 48-3 3/4 [6th]
One other note: In the triple jump, Stockton’s Jared Lewis, a Deptford graduate, placed sixth, earning his NINTH All-America honor. More on Jared soon!
Camden ran its fastest 4-by-1 in 11 years Saturday, winning the South Jersey Group 2 title in 42.42 and just missing the meet record.
Junior JaJuan Hudson, junior Ra’Mer Nock, senior Damon Rice and sophomore Hakeem Evans became the first Camden 400-meter relay team to win a sectional title (the 4-by-1 started in 2013), beating Barnegat by two meters on the Delsea track.
It was Camden’s fastest 4-by-1 since 2007, when the Panthers team of Ameer Waughs, Sherman Goree, Syteek Farrington and Chuckie Waughs placed third in the Large-School Championships at Penn with a 42.66 after a 42.58 in the heats. That group ran as fast as 42.05 at Woodbury.
Camden fell 1-100th of a second shy of the South Jersey Group 2 record of 42.41 set in 2016 by Mar-Quel Davis and Deptford and 2-100ths of a second shy of the overall South Jersey sectional mark of 42.40, set last year by Jonathan Taylor and Salem.
Camden and Barnegat are the top two seeds at states and the only two Group 2 schools that ran under 43 seconds at the various sectional meets.
Camden’s time is No. 6 in the state this year and No. 3 in South Jersey, behind only Bridgeton [42.20] and Deptford [42.28].
Nobody in state history has been as routinely fast over the years in the 4-by-1 as Camden, which owns five of the top 12 times in state history. Here’s a look at Camden’s fastest times … and don’t be surprised if this year’s team breaks into this list by the Meet of Champs!
41.09 … 2000
41.25 … 2004
41.25 … 2001
41.54 … 2002
41.62 … 2003
41.7h … 1996
41.83 … 1997
42.05 … 2007
42.07 … 2005
Rice was also second in the 400 [50.63], fifth in the 100 [10.98] and sixth in the 200 [22.65] for the Panthers. Hudson and Evans ran second and fourth in the 110 highs [14.96, 15.08], and Guest also ran on Camden’s fourth-place 4-by-4 team.
What the results show is impressive enough. Rowan placed fifth in the 1,600-meter relay at NCAA Division 3 nationals in La Crosse, Wisc., with a time of 3:11.47 — their fastest time this year.
The all-South Jersey quartet of freshmen Hunter Barbieri of Egg Harbor Township and Justin Bishop of Mainland Regional, junior Chris Mesiano of Schalick and senior Jamil Jackson of Highland helped the Profs finish third at nationals with 27 points, nine points behind national champion Mount Union of Alliance, Ohio.
What the results don’t show is exactly what went into that performance.
Rowan placed third at indoor nationals in 3:15.00 with a lineup that didn’t include Barbieri (or Jackson).
Being left off Rowan’s 4-by-4 lineup indoors was tough for Barbieri, but the road from being bypassed indoors to earning All-America honors outdoors is one that once again shows why track and field athletes are truly a different breed.
In a powerful Instagram post that illustrates exactly why this sport is so unique and so inspirational, Barbieri wrote about the disappointment of being left off Rowan’s 4-by-4 indoors and how it drove him to make sure it didn’t happen again.
In case that is too small, Barbieri wrote: “Finally an All-American…. Not being included in the finals for our teams 4×4 relay during the indoor season after being in it for prelims destroyed me mentally. So many emotions but not many words as I watched my relay go on to take 3rd in the finals without me. After that happened to me for a second time in consecutive seasons i had no want or desire to be on the track anymore. I wanted to be done with it because this is the only sport that has ever caused me that much pain mentally and physically. But deep down after getting past the pain something clicked. I needed to work harder and harder than I ever have before to get what i wanted. Every single day i was working harder on the track and in the weight room and my teammates were right by my side pushing me along. I dropped my pr (personal record) by a full second in the last 3 weeks of the season. My 4×4 splits were dropping into consistent 48 lows. I saw all the hard work paying off and finally seeing results felt amazing. I had one personal goal going into this outdoor season and that was to make sure i gave my coaches absolutely no reason to take me out of my relay and this week i dropped two 47.8 and 47.6 splits off the leadoff leg of our 4×4 at nationals. We killed it and i couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to do it with. You have to want to be successful as much as you want to breathe and boy was this a breath of fresh air.”
Just another example why track is the best sport ever!
Erika Kemp, a North Carolina State senior from Rancocas Valley, advanced to the NCAA Championships by easily winning the 5,000-meter run at the NCAA East Preliminary meet in Tampa on Saturday.
Kemp ran 16:06.17, finishing 30 meters ahead of Georgia sophomore Jessica Drop, who was second in 16:12.58. She led for about the final five laps, or the final 2,000 meters.
