On the last throw of the competition, Curtis Thompson bombed his biggest javelin throw in three years Saturday in East Stroudsburg, Pa.

Thompson, a Florence High School graduate, threw 258-7 on his final throw at the fifth annual ’s American JavFest at East Stroudsburg South, Pa., his best throw since his final meet of 2016, when he threw 260-11 at the same meet.

In 2016, Thompson had a huge year, winning NCAA’s for Mississippi State and setting a U.S. Olympic Trials record of 271-8 before placing second at the Trials. He closed the season at the Stroudsburg JavFest, which that year was in late July, after the Trials.

This year it’s a warmup for U.S. Nationals, and Thompson placed third behind two other top Americans – Michael Shuey, who threw 262-4 and Riley Dolezal, who threw 260-1.

Shuey, Dolezal and Thompson rank 1-2-3 in the U.S., Shuey with a 263-3 in Austin in March, Dolezal with his 260-1 and Thompson with his 258-7.

Thompson’s best previous throw this year was a 258-2 at the National Relay Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., in April.

On Saturday, Thompson opened with throws of 251-6, 246-10, 244-7, 247-9 and 244-7 before hitting his 258-7.

Brothers Chris and Nick Mirabelli placed seventh and ninth, Chris with a 235-10 and Nick at 225-7.

Chris Mirabelli recently finished his senior year at Rutgers, where he was the Big 10 champion and the 2017 Penn Relays champ. He has a PR of 251-6 from the 2017 Penn Relays. His throw Saturday is just off his season best of 237-2 that he threw at the South Florida Bulls Invite in Tampa in March.

Nick Mirabelli, who just finished his freshman year at Texas A&M, had a best throw this year of 236-6 at the Texas Relays in Austin in March. He was the No. 5 freshman in the U.S. this year

All three South Jersey throwers are ranked among the top-20 Americans, as is Holy Spirit’s Cade Antonucci, the Penn Relays champ for Auburn, who didn’t throw this weekend at East Stroudsburg.

Thompson and Chris Mirabelli are entered in javelin at the the USATF National Championships July 25-28 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

 

Kristina Tossas, who recently finished her junior year at Rancocas Valley, got her summer track season off to an eye-popping start Saturday when she went 19-8 in the long jump at a youth track meet in Central Jersey.

Tossas, who set her high school PR of 18-7 1/2 when she won the state Group 4 title, jumped 19-8 in the 17-18 division of the AAU District 8 Qualifier at Memorial Stadium in New Brunswick.

If her mark were made in-season it would be the No. 2 jump in Burlington County history and the best since Carol Lewis set a then-national record of 21-7 in 1981. It would also be No. 5 in South Jersey history and No. 12 in state history.

Tossas also jumped 38-2 in the triple jump, which would be more than a foot PR over her high school PR of 36-11, also set at states. That would be No. 14 in South Jersey history and No. 5 in Burlington County history if achieved during a high school meet.

The top six finishers in each event — and most events didn’t have six finishers — advanced to a regional meet at Stockton University this weekend.

Here’s something odd though: Here is the District 8 map, and here’s the Region 2 map. Am I missing something or does it appear they are the exactly the same, covering South Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania and part of Delaware.

Why have a district meet advancing athletes to a regional meet, and then have the exact same competitors returning a week later in that regional meet? Unless I’m misreading those maps, it looks like the two areas are identical.

In any case, the top finishers from Region 2 will advance to a national AAU meet. It appears that is the “Primary Nationals,” although the advancement process isn’t explained on the AAU’s web site and if you click “primary nationals” on the web site it doesn’t even tell you when and where that meet is.

Anyway. Great jump for Tossas.

 

In her marathon debut, Megan Lacy hit the B standard for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.

Lacy, a 2012 graduate of Cherokee High School, ran 2:39.08 and finished 12th among 2,951 women in her marathon debut at Grandma’s Marathon Saturday in Duluth, Minn.

Her time met the B standard of 2:45 for the U.S. Olympic Trials, scheduled for Feb. 29 in Atlanta. The A standard is 2:37.

Lacy averaged 6:05.7 per mile over 26.2 miles. She ran the first 13.1 miles in 1:18.40 and the second 13.1 miles in 1:20:28.

