Who holds the South Jersey record for the 55-meter dash?

It’s a great question with no easy answer.

In 1967, Clearview junior Bill “Peanut” Gaines tied the world record of 5.9 for 60 yards, which is the exact same distance as 55 meters. It’s actually 54.864 meters — about five inches shy of 55 meters — but for statistical purposes they’re the same distance. All track historians list marks for 60 yards alongside those for 55 meters.

Peanut’s mark was hand-timed, which isn’t surprising, considering fully automatic timing hadn’t been invented yet.

Generally, hand-timed marks are converted for list purposes by adding 0.14 seconds for races where the starting line and finish line are the same and by 0.24 for races where the start and finish are different, such as a 55.

So Peanut’s 5.9 would convert to a 6.14.

Gaines’ mark was achieved at an AAU meet, which is probably why Ed Grant’s New Jersey Track and Field Annual never listed it as a record, although it did list it separately. But Gaines was racing in the meet to get the best competition, which shouldn’t be a reason to reject a record. He was one of the top sprinters in the world. He wasn’t going to find competition in regular high school meets. And the indoor season back then was very short, so Peanut didn’t have a lot of options. He did compete for Clearview that winter and the meet was in-season. There is absolutely no reason not to consider it for record purposes.

Damiere Byrd, a former Timber Creek sprinter and current New England Patriots wide receiver, is generally acknowledged as the South Jersey record holder and co-state record holder in the 55.

Byrd ran a FAT 6.26 en route to a 6.74 in the 60-meter dash at the 2011 New Balance Nationals at the Armory. Mario Heslop of Franklin Township matched the state record with a 6.26 in the trials at New Balance Nationals at the Armory in March 2018.

Before Byrd, Camden sophomore Jamar Ervin held the South Jerey record and a share of the state record with a 6.30 at the Archbishop Malloy Stanner Games at the Armory on Jan. 14, 2001. That broke the accepted South Jersey record of 6.31, set in 1984 by Olympic gold medalist Dennis Mitchell of Edgewood at 1983 Easterns at Jadwin Gym in Princeton, and tied the accepted state record set in 1995 by the late Joe Dawkins of Hackensack at 1995 Nationals at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, en route to 3rd-place in the 60-meter dash in 6.78.

So who’s the South Jersey record holder? Gaines or Byrd?

It’s both.

It’s the only fair way.

Today starts the all-time indoor South Jersey top-50 lists!

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

6.30 … Jamar Ervin [Camden], 2001
6.31 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 1984
6.34 … A.J. Bunton [West Deptford], 2006
6.36 … Kenny Reynolds [Willingboro], 1986
6.37 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1979
6.38 … James Brown [Glassboro], 2009
6.39 … Damiere Byrd [Timber Creek], 2009
6.41 … Chris Church [Millville], 2007
6.42 … Thomas Walls [Wilson], 2006
6.42 … Dominique Irons [Haddon Heights], 2013
6.43 … George McKey [Willingboro], 1982
6.43 … Anthony Averett [Woodbury], 2013
6.44 … Thomas Hampton [Clayton], 2019
6.45 … Paul Wheeler [Kennedy], 1983
6.45 … Miekel House [Rancocas Valley], 2020
6.45 … Sherron Bullock [Camden], 2004
6.45 … Rob McGriff [Camden], 2006
6.45 … Antonio Tarantino [Paul VI], 2018
6.46 … Albert Newkirk [Camden], 1996
6.46 … Darnell Charles [Oakcrest], 2012
6.46 … Kashif Miller [Haddon Heights], 2014
6.47 … Anthony Jones [Edgewood], 1982
6.47 … Darren Ford [Vineland], 2004
6.47 … Reggie Morton [Oakcrest], 2012
6.47 … Curtis Fitzpatrick [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013
6.47 … Jonathan Taylor [Salem], 2016
6.47 … Josh Washington [Woodbury], 2019
6.47 … Ahmad Brock [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2020
6.48 … Gary Gordon [Willingboro], 1995
6.48 … Fabian Santiago [Oakcrest], 2012
6.48 … Caleb Williams [St. Joe’s-Hammonton], 2015
6.48 … Clayton Crosse [Washington Twp.]. 2016
6.49 … Louis Smith [Burlington Twp.], 1997
6.49 … Michael Bolling [Willingboro], 2001
6.49 … Martin Booker [Pennsauken], 2016
6.49 … Ryquell Amstead [Millville], 2014
6.49 … Malachi Melton [Cedar Creek], 2019
6.50 … Darian English [Woodrow Wilson], 1993
6.50 … Jamaal Harris [Palmyra], 2002
6.50 … Zachary Clarke [Camden], 2008
6.50 … Shawney Kersey [Woodbury], 2007
6.50 … Rasheed Grandy [Absegami], 2010
6.50 … Bobby DeMarco [Holy Spirit], 2008
6.51 … Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2013
6.52 … Dennis Davis [Edgewood], 1999
6.52 … Jamar Byrd [Vineland], 2005
6.52 … Sean McPherson [Delsea], 2010
6.52 … Davon Tucker [Sterling], 2015
6.52 … Shai Mumford [West Deptford], 2014
6.52 … Sterling Pierce [Rancocas Valley], 2014
6.52 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
6.53 … Justin Frazier [Pennsauken], 2009
6.53 … Darrell Bush [Woodbury], 2012
6.53 … Aidan Burns [Clearview], 2018
6.53 … Cameron Dobbins [Williamstown], 2015