The top five finishers from each of two heats along with the next two-fastest times from each of two regions advanced to the NCAA Championships next month in Eugene, Ore.
Kemp has a lifetime-best of 15:43.28 last month at the Mt. SAC Relays, but certainly an unpressed 16:06 in a race that isn’t designed for fast times is very encouraging.
This will be Kemp’s third trip to outdoor NCAAs. Her best previous finish was 13th in the 5,000 in 15:59.26 last spring at Eugene’s Hayward Field.
She also ran the 5,000 in the 2016 indoor nationals in Birmingham and the 2017 nationals in College Station, Texas, earning All-America honors in 2016 with a fifth-place finish in 15:58.00. She placed 11th in 15:59.19 this past winter. She also earned All-America in cross country when she placed 17th at nationals in the fall of 2016 in Terre Haute, Ind.
Haddon Heights sophomore Cydney Thomas bombed a personal-best and South Jersey-best in the discus at the South Jersey Group 1 meet at Washington Township.
Thomas added four feet to her PR and school record of 123-3, set at the Rowland Relays last month. Her mark is No. 3 in the state and No. 1 in the state Group 1.
The official meet program lists the meet record as 124-0 set in 2009 by Pitman’s Chelsea Cioffi, but Palmyra’s Tomara Carmichael actually threw 130-9 at the 2016 S.J. Group 1 sectionals. But Thomas will get two more shots at that.
The top four Group 1 throwers going into states next weekend are from South Jersey — Thomas, Pitman senior Hannah Cioffi (who presumably is related to Chelsea Cioffi) at 123-11, senior Zyra Thomas of Schalick at 115-9 and Paulsboro junior Amaya Reed-Clark at 110-11.
Last year, the top four finishers at Group 1 states were from South Jersey, but the top three were seniors. Thomas finished fourth and is the top returner.
Thomas is the first Haddon Heights girl to win a sectional discus title since 2004, when Rebecca Taylor won the South Jersey Group 2 title with a 102-1 throw.
Thomas also placed second in the shot put with a throw of 39-10 1/4. That’s an outdoor PR, breaking a 38-8 1/4 from the Camden County Championships. Thomas has a 40-7 1/2 from the indoor Meet of Champions
Moravian freshman Zion Howard, a Moorestown graduate, earned All-America honors this week with a breakthrough fourth-place finish in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Division 3 Championships in La Crosse, Wisc.
Howard arrived at nationals with a PR of 21.52 from a meet at Muhlenberg College in Allentown in April but after a 21.79 in the trials into a 5 meters-per-second wind he ran 21.42 in the final, finishing only 8-100ths of a second out of second place.
Howard was the 20th and final qualifier for the 200 with his 21.79.
Howard finished the year as the No. 2 freshman in the country, behind only national champ Rodrick Miller of Wisconsin-Platteville, who had a 21.06 and won the national title in 21.17.
“All year long Zion has stepped up to his competition, it didn’t matter the meet or stage he was on, he was never intimidated by the moment and clearly that was the case this weekend,” Moravian coach Jesse Baumann said on the Moravian web site.
“Assistant Coaches Steve Rahn and Sarah Werner did a great job preparing him for this moment and knowing when he needed rest like this past week or needed a push.
“He was ready to perform when the moment was there, so I give credit to all three. You can’t ask for a better way to end an amazing freshman campaign and this is only the beginning for him.”
Howard, a wide receiver on Moravian’s football team, ran in the shadow of Brandon Outlaw at Moorestown. Outlaw ran 46.82 for 400 meters at Moorestown and recently finished his freshman year at Virginia, where he had a 47.18 to medal in the ACC meet.
Ever since Riverside fell three points shy of winning its first sectional title last year, the Rams have been plotting out this year’s meet.
Riverside finished second in the Central Jersey Group 1 meet last year with 69 points, three behind Shore Regional.
It’s been quite a resurgence for coach Matt Postell’s Riverside program, which as recently as 2016 scored only six points at the South Jersey Group 1 meet.
The Rams this year not only won the first sectional title in the program’s very long history, they did it it commanding fashion.
Led by Senior Jeanquai Morton, who recorded two firsts and two fourths, the Rams outscored Metuchen 100-72 to win the Central Jersey Group 1 title at Howell.
Riverside has had a proud track history going back almost a century.
The Rams won the second and third Burlington County Open titles — in 1931 and 1932 — and had some tremendous individuals, such as former Burlington County shot put record holder Dean Van Ness in 1970, County Open intermediate hurdles winner Dan Dmochowski in 1982, state Group 1,600 champ Ron Brock in 1991 and triple jump state champ Sean Jimoh in 2008.
But this year’s group was a true team, as evidenced by its performance at sectionals. There were more PRs by the Rams than non-PRs, which is a sign of a well-coached team. One that is peaking at the right time.
