From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

The super sprint medley was still in its relative infancy when Willingboro ran 1:30.09 at the 2007 adidas Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro.

These days, the super sprint medley – legs of 100, 100, 200 and 400 meters, or exactly half the conventional sprint medley – is held in most major meets.

But Boro’s 1:30.09 remains a state record 13 years after the Chimeras ran it.

The team of Anthony Coleman and Marco Biersinger on the 100s, Antonio Abney on the 200 and Jusson Boyd on the 400 broke the state record of 1:30.11. DeMatha Catholic of Hyattsville, Md., was second in 1:30.42.

Today, 13 years later, Willingboro’s time is No. 11 in meet history and No. 17 in U.S. history.

Willingboro that day broke the state record of 1:30.11 set in 2003 by Ewing at the same meet and broke its own South Jersey mark of 1:30.87 set earlier in the year at the Eastern Regional Relay Classic at Carl Lewis Stadium. That had broken the South Jersey record of 1:31.05 set in 2005 by Camden at NON.

Even though the super sprint med is more prevalent than ever these days, nobody in South Jersey has come within a second of Willingboro’s 1:30.09 since. The fastest anybody has run since is Cherry Hill East’s 1:31.22 at nationals in 2012.

The closest any team state-wide has come to challenging Boro’s record is Pope John XXIII of Sparta, which ran 1:30.84 at nationals in 2010.

What’s amazing is that Boro coach Gerald Richardson used Abney – the Meet of Champions 400 winner – on the 200 instead of the 400 because he was running two other 400s at nationals, and three would have been too much. Boyd still ran 47-low and got the win, but with those splits reversed the Chimeras might have gone under 1:30.

All-Time S.J. Super Sprint Medley Top-50 List

1:30.09 … Willingboro, 2007
1:31.05 … Camden, 2005
1:31.22 … Cherry Hill East, 2012
1:31.48 … Rancocas Valley, 2017
1:31.66 … Willingboro, 2006
1:31.90 … Delsea, 2007
1:32.26 … Deptford, 2018
1:32.98 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2015
1:33.06 … Washington Twp., 2010
1:33.09 … St. Augustine, 2019
1:32.23 … Winslow Twp., 2004
1:33.24 … Deptford, 2019
1:33.29 … Cherokee, 2008
1:33.35 … Moorestown, 2016
1:33.43 … Timber Creek, 2013
1:33.44 … Winslow Twp., 2008
1:33.54 … Oakcrest, 2012
1:33.66 … Timber Creek, 2009
1:33.67 … Camden, 2009
1:33.68 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2010
1:33.68 … Rancocas Valley, 2018
1:33.79 … Moorestown, 2015
1:33.81 … Camden, 2007
1:33.89 … Delsea, 2014
1:33.92 … Camden, 20014
1:33.95 … Camden, 2019
1:33.97 … Winslow Twp., 2003
1:34.05 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2016
1:34.11 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2009
1:34.13 … St. Augustine, 2018
1:34.14 … Willingboro, 2019
1:34.32 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2014
1:34.36 … Paul VI, 2017
1:34.39 … Burlington Twp., 2010
1:34.43 … Vineland, 2008
1:34.44 … Bordentown, 2007
1:34:51 … Rancocas Valley, 2016
1:34.89 … Burlington Twp., 2011
1:34.78 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2019
1:34.79 … Rancocas Valley, 2014
1:34.83 … St. Augutine, 2018
1:34.83 … Deptford, 2019
1:34.88 … Haddon Heights, 2011
1:34.89 … Wilson, 2007
1:34.94 … Cherokee, 2018
1:34.98 … Absegami, 2012
1:35.00 … Northern Burlington, 2016
1:35.05 … Cumberland Reg., 2010
1:35.08 … West Deptford, 2011
1:35.16 … Burlington Twp., 2019
1:35.25 … Rancocas Valley, 2009