Lacy, now based in Boise, Idaho, has a half-marathon PR of 1:16.46 in Tempe in Arizona, which is an average of 5:50.2 per mile. So she ran only 15 seconds per mile slower in her first full marathon than in her half-marathon PR!

Lacy’s close friend, Amanda Marino, a former Jackson High star, was fifth in 2:35.04, meeting the Trials A standard. Her previous PR was a 2:38.04 at the Chicago Marathon last October.

Lacy ran within two minute of the Burlington County marathon alumni record of 2:37.20, set on Feb. 4, 1995, by Northern Burlington graduate Laura Mason at the Las Vegas Marathon.

At Cherokee, Lacy ran 4:55.66 for 1,600 meters and 10:22.02 for 3,200 meters and won state titles in both events as a senior. Her 3,200 time remains No. 3 in South Jersey history (behind Michelle Rowen’s 10:12.8 in 1983 and Chelsea Ley’s 10:19.31 in 2009)  and No. 13 in state history.

Lacy ran for Stanford through the spring of 2016 and then finished her NCAA eligibility competing for Boise State in the spring of 2017.

Bryanna Craig shattered her own U.S. freshman high school heptathlon record and moved into the all-time U.S. top-50 at the USATF Under-20 Championships that concluded Sunday afternoon at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Fla.

In one of the most remarkable performances in New Jersey track history, the 15-year-old Millville High School freshman placed fourth in the USATF Under-20 Championships with 5,094 points.

Craig, who recorded four PRs in the two-day seven-event competition, closed out the grueling multi-event competition by running 2:22.58.

That gave her 789 points and a seven-event total of 5,094.

She broke her own national freshman record and her own state record of 4,958 that she set in winning the New Balance Nationals last weekend in Greensboro, N.C.

Her performance ranks No. 44 in U.S. track history. The full list is below.

Craig went into the 800, the final event, needing 654 points in the 800 to break her week-old U.S. high school freshman and needing 695 points to reach 5,000 points.

She needed to run 2:33.18 to break the national freshman record and 2:29.87 to reach 5,000 points.

She had run a personal-best 2:21.44 at New Balance so she just needed to run within 11 ½ seconds of her PR to break the record.

Here’s Craig’s final scoring table:
910 points … 100-meter hurdles, 14.49 [PR]
891 points … High jump, 5-8 [PR]
465 points … Shot put, 29-8 ¼
865 points … 200-meter dash, 25.24 [PR]
603 points … Long jump, 16-11 ¼
571 points … Javelin, 114-9 [PR]
789 points … 800, 2:22.58
TOTAL: 5,094 points

The top two finishers qualify for the U.S. team that will compete in the Pan Am Under-20 Championships in Costa Rica next month.

Craig, competing in a field with the U.S. high school record holder and several collegians, finished fourth, but she has four more years of eligibility in U.S. Juniors and is the top returning Under-20 athlete in the country.

The final standings:
5,646 points … Anna Hall, Georgia [incoming freshman]
5,383 points … Timara Chapman, North Carolina State
5,167 points … Jadin O’Brien, Wisconsin
5,094 points … Bryanna Craig, Millville High School
4,567 points … Sara Foster, Akron
3,761 points … Rene Rosso, Mt. St. Mary’s

Hall finished 14 points shy of her own meet record of 5,660 that she set last year.

Here is the all-time U.S. heptathlon list, with every girl in United States high school history to score 5,000 points.

I compiled this list from various sources – Track and Field News annual lists, the USATF web site and old copies of Jack Shepard’s U.S. High School Track Annual and the MileSplit database.