Morton, a 1,000-point scorer for Riverside’s basketball team, won the high hurdles in 15.15 and the 400 hurdles in 57.89, shattering his PRs of 15.27 and 58.25. He also jumped 6-0 for fourth in the high jump and 19-9 3/4 for fourth in the long jump.
Senior Emmanuel Harris won the 200 in 22.62 and was second in the triple jump at 42-9, setting PRs in both.
Junior Alex Stockton was second in the intermediates [58.43], fourth in the high hurdles [15.67] and third in the triple jump [PR 41-9 3/4].
Senior Jody Johnson was third in the long jump [19-10 1/4] and fourth in the triple jump [PR 41-9].
Michael Combs and Michael Monteiro went 2-3 in the pole vault, Combs tying his PR of 11-0 and Monteiro clearing 10-6. Monteiro was also sixth in the javelin with a 14-foot PR of 125-8. Freshman Caleb Esposito also scored in the pole vault with a 9-6 clearance.
The team of Harris, Johnson, senior Jordan Lewis and freshman Khy’Jaron Moore ran 45.19 for second in the 400-meter relay.
And the Rams were fifth in the 3,200-meter relay in 8:57.58, with juniors Felipe Viana, Jacob Fink and Judson Souza, along with Combs.
Riverside scored 79 of its 100 points — enough to win the meet — just in the hurdles and jumps. The Rams also scored 10 in the sprints, 10 in the relay and one in the throws.
She’s been doing it for so long and at such a high level it’s easy to forget just how talented Shakira Dancy is. And just how routinely she rises to the occasion at big meets.
But the Winslow Township senior, already a two-time Meet of Champions 200 winner, put on yet another crazy display this weekend at Delsea, helping a loaded Winslow team win its sixth straight South Jersey Group 3 championship.
Dancy won the 100 in 12.04, leading a 1-3-5 Winslow finish for 18 points.
She won the 200 in 24.35, leading a 1-4-6 Winslow finish for 15 points
She won the 400 in 56.93, leading a 1-2 Winslow finish for 18 points.
She anchored Winslow’s 400-meter relay team, which ran 47.87.
Dancy has now won three straight sectional titles in the 100 and 200 and two in a row in the 400 after finishing second as a sophomore to Joshonda Johnson of Absegami by less than half a second.
She’s also won four indoor sectional titles, so that’s 12 South Jersey individual titles in addition to numerous relay titles.
Dancy’s times from sectionals rank No. 4 in the state in the 100 at 12.04, No. 2 in the 200 at 24.35 and No. 16 in the 400, although she was running just to win. There’s no telling how much faster she’ll go when she’s really pushed at states. The 47.87 is No. 4 in the state this year.
At Group 3 states at Central Regional, Dancy will be seeded No. 1 in the 100 and 200 and No. 2 in the 400, behind Reanda Richards of West Essex, who ran 55.45 at the North 1 sectionals. Richards was runner-up to Olymian Sydney McLaughlin of Union Catholic in the 400 at last year’s Meet of Champions. Winslow’s 4-by-1 will also be top-seeded at states.
Full seedings can be found here:
Winslow’s sixth straight title is only one shy of the South Jersey record of seven set by Woodbury from 1976 through 1982. It’s also tied for seventh-longest in state history, and the Eagles are only two shy of the state record:
8 … Columbia [1991-98]
8 … Metuchen [1994-01]
7 … Hanover Park [2002-08]
7 … Hopewell Valley [2005-11]
7 … Randolph [2009-15]
7 … Woodbury [1976-82]
6 … Winslow Twp. [2013-18]
6 … Monmouth Reg. [1984-89]
6 … New Providence [1982-87]
6 … North Hunterdon [1982-87]
As brilliant as Dancy was, this isn’t a one-person show.
Junior Tionna Tobias won the high hurdles in 14.57 in a titanic battle with Timber Creek soph Tierra Hooker after a PR 14.52 in the trials. Hooker ran 14.58 after a PR 14.54 in the trials. Tobias also won the long jump at 19-0 3/4 (just ahead of Hooker) and placed second (to Hooker) in the high jump at 5-2. More on the epic Tobias-Hooker competition later this week.
Senior Ciarra Johnson won the discus with a 124-5 and placed second in the shot with a 38-7 1/2
Sophomore Janeya Hammond won the intermediates in 1:04.79 and also placed third in the 100 in 12.33.
Senior Flora Ahiarakwe placed second in the 400 in 57.23 and also ran fifth in the 100 in 12.40 and sixth in the 200 in 25.92.
Sophomore Nylah Perry took third in the intermediates in 1:08.22 and fourth in the 200 in 25.21
Freshman Shevell Higgs, who had a PR of 16.38 coming into the meet, lowered that to 15.33 and took fourth in the highs.