All-Time Hand-Time List
5.9 … Bill “Peanut” Gaines [Clearview], 1967
6.1 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 1984
6.2 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1979
6.2 … Paul Wheeler [Kennedy], 1983
6.2 … Kenny Reynolds [Willingboro], 1986
6.3 … George Hartsfield [Glassboro], 1965
6.3 … Manny Small [Williamstown], 1975
6.3 … Charles Johnson [Buena], 1975
6.3 … Luis Moore [Overbrook], 1976
6.3 … Mike Parker [Salem], 1981
6.3 … Anthony Jones [Edgewood], 1983
6.3 … George McKey [Willingboro], 1982
6.3 … Darien English [Woodrow Wilson], 1990

60-Meter Dash
6.70 … Damiere Byrd [Timber Creek], 2011
6.83 … Jamar Ervin [Camden], 2001
6.87 … Chris Church [Millville], 2007
6.93 … A.J. Bunton [West Deptford], 2006
7.01 … Michael Bolling [Willingboro], 1999
7.02 … Rob McGriff [Camden], 2006
7.03 … Gary Gordon [Willingboro], 1995
7.03 … Albert Newkirk [Camden], 1996
7.04 … Thomas Hampton [Clayton], 2018
7.06 … Sherron Bullock [Camden], 2004
7.06 … Fabian Santiago [Oakcrest], 2012
7.08 … Curtis Fitzpatrick [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013

Before we move onto the all-time South Jersey indoor top-50 lists tomorrow morning, let’s recap all the outdoor lists!

Here, compiled for the first time ever, are all-time South Jersey top-50 lists for all 24 major events contested in New Jersey outdoor track.

Once track and field returns, we will update these lists in real time so athletes, coaches, historians and journalists will have a handy resource to compare performances and see how modern marks compare to those from South Jersey’s rich track history.

It’s been difficult for all of us – athletes, coaches and fans – to endure the first spring of our lifetimes without track and field. Hopefully, these lists can provide a small diversion until cross country and track resume.

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

GIRLS OUTDOOR TOP-50 LISTS

100-Meter Run
200-Meter Run
400-Meter Run
800-Meter Run
1,600-Meter Run
3,200-Meter Run
100-Meter Hurdles
400-Meter Hurdles
High Jump
Long Jump
Triple Jump
Pole Vault
Discus
Shot Put
Old Javelin
New Javelin
400-Meter Relay
800-Meter Relay
1,600-Meter Relay
3,200-Meter Relay
6,400-Meter Relay
Super Sprint Medley
Sprint Medley
Distance Medley

BOYS OUTDOOR TOP-50 LISTS

100-meter dash
200-meter dash
400-meter dash
800-meter run
1,600-meter run
3,200-meter run
110-meter hurdles
400-meter hurdles
Long jump
Triple jump 
Pole vault
High jump
Shot put 
Discus 
Old javelin
New javelin
400-meter relay
800-meter relay 
1,600-meter relay
3,200-meter relay
Super sprint medley
Sprint medley
Distance medley
6,400-meter relay
Shuttle hurdles

When the Edgewood girls ran 59.00 in the shuttle hurdles 21 years ago, they didn’t just set the South Jersey record. And they didn’t just set the state record.

