Rancocas Valley graduate Erika Kemp moved into the all-time U.S. top-20 in the indoor 5,000-meter run over the weekend in Boston.

Kemp, a Rancocas Valley graduate and six-time All-America at North Carolina State, ran 15:14.76 in the LastChance Invitational on Boston University’s banked 200-meter track, No. 17 in U.S. indoor history, No. 45 on the all-time world list, according to the IAAF and No. 13 in the world this year.

Kemp’s previous PR for 5,000 meters was a 15:28.69 set last May at the Stanford Invitational. She had never run a serious indoor 5,000, although she did run 8:58.44 for 3,000 meters, which makes her No. 6 American woman this year.

Her time is second-fastest ever by a New Jersey woman indoors, behind only Marielle Hall’s 15:06.05 at the Armory in 2016.

On the overall New Jersey 5,000 indoor-outdoor combined list, it’s No. 4. Check out the lists below:

ALL-TIME NEW JERSEY 5,000-METER LIST
15:02.27 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], Azusa, Calif., July 9, 2019
15:05.38 … Julie Culley [North Hunterdon], London, Aug. 7, 2012
15:11.27 … Sarah Pagano [Immaculate Heart], Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, July 21, 2018
15:14.76I … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], Boston, Feb. 27, 2020
15:18.53 … Ashley Higginson [Colts Neck], Palo Alto, Calif., May 2, 2015
15:23.71 … Anne Marie (Letko) Lauck [North Hunterdon], Sacramento, Calif., July 21, 2000

ALL-TIME NEW JERSEY INDOOR 5,000-METER LIST
15:06.05 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], New York, Feb. 20, 2016
15:14.76 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], Boston, Feb. 27, 2020
15:53.74 … Meghan McGlinchey [West Deptford], Haverford, Dec. 7, 2013
15:56.02 … Sarah Pagano [Ringwood, Immaculate Heart], Boston, Feb. 1, 2020
15:56.73 … Mindy Rowand [Sterling], March 9, 1990

Kemp ran 4:55.1 pace for 3.1 miles. She was out in 2:24.3 and 2:23.9 for 4:48.2 and then ran her 800s in 2:25.3, 2:26.9, 2:30.1 and 2:30.7 before closing in 71.1 for the final 400 meters and 34.1 for her final 200.

Senior Janeya Hammond had a huge day with a win and a PR in the 55, a PR and third place in the hurdles and a near PR and third place in the 400 as the Winslow girls won their state-record 10th indoor state title.

Winslow outscored Colts Neck 56-39 to win its third straight state Group 3 title and seventh in the last nine years.

Hammond won the 55-meter dash in 7.22, trimming 1-100th of a second off her PR of 7.23 at Easterns on a faster track at the Armory, and PR’d in the hurdles at 8.45, well below her previous PR of 8.56 from sectionals. She ran 58.15 for third in the 400, not far off her PR of 57.61, also from Easterns.

Hammond also joined sophomore Jaia James, senior Nylan Perry and junior Olivia Wright on the winning relay team. Winslow ran 4:01.21, finishing 15 meters ahead of second-place Pennsauken.

Perry ran 57.33 for second in the 400, and junior Shevell Higgs ran a big PR 8.40 for second place in the high hurdles. James beat her PR of 7.35 from Easterns with a 7.33 for second place in the 55-meter dash.

Winslow also won state Group 3 titles in 2012, 2013 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019 during this current remarkable stretch of success. Previously, the Eagles won Group 4 in 2003 and Group 3 in 2006.

With its 10 indoor state championship, Winslow moved into a tie with Columbia for most in state history. Columbia has not won a state title since 2014.

Pennsauken junior Jade Pope joined the indoor sub-57 club Saturday and won her second straight Group 3 state title in the 400-meter dash.

Pope ran 56.98, fastest at the state Group 3 meet since , to earn the No. 1 seed in the Meet of Champions next month at Ocean Breeze.

Winslow senior Nylah Perry was right behind in 57.33 and Winslow’s Janeya Hammond [58.15] and Shawnee’s Amanda Demko [58.98] made it a 1-2-3-4 South Jersey sweep, all four under 59 seconds.

Pope’s time was only half a second off the meet record of 56.45 set in 1986 by Gisele Harris of Shabazz. It was fastest at the state Group 4 meet since Stey’ce McNeil of Winslow won the 2012 race in 56.62.

