This year’s Shore Coaches Invitational, the largest XC invite in the state, has been cancelled, N.J. MileSplit reported Friday.

The meet was scheduled for Oct. 3 at Holmdel County Park.

Shore Coaches, which began in 1970 with three boy races, has grown to 26 boys and girls freshman, JV and varsity races.

There were some 4,853 finishers in the various races last year, an average of nearly 200 per race.

With states and the Meet of Champions already cancelled, it appears there won’t be any major high school meets this fall at the legendary Holmdel 5,000-meter course.

In a joint statement, meet director Brian Decker and Shore Coaches president Todd Briggs explained the decision:

Briggs tweeted out that the Shore Coaches does support holding an abbreviated XC season this fall:

Back in 1970, when the meet was held at Ocean County Park in Lakewood, Westfield, Sterling and Bernards won the initial team titles, and Dan Adams of Gateway and Mike Butynes of Sterling won two of the individual titles that first year.

The meet wasn’t held in 1971 or 1976 but has been held every year since 1977.

The meet moved to Brookdale Community College in Lincroft in 1974 and has been held at Holmdel since 1979. The girls meet was added in 1977.

Next year’s meet – hopefully – will be held on Oct. 2, 2021.

 

When Brittany Sedberry breaks a state record, she really breaks a state record.

Thanks to a snowstorm that postponed the Meet of Champions during the winter of 2006, Sedberry, then an Ocean City senior, was forced to make a decision between shooting for a Meet of Champions 3,200 title on the slow unbanked track at Jadwin Gym or facing some hot competition and going for the state record at the Armory a few days later.

She chose the Armory.

On Feb. 18, 2006, Sedberry toed the line for the two-mile at the Coca-Cola Classic at the Armory with her eye on the state record of 10:27.20 set in 1999 by Middletown South’s Cate Guiney when she placed second to Sara Bei of Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa, Calif., at the National Scholastic Championships in Boston. Bei is now Sara Hall, married to Ryan Hall, the U.S. marathon record holder at 2:04.58. Sara Hall is the No. 6 U.S. marathoner of all-time at 2:22.16.

Sedberry’s time at nationals was No. 8 in U.S. indoor track history.

She broke her own South Jersey record of 10:30.25 that she set at the state Group 3 meet at Jadwin, where she edged Colts Neck teammates Brianna Jackucewicz (10:31.32) and Ashley Higginson (10:36.44), who went to become one of the world’s top steeplechasers. 

Before Sedberry first broke the South Jersey record, it was held by Washington Township’s Michelle Rowen, who never took a serious stab at the two-mile indoors but did run 10:43.2 (converted) in an easy effort in a developmental meet at Widener in January of 1983. 

Sedberry only held the state record for a year. In 2007, Higginson ran 10:16.75 when she won Nationals at the Armory.

But to this day her time is No. 2 in state history and No. 16 in U.S. history, holding up to every challenge by some incredible runners – Megan Lacy, Megan Venables, Chelsea Ley and Alyssa Aldridge, to name a few.

Sedberry ran for Duke and after dealing with injuries for three years transferred to La Salle and had an outstanding career as a collegiate swimmer!

All-Time S.J. Girls Indoor 3,200 Top-50

10:15.71 … Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2006
10:23.49 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2011
10:29.90 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2009
10:33.95 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2016
10:38.11 … Megan Venables [Highland], 2011
10:38.90 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2001
10:40.03 … Dina Iacone [Washington Twp.], 2012
10:40.80 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2017
10:42.06 … Holly Bischof [Bishop Eustace], 2012
10:42.22 … Theresa Cattuna [Cherry Hill East], 2007
10:43.2y … Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1983
10:45.20 … Devon Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2015
10:45.40 … Julianna Catania [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2016
10:46.63 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], 2013
10:48.78 … Shelby Cain [Haddonfield], 2014
10:49.12 … Madison Coppolino [Sterling], 2017 [3]
10:49.46 … Alyssa Condell [Timber Creek], 2016
10:52.05 … Amanda Goetschius [Delsea], 2007
10:52.53 … Allie Pierontoni [Kingsway], 2020
10:53.4h … Christin Bettis [Hammonton], 2012
10:53.89y … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2020
10:55.29y … Ann Klocke [Bishop Eustace], 1996
10:57.95 … Katy Storti [Bishop Eustace], 2019
10:59.02 … Catherine Van Horn [Triton], 2005
10:59.04 … Maria Ruiz [Williamstown], 2009
10:59.13 … Vickie Ajimoko [Williamstown], 2013
11:00.9y … Deanna Germano [Shawnee], 1985
11:02.02 … Jenn Rawls [Highland], 2009
11:03.78 … Rachel Vick [Kingsway], 2017
11:03.94 … Alexa Palmieri [Ocean City], 2019
11:05.02 … Alexa Weber [Ocean City], 2017
11:06.43y … Colleen Sunderland [Northern Burlington], 1995
11:06.72 … Meghan Malloy [Cinnaminson], 2011
11:06.95 … Sarah Pierce [Cherry Hill East], 2017
11:07.63 … Vanessa Wright [Haddonfield], 2004
11:08.03 … Nina Bendixen [Shawnee], 2015
11:08.35 … Lindsey Kane [Washington Twp.], 2013
11:09.29 … Kaitlyn Rauscher [Delsea], 2016
11:09.81 … Abbey Hartman [Ocean City], 1997
11:10.88 … Caitlin Orr [Lenape], 2009
11:11.44 … Arianna McKinney [Highland], 2005
11:12.32 … Maria Schiffhauer [Seneca], 2014
11:12.52 … Natalia Ocasio [Lenape], 2010
11:13.1y … Sue Pockell [Cherry Hill West], 1983
11:15.94 … Kylie Anicic [Kingsway], 2018
11:16.17 … Kara Bonner [Shawnee], 2017
11:16.51 … Meghan Hughes [Moorestown], 2002
11:18.59 … Raelynne Miller [Millville], 2017
11:18.68 … Alexis Mullarkey [Kingsway], 2018
11:19.65 … Emily Pierontoni [Kingsway], 2020