No, Yvette Murry, Kierra Clemons, Pam Richardson and Dennean Davis also set the national record.

Edgewood and Pennsauken went 1-2 in the shuttles at the 1999 East Coast Relays at Morristown High School, becoming the first schools in South Jersey history – and the only ones until last spring – to break 60 seconds.

Edgewood broke the South Jersey record of 1:01.94 that it set a year earlier at the 1998 East Coast Relays (with Lanae Thomas, Christina Matthews, Ohlaysha Gonzalez and Davis) and broke the state (and meet) record of 1:00.22 set by Notre Dame at the 1997 East Coast Relays on the same track. Edgewood broke the national record of 59.2 set in 1997 by William Penn of Philadelphia.

Pennsauken, with the team of Alethia Jenkins, Thananya Wooden, Sheena Ohlig and Sophie Solomon, placed second in 59.52, which was No. 2 in state history and also top-10 in U.S. history at the time.

And a shoutout to the 1994 Moorestown team, which ran 1:02.0 at the Long Branch Relays. The only results from the 1994 Long Branch Relays I found are in the Asbury Park Press, but they didn’t list any names from the winning teams. We know Shatich Rivers and Shavonna Ross were two of the legs. Who else ran that day 26 years ago for the Quakers?

That’s the only mark in the top 50 that pre-dates 1999, and it’s still No. 14 in South Jersey history. And as of the end of the 1994 season, it was the only South Jersey mark in the all-time New Jersey top-40.

And finally a tip of the hat to Eastern’s team from last spring, which ran 59.52 at the Don Danser Relays at Lenape, No. 2 in South Jersey history and fastest in 20 years, with the team of Jailya Ash, Jewel Ash, Abigail Brocco and Analiese Bulgin.

(One mystery is where William Penn ran its 59.2 in 1997. The 1998 U.S. Track Annual says it was April 22 in Philadelphia – that’s the week before Penn. A search of the Inquirer’s database turns up nothing.)

All-Time S.J. Girls Outdoor Shuttle Hurdles Top-50

59.00 … Edgewood, 1999
59.52 … Eastern, 2019
59.85 … Pennsauken, 1999
1:00.14 … Buena, 2012
1:00.18 … Winslow Twp., 2014
1:00.46 … Winslow Twp., 2013
1:01.17 … Woodrow Wilson, 2002
1:01.38 … Winslow Twp., 2017
1:01.58 … Millville, 2019
1:01.68 … Winslow Twp., 2002
1:01.6h … Woodrow Wilson, 2005
1:01.82 … Winslow Twp., 2012
1:01.94 … Edgewood, 1998
1:02.0h … Moorestown, 1994
1:02.1h … Willingboro, 1997
1:02.16 … Wilson, 2003
1:02.17 … Winslow Twp., 2015
1:02.51 … Mainland Regional, 2018
1:02.53 … Lenape, 2008
1:02.59 … Paul VI, 2018
1:02.68 … Mainland Reg., 2018
1:02.83 … Buena Reg., 2013
1:02.86 … Edgewood, 2001
1:03.23 … Willingboro, 2019
1:03.49 … Rancocas Valley, 2019
1:03.53 … Winslow Twp., 2019
1:03.62 … Absegami, 2017
1:03.70 … Lenape, 2008
1:03.73 … Highland, 1998
1:03.73 … Absegami, 2016
1:03.79 … Camden, 2015
1:03.7h … Pennsauken, 2000
1:04.07 … Lenape, 2007
1:01.4h … Woodrow Wilson, 2004
1:04.22 … Edgewood, 1997
1:04.24 … Burlington Twp., 2007
1:04.24 … Winslow Twp., 2008
1:04.26 … Woodrow Wilson, 2001
1:04.30 … Millville, 2012
1:04.51 … Lenape, 2015
1:04.68 … West Deptford, 2016
1:04.85 … Winslow Twp., 2010
1:04.98 … Winslow Twp., 2009
1:05.0h … Bridgeton, 2004
1:05.24 … Millville, 2008
1:05.26 … Willingboro, 1997
1:05.2h … Buena, 2004
1:05.37 … Williamstown, 2012
1:05.3h … Ocean City, 1998
1:05.3h … Willingboro, 2002
1:05.49 … Pleasantville, 1998
1:05.49 … Camden, 2016

The 2020 National Scholastic Championships are off.