ALL-TIME H.S. GIRLS 5,000-POINT CLUB
5,798 … Anna Hall, Valor Christian [Highlands Ranch, Colo.], 2018
5,578 … *Kendell Williams [Kell, Marietta, Ga.], 2012
5,577 … Emma Fitzgerald [Thayer, Braintree, Mass.], 2016
5,533 … Shana Woods [Poly, Long Beach, Calif.], 2006
5,523 … Sterling Lester [Marietta, Ga.], 2018
5,522 … Ryann Krais [Methacton, Norristown, Pa.], 2008
5,493 … Kendra Reimer [New Braunfels, Texas], 1998
5,466 … Ashlee Moore [Hamilton, Chandler, Ariz.], 2014
5,411 … Gayle Hunter [North, Riverside, Cailf., 2004
5,365 … *Diana Pickler [Rowlett, Texas], 2001                     
5,363 … Shaina Burns [South, Lakeville, Minn.], 2014
5,357 … Lauren Reimer [New Braunfels, Texas], 2001
5,338 … Julie Pickler [Rowlett, Texas], 2002
5,337 … *Tyra Gittens’ [Ensworth, Nashville, Tenn.], 2016
5,333 … Lauren Stewart [Brentwood, Tenn.], 2005
5,300 … *Alex Gochenour [Magnolia, Logan, Iowa], 2010
5,286 … *Jacquelyn Johnson [Yuma, Az.], 2002
5,270 … Ashley Smith [Millikan, Long Beach, Calif.], 2010
5,270 … Erica Bougard [Attendance Center, Byhalia, Miss.], 2011
5,266 … Shevell Quinley [West, Tracy, Calif.], 2005              
5,258 … Tiana Bonds [Centennial, Las Vegas], 2014
5,251 … *Beatričė Juškevičiūtė’ (IMG, Bradenton, Florida), 2018
5,245 … Kaylee Hinton, Wylie, Texas], 2015
5,237 … Sharon Hatfield [Fountain Valley, Calif.], 1982
5,231 … Kelly Blair [Proser, Wash.], 1988
5,217 … Kendall Gustafson [Pal, Pacific Palisades, Calif.], 2013
5,198 … Jodi Anderson [New Braunfels, Texas], 1998
5,197 … Whitney Fountain [Columbus, Bronx, N.Y.], 200
5,185 … Lindsay Vollmer [Penny, Hamilton, Mo.], 2011
5,184 … Lauren Leaverton [Naaman Forest, Garland, Texas], 1998
5,170 … Camille Harding [Kamiakin, Kennewick, Wash.], 1983
5,163 … Peggy Odita [Upper Arlington, Ohio], 1986
5,158 … *Alexa Harmon-Thomas [Free, Lawrence, Kansas], 2013
5,149 … **Tierra Crockrell [Calabasas, Calif.], 2017
5,130 … *Caice Lanovaz [Los Gatos, Calif.], 2015
5,127 … Hillary Werth [Glenwood, Chatam, Ill.], 2004
5,115 … *Ashley Bethel [Mission Viejo, Calif.], 1997
5,114 … Kerry O’Bric [Edison, Huntington Beach, Calif.], 1996
5,113 … *Shauna Rohbock [Mountain View, Orem, Utah], 1994
5,104 … Ellannee Richardson [Gladstone, Ore.], 1998         
5,101 … Pam Connell [Norwell, Mass.], 1986
5,101 … **Annika Williams, College Station, Texas, 2017
5,098 … Allie Jones [San Marcos, Santa Barbara, Calif.], 2018
5,094 … ***Bryanna Craig [Millville], 2019
5,090 … Megan Franza [Cascade, Leavenworth, Wash.], 1996
5,089 … Debbie DeCosta [Palmetto, Miami, Fla.], 1982
5,087 … Jamie Walker [Paschal, Fort Worth, Texas], 1999
5,086 … Melissa Flandera [Magnificat, Rocky River, Ohio], 1993
5,084 … Debra Larsen [Weatherwax, Aberdeen, Wash.], 1982
5,074 … Gea Johnson [Washington, Phoenix, Ariz.], 1986        
5,074 … Karli Johonnot [Centennial, Las Vegas, Nev.], 2011
5,071 … Aaron Howell [Farmington, Mich.], 2012, 2013
5,069 … Lyndsey Lopes [Edison, Fresno, Calif, 2015
5,029 … **Gabby Williams [Reed, Sparks, Nev.], 2012
5,109 … Allison Reaser [El Segundo, Calif.], 2010
5,108 … Jessica Flax [Pearland, Texas], 2008
5,053 … *Shakeia Pinnick [Waubonsie, Aurora, ill.], 2008
5,038 … **Shannon Meyer [Sultana, Hesperia, Calif.], 2000
5,034 … Nicolette Chambers [Hillhouse, Conn.], 1999
5,031 … Tiffany Lott [Pine View, St. George, Utah], 1993
5,029 … Gabby Williams [Reed, Sparks, Nev.], 2012    
5,014 … Timara Chapman, Leesville Road, Raleigh, N.C.], 2018
5,012 … Alyssa Miller [McKinney Boyd, McKinney, Texas], 2018
5,007 … Evette Lyman [Glades Central, Belle Glade, Fla.], 1986
5,002 … Alyssa Thompson (Salpoint, Tucson, Ariz.], 2013
5,000 … Shelley Spires [St. Paul’s, Mobile, Ala.], 2014