It was March 6, 1983, and I was working the evening shift at the Gloucester County Times sports department in Woodbury.

I was an avid runner and starting to learn about South Jersey high school track and field, but I wasn’t obsessed quite yet, and I didn’t even realize there was a meet called Easterns taking place that evening in Massachusetts.

The phone rang.

ROOB: “Hey, sports department, can I help you?”
PERSON ON PHONE: “Hi, I’ve got results for Michelle Rowen in the mile at Easterns.”
ROOB: “OK, cool, how did she do?”
PERSON ON PHONE: “She ran 4:43.16.”
ROOB: “OK, 4:43.16, got it.”
PERSON ON PHONE: “DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS?????”

I said I did, and I talked to Michelle for a minute about her race and wrote a story for the next day’s paper. But the truth is I didn’t realize at that moment just exactly how monumental her performance was.

Competing at the 4th annual girls Easterns at Harvard’s Gordon Indoor Track in Cambridge, Mass., Rowen had just run the 5th-fastest indoor mile in U.S. scholastic track history. She had broken the state record. She had run 35 seconds than any other South Jersey girl ever had. She had also set a state 1,500 record of 4:24.0.

Here we are 37 years later and Rowen still holds the state record and despite super-charged tracks, state-of-the-art shoe design and more high-powered indoor meets for high school girls, Rowen’s time is still No. 19 in U.S. scholastic history, and her 1,500 time is No. 11 and also a state record.

Let’s take a look at Rowen’s remarkable 1983 indoor season.

She actually broke the South Jersey indoor mile record six times.

In 1982, she ran 5:06.1 at the South Jersey Championships at Widener, breaking the mark of 5:16.0, set by Williamstown junior Eva Marie Berardi on Jan. 14, 1979, at the East Coast Invitational in Richmond, Va. [Three days earlier, Berardi ran 5:17.9 at a meet at the Philadelphia Civic Center, breaking the S.J. mark of 5:23.6 set by Gateway’s Pam Adams at Widener in 1976].

Rowen then  ran 4:58.9 to win the state Group 4 title at Jadwin Gym and 4:55.7 to win the Meet of Champions and 4:50.09 for second at Easterns.

Meg Waldron of Bernards temporarily snatched the state record from Rowen with a 4:47.2 at a meet at Harvard on Feb. 7, 1983, but Rowen reclaimed it three weeks later when she ran her 4:43.16 full mile at Easterns on that same track at Harvard.

Rowen went out in 68.8 and 2:20.1 before coming back in 2:23.0.

Rowan’s 4:43.16 converts to 4:41.52 for 1,600 meters. The closest any New Jersey runner has gotten to Rowan is Danielle Tauro’s 4:46.13 full mile for Southern Regional at the New Balance Games at the Armory in 2007.

The closest any South Jersey runner has gotten is Olympian Erin Donohue’s 4:51.15 full mile (or 4:49.46 for 1,600) at the 2001 Nike Indoor Championships at the Prince Georges County Sportsplex in Landover, Md.

Imagine how Lindsey Kane felt in 2014 when she ran 4:53 and took second in the Meet of Champions and had a No. 9 U.S. ranking and still fell 12 seconds short of her own school record?

Rowen’s 4:43.16 broke the Easterns record of 4:45.09 set by Ceci Hopp of Greenwich, Conn., in 1981. Even though the meet moved briefly to Jadwin and then the Armory speedway, Rowen still holds the Easterns record. The closest anybody has gotten is Maddy Berkson of Classical High School in Providence, R.I., who ran 4:50.11 in 2014.

So hats off to Michelle Rowen for one of the greatest performances in U.S. track history, a performance that nearly four decades later remains untouched by the greatest runners New Jersey has produced.

Even though I didn’t quite realize it at the time!