After initially exploring a move from Greensboro, N.C. – the meet’s home since 2006 – to Sioux Falls, S.D., meet officials on Monday decided to cancel the event entirely as COVID-19 cases in South Dakota increased.

Meet officials had promised to announce a decision on the meet’s fate by Monday but it never happened. However, the news was reported Monday evening by Newsday running reporter Jordan Lauterbach.

https://twitter.com/jlauterbach1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1272689983623704577&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fny.milesplit.com%2Farticles%2F281833%2Fnsaf-pulls-plan-for-late-july-national-meet-in-south-dakota

As of Tuesday morning, five hours after Lauterbach’s tweet, the NSAF still showed the meet on as scheduled, running from July 30 through Aug. 2.

Nationals have been held at Aggie Stadium in Greensboro on the campus of North Carolina A&T& University since moving across North Carolina from Raleigh after the 2005 meet.

But North Carolina AT&T’s campus is closed through at least the end of August, so the National Scholastic Athletics Foundation, which operates the meet, announced last month that if the meet were held it would move to the 10,000-seat Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, which obviously would have eliminated – or severely curtailed – New Jersey participation.

The NSAF does not currently have a sponsor for outdoor nationals. The meet in the past has been sponsored by Nike, Foot Locker, American Airlines, adidas and until recently New Balance. 

New Balance withdrew its sponsorship earlier this spring and announced that it would hold a national high school championship meet of its own starting in 2021.

The Haddonfield girls have held the South Jersey four-mile relay record for 20 years now, and nobody has gotten close.

Haddonfield’s Mary Mulholland, Erin O’Donnell, Holly Cosnett and Erin Donohue teamed up to run 20:48.7 in 2000, breaking the South Jerey record of 21:50.9 set in 1995 by Bishop Eustace – by more than a minute!

Haddonfield didn’t break the record at East Coast Relays or Nationals. They actually did it at the Ike Willie Open at Rowan University in Glassboro, and they led two other teams under 21:45. Cherokee ran 21:24.1 [with Lauren Jones, Erin Chiarulli, Melissa Razo and Michelle Bilicki] and Wilson ran 21:43.9 for second and third, and those marks to this day are No. 3 and No. 8 in South Jersey history.

Eustace’s previous South Jersey record was actually set the first weekend of the 1995 season, with Adrianne del Sol, Roxanne Hughes, Kathleen Linck and Ann Clock
at the Camden-Gloucester County Relays on April 8, 1995, at Farnham Park in Camden and winning by more than three minutes!

It’s a tough event to run fast because it’s hard to find good competition, good conditions and four people who run well on the same day.

But this year’s Haddonfield girls team sure seemed like it had a very good chance to break the record after Allison Colflesh [5:03.82], Sarah Naticchia [5:04.24], Payton Weiner [5:06.12] and Lindsay Colflesh [5:19.64 full mile in January but 2:15.31 in March] totaled sub-20:34 indoors.

Their PR’s – 5:03.82 for Allison Colflesh, 4:55.90 for Naticchia, 5:03.53 for Weiner and 5:17.79 (converted from full mile) for Linday Colflesh – add up to 20:12.27, which would be No. 2 in state history (behind Roxbury’s 19:50.87 in 2006). And based on that 2:15.31 and a very early 5:17, you know Lindsay Colflesh would have been right there with the other girls in a big late-season mile.

But all four girls are back next year and hopefully will get a shot at that mark. For now, here’s the all-time list!