Bryanna Craig recorded her fourth PR in six events Sunday when she threw the javelin 114-9 at the USATF Under-20 Championships in Miramar, Fla.

Craig, who PR’d in the high hurdles, high jump and 200 on Saturday, had a previous-best of 114-4 in the javelin from last week’s New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.

With the 114-9, the Millville freshman added 571 points to her two-day total, giving her 4,305 with the 800 remaining later this afternoon.

Her 114-9 was the best of the competition. It’s the No. 5 throw in the state this year by a freshman.

Craig needs 654 points in the 800 to break the U.S. high school freshman record of 4,958 that she set last weekend at New Balance. She needs 695 to reach 5,000 points.

She needs to run 2:33.18 to break her own national record, and she needs to run 2:29.87 to reach 5,000 points.

Craig ran 2:21.44 at New Balance and 2:23.35 at Arcadia in her only previous 800.

Craig has PR’d in the 100-meter hurdles (14.49), high jump (5-8), 200 (25.24) and javelin. The only events she hasn’t PR’d in are the shot put, where she threw within 1 1/2 inches of her PR, and the long jump.

Bryanna Craig jumped 16-11 1/4 in the long jump Sunday to open Day 2 of the USATF Under-20 heptathlon, adding 603 points to her two-day total.

Craig, a Millville freshman, scored 3,131 points in four events on Saturday, including PRs in the high hurdles, high jump and 200-meter dash, and now has 3,734 points with the javelin and 800 remaining.

She needs 1,225 points in the final two events to shatter her own U.S. high school freshman record and 1,266 points to reach the 5,000-point plateau.

To read about Craig’s Day 1, click here.

Competing against four college athletes an the U.S. national high school record holder, who’ll be a college freshman in the fall, Craig is sitting in fourth place with two events to go. The top two finishers qualify for the Pan Am Games Under-20 Championships next month in Costa Rica.

Bryanna Craig posted her third PR of the day and remained on pace to shatter her own national freshman high school heptathlon record at the USATF Under-20 Championships.

Craig, a freshman at Millville, has 3,131 points going into Day 2 of the heptathlon at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Fla.

She opened the day with PRs in the high hurdles (14.49) and high jump (5-8), scoring 910 and 891 points. After throwing 29-6 3/4 in the shot put and picking up another 465 points, she ran 200 meters in a personal-best 25.24 to score 865 more points.

After four events, national scholastic champion and meet record holder Anna Hall led the field with 3,625 points, but the next three — Jadin O’Brien, Timara Chapman and Craig — were all within 145 points.

The top two finishers qualify for the U.S. Under-20 team that will compete in the 2019 Pan Am Under-20 Championships in Costa Rica in July.

When she won the national title last weekend in Greensboro with a national-freshman record 4,958 points, she had 2,940 points after Day 1, so she’s 191 points ahead of her record pace with the long jump, javelin and 800 remaining on Sunday.

Craig improved her hurdles PR from 14.65 to 14.49, her high jump PR from 5-6 to 5-8 and her 200 PR from 25.60 to 25.24. That 25.24 is fastest by a Cumberland County girl this year, moving her ahead of teammate Zaniah Bowman, who ran 25.52 at the Cape Atlantic League meet.

The only event so far she hasn’t PR’d in is the shot put, where she threw within 1 1/2 inches of her PR. She went into her third and final throw with a best of 27-9 1/4 before popping the 29-6 3/4.

