Long-time rivals and javelin All-Americans Curtis Thompson and Chris Mirabelli made their highly anticipated 2019 debuts Saturday, and both enjoyed exceptional days.

Thompson is a graduate of Florence and Mirabelli Holy Cross. They have battled head-to-head at the conference, county, sectional, state, national and international level since first facing each other in the spring of 2011.

You can read about the history of their long-running rivalry here.

Thompson, the 2016 NCAA champ for Mississippi State and Olympic Trials runner-up, had an injury-plagued 2017 and competed only sporadically last year.

He opened his senior year by throwing 248-9 at the Al Schmidt Bulldog Relays Invitational at his home track in Starkville.

That’s the No. 1 throw by a U.S. thrower early on this outdoor season.

Thompson placed second to teammate Anderson Peters, the NCAA champ, national record holder from Grenada and world #23-ranked thrower last year.

He recorded the 248-9 on his first throw of the competition but had a very consistent series. He followed the 248-9 with throws of 244-10 and 237-9 in the trials and after opening the finals with a foul he finished by throwing 239-5 and 240-2.

Peters threw 271-1 for the win. Peters and Thompson are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the early going in the NCAA Division 1 javelin rankings.

Thompson competed in only two meets last year, although he did win the USATF national title with a season-best 249-3 throw.

Mirabelli, however, threw Saturday for the first time in two years. The Rutgers senior, who red-shirted last year and didn’t compete, threw 237-2 to win the South Florida Bulls Invite in Tampa.

In his first meet in 21 months — since the 2017 Olympic Trials, where he was eighth — he recorded his best throw since a month before that, when he won the Big Ten meet at Penn State with a 246-7.

Mirabelli only got off three legal throws, but any of them were good enough to win over teammate Greg Harnett, a Rutgers junior. Mirabelli threw 218-0 and 229-3 on his first and third throws of the trials with a foul in between. After opening the finals with two more fouls, he popped his 237-2 to finish.

Thompson’s PR is 271-11 from the 2016 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Mirabelli’s PR is 251-6 from the 2017 Penn Relays.

Mirabelli’s younger brother, Nick, a Rancocas Valley graduate and Texas A&M freshman, threw a PR 234-2 earlier this month https://sjtrackblog.com/2019/03/23/rv-grad-nick-mirabelli-throws-four-javelin-prs-in-college-debut-moves-into-all-time-texas-am-top-10/.

Between the three former BCSL throwers, they are now ranked No. 2, 3 and 5 in NCAA Division 1, with another South Jersey thrower, Cade Antonucci – an Auburn sophomore from Holy Spirit – now at No. 24 with a 217-7 at the Florida State Relays.

 

 

It took Nick Mirabelli one meet to become one of the greatest javelin throwers in Texas A&M history.

Mirabelli, an A&M freshman from Rancocas Valley, threw a personal-best 234-2 to win the Baldy Castillo Invitational at Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz.

He opened with a 227-7 and followed with a 233-11 and a 228-1 to lead all qualifiers into the finals. He then went 231-11 and 221-1 before his winning 234-2.

Mirabelli actually had the top two throws of the competition. Senior teammate Sam Hardin was second with a 232-2 on his second throw before passing on his next four.

In the early going, Mirabelli is the No. 2-ranked javelin thrower in the country, behind only senior Trevor Danielson of Texas, who threw 235-5 in a meet in San Antonio.

Just one meet into his college career, Mirabelli moved into the all-time Texas A&M top 10 in the No. 10 spot.

Mirabelli set the state record of 227-10 at the Meet of Champions last spring, so he surpassed that four times in Tempe.

Another South Jersey javelin thrower, Holy Spirit’s Cade Antonucci, also had a strong 2019 debut.

Antonucci, a sophomore at Auburn, threw 217-7 at the Florida State Relays in Tallahassee. He has a PR of 231-5 from a meet last April at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

The team of Naseem Smith, Javon Sanders, Tyrece Brown and Khion Smith placed third in the shuttle hurdles at New Balance Nationals this weekend at the Armory in New York.

Deptford ran 30.19, finishing behind only Oscar Smith of Chesapeake, Va., which ran 29.02, and Western Branch of Virginia, which ran 29.39.

Deptford was originally fourth, but Hamilton North of Mercer County, which placed third in 30.18, was DQ’d, moving the Spartans up one spot on the podium.

The Spartans had already run 29.45 this year, a South Jersey record and the No. 4 time in state history. That performance came at the Bennett Center in Toms River in the state Group 2 Relays.