Pope’s previous indoor PR was 57.46 from her win at last year’s sectionals. She’s run 55.65 outdoor, when she took fourth in last year’s Meet of Champions.

Her time is No. 7 in Camden County history. It’s also fastest this year by a New Jersey underclassman.

Here’s a list of every South Jersey girl (we think) to break 57 seconds. Please let us know of any corrections or omissions!

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR 400 PERFORMANCE LIST
54.24 … Okechi Ogbuokiri [Willingboro], 2003
54.91 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], 2008
55.16 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
55.19 … Michelle Brown [Seneca], 2008
55.21 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
55.4h … English Gardner [Eastern], 2008
55.6h … Denise Mitchell [Edgewood], 1984
55.83 … Kiara Lester [Deptford], 2016
56.21 … Dana Burnett [Williamstown], 1997
56.24 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
56.34 … Katrina Sye [Buena], 1997
56.44 … Avionne Sloan [Camden], 2006
56.62 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
56.65 … Britney Kott [Millville], 2009
56.76 … Simone Thomas [Willingboro], 2003
56.78 … Ajae Alvarez [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2018
56.85 … Emily Duffey [Lenape], 2012
56.85 … Nylah Perry [Winslow], 2020
56.88 … Marcene Jack [Mainland Reg.], 2004
56.90 … Nadia Davy [Bridgeton], 1999
56.95 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
56.98 … Jade Pope [Pennsauken], 2020

The Willingboro boys track program, re-born and rejuvenated under coach Martin Booker, won its 14th indoor state title Saturday and third in a row.

Willingboro won its third straight state Group 1 indoor title, becoming the first school to win three straight indoor championships in Group 1 since Haddonfield won four in a row from 2000 through 2003.

Willingboro led a 1-2-3 South Jersey finish at the Bennett Center in Toms River with 34 points. Audubon (29) and Camden (26) placed second and third.

The Chimeras won their first indoor state title back in 1983 in Group 4 and then won Group 3 in 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989, then Group 4 again in 1990, 1995 and 1997. Boro moved back into Group 3 and won state titles in 2000 and 2002 winning Group 2 in 2012 and Group 1 the last three years.

Only Christian Brothers Academy of Lincroft, with 25, and Asbury Park, with 15, have won more indoor state titles in New Jersey track history. Asbury Park’s last title came 24 years ago.

Going into the 4-by-400, Camden led the field with 26 points, Willingboro had 24 and Audubon had 23.

With seniors Zaire Clements, Sheraton Green and Jamaho Kingsley and sophomore Jaylen Young, Willingboro won a close 4-by-4 over Metuchen in 3:32.20, with Metuchen second in 3:32.88. The 10 points clinched the at least a tie for the team title, and when Camden didn’t place second that clinched the outright team title.

Audubon ran a close third in the relay with a 3:33.39 to secure six points and move into second place.

Willingboro picked up 16 points — nearly half their final total — in the high jump, where seniors Kameron Smith and Nate Robertson both cleared 6-6. Audubon’s Aden Tomeo also cleared 6-6 and got second on misses, just behind Smith and just ahead of Robertson.

Junior Deonte Allen threw 47-8 in the shot for fourth place and four huge points. The Chimeras also got two big points when junior Glenn Ferguson cleared a personal-best 12-0 in the pole vault for fifth place. Clements also took fifth in the 55-meter dash in 6.78.

Seniors Oliver Adler of Cherry Hill East and Cherokee’s Ethan Wechsler locked up Saturday afternoon in an epic 3,200 battle that produced the No. 5 and No. 6 times in South Jersey history.

Racing in the state Group 4 meet at the Bennett Center in Toms River, Adler ran 9:12.87 and Wechsler 9:12.90.

Wechsler closed in 27.8 but Adler closed in 26.9.

They’re the two-fastest times by South Jersey two-milers in 10 years, since Jon Vitez of Haddonfield set the South Jersey record of 8:58.81 to win the 2010 Meet of Champions on the same track.

They’re the fastest time in the state Group 4 meet since Jeramy Elkaim of Livingston won the 2010 race in 9:12.20.

They’re also the top two times in the state so far this winter. Austin Gabay of Cinnaminson, who races in the Group 2 state meet on Sunday, had the fastest time at 9:15.90.