All-Time S.J. Girls Indoor 1,600-Meter Run Top-50

4:41.52y … Michelle Rowen [Wash. Twp.], 1983
4:49.46y … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2001
4:51.60 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2016
4:53.36 … Lindsey Kane [Washington Twp.], 2014
4:54.58 … Celine Mazzi [Delsea], 2014
4:55.04y … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2010
4:56.1h,y … Ruth Lockbaum [Glassboro], 1985
4:57.12 … Megan Quimby [Lenape], 2015
4:57.72 … Caitlin Orr [Lenape], 2010
4:58.48 … Natalia Ocasio [Lenape], 2010
4:59.29 … Julia Despirito [Shawnee], 2014
4:59.39 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012
5:00.39 … Lisa Burkholder, 2004
5:00.78y … Monica Olkowski [Cherokee], 1990
5:00.81 … Vickie Ajimoko [Williamstown], 2014
5:01.96 … Rachel Vick [Kingsway], 2017
5:01.21 … Julianna Catania [Egg Harbor], 2016
5:01.86 … Kristen Niedrach [Shawnee], 2012
5:02.21 … Shelby Cain [Haddonfield], 2014
5:02.83 … Felicia O’Donnell [Delsea], 2011
5:02.92 … Allie Pierontoni [Kingsway], 2020
5:03.50 … Bridget Flynn [Ocean City], 2014
5:03.81 … Maria Ruiz [Williamstown], 2009
5:03.82 … Allison Colflesh [Haddonfield], 2020
5:03.97 … Camille Franklin [Lenape], 2014
5:04.13 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2017
5:04.24 … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2020
5:04.48 … Kara Bonner [Shawnee], 2016
5:04.54 … Mia Spinella [Haddonfield], 2010
5:04.69 … Alyssa Condell [Timber Creek], 2017
5:05.27 … Megan Venables [Highland], 2011
5:05.36 … Dina Iacone [Washington Twp.], 2012
5:05.90 … Holly Bischof [Bishop Eustace], 2011
5:05.90 … Madison Coppolino [Sterling], 2017
5:06.12 … Payton Wiener [Haddonfield], 2020
5:06.26 … Devon Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2015
5:06.38 … Lindsay Thomas [Overbrook], 2001
5:06.43 … Andrea Shute [Clearview], 2005
5:06.53 … Brittnee Bynoe [Willingboro], 2003
5:06.85 … Kesley Cummings [Triton], 2016
5:06.90 … Olivia Shafer [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2020
5:06.91 … Gabby Kirsch [Williamstown], 2017
5:07.27 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2008
5:07:47 … Theresa Cattuna [Cherry Hill East], 2006
5:07.60 … Miya Johnson [Lenape], 2008
5:08.12 … Shelby Bobbie [Rancocas Valley], 2014
5:08.46 … Casey Doyle [Shawnee], 2008
5:08.52 … Elizabeth Locke [Kingsway], 2010
5:08.65y … Kathy Linck, Eustace, 1995
5:08.7y … Deanna Germano, Shawnee, 1986
5:08.90 … Meghan McGlinchey [West Deptford], 2008

It’s been 25 years since Ruth Lockbaum and Michelle DiMuro re-wrote the South Jersey indoor 800-meter record book.

And they’re still two of the best in South Jersey history!

In the winter of 1985, Glassboro’s Lockbaum and Shawnee’s DiMuro ran the two-fastest 800s in South Jersey history … even though they never raced against each other in an 800 that winter.

Lockbaum ran 2:14.5 at the state Group 1 meet on Feb. 8, 1985, breaking the South Jersey record of 2:18.6 set by Shawnee’s Sue Walker in 1983 by more than four seconds! 

Later that day on the same Jadwin Gym track, DiMuro won the Group 4 race in 2:15.2.

At the Meet of Champions, DiMuro ran 2:14.6, placing second to Gisele Harris of Shabazz, who set a meet record of 2:13.7. DiMuro was also under the previous meet record of 2:15.7 set by Kim Sannito of Caldwell in 1982. Lockbaum focused on the 1,600 at the M-of-C and won it in 4:56.0.

There was no 800 at Easterns, and Shawnee didn’t make the trip to Boston anyway. Lockbaum opted for the mile and ran 5:04.0 for ninth in a very fast race.

Lockbaum and DiMuro, who later became teammates at Villanova, were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in South Jersey history until 1990, when Monica Olkowski ran 2:12.46, winning the 1990 Meet of Champions at Jadwin by a staggering 35 meters.

Olkowski held the record for 11 years, when it was broken by Olympian Erin Donohue, who ran 2:10.0 in 2001 in an incredible race at the Varsity Classic at the Armory against Tawana Watkins of Kennedy. Watkins ran 2:09.6, edging Donohue.

Tiernan became the first and only South Jersey girl to dip under 2:10 when she ran 2:09.56 at 2019 nationals at the Armory, taking second to Phyllis Francis of the since-closed Catherine McAuley High in Brooklyn, who ran 2:07.54.

All Francis ever did was set the American and collegiate 400 records while she was at Oregon, win the 400 at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and the 2017 World Championships in London and place 5th in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won an Olympic gold medal in the 1,600-meter relay.

Tiernan never ran outdoor track and never ran in college. She played lacrosse with twin sister Nicole at Temple, where she graduated with a degree in kinesiology.  

But 10 years later, she still holds the South Jersey indoor record.

And to this day, Tiernan ranks No. 5 in state history indoors, behind some of the greatest middle-distance names in U.S. track history: U.S. 600 record holder Athing Mu of Trenton [2:04.08 in 2020], Columbia’s Joetta Clark [2:06.0 in 1980], Queen of Peace’s Janine Davis [2:07.60 in 2005] and Governor Livingston’s Victoria Vanriele [2:07.83 in 2020].