All-Time S.J. Girls 6,400-Meter Relay Top 50

20:48.7h … Haddonfield, 2000
21:07.81y … Shawnee, 2014
21:24.1h … Cherokee, 2000
21:24.30y … Bishop Eustace, 2010
21:32.24 … Woodrow Wilson, 2001
21:35.0h … Lenape, 2012
21:36.25 … Haddonfield, 2007
21:43.9h … Woodrow Wilson, 2000
21:44.25 … Kingsway, 2019
21:44.7h … Cherry Hill East, 2006

21:45.26y … Bishop Eustace, 2019
21:45.63 … Lenape, 2010
21:46.23 … Haddonfield, 2019
21:48.31 … Cherokee, 2004
21:50.31 … Bishop Eustace, 2009
21:50.40y … Lenape, 2006
21:50.9h … Bishop Eustace, 1995
21:51.47 … Washington Twp., 2009
21:52.05 … Washington Twp., 2012
21:52.70 … Shawnee, 2002

21:55.72 … Kingsway, 2017
21:57.91 … Shawnee, 1998
22:02.42 … Washington Twp., 2011
22:02.95 … Moorestown, 2002
22:03.9h … Haddonfield, 2008
22:05.0h … Moorestown, 2000
22:05.2y … Paul VI, 1983
22:06.67 … Ocean City, 2004
22:07.68 … Clearview, 2002
22:07.9y … Paul VI, 1992

22:09.12 … Cherokee, 2007
22:09.87y … Highland, 2003
22:10.47y … Ocean City, 2003
22:13.2h … Haddonfield, 2006
22:14.83 … Moorestown, 2001
22:16.58 … Lenape, 2014
22:18.74 … Lenape, 2011
22:19.20 … Seneca, 2017
22:22.0h … Shawnee, 2001
22:25.3h … Shawnee, 1994

22:25.79 … Rancocas Valley, 2011
22:28.86 … Haddonfield, 2017
22:29.11 … Lenape, 2008
22:30.43 … Clearview, 2017
22:30.5h … Bishop Eustace, 1996
22:32.5h … Eastern, 2008
22:33.3h … Washington Twp., 2006
22:37.34 … West Deptford, 2008
22:38.49 … Triton, 2010
22:40.3h … Moorestown, 2005

22:40.44 … Kingsway, 2014

The super sprint medley was still in its infancy in 2003, when the Willingboro girls ran 1:44.06 at nationals with the team of Halimah Bashir, Kim Allen, Rhea Mann and Okechi Ogbuokiri.

The event was new, but the record lasted 15 years!

A little history:

The super sprint medley – two 100s, a 200 and a 400 – had been contested in Florida and California since the 1980s but didn’t go national until 2002.

That’s when it was first contested at nationals in Greensboro and added to a few South Jersey meets as well.

Woodrow Wilson set the initial South Jersey record in the spring of 2002, capped by a 1:46.46 with a fifth place at nationals in Raleigh with the team of Jamillah Nock, Latoya Carmichael, Latoya Benson and Taneesha Pittman, also at nationals.

Willingboro claimed the state and South Jersey record of 1:44.06 at outdoor nationals a year later, finishing second to William Penn of Philadelphia, which ran 1:40.95.

That stood as the state record until 2009, when Columbia ran 1:43.33 to win outdoor nationals. It remains No. 5 in state history.

And it held up as the South Jersey record until two years ago, when the Rancocas Valley girls placed second at nationals in Raleigh with a 1:43.19, finishing behind only Nansemond River High of Suffolk, Va., which ran 1:42.53. 

R.V.’s Kristina Tossas and Breacain and McClenahan ran the 100 and Darynn Minus-Vincent the 200, setting up Aliyah Taylor, who anchored in 53.5, fastest anchor in the field, and moved the Red Devils up from fifth in the final to second.

That time is No. 2 in state history.

Here’s our story from two years ago on R.V.’s historic race at nationals: https://sjtrackblog.com/2018/06/17/rancocas-valley-girls-take-2nd-in-super-sprint-medley-at-nationals-and-shatter-south-jersey-record/

And here’s a look at the all-time South Jersey top-50, with six schools – Winslow, Rancocas Valley, Lenape, Camden, Willingboro and Woodrow Wilson – accounting for 30 of the top 50 times. And as a bonus, I added an all-time New Jersey top-10 below it!

As always, send errors and additions to me in the comment’s section!