St. Augustine senior Sincere Rhea capped his brilliant indoor track career Sunday with a national championship at the New Balance National Championships.

Rhea and rival and U.S. No. 1 Kurt Powdar of Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake — among among the fastest hurdlers in U.S. track history — lined up next to each other in the final, Rhea in lane 4, Powdar in lane 5, and Rhea easily won, clocking 7.69 while Powdar was unable to finish.

Cameron Harris of Brighton High School in Colorado came up to finish second in 7.81.

Rhea’s best previous finish at nationals was a fourth place in the 110-meter highs last spring with a 13.84 in the trials and a 13.96 in the finals.

In the prelims on Saturday, Rhea shattered long-standing South Jersey records in the 55- and 60-meter highs and moved into the No. 10 spot in U.S. history in the 55 highs and the No. 12 spot in the 60’s.

You can read about that here. https://wp.me/p5uW7L-41Q

Earlier Sunday, he led all qualifiers in the semifinals. You can read about that here: https://wp.me/p5uW7L-429

Here’s the all-time U.S. 60-meter high hurdles list:

ALL-TIME U.S. 60-METER HURDLES LIST
7.40 … Trey Cunningham [Winfield, Ala.], 2017
7.53 … Grant Holloway [Grassfield, Va.], 2016
7.57 … Donovan Robertson [Berea-Midpark, Ohio], 2012
7.59 … Ayden Owens [North Allegheny, Pa.], 2018
7.59 … Chad Zallow [JFK, Ohio], 2015
7.60 … Wayne Davis [Southeast Raleigh, Tenn.], 2009
7.61 … Kurt Powder [Oscar Smith, Va.], 2019
7.62 … Ricky Harris [Centreville, Va.], 2000
7.62 … Deworski Odom [Overbrook, D.C.], 1995
7.62 … Terrance Trammell [Decatur, Ga.], 1997
7.63 … Cory Poole [East Orange, N.J.], 2017
7.64 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine, N.J.], 2019
7.64 … Damion Thomas [Northeast, Fla.], 2017
7.66 … Eric Edwards [una., Texas], 2018
7.66 … Braxton Canady [Paxton School, Fla.], 2016
7.67 … Michael Hancock [George Washington, Colo.], 2008
7.68 … Thavius Nelson [Troup County, Wisc.], 1996
7.69 … Marcus Krah [Hillside, N.C.], 2016

And the all-time New Jersey 55-meter hurdles list:
ALL-TIME N.J. 55-METER HURDLES LIST
7.07 … Cory Poole [East Orange Campus], 2017
7.10 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
6.9h … Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains], 1985
7.18 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1996
7.19 … Jermaine Collier [Trenton], 2012
7.22 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
7.22 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
7.29 … Nate Harley [Pleasantville], 1996
7.29 … Danyne Brown [Camden], 1999
7.29 … Will Brown [Palmyra], 2006
7.31 … Akeem Lindo [East Orange Campus], 2018
7.32 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2018
7.32 … Stephan Fletcher [Princeton], 1983
7.32 … Jon Dickey [Penns Grove], 1985
7.32 … Jeff Porter [Franklin Twp.], 2003
7.32 … Al-Tariq Dunson [East Orange], 2018
7.32 … Isaiah Greene [Newark West Side], 2018
7.34 … Chais Hill [Highland], 2015
7.34 … Devon Hill [Trenton], 2008

Here’s the all-time meet performance list
7.40 … Trey Cunningham [Winfield, Winfield, Ala.], 2017
7.53 … Grant Holloway [Grassfield, Chesapeake, Va.], 2016
7.59 … Chad Zallow [John F Kennedy, Warren, Ohio], 2015
7.60 … Wayne Davis II [Southeast, Raleigh, N.C.], 2009
7.62s …Rickey Harris [Centreville, Clifton, Va.], 2000
7.63 … Damion Thomas [Northeast, Oakland Park, Fla.], 2017
7.63t … Kurt Powder [Oscar Smith, Chesapeake, Va.], 2019
7.64t … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine, Richland, N.J.], 2019
7.66 … Braxton Canady [Paxon, Jacksonville, Fla.], 2016
7.67 … Michael Hancock [Washington, Denver, Colo.], 2008
7.69 … Marcus Krah [Hillside, Durham, N.C.], 2016
7.69 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine, Richland, N.J.], 2019
7.70 … Donovan Robertson [Berea, Berea, Ohio], 2012

• more coming

The Millville girls wound up second in the shuttle hurdles at New Balance Nationals this weekend at the Armory after initially placing sixth.