Incredibly, Watkins and Donohue are No. 6 and 7 on that list with their times from their historic showdown 19 years ago. 

All-Time S.J. girls indoor 800-meter run top-50

2:09.56 … Megan Tiernan [Washington Twp.], 2010
2:10.0h … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2001
2:12.46 … Monica Olkowski [Cherokee], 1990
2:12.55 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2010
2:13.51 … Emily Duffey [Lenape], 2011
2:14.12 … Carly Pettipaw [Lenape], 2013
2:14.5h … Ruth Lockbaum [Glassboro], 1985
2:14.6h … Michelle DiMuro [Shawnee], 1985
2:14.64 … Bridget Flynn [Ocean City], 2014
2:14.99 … Kami Joi Hickson [Washington Twp.], 2017
2:15.05 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2015
2:15.06 … Sydney Coppolino [Sterling], 2017
2:15.17 … Britney Kott [Millville], 2008
2:15.31 … Lindsay Colflesh [Haddonfield], 2020
2:15.46 … Tara DeBrielle [Overbrook], 2000
2:15.86 … Greta Feldman [Haddonfield], 2009
2:15.89 … Kayla Martin [Seneca], 2016
2:15.90 … Felicia O’Donnell [Delsea], 2009
2:15.99 … Brooke Kott [Millville], 2008
2:15.36 … Rachel Stremme [Ocean City], 2014
2:16.60 … Gabbi Kirsch [Williamstown], 2015
2:16.63 … Lindsay Thomas [Winslow Twp.], 2003
2:16.71 … Lindsey Kane [Washington Twp.], 2015
2:16.82 … Mary Bohi [Seneca], 2009
2:16.84 … Celine Mazzi [Delsea], 2014
2:16.85 … Megan Quimby [Lenape], 2017
2:16.88 … Shelby Whetstone [Lenape], 2019
2:16.93 … Julia Despirito [Shawnee], 2014
2:16.95 … Patrice Rowe [Willingboro], 2010
2:17.00 … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2020
2:17.11 … Miya Johnson [Lenape], 2007
2:17.15 … Courtney McCrudden [Eastern], 2000
2:17.15 … Nicole Tiernan [Washington Twp.], 2011
2:17.21 … Allie Pierontoni [Kingsway], 2020
2:17.23 … Lisa Burkholder [Cherokee], 2004
2:17.32 … Courtney McCrudden [Eastern], 2000
2:17.43 … Cassie Hagstoz [Kingsway], 2013
2:17.70 … Kaitlyn Bonnet [Haddonfield], 2017
2:17.0h … Kimarra McDonald [Rancocas Valley], 2004
2:17.76 … Destiny Stanford [Kingsway], 2017
2:17.82 … Tara Debrielle [Overbrook], 2000
2:17.85 … Holly Cosnett [Haddonfield], 2001
2:18.00 … Lyndsy Horn [Seneca], 2009
2:18.00 … Nia Holden [Highland], 2019
2:18.10 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], 2008
2:18.30 … Brittnee Bynoe [Willingboro], 2005
2:18.31 … Hollie McGarvie [Shawnee], 2004
2:18.54 … Allison Hawkey [Rancocas Valley], 2007
2:18.57 … Liz Locke [Kingsway], 2009
2:18.4h … Krista Ferrera [Vineland], 1991
2:18.61 … Kelsey Niglio [Cherokee], 2020
2:18.72 … Hailey Tabar [Clearview], 2020
2:18.6h … Sue Walker [Shawnee], 1983
2:18.77 … Samantha Budd [West Deptford], 2012
2:18.91 … Vickie Ajimoko [Williamstown], 2013
2:18.9h … Ursula Eder [Gateway], 1974
2:18.9h … Patti Addis [Williamstown], 1984
2:18.97 … Shelly Solheim [Ocean City], 1995

Long before Michelle Brown, Nijgia Snapp and Okechi Ogbuokiri were running ridiculous 400-meter dash times, Edgewood’s Denise Mitchell was one of the best in the country.

Back in the winter of 1983, Mitchell lowered the South Jersey indoor 400 record more than THREE SECONDS and held it for 19 years.

Going into the season, the South Jersey record was 58.7, run at the 1983 state Group 4 meet by Shawnee’s Michelle DiMuro, who would go on to race in the 800 at the 1988 Olympic Trials. DiMuro had broken the South Jersey record of 59.4 set at the state Group 4 meet in 1981 by Willingboro’s Bobbi Tabb.

Then Mitchell, in her first year as a quarter-miler, went to work. 

She ran 57.5 in an early season meet in December, breaking DiMuro’s record by more than a second. Then at the state Group 4 meet at Jadwin, she ran 56.5 in the trials and 55.6 in the final. That broke both her own South Jersey record and the state mark of 56.6 set at the 1981 Meet of Champions by Lakewood’s Robin Stephens.

Mitchell, older sister of Olympic gold medalist Dennis Mitchell and later an All-America at Florida,  held the South Jersey indoor 400 record until Ogubokiri ran 55.41 to win Easterns. Ogbuokiri then lowered her own state record to 54.90 in the prelims at nationals and then to 54.24 in the final, which she won. At the time it was No. 14 in U.S. history. It remained the state record for 11 years, until Olivia Baker of Columbia ran 53.49 at nationals. Olympian Sydney McLoughlin lowered the mark to its current 51.61, also at nationals. 