All-Time South Jersey Girls Super Sprint Medley Top-50

1:43.19 … Rancocas Valley, 2018
1:44.06 … Willingboro, 2003
1:44.31 … Camden, 2006
1:45.07 … Winslow Twp., 2004
1:45.17 … Winslow Twp., 2019
1:45.56 … Rancocas Valley, 2019
1:45.61 … Camden, 2005
1:45.78 … Woodrow Wilson, 2006
1:45.78 … Winslow Twp., 2018
1:46.43 … Winslow Twp., 2017
1:46.97 … Woodrow Wilson, 2007
1:46.99 … Winslow Twp., 2019
1:47.07 … Pennsauken, 2014
1:47.21 … Willingboro, 2009
1:47.29 … Lenape, 2015
1:47.33 … Rancocas Valley, 2016
1:47.55 … Cherokee, 2012
1:47.66 … Willingboro, 2008
1:48.18 … Willingboro, 2007
1:48.34 … Camden, 2009
1:48.37 … Winslow Twp., 2013
1:48.60 … Oakcrest, 2009
1:48.74 … Lenape, 2010
1:48.76 … Camden, 2008
1:48.79 … Woodrow Wilson, 2008
1:48.79 … Rancocas Valley, 2016
1:48.92 … Pennsauken, 2015
1:49.03 … Mainland Regional, 2018
1:49.04 … Haddonfield, 2007
1:49.57 … Paul VI, 2017
1:49.62 … Lenape, 2011
1:49.74 … Oakcrest, 2008
1:49.78 … Lenape, 2014
1:49.79 … Rancocas Valley, 2007
1:49.79 … Eastern, 2012
1:49.99 … Timber Creek, 2010
1:50.04 … Cherokee, 2007
1:50.09 … Lenape, 2008
1:50.30 … Pennsauken, 2019
1:50.50 … Paul VI, 2016
1:50.52 … Cherokee, 2016
1:50.59 … Clearview, 2016
1:50.60 … Winslow Twp., 2012
1:50.81 … Millvile, 2009
1:50.95 … Woodrow Wilson, 2008
1:51.04 … Bridgeton, 2010
1:51.09 … Rancocas Valley, 2009
1:51.26 … Paul VI, 2019
1:51.31 … Woodbury, 2010

All-Time New Jersey Girls Super Sprint Medley Top-10

1:41.98 … Columbia, 2010
1:43.19 … Rancocas Valley, 2018
1:43.33 … Columbia, 2009
1:43.76 … Union Catholic, 2016
1:44.06 … Willingboro, 2003
1:44.31 … Camden, 2006
1:44.78 … Summit, 2017
1:45.07 … Winslow Twp., 2004
1:45.17 … Winslow Twp., 2019
1:45.19 … Paul John XXIII, 2012

We’ve really experienced the glory days of the girls distance medley since the turn of the century, with Lenape, Ocean City and Haddonfield combining for 17 of the top 24 times in South Jersey history since 2000.

Unlike most events, you won’t see any marks from the 1980s on the all-time girls outdoor DMR top-40.

Until Ocean City’s 12:06.73 for sixth place at the 1994 Penn Relays with the team of Shelly Solheim [3:46.48], Kellie Adams [1:00.53], Janine Minehan [2:22.48] and Megan Hartman [4:57.24], the South Jersey record was 12:27.9, set in 1982 by Paul VI’s Dawn Hillman, Sue O’Toole, Lois Lucente, Dawn Cody and matched by the Shawnee team of Sue Thompson, Kris Tate, Michelle DiMuro and Deanna Germano at the 1984 Woodbury Relays.

(One note about Paul VI’s 12:27.9 …  I can’t for the life of me find out where they ran that, and all my usual research methods have come up empty! It wasn’t at Penn [which didn’t have a girls DMR yet], it wasn’t at Woodbury, it wasn’t at the Jersey Relays … what other meets even had a girls DMR that year? Help me out, someone!]

Ocean City’s 12:06.73 stood as the South Jersey record until 2000, when Haddonfield ran 12:02.34. Ocean City reclaimed the record with its 12:00.64 in 2004.

That stood for eight years, until Lenape – with the team of Camille Franklin, Ana de las Heras, Emily McGee and Natalia Ocasio – became the first and so far only South Jersey school to crack the 12-minute barrier with a remarkable 11:53.15 at New Balance Nationals in Greensboro in 2012.