Millville ran 33.37 with the team of seniors Malea Broome and Brionah Patterson, junior Zaniah Bowman and freshman anchor Bryanna Craig.

The time is No. 16 in South Jersey history.

Nothing wrong with sixth place in the entire country. That would have earned Millville All-America honors and a spot on the medal stand.

Winslow finished just behind Millville in seventh in 34.06 with the team of senior Tionna Tobias, junior Janeya Hammond, senior Rayven Rouse and junior Nylah Perry.

The initial results looked like this:

1. Western Branch [Chesapeake, Va.], 29.82
2. The Bullis School [Potomac, Md.], 31.28
3. Paramus Catholic [Paramus, N.J.], 32.34
4. Union Catholic [Scotch Plains, N.J.], 32.99
5. Oscar Smith [Chesapeake, Va.], 33.04
6. Millville [Millville, N.J.] 33.37
7. Winslow Twp. [Atco, N.J.], 34.06
8. Providence Day [Providence, R.I.], 34.17

But the first four finishers were disqualified. DQ’s are common in the shuttle hurdles, but it’s kind of bizarre to see the first four finishers all DQ’d . In all, nine of 33 entries in the championship shuttles prelims were disqualified.

So Millville moved up from sixth to second and Winslow moved up from seventh to third.

And the new results look like this:

1. Oscar Smith [Chesapeake, Va.], 33.04
2. Millville [Millville, N.J.] 33.37
3. Winslow Twp. [Atco, N.J.], 34.06
4. Providence Day [Providence, R.I.], 34.17
5. Andover [Andover, Mass.] 34.37
6. Randolph [Randolph, N.J.] 34.56
7. Westborough [Westborough, Mass.] 34.68
8. Elizabeth Seton [Bladensburg, Md.] 34.72

Here’s the updated all-time South Jersey indoor shuttle hurdles list:

31.87 … Winslow Twp., 2014
32.02 … Woodrow Wilson, 2006
32.45 … Winslow Twp., 2013
32.6h … Pleasantville, 1998
32.88 … Pennsauken, 2000
32.90 … Woodrow Wilson, 2002
33.00 … Willingboro, 2002
33.03 … Willingboro, 1999
33.07 … Woodrow Wilson, 2005
33.11 … Woodrow Wilson, 2004
32.9h … Willingboro, 1998
33.18 … Highland, 1998
33.0h … Willingboro, 1997
33.0h … Edgewood, 2001
33.33 … Overbrook, 1998
33.37 … Millville, 2019
33.50 … Lenape, 2007
33.73 … Winslow, 2015
33.92 … Buena, 2012

St. Augustine senior Sincere Rhea led all qualifiers into the 60-meter high hurdles finals at the New Balance Nationals Sunday morning at the 168th street Armory.

Rhea, who ran one of the fastest times in U.S. schoolboy history in the prelims on Saturday, wasn’t quite as fast Sunday with a 7.20 for 55 meters and a 7.73 for the full 60 meters, but most importantly he earned a center lane in the finals later Sunday.

Rhea ran 7.10 and 7.64 on Saturday, moving into the No. 10 spot in U.S. scholastic history for the 55 highs and No. 12 for 60 meters.

Rhea, a Millville native, and his main rival, Kurt Powder of Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake, Va., ran in separate heats in Sunday’s semifinals.

Powder, who ran 7.61 on Saturday – 7th-fastest in U.S. high school history – ran 7.78 on Sunday.

They are the only hurdlers under 7.90 going into the finals.

Rhea finished well ahead of Myles Marshall of Marietta, Ga., in the second of three semifinal races. Marshall ran 7.95. Powder edged Deanthony Coleman of Montgomery, Ala., who ran 7.84.

Since the top two in each race advanced automatically, there was no reason for either one to run faster.

The final is scheduled for 1:49 p.m. and it’s going to be fast.

 

Cameron Dobbins, a senior at Rutgers Camden, earned All-America honors in Saturday with a fourth-place in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Division 3 Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

Dobbins ran 21.95 in the final, finishing second in the first of two four-runner sections of the final.

Dobbins, a graduate of Williamstown High School, had run 21.93 in the trials. His 200 PR is 21.67, which he ran taking second in the NJAC Championships to George Alexandris of Montclair State, who Dobbins beat this time around. Alexandris finished fifth in 22.04 running in the second section.

This is the first All-America honor for Dobbins. It appears from the limited information on Rutgers-Camden’s web site that his fourth-place finish is the highest ever by a Rutgers-Camden runner. It appears the highest previous finish was a seventh place by Matt Curtis in the 400 in 2013.