Wechsler’s time is the fastest non-winning time since 2004, when Mohamad Khadraoui of JFK Paterson set a meet record of 9:02.72 and edged Chris Pannone of Hunterdon Central, who was second in 9:02.84.

Adler broke his indoor and outdoor overall PR of 9:16.76, which he just set last weekend at sectionals.

Wechsler, who ran just two seconds off his outdoor PR of 9:10.90, broke his indoor PR of 9:20.37 from earlier this month.

Southern junior Jackson Braddock [9:16.27] and South Brunswick junior Vidhur Pulam [9:16.63] also broke 9:17.

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR 3,200 LIST
8:58.81 ….. Jonathan Vitez [Haddonfield], 2010
9:11.1y ..… Mike Butynes [Sterling], 1970
9:11.2y ..… Mike Elder [Haddon Twp.], 1974
9:11.86y … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
9:11.9y ….. Johnny Englehardt [Willingboro], 1976
9:12.87 … Oliver Adler [Cherry Hill East], 2020
9:12.90 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2020
9:13.33 ….. Michael Rankin [Paul VI], 2010
9:13.93 ….. Paul Szulewski [Williamstown], 2011
9:14.31 ….. Jimmy Daniels [Sterling], 2013
9:15.8y ….. Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1978
9:15.82y … Kevin Pumphrey [Highland], 1986
9:15.90 ….. Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], 2020
9:16.09 ….. Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East], 2016
9:17.52 ….. Lou Corgliano [Hammonton], 2013
9:17.55 ….. Greg Hughes [Mainland Reg.], 2004
9:17.62 … Martin Riddell [Haddonfield], 2020
9:17.71 ….. Dave Forward [Shawnee], 2009

Deptford grad Tyler Garland ran a personal-best 7.86 in the 60-meter high hurdles Saturday at the ACC Championships.

Garland, a junior at Syracuse, placed 6th in an exceptionally fast race that saw Florida State and Clemson hurdlers take the first five spots. Trey Cunningham, a Florida State junior and three-time All-America, set a meet record with his 7.60.

It was a big breakthrough weekend for Garland, who came in with a personal-best 7.97 from a meet at the 168th Street Armory last month. He ran a PR 7.96 in the trials before his 7.86 in the final

Garland’s time will put him somewhere in the top 40 in NCAA Division 1 by the time the day is over.

Syracuse sophomore Jamil Adams of Winslow missed the final by 2-100ths of a second with an 8.11 in the trials, just off his PR of 8.06. Syracuse freshman Naseem Smith from Deptford, who has a PR of 8.08, ran 8.17 and finished 12th overall.

A little bit ago we wrote about Jewel Ash winning the 400 at the state Group 4 meet. Younger sister Jailya, a junior at Eastern just won the 55-meter hurdles, and she did it with a personal-best and the No. 2 time in the state this year.

Jailya ran 8.08 at the Bubble and ran away with the race, winning by a full meter over Hillsborough junior Kirstyn Schechter. 

The only faster hurdler in the state this year is Paramus Catholic senior Mariah Fede, who ran 8.02 to win Easterns earlier this month at the Armory.

Her time is No. 13 in South Jersey history and No. 18 in the U.S. this year according to the MileSplit national database and No. 8 among juniors.

Jewel Ash also medaled in the hurdles with an 8.38 for fourth place.

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

ALL-TIME S.J. 55 HURDLES LIST
7.89 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
7.89 … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], 2006
7.92 … Carol Lewis [Willingboro], 1981
7.94 … Lenaami Morton [Camden], 2017
7.98 … Nichole Belcher [Woodrow Wilson], 1992
7.98 … Tionna Tobias [Winslow Twp.], 2019
8.01 … Samantha Sharper [Woodrow Wilson], 2008
8.03 … Alethia Jenkins [Pennsauken], 2000
8.03 … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2018
8.04 … Zonya Cross [Edgewood], 1983
8.05 … Sherese Price [Pleasantville], 1998
8.06 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
8.08 … Jailya Ash [Eastern], 2019
8.10 … Nichole Hill [Oakcrest], 1997

Eastern senior Jewel Ash started out the state Group 4 meet in style with her second straight win in the 400-meter dash.

