Rancocas Valley didn’t have an indoor long jumper go 17-6 or better for 32 years.
Then they had two on one day.
Senior Kristina Tossas and sophomore Anaya Young both surpassed 17-6 in separate events at the Ocean Breeze Invitational Sunday on Staten Island.
Tossas jumped 17-6 1/2 to place second in the varsity competition, and Young jumped 17-6 1/4 to place second in the sophomore competition.
Those marks are the best by R.V. jumpers indoors since Tonya Lee went 18-4 3/4 to win 1988 Easterns at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym.
Tossas hit 18-7 3/4 outdoors last year and won the state Group 4 title. She went on to jump 19-8 in an AAU summer track meet. Her previous indoor PR was 17-4 1/2 at last year’s Meet of Champions.
Young jumped 17-8 last spring at states, but this was only her second career indoor competition. She jumped 17-2 at Monmouth earlier this month.
Tossas and Young now rank No. 3 and 4 in South Jersey this year behind Bryanna Craig of Millville (18-1 1/4) and Tierra Hooker (18-1). Both are also in the top 10 in the state a month into the season.
Craig and Young are also the No. 1 and 2 sophomores state-wide.
Rancocas Valley is the first South Jersey school with two girls over 17-6 indoors the same year since Lenape in 2015 with Ariel Mitchell (17-11 1/4) and Jasmine Staten (17-9 3/4), although Millville is close with current sophomores Leah Ellis at 19-3 last year and Craig at 18-1 1/4 this year.
Here’s my best attempt at an all-time Burlington County indoor 17-foot long jump list:
BURLCO INDOOR LONG JUMP LIST
21-7 1/2 … Carol Lewis (Willingboro), 1981
18-5 3/4 … Lindsey Walsh (Lenape), 2008
18-4 3/4 Tonya Lee (Rancocas Valley), 1987
18-4 1/2 … Kristen Tricocci (Cinnaminson), 2003
18-1 … Jasmine Staten [Lenape], 2015
17-11 1/4 … Ariel Mitchell [Lenape], 2014
17-10 1/4 … Jenna Niedermayer (Cinnaminson),2009
17-9 3/4 … Shaya Wilkerson [Lenape], 2012
17-8 1/2 … Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2014
17-8 … Tabitha Gary (Moorestown), 1997
17-6 1/2 … Kristina Tossas [Rancocas Valley], 2020
17-6 1/4 … Anaya Young [Rancocas Valley], 2020
17-3 … Selina Burton (Willingboro), 1995
17-0 3/4 … Amy Landell (Cherokee), 2001
17-0 … Elizabeth Montague [Cherokee], 2013
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 