Incredibly, Ogbuokiri’s time is still the South Jersey record, 17 years later, and Mitchell’s 55.6 remains No. 7 in South Jersey history, 36 years after she ran it.

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
56.19 … Nylah Perry [Winslow], 2020
56.21 … Dana Burnett [Williamstown], 1997
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-Tyler [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
56.98 … Jade Pope [Pennsauken], 2020
57.14 … Danielle Myricks [Willingboro], 2001
57.14 … Faleesha Dowe [Penns Grove], 2014
57.36 … Shakirah Rutherford [Willingboro], 1999
57.36 … Flora Ahiarakwe [Winslow Twp.], 2018
57.37 … Courtney Foster [Cherokee], 2013
57.43 … Raniyah Walker [Camden], 2002
57.44 … Nicole Tiernan [Washington Twp.], 2011
57.47 … Briana Crofton [Delsea], 2011
57.57 … Audrey Wilson [Deptford], 2008
57.58 … Thailia Cooper [Kinsgway], 2015
57.58 … Carly Pettipaw [Lenape], 2015
57.58 … Shameka Speed [Bridgeton], 2002
57.58 … Morgan Gordon [Rancocas Valley], 2009
57.59 … Jewel Ash [Eastern], 2020
57.61 … Janeya Hammond [Winslow Twp.], 2020
57.67 … Annie Johnson [Shawnee], 2011
57.72 … Aishia Lawson [Camden], 1995
57.76 … Olivia Jamison [Pennsauken], 2015
57.79 … Arianna Smith [Pennsville], 2019
57.80 … Megan Tiernan [Washington Twp.], 2010
57.7h … Jenelle Wilson [Eastern], 2003
57.84 … Tamara Jones [Woodrow Wilson], 2007
57.85 … Jackie Dim [Washington Twp.], 2008
57.91 … Andrea Olsen [Buena], 2013
57.94 … Americo Odey [Willingboro], 2006
58.03 … Halimah Bashir [Willingboro], 2003
58.14 … Bryanna Craig [Millville], 2018
58.15 … Kristina Keegan [Haddonfield], 2002
58.19 … Shakira Dancy [Winslow Twp.], 2017

The indoor 200 was a rarity for a long time. And this list reflects that.

There really waasn’t anywhere to run it indoors before that. And let’s be honest: The indoor 200 really isn’t a fair race because lane assignment is such a huge part of the result on a banked track. You can really only run three people at a time and still keep it a fair race.

The 200-meter dash wasn’t added to girls Easterns until 1996, so it’s no surprise that 47 of the top-50 indoor 200 times in South Jersey history have been recorded since 1996.

In 1996, Easterns moved from Boston to Princeton, where it merged with the boys meet to form one big, giant Easterns Championship, and with the merger came a codifying of events, so the girls started running the 200. But it wasn’t until the NJSIAA added it to the state meet program in 2005 that the event really took off indoors.

It all makes some of the early 200 marks really impressive.

Camden’s amazing Patti Dunlap set a South Jersey indoor record of 26.4 for 220 yards in 1979 (never did figure out what meet she did it), and that stood as the South Jersey record for 13 years, until Haddon Heights’ Ivy Foster ran 25.38 in 1992 (again, can’t find the meet).

Dana Burnett of Williamstown was the first under 25 seconds indoors, lowering the S.J. record to 24.78 at 1996 nationals in Boston.

Moorestown’s Amandi Rhett lowered the record to 24.46 as part of her double state-record performance at 2000 Easterns – she also anchored Moorestown’s state-record 1:40.77 that night – and Krystal Cantey of Winslow, known best as an All-America intermediate hurdler, has held the mark since 2006 with her 24.38, which she ran at Easterns when she finished in a virtual dead heat with Racquel Vassell of East Orange, Vassell getting the win after a read of the photo.

Here you go, indoor 200 fans!