Ash ran 57.89, her second straight meet under 58 seconds, and outran Hunterdon Central’s Katherine Loew, who placed second in 58.29 Millville soph Bryanna Craig, the national pentathlon champ last spring, was third in 58.71.

Ash won the state Group 4 title last year in 58.46 and ran a PR 57.69 to win the sectional race last weekend. So she ran only 2-10ths of a second off that on Saturday morning back at the Bennett Center in Toms River.

Ash and her younger sister Jailya, a junior, are the top two seeds in the 55-meter hurdles, Jewel with an 8.15 and Jailya at 8.20. 

Jewel and Jailya are both also among the top seeds in the 55-meter dash, Jewel with 7.26 and Jailya at 7.31.

Rancocas Valley’s Aliyah Taylor won the state Group 4 title in 2018 and 2019 so it’s four straight years for South Jersey quarter-milers. Before that no S.J. girl had won the NJ-4 400 title since Nijgia Snapp of Oakcrest ran 55.33 in 2009.

Penn State freshman Sincere Rhea ran a PR in the 60-meter high hurdles Friday and advanced to the finals at the Big Ten Conference Championships.

Rhea, the national scholastic indoor champion last year for St. Augustine and outdoor Meet of Champions 400 winner, ran 7.76, the second-fastest qualifying time going into Saturday’s final.

 

That’s No. 2 in Penn State history and faster in 19 years!

Jaylan McConico, an Iowa senior, ran 7.72. McConico is ranks No. 2 in NCAA Division 1 at 7.60 from the Tyson Invitational earlier this month in Fayetteville, Ark. He’s the defending champion with a 7.79 from last year and a two-time NCAA qualifier.

Rhea’s 7.76 is No. 17 in NCAA Division 1 and moves Rhea ahead of Brithton Senior of South Dakota as the No. 1 freshman in the U.S. Senior ran 7.77 earlier this month at the Iowa State Classic in Ames Iowa.

Rhea’s previous PR was 7.81 at the Penn State National Open.

The Big 10 hurdles final is scheduled for 2:50 p.m. on Saturday. The meet is being held at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Rhea raced McConico last month in a meet in Lexington, Ky. McConico won in 7.72 and Rhea ran 7.86, which at the time was his PR.

In Penn State history, Rhea trails only Guy Rose, who set the school record of 7.69 in 2001. He’s also the outdoor school record holder in the 110 highs over the 42-inch barriers at 13.56. 

Rose, like Rhea, is a former New Jersey Meet of Champions winner. He won the 1998 title as a junior at Wayne Hills High in Passaic County, out-leaning Camden’s Danyne Brown before Brown beat him the next year. 

 

Rhea also ran 21.49 in the 200, missing the two-race final on Saturday on a photo finish. Justin Becker of Purdue also ran 21.49 and advanced. The official results inexplicably don’t show the times down to the 1,000th-of-a-second.

Holy Spirit sophomore Morgan Keil, who hadn’t broken 30 feet in the shot put until about two months ago, is now a state champion.

Keil threw a personal-best 34-8 1/2 to win the shot at the Parochial B state championships at the Bennett Center Friday afternoon.

She won by 6 1/2 inches over China Efobi of Mater Dei. Teammate Julia Bannan, a junior at Holy Spirit, was third with a throw of 33-9.

Keil had a PR of 27-1 1/4 last winter and first broke 30 feet at the Bennett Center a few days after Christmas with a 30-7 1/4. She extended her PR to 32-5 at the state relays, then 33-2 at the NJCTC freshman-sophomore meet earlier this month and then to 34-1 1/4 at a SJTCA meet earlier this week.

So she’s now PR’d at six of seven meets this winter, including four in a row.

Her mark is No. 3 among South Jersey sophomores this year and No. 2 in Atlantic County, behind another sophomore, Tey’ana Ames of Atlantic County Tech in Mays Landing, who threw 37-0 at Easterns.

It looks like Keil broke the Holy Spirit indoor school record of 34-6 that Bannan set on Monday when she was third at states.

She’s Holy Spirit’s first individual state champion since Asia Young in the 400 in 2016, although Holy Spirit did win the state title in the 4-by-4 at 4:13.74 in 2017 with Isabella Desario, Ayana Plummer, Christine Conaghy and Kristy Goff.

She’s also Holy Spirit’s first state indoor shot put champion ever and the first sophomore in school history to win an indoor state title.