(By the way … before 1982, the South Jersey record was 12:57.5 by Holy Cross at the Holmdel Relays in 1980!)

 

The same weekend, as you can see in the New Brunswick Home News, Lenape also ran 9:05.62 at nationals, which also remains the South Jersey record and which we wrote about yesterday.

Since 2012, nobody has come within nine seconds of Lenape’s S.J. record!

All-Time Outdoor Girls S.J. DMR Top-50

11:53.15 … Lenape, 2012
12:00.64 … Ocean City, 2004
12:02.34 … Haddonfield 2000
12:02.37 … Haddonfield, 2014
12:04.39 … Lenape, 2010
12:05.39 … Ocean City 2005
12:05.98 … Sterling, 2017
12:06.73 … Ocean City 1994
12:07.21 … Lenape 2008
12:08.61 … Ocean City, 2014
12:10.75 … Sterling, 2016
12:10.76 … Lenape, 2017
12:12.24 … Millville, 2009
12:13.16 … Bishop Eustace, 2011
12:14.05 … Cherry Hill East, 2007
12:14.24 … Highland, 2004
12:14.61 … Lenape, 2013
12:15.42 … Ocean City, 2015
12:16.79 … Lenape, 2015
12:18.27 … Bishop Eustace, 1995
12:18.29 … Shawnee, 2012
12:19.26 … Woodrow Wilson, 2001
12:19.41 … Rancocas Valley, 2011
12:19.46 … Ocean City, 2013
12:19.60 … Shawnee, 2015
12:19.79 … Haddonfield, 2015
12:21.22 … Haddonfield, 2017
12:21.45 … Haddonfield, 1998
12:21.87 … Cherokee, 2012
12:22.01 … Moorestown, 2002
12:22.29 … Moorestown, 2007
12:22.94 … Shawnee, 1997
12:23.26 … Haddonfield, 1999
12:23.33 … Delsea, 2011
12:23.5h … Millville, 2008
12:24.26 … Lenape, 2007
12:24.64 … Woodrow Wilson, 2000
12:25.21 … Cherokee, 2000
12:26.31 … Shawnee, 2017
12:26.93 … Delsea, 2009
12:27.03 … Shawnee, 2014
12:27.14 … Woodrow Wilson, 2002
12:27.21 … Lenape, 2011
12:27.96 … Cherokee, 2010
12:27.9h … Paul VI, 1982
12:26.9h … Shawnee, 1984
12:28.7h … Paul VI, 1983
12:29.03 … Bishop Eustace, 1996
12:29.72 … Washington Twp., 2012
12:29.9h … Haddonfield, 2008

A truly astonishing weekend at nationals for Lenape in 2012 with two South Jersey records that still stand today!

We’ll get to the DMR in the next day or two (and Lenape earned all-America status in four events that weekend!), but today the focus is on the 4-by-800, with Lenape and Haddonfield taking 12 of the top 16 spots

Eight years ago, Lenape – with the team of Camille Franklin, Emily McGee, Amanda Restivo and Natalia Ocasio – placed fourth at nationals in Greensboro in the 4-by-8 with a time of 9:05.62.

That broke Lenape’s own South Jersey mark of 9:05.83 set four years earlier with Moira Cunningham, Miya Johnson, Brianna Beddall and Caitlin Orr at the Lenox Fast Times Relays at Warwick Valley High in Warwick, N.Y.

Those two marks, set by the same school four years apart with completely different lineups, are still No. 1 and 2 in South Jersey history!

Incredibly, five schools are responsible for the 16-fastest times in South Jersey history: Haddonfield [7], Lenape [5], Seneca [2], Ocean City [1] and Kingsway [1].