Here’s what the leader board looks like going into Sunday and the long jump at noon, the javelin at 1 p.m. and the 800 at 2:15 p.m.:

3,265 … Anna Hall
3,276 … Jadin O’Brien
3,183 … Timara Chapman
3,131 … Bryanna Craig
2,941 … Sara Foster
2,799 … Rene Rosso

Millville freshman Bryanna Craig cleared a huge lifetime-best 5-8 in the high jump Saturday, adding 891 points in the second event at the USATF Under-20 Championships.

Craig opened up earlier Saturday with a personal-best 14.49 in the high hurdles for 910 points, so she now has a two-event total of 1,801 points with five events to go.

Craig passed until 5-1, which she cleared on her first attempt. She then passed 5-2 1/4 before clearing 5-3 1/4 and 5-4 1/2 on her first try.

She had a miss at 5-5 3/4 but cleared it on her second attempt. She then cleared 5-7 on her first attempt and 5-8 on her third. She went out at 5-9 1/4, which would have been the No. 14 clearance in state history.

Craig, the national freshman record holder and New Balance national champion, is a remarkable 118 points ahead of her pace at nationals last weekend, when she had 1683 points after two events.

She’s sitting in next place behind meet record holder and national scholastic record holder Anna Hall after two events, 40 points ahead of third-place Jadin O’Brien, who recently finished her freshman year at Wisconsin.

1,985 … Anna Hall
1,801 … Bryanna Craig
1,761 … Jadin O’Brien
1,741 … Timara Chapman
1,608 … Rene Rosso
1,541 … Sara Foster

Next for Craig is the shot put at 6 p.m. The 200 follows later tonight at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Fla.

The top two finishers qualify for the U.S. team that will compete in the Pan Am Games Under-20 Championships in Costa Rica July 19-21.

 

Millville freshman Bryanna Craig opened her heptathlon at the US.S Under-20 Championships with a huge personal-best of 14.49 in the high hurdles.

Craig scored 910 points in the opening 100-meter hurdles.

Craig, the national freshman record holder and national scholastic champion, had a previous PR of 14.65 from New Balance Nationals last weekend in Greensboro, N.C.

Her hurdles time is fastest by a South Jersey freshman since Alethia Jenkins of Pennsauken ran 14.21 to place second at the 1999 Meet of Champions.

It’s also No. 8 in South Jersey this year and No. 4 in Cumberland County history, behind Malea Broome of Millville, who ran 14.26 at this year’s Meet of Champions; Helen Wilks of Bridgeton, who ran 14.38 in 1994, and Rachel Armstead of Millville, who ran 14.38 in 2015.

Anna Hall, the national high school record holder and meet record holder, led all competitors with a 13.95 in the same heat as Craig.

After one event, Craig is now 22 points ahead of her pace from last weekend, when she set a state record and a national freshman record of 4,958 points. She’s sitting in fourth place overall.

The next event up is the high jump at 4:30 p.m. at Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Fla.

 

Nick Mirabelli on Saturday tries to throw his way to this summer’s 2019 Pan Am Under-20 Championships at the USATF Under-20 Championships in Florida.

Mirabelli, a Rancocas Valley graduate who just finished his freshman year at Texas A&M, threw 236-6 this year. He set the New Jersey state record of 227-10 when he won the Meet of Champions last spring.

Mirabelli is the No. 2 seed in the nine-man field that will compete starting at 6:10 p.m. at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Fla.

The top seed is Tzuriel Pedigo, who threw 234-11 as a prep last spring at Parkview Baptist High School in Louisiana and placed second in world juniors. He has a best throw of 239-9 this spring competing unattached at the Texas Relays in Austin (finishing just ahead of Mirabelli).

Nobody else in the field has thrown over 225 feet.

To take a look at the heat sheets and the complete field, click here.

The top two finishers qualify for the U.S. team that will compete in the Pan Am World Under-20 Championships in San José, Costa Rica July 19-21.

Other New Jersey throwers in the field include Chris Bagnell and Anthony Ragusa, who both recently finished their freshman year at Rider. Bagnell attended Council Rock North in Newtown and Ragusa is from Old Bridge. Mark Anthony Minichello, who recently finished his freshman year at Penn, is also competing.