The Winslow girls ran the 10th-fastest 800-meter relay time in South Jersey history at New Balance Nationals Saturday, just missing qualifying for the finals.

Winslow won the first of six heats in 1:41.80, but only six teams advanced to the championship race, and the cutoff time was 1:39.79.

Senior Tisonna Tobias, junior Janeya Hammond, senior Rayven Rouse and junior Nylah Perry ran for Winslow, which as you can see now accounts for four of the top 10 times in South Jersey history and four of the top 17 times in state history.

ALL-TIME N.J. 800-METER RELAY LIST
1:39.55 … Winslow Twp., 2018
1:39.74 … Franklin, 2003
1:39.94 … Winslow Twp., 2017
1:39.94 … East Orange, 2007
1:40.77 … Moorestown, 2000
1:41.13 … Queen of Peace, 2003
1:41.14 … Woodrow Wilson, 2006
1:41.19 … Camden, 2008
1:41.28 … Woodrow Wilson, 2005
1:41.42 … Moorestown, 1999
1:41.43 … East Orange, 2004
1:41.59 … Lincoln, 1981
1:41.65 … Jackson, 2005
1:41.70 … Willingboro, 2002
1:41.74 … Franklin, 2001
1:41.78 … Winslow Twp., 2014
1:41.80 … Winslow Twp., 2019
1:41.87 … Trenton, 1986
1:41.91 … Trenton, 1983
1:41.96 … Newark Central, 1983
1:41.98 … Camden, 2009
1:41.99 … Rancocas Valley, 2019

ALL-TIME S.J. 800-METER RELAY LIST
1:39.55 … Winslow Twp., 2018
1:39.94 … Winslow Twp., 2017
1:40.77 … Moorestown, 2000
1:41.14 … Woodrow Wilson, 2006
1:41.19 … Camden, 2008
1:41.28 … Woodrow Wilson, 2005
1:41.42 … Moorestown, 1999
1:41.70 … Willingboro, 2002
1:41.78 … Winslow Twp., 2014
1:41.80 … Winslow Twp., 2019
1:41.98 … Camden, 2009
1:41.99 … Rancocas Valley, 2019
1:42.08 … Millville, 2019
1:42.20 … Camden, 2007
1:42.45 … Deptford, 2015
1:42.45 … Rancocas Valley, 2017
1:42.49 … Winslow Twp., 2013
1:42.5h … Willingboro, 2003
1:42.66 … Willingboro, 2000
1:42.75 … Eastern, 2003
1:42.85 … Washington Twp., 1999
1:42.90 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2018
1:42.94 … Millville, 2019

Winslow also ran 3:55.40 for third place in the emerging elite 1,600-meter relay on Friday, and their shuttle hurdles team ran 34.06 for sixth.

Would you believe 7.10?????

Sincere Rhea ran the 10th-fastest time in U.S. schoolboy history and the second-fastest time in state history in the 55-meter high hurdles trials at New Balance Saturday morning.

Rhea ran 7.64 in the 60-meter trials, advancing to the semifinals on Sunday morning. His official 55-meter FAT split was 7.10, which is No. 2 in state history and breaks the South Jersey record. His 60-meter time is 12th-fastest in U.S. history. Both lists are below

The state record is 7.07, set in 2017 by Cory Poole at the same meet on the same track two years ago.

Rhea, who commutes from Millville, Cumberland County, to attend the Buena Vista Township, Atlantic County school, destroyed the hallowed South Jersey record of 7.18, set in 1996 by Delsea’s Sultan Tucker. Rhea’s previous PR was 7.20 from his win at Easterns on the same track last month.

Rhea’s 7.64 also broke the South Jersey record in the 60-meter highs, which are run less frequently on the high school level, but it’s still a remarkable achievement. The previous South Jersey mark was Tucker’s 7.73 in 1997. He missed Poole’s state record of 7.63 by 1-100th of a second.

Rhea’s 60 time is No. 8 in meet history … and he’s not even in the semifinals yet!!! See the list below!

Kurt Powder of Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, Va., edged Rhea in the fourth of four qualifying heats with a 7.63. The top two in each of four races plus the next eight-fastest advanced to the semis.