All-Time S.J. girls indoor 200-meter dash top-50

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
24.83 … Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2020
24.94 … Shardae Anderson [Paulsboro], 2005
24.96 … Jackie Dim [Washington Twp.], 2008
24.96 … Toni Glatz [Delsea], 2017
24.99 … Aliya Harrison [Sterling], 2018
25.05 … Halimah Bashir [Willingboro], 2004
25.05 … Jamie Walker [Haddon Heights], 2007
25.05 … Audrey Wilson [Deptford], 2009
25.09 … Jewel Ash [Eastern], 2020
25.11 … Avionne Sloan [Camden], 2004
25.11 … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], 2006
25.15 … Haleemah Fisher [Camden], 2000
25.16 … Torie Robinson [Winslow Twp.], 2014
25.19 … Morgan Gordon [Rancocas Valley], 2009
25.25 … English Gardner [Eastern], 2007
25.29 … Daijah Davis-Hines [Timber Creek], 2015
25.29 … Bryanna Craig [Millville], 2020
25.33 … Shardae Anderson [Paulsboro], 2005
25.33 … Nylah Perry [Winslow Twp.], 2020
25.1h … Latoya Benson [Washington Twp.], 2001
25.35 … Gabrielle Farquharson [Williamstown], 2011
25.38 … Ivy Foster [Haddon Heights], 1992
25.38 … Assante Johnson [Camden], 2008
25.44 … Janeya Hammond [Winslow Twp.], 2020
25.54 … Nichole Hill [Oakcrest], 1997
25.3h … Raniyah Walker [Camden], 2002
25.3h … Jamillah Nock [Woodrow Wilson], 2004
25.56 … Simone Thomas [Willingboro], 2–3
25.4h … Danielle Myricks [Willingboro], 2004
25.71 … Ashley Parker [Pleasantville], 2003
25.71 … Sheriyah Nutt [Rancocas Valley], 2020
25.71 … Kayla Jackson [Northern Burlington], 2017
25.73 … Jaia James [Winslow Twp.], 2020
25.74 … Aalliya Fox [Delsea], 2020
25.5h … Mario Fasolino [Washington Twp.], 2004
25.75 … Katrina Sye [Buena], 1999
25.79 … Yvonne Wolef [Middle Twp.], 2011
25.79 … Darynn Minus-Vincent [Rancocas Valley], 2019
25.80 … Iyianna Williams [Winslow Twp.], 2017
25.83 … Jailya Ash [Eastern], 2018
25.83 … Sierra Dicupe’ [Camden Catholic], 2020
25.6h … Shawana Gray [Camden[, 2003
25.6h … Channel Hamilton [Willingboro], 2004

 

Marielle Hall ran a 1,500 PR this week in the Bowerman Track Club’s latest intrasquad meet in Oregon.

Hall, a Mount Laurel native and Haddonfield High School graduate, ran 4:10.77 Tuesday night, breaking her previous lifetime PR of 4:12.14 set at the HOKA New Jersey-New York Track Club Twilight Meet at Franklin Field on June 14, 2017 at Franklin Field.

Track and field has been severely limited this spring and summer, but through the series of Bowerman Track Club intrasquad meets Hall has managed to race three times and PR in the 1,500 and the 3,000 [8:48.72 earlier this month].

Hall’s time is third-fastest ever at 1,500 meters by a South Jersey native, behind another Haddonfield graduate Olympian, Erin Donohue, who ran 4:03.49, in Rieti, Italy, in 2010, and Ocean City graduate Renee Tomlin, who ran 4:08.09 at the Oxy High Performance Distance Classic at the Bill Henry Track at Occidental College in Los Angeles on May 17, 2013.

The race was presumably at Jesuit High School in Portland, where Bowerman has been racing, although the results do not list a venue.

World Athletics lists Hall’s time as No. 14 in the world this year.

Michelle Glover has held the South Jersey 55-meter dash record for 39 years and it’s hard to imagine it will ever be broken.

Glover was a senior at Willingboro when she was invited to race some of the greatest sprinters in the world in the Dallas Times Herald Games at Reunion Arena on Jan. 31, 1981. 

Although Glover’s performance in Dallas was over-shadowed by Willingboro teammate Carol Lewis, who set an American indoor long jump record that night, Glover placed second in the 60-yard-dash to Alice Brown, who set a world record of 6.62.

Glover’s performance was so fast it earned her a No. 7 ranking that year among all U.S. women sprinters, behind such names as Florence Griffith Joyner, Evelyn Ashford and Chandra Cheeseborough.

Glover’s performance – 6.73 for 60 yards, converted to 6.75 for 55 meters – remains No. 6 in world history on the all-time under-20 list and No. 38 ever by a U.S. woman.

It was No. 2 in U.S. high school history at the time and to this day is still No. 7 in U.S. high school history.

The closest any New Jersey girl has gotten to Glover’s state record is 6.79 by Trenton’s Wendy Vereen, who ran 6.79 in 1984. The only South Jersey girl to run within a fifth of a second of Glover is Olympic gold medalist English Gardner of Eastern, who ran 6.95 in 2008. 

Incredible that Glover and Patti Dunlap are still No. 1 and No. 2 on this list with marks from four decades ago. But they are the only marks from that early on the entire top-50!