Junior Adonista Bob-Grey ran 1:08.68 for fifth in the intermediates.
Hammond, Ahiarakwe, Tobias and Dancy ran 47.87 to win the 400-meter relay, and Hammond, junior Rayven Rouse, Perry and junior Nicole Hood went 3:56.13 to win the 1,600-meter relay.
Rouse, Alexandria Morrison and Hood along with soph Grace Morton placed fifth in the 3,200-meter relay with a season-best 10:13.72.
The NJSIAA added girls state track sectionals to the existing boys meet in 1971, so this was the 48th year there have been both boys and girls sectionals.
And during that nearly half a century, there have been only six instances where the same school swept the boys and girls team titles at the South Jersey Group 4 meet.
South Jersey Group 4 has historically been the most competitive sectional in the state, so if the same school can win both the boys and girls team titles the same year that is the sign of a special program.
Willingboro did it with Olympians Carl and Carol Lewis in 1980. Edgewood did it with Olympian Dennis Mitchell and his sister Denise in 1983 and 1985. Then it was 19 years until Winslow did it in 2004 with its vast array of sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers, and five more years until Southern Regional’s powerful program accomplished it in 2009 built around middle-distance strength.
And that was it. Four schools – three really, since Edgewood became Winslow — in 48 years.
Until now.
This weekend, Rancocas Valley elevated itself into that all-time historical group of elite programs when the Red Devils recorded a South Jersey Group 4 sweep of their own.
The R.V. boys, coached by Jeff Dzuranin, outscored Egg Harbor 89-75 to win their second South Jersey Group 4 title in four years (R.V. also won SJ-3 in 1977), and the R.V. girls, led by first-year coach Eric Warren, outscored second-place EHT 76-71 to win the first title in the program’s history.
That’s six S.J. Group 4 sweeps since 1971:
2018 … Rancocas Valley
2009 … Southern Regional
2004 … Winslow Twp.
1985 … Edgewood
1983 … Edgewood
1980 … Willingboro
Both the R.V. boys and girls won their titles by covering a lot of different events in each area.
R.V. BOYS: Nick Mirabelli won the javelin with a 209-2 and also took fourth in the discus with a 156-10, and R.V. added 12 points in the 800, where junior Ian Moore [1:56.73] and senior Jacob Tyndale [1:58.24] placed second and fourth. Another Red Devil, junior Micah Wood, ran sub-1:59, placing seventh in 1:58.85.
The Red Devils also won the 3,200-meter relay with an 8:00.43,with juniors Kamau Sudlow and Troy Tomasch joining Tyndale and Micah.
Senior Daequan Jackson-Swoope had a very good weekend, taking second in the 400 intermediates [56.62], fourth in the high hurdles [15.18] and sixth in the 400 [50.12]. He also ran a leg on the fifth-place 4-by-4 team.
Senior Darnell St. Clair also medaled in three events, clearing 6-2 for second in the high jump, jumping 20-10 1/4 for third in the long jump and going 43-2 1/2 for fourth in the triple jump.
Also, Wood was fifth in the intermediates [57.67], sophomore Oluwadamilola Mosaku took fifth in the triple jump [43-2], junior Jesse Eadric placed third in the shot at 48-8 1/2
Additionally, R.V. placed fourth in the 400-meter relay in 43.70 and fifth in the 1,600-meter relay in 3:26.40.
Wood, Moore and senior Donoven Griffin joined Jackson-Swoope on the 4-by-4 team, which ran 3:26.40.
Matlock, senior Rashead Miller and junior Caden Kennedy and Charles Lowe ran on the 400-meter relay team.
R.V. GIRLS: Senior Aliyah Taylor won the 400, placed second in the 100 and 200 and ran a leg on the third-place 1,600-meter relay team. Taylor tied her outdoor PR with a 55.79 in the 400 and ran 12.53 and 25.20 in the 200.
R.V.’s other win came in the 3,200-meter relay, where junior Bethany Biggi, seniors Alana Thompson and Morgan Gallagher and junior Paige Hammond ran a season-best 9:40.10.
Biggi also placed second in the high jump at 5-2 and freshman Abigail Boggs cleared 10-0 for second in the pole vault. Junior Darynn Minus-Vincent medaled in both sprints, taking fourth in the 200 with a 25.20 and sixth in the 100 in 12.89.
Junior Brianna Snowden ran 1:05.56 for third in the intermediates, and senior Morgan Gallagher ran 2:21.17 for sixth in the 800.
Additionally, R.V. placed fourth in the 400-meter relay in 43.70 and fifth in the 1,600-meter relay in 3:26.40.
Sophomores Breacain McClanahan, Kristina Tossas and Maya Primas joined Taylor on the 4-by-100, which ran 48.96. Primas, Taylor, senior Gallagher and Snowden teamed up to run 4:00.65 in the 4-by-4.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 