Here’s a look at the all-time state list in the 55’s:

ALL-TIME N.J. 55-METER HURDLES LIST
7.07 … Cory Poole [East Orange Campus], 2017
7.10 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
6.9h … Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains], 1985
7.18 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1996
7.19 … Jermaine Collier [Trenton], 2012
7.22 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
7.22 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
7.29 … Nate Harley [Pleasantville], 1996
7.29 … Danyne Brown [Camden], 1999
7.29 … Will Brown [Palmyra], 2006
7.31 … Akeem Lindo [East Orange Campus], 2018
7.32 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2018
7.32 … Stephan Fletcher [Princeton], 1983
7.32 … Jon Dickey [Penns Grove], 1985
7.32 … Jeff Porter [Franklin Twp.], 2003
7.32 … Al-Tariq Dunson [East Orange], 2018
7.32 … Isaiah Greene [Newark West Side], 2018
7.34 … Chais Hill [Highland], 2015
7.34 … Devon Hill [Trenton], 2008

And the all-time U.S. 60-meter hurdles list:

ALL-TIME U.S. 60-METER HURDLES LIST
7.40 … Trey Cunningham [Winfield, Ala.], 2017
7.53 … Grant Holloway [Grassfield, Va.], 2016
7.57 … Donovan Robertson [Berea-Midpark, Ohio], 2012
7.59 … Ayden Owens [North Allegheny, Pa.], 2018
7.59 … Chad Zallow [JFK, Ohio], 2015
7.60 … Wayne Davis [Southeast Raleigh, Tenn.], 2009
7.61 … Kurt Powder [Oscar Smith, Va.], 2019
7.62 … Ricky Harris [Centreville, Va.], 2000
7.62 … Deworski Odom [Overbrook, D.C.], 1995
7.62 … Terrance Trammell [Decatur, Ga.], 1997
7.63 … Cory Poole [East Orange, N.J.], 2017
7.64 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine, N.J.], 2019
7.64 … Damion Thomas [Northeast, Fla.], 2017
7.66 … Eric Edwards [una., Texas], 2018
7.66 … Braxton Canady [Paxton School, Fla.], 2016
7.67 … Michael Hancock [George Washington, Colo.], 2008
7.68 … Thavius Nelson [Troup County, Wisc.], 1996
7.69 … Marcus Krah [Hillside, N.C.], 2016

Dennisha Page keeps getting faster!

The Woodrow Wilson senior ran the No. 3 time in South Jersey history in the indoor 200 Friday night at the 168th Street Armory.

Page placed second in the emerging elite division at the New Balance Nationals, lowering her PR from 24.57 to 24.42. She finished second to Makhia Jarrett of Salem High in Virginia Beach, Va.

Page’s previous PR of 24.57 came on the same track in the trials at Easterns last month. The only girls in South Jersey history who’ve run faster are two Winslow Township sprinters – Krystal Cantey in 2006 and Shakira Dancy two years ago.

Page’s 24.42 is also fastest by a New Jersey girl who runs for her high school. Athing Mu of Trenton, the U.S. senior champ in the 600, ran 24.11 at an open meet at the Armory in January. She attends Trenton High, where she’s an honors student, but she races unattached.

All-time S.J. sub-25 indoor 200 list
24.38 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
24.39 … Shakira Dancy [Winslow Twp.], 2017
24.42 … Dennisha Page [Woodrow Wilson], 2019
24.46 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], 2000
24.52 … Cecelia Gerstenbecher [Delsea], 2017
24.61 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
24.61 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
24.5h … Jennifer Jackson [Eastern], 2003
24.78 … Dana Burnett [Williamstown], 1996
24.83 … Kiara Lester [Deptford], 2014
24.86 … Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor], 2019
24.93 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
24.94 … Shardae Anderson [Paulsboro], 2005
24.96 … Toni Glatz [Delsea], 2017
24.99 … Aliya Harrison [Sterling], 2018

As you can see, Page also moved up to No. 13 in state history, and the 12 names ahead of her include some of the most decorated runners in U.S. scholastic track history.

All-time N.J. indoor 200 list
23.84 … Wendy Vereen [Trenton], 1984
24.00 … Sydney McLaughlin [Union Catholic], 2016
24.11 … Athing Mu [Trenton*], 2019
24.14 … Melisa Barber [Montclair], 1998
24.16 … Aleah Williams [Montclair], 1997
24.21 … Dominique Booker [Immaculate Conception], 2008
24.24 … Stephanie Saleem [Neptune], 1985
24.34 … Toneisha Friday [Franklin], 2005
24.37 … Myasia Jacobs [Paramus Catholic], 2012
24.38 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
24.38 … Racquel Vassal [East Orange], 2006
24.39 … Shakira Dancy [Winslow Twp.], 2017
24.42 … Dennisha Page [Woodrow Wilson], 2019
24.46 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], 2000
24.52 … Cecelia Gerstenbecher [Delsea], 2017
24.53 … Olivia Baker [Columbia], 2014