All-Time S.J. Girls 55-Meter Dash Top-50

6.75y … Michelle Glover [Willingboro], 1981
6.90y … Patti Dunlap [Camden], 1979
6.91 … English Gardner [Eastern], 2010
6.95 … Bria Mack [Williamstown], 2017
6.95 … Torie Robinson [Winslow Twp.], 2014
6.95 … Denise Mitchell [Edgewood], 1983
6.98 … Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2020
7.00 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], 2000
7.00 … Iyanli Kollock [Our Lady of Mercy], 2017
7.01 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
7.05 … Dana Burnett [Williamstown], 1996
7.06 … Jailya Ash [Eastern], 2019
7.07 … Aliya Harrison [Sterling], 2018
7.07 … Dennisha Page [Woodrow Wilson], 2019
7.07 … Annie Johnson [Shawnee], 2012
7.07 … Audrey Wilson [Deptford], 2009
7.07 … Magenta Taylor [Willingboro], 1999
7.07 … Angela Clyburn [Egg Harbor Twp.], 1991
7.09 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
7.09 … Emily Carson [Haddonfield], 2013
7.11 … Jamie Walker [Haddon Hts.], 2006
7.12 … Asante Johnson [Camden], 2009
7.14 … Shonda Burroughs [Vineland], 1999
7.17 … Nia Lawrence [Pemberton], 2013
7.17 … Kiara Lester [Deptford], 2014
7.17 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
7.18 … Sherese Price [Pleasantville], 1997
7.19 … Latoya Benson [Washington Twp.], 2001
7.19 … Adia Starnes [Timber Creek], 2017
7.20 … Medina Salaam [Camden], 1994
7.20 … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], 2006
7.20 … Fametta Lewis [Wilson], 2007
7.20 … Tacquaya Tobias [Our Lady of Mercy], 2010
7.20 … Cidae’a Woods [Winslow Twp.], 2013
7.20 … Gabrielle Farquharson [Williamstown], 2011
7.21 … Artrelia Turner [Woodrow Wilson], 1986
7.21 … Shardae Anderson [Paulsboro], 2005
7.21 … Aaliyah Vandergrift [Paul VI], 2019
7.22 … Janeya Hammond [Winslow Twp.], 2020
7.22 … Ajae Alvarez-Tyler [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2018
7.23 … Ivy Foster [Haddon Heights], 1992
7.23 … Tionna Tobias [Winslow Twp.], 2019
7.24 … Malea Broome [Millville], 2019
7.26 … Pam Young [Willingboro], 1982
7.26 … Latoya Carmichael [Woodrow Wilson], 2001
7.26 … Jewel Ash [Eastern], 2020
7.26 … Donjai Upshaw [Highland], 2017
7.26 … Shameka Speed [Bridgeton], 2003
7.26 … Michelle Brown [Seneca], 2008
7.27 … Tiaja Hampton [Clayton], 2018

 

Before we start Part 4 of our all-time South Jersey top-50 lists, let’s re-cap the indoor boys lists, which finished yesterday.

As always, please forward all corrections and additions to me in the comment section!

55-Meter Dash
200-Meter Dash
400-Meter Dash
800-Meter Run
1,600-Meter Run
3,200-Meter Run
300, 500, 600, 1,000, 1,500, 3000
55-Meter Hurdles
High Jump
Long Jump
Triple Jump
Pole Vault
Shot Put
800-Meter Relay
1,600-Meter Relay
3,200-Meter Relay
Sprint Medley
Distance Medley
Shuttle Hurdles

Also: The complete set of boys and girls all-time South Jersey outdoor top-50 lists.

Once track starts up again – hopefully in December – we will update all these lists in real-time so we have an accurate set of constantly updated all-time South Jersey performance lists.

Starting tomorrow we’ll start the all-time girls indoor top-50 lists with the 55-meter dash.

And when the girls indoor lists are finished? Something even bigger and better starts up! I have a few other cool projects coming up also!

It’s been nearly half a century since Craig Grant, Bob Seeberger, Bob Jackson and Jim Kanz of Paul VI first established the South Jersey shuttle hurdles record.

Incredibly, they’re still in the all-time top-10 in South Jersey history.

Pau VI got started during the winter of 1971-1972 with a 30.5 in the Catholic Track Conference Championships at West Point, N.Y., two days before Christmas of 1971.

The same group then ran 30.3 to win the Parochial A race at the state relays at the Jersey City Armory. 

Five weeks later, a special shuttle hurdles match race was held at Princeton during the IC4A Championships, and Metuchen set a national shuttle hurdles record of 29.0. Rahway ran 29.3 and Paul VI 29.6 to break its own South Jersey record.

Six years later, at the 1978 State Relays at Jadwin, Camden ran 29.6 to break Paul VI’s South Jersey record:

 

Camden’s mark stood for 21 years until cross-town rival Wilson ran 29.5 in 1999. Winslow’s 29.72 fully automatic in 2004 equalled Wilson’s mark, and Deptford ended any debate about the S.J. mark with a ridiculous 29.45 last year.

I’m never quite sure if I should combine hand times and FAT times in these lists. It depends on the event. For something like the 55, you have to have separate lists. For the 3,200 you can just combine them into one. The shuttle hurdles is somewhere in the middle. So what I did was put together three lists: 1) Combined all-time top-50 list with hand times not converted but placed where they would be if they were converted, 2) FAT all-time top-50 list and 3) hand-timed all-time top-50 list.

This is the last boys indoor top-50. We’ll start the girls indoor list next!