All-time S.J. girls outdoor 3,200-Meter Relay Top-50

9:05.62 … Lenape, 2012
9:05.83 … Lenape, 2008
9:06.30 … Haddonfield, 2008
9:10.32 … Haddonfield, 2000
9:12.30 … Haddonfield, 2019
9:15.61 … Ocean City, 2014
9:15.19 … Lenape, 2007
9:15.92 … Haddonfield, 2015
9:16.57 … Seneca, 2017
9:16.79 … Haddonfield, 1999
9:18.22 … Kingsway, 2016
9:18.37 … Haddonfield, 2019
9:18.57 … Seneca, 2018
9:18.71 … Lenape, 2011
9:18.93 … Haddonfield, 2018
9:18.94 … Lenape, 2006
9:19.15 … Wilson, 2002
9:19.68 … Kingsway, 2017
9:20.39 … Sterling, 2017
9:20.39 … Haddonfield, 2014
9:20.39 … Sterling, 2017
9:20.55 … Seneca, 2008
9:21.7h … Ocean City, 1994
9:22.37 … Egg Harbor Township, 2013
9:22.83 … Haddonfield, 2016
9:23.00 … Lenape, 2007
9:23.06 … Ocean City, 2004
9:23.29 … Ocean City, 1995
9:23.53 … Seneca, 2016
9:23.67 … Shawnee, 2014
9:23.84 … Ocean City, 2015
9:24.44 … Shawnee, 2017
9:25.83 … Lenape, 2010
9:26.32 … Woodrow Wilson, 2001
9:26.77 … Cherokee, 2011
9:27.09 … Washington Twp., 2012
9:27.78 … Sterling, 2016
9:28.5h … Holy Cross, 1981
9:28.91 … Willingboro, 1997
9:28.94 … Shawnee, 2016
9:29.05 … Kingsway, 2019
9:29.13 … Highland, 2005
9:29.65 … Lenape, 2005
9:30.28 … Woodrow Wilson, 1999
9:30.51 … Millville, 2013
9:30.72 … Lenape, 2015
9:30.93 … Seneca, 2013
9:30.95 … Millville, 2012
9:31.28 … Millville, 2014
9:31.31 … Delsea, 2011

The 2020 National Scholastic Championships – until recently the New Balance Outdoor Championships – are tentatively scheduled for late July and early August, but if they are held it won’t be in Greensboro.

The National Scholastic Athletics Foundation announced Thursday that if the meet is held on its new date – the weekend of July 30-Aug. 2 – it will be in South Dakota.

The meet has been held at Aggie Stadium in Greensboro on the campus of North Carolina A&T& University since moving across North Carolina from Raleigh after the 2005 meet.

But North Carolina AT&T’s campus is closed through the end of August at the earliest because of COVID-19 concerns so the stadium is unavailable. 

Meet officials said Thursday a decision on whether to hold the meet will be made by June 15, which is a week from Monday.

If it is held, it will be at 10,000-seat Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, which is currently expected to be available under local and state guidelines.

Obviously, the move 1,300 miles northwest from Greensboro to Sioux Falls would eliminate most if not all of the South Jersey entries that were still considering competing if the meet is held.

The NSAF doesn’t currently have a sponsor for outdoor nationals. The meet in the past has been sponsored by Nike, Foot Locker, American Airlines, adidas and until recently New Balance.   

Willingboro senior Tamia Welch, a sectional champ in two events and a state relay champ, has had a busy spring. 

Even without track.

Although COVID-19 wiped out the spring track season in New Jersey, Welch was very busy and very productive this past weekend with something far more important.

Welch-Smith organized a peaceful march through Willingboro Tuesday that drew over 1,000 men, women and children to protest the killing last week of George Floyd while unarmed and in policy custody in Minneapolis.

What a amazing job by Tamia organizing the march and the rally!

Great story in the Burlington County Times about the event: https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/news/20200602/watch-peaceful-protestors-call-for-change-in-willingboro

Smith was a sectional champ this past winter, winning the Central Jersey Group 1 400-meter dash with an indoor PR of 1:00.33 before placing second at states at 1:00.79. Welch-Smith also placed second in the 55-meter high hurdles in 8.78 before taking third at states in a PR 8.74. She was also a 5-2 high jumper. She also ran on Willingboro’s first-place 1,600-meter relay team. The Willingboro girls won team titles at both indoor sectionals and states.

At the state relays, she was on Willingboro’s winning shuttle hurdles and 1,600-meter relay teams, and Willingboro won the team title.

Last spring, Welch won the CJ-1 sectional title in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at 1:05.39 as the Chimeras won the team title, and she also placed third at states. She also medaled in the 400 at both sectionals and states. 

Welch will attend St. Peter’s University in Newark and compete for the Peacocks.