All-Time S.J. indoor boys 240-meter shuttle hurdles list

Overall
29.45 … Deptford, 2019
29.72 … Winslow Twp., 2004
29.74 … Egg Harbor, 2009
29.5h … Woodrow Wilson, 1999
29.6h … Camden, 1978
29.7h … Paul VI, 1972
29.8h … Willingboro, 1982
29.9h … Moorestown, 1975
30.0h … Willingboro, 1978
30.07 … Oakcrest, 2012

30.18 … Winslow Twp., 2020
30.22 … Camden, 2009
30.26 … Winslow Twp., 2003
30.41 … Camden, 1996
30.42 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2020
30.3h … Willingboro, 1990
30.47 … Willingboro, 2012
30.52 … Washington Twp., 2012
30.3h … Camden, 1999
30.62 … Lenape, 1997

30.63 … Camden, 2001
30.64 … Seneca, 2012
30.4h … Camden, 1979
30.4h … Camden, 1997
30.4h … Eastern, 1998
30.5h … Moorestown, 1976
30.5h … Overbrook, 1977
30.5h … Willingboro, 1989
30.5h … Lenape, 1996
30.5h … Camden, 2000

30.67 … Willingboro, 2007
30.6h … Edgewood, 1974
30.6h … Willingboro, 1983
30.6h … Willingboro, 1992
30.81 … Willingboro, 2016
30.7h … Eastern, 1992
30.90 … Winslow Twp. 2015
30.92 … Seneca, 2006
30.8h … Moorestown, 1974
30.8h … Camden, 1977

30.8h … Lenape, 1995
30.94 … Deptford, 2018
30.96 … Woodrow Wilson, 1998
31.04 … Highland, 2015
30.9h … Willingboro, 1986
31.05 … Willingboro, 2004
31.05 … Oakcrest, 2011
31.09 … Willingboro, 2003
31.0h … Willingboro, 1977
31.16 … Mainland Reg., 2016

FAT times
29.45 … Deptford, 2019
29.72 … Winslow Twp., 2004
29.74 … Egg Harbor, 2009
30.07 … Oakcrest, 2012
30.18 … Winslow Twp., 2020
30.22 … Camden, 2009
30.26 … Winslow Twp., 2003
30.41 … Camden, 1996
30.42 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2020
30.47 … Willingboro, 2012
30.52 … Washington Twp., 2012
30.62 … Lenape, 1997
30.63 … Camden, 2001
30.64 … Seneca, 2012
30.67 … Willingboro, 2007
30.81 … Willingboro, 2016
30.90 … Winslow Twp. 2015
30.92 … Seneca, 2006
30.94 … Deptford, 2018
30.96 … Woodrow Wilson, 1998
31.04 … Highland, 2015
31.05 … Willingboro, 2004
31.05 … Oakcrest, 2011
31.09 … Willingboro, 2003
31.16 … Mainland Reg., 2016
31.19 … Willingboro, 2015
31.20 … Palmyra, 2015
31.21 … Willingboro, 2017
31.23 … Willingboro, 2011
31.29 … Pleasantville, 1998
31.29 … Delsea Reg., 2010
31.31 … Camden, 2018
31.32 … Bridgeton, 1997
31.35 … Haddonfield, 2014
31.36 … Rancocas Valley, 2019
31.37 … Highland, 2014
31.39 … Bridgeton, 2006
31.40 … Bridgeton, 1995
31.40 … Rancocas Valley, 1998
31.42 … Winslow Twp., 2016
31.43 … Deptford, 2015
31.44 … Lenape, 1999
31.44 … Winslow Twp., 2013
31.44 … Deptford, 2016
31.50 … Willingboro, 2014
31.55 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2012
31.59 … Seneca, 2009
31.60 … Pennsauken, 1998
31.64 … Edgewood, 2000
31.64 … Camden, 2004
31.64 … Delsea Reg., 2009

Hand times
29.5h … Woodrow Wilson, 1999
29.6h … Camden, 1978
29.7h … Paul VI, 1972
29.8h … Willingboro, 1982
29.9h … Moorestown, 1975
30.0h … Willingboro, 1978
30.3h … Willingboro, 1990
30.3h … Camden, 1999
30.4h … Camden, 1979
30.4h … Camden, 1997
30.4h … Eastern, 1998
30.5h … Moorestown, 1976
30.5h … Overbrook, 1977
30.5h … Willingboro, 1989
30.5h … Lenape, 1996
30.5h … Camden, 2000
30.6h … Edgewood, 1974
30.6h … Willingboro, 1983
30.6h … Willingboro, 1992
30.7h … Eastern, 1992
30.8h … Moorestown, 1974
30.8h … Camden, 1977
30.8h … Lenape, 1995
30.9h … Willingboro, 1986
31.0h … Willingboro, 1977
31.1h … Penns Grove, 1983
31.1h … Rancocas Valley, 1991
31.1h … Willingboro, 1993
31.2h … Edgewood, 1977
31.2h … Edgewood, 1979
31.2h … Willingboro, 1979
31.2h … Willingboro, 1981
31.2h … Bridgeton, 1991
31.3h … Deptford, 1979
31.3h … Willingboro, 1984
31.3h … Cumberland Reg., 1985
31.3h … Willingboro, 1992
31.3h … Shawnee, 1992
31.3h … Pleasantville, 1994
31.3h … Pleasantville, 1996
31.3h … Triton, 2001
31.4h … Edgewood, 1978
31.4h … Shawnee, 1990
31.5h … Woodbury, 1978
31.5h … Shawnee, 1991
31.5h … Pleasantville, 1999
31.5h … Pennsauken, 2000
31.5h … Clearview, 2005
31.6h … Woodbury, 1979
31.6h … Penns Grove, 1985
31.6h … Willingboro, 1985
31.6h … Moorestown, 1988
31.6h … Bridgeton, 1990
31.6h … Woodrow Wilson, 1993
31.6h … Lenape, 2000