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.

Pitman graduate Alyssa Sanders won her first collegiate conference title earlier this week.

Sanders, a Rowan junior, ran 5:16.22 to win the mile Monday at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at Ocean Breeze.

Sanders and teammate Dianne Ferraro [5:17.80] finished 1-2. Sanders finished second in the 1,500 at last year’s outdoor NJAC, behind Rowan senior Hannah Vendetta, her Panthers high school teammate.

Sanders ran within two seconds of her mile PR of 5:14.04, which she set at last year’s AARTFC Championships in Ithaca, N.Y.

A group of eight runners came through 800 meters, all between 2:39 and 2:40, but by the time the pack hit 400 to go, Sanders, Ferraro and Safiya Ratliff had separated, and with 200 to go it was just Sanders and Ferraro, who both closed in 38.4.

Sanders is No. 10 in the NCAA Division 3 Atlantic Region a week before the Atlantic Region Championships in Rochester, N.Y.

Daly cleared 6-0 3/4 on his first attempt but needed three tries to get over 6-2 3/4. He went over 6-4 3/4 on his first attempt and then on his eighth attempt of the day sailed over the bar at 6-6 3/4. Daly did take three tries at 6-7 3/4. 

Stockton’s indoor school record is 6-8 3/4, set in 2013 by Tim Miller from Pinelands Regional. The outdoor record is 6-11 3/4 by Paul Klemic of Mainland Regional in 2006. Klemic was the 2000 national scholastic outdoor champ with a 7-4 1/2, still the state outdoor high jump record and still the New Balance Nationals meet record. He was a two-time NCAA Division 3 national champion in the long jump.

Daly is tied for No. 3 in the Atlantic Region of NCAA Division 3 with Rowan jumpers Adonis McGee, a freshman from St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, and Earnest Daniel, a junior from Kingsway.

At Florence, Daly only competed two years and only outdoors. He won the state Group 1 title as a senior in the spring of 2017 at Egg Harbor. He set his scholastic PR of 6-6 winning the Woodbury Relays.

Daly’s collegiate outdoor PR is 6-6 from last year’s AARTFC meet at Cortland, N.Y.

Senior James Coleman and junior Tyler Wilson combined for 28 points in the 55 and 400 and both ran on the winning relay team, and Audubon won the first indoor sectional championship in school history.

Audubon outscored second-place Woodbury 71-37 in a 1-2 Colonial Conference finish. Pitman was third (36), followed by two more Colonial Conference schools: Haddon Township (27) and Haddon Heights fifth (23).

The only previous sectional title for the Audubon boys came outdoors in 1974.

The Green Wave scored in every event other than the 55-meter hurdles. 

Coleman ran a personal-best 52.18 to win the 400 and lead an Audubon sweep. It was Coleman’s second career indoor 400. Wilson was second with an indoor-outdoor PR of 52.84. His previous PR was 53.55 indoors and over 55 outdoors.

In the 55, Coleman ran 6.79 for third and Wilson a personal-best 6.85 for fourth. Coleman’s PR was 6.98 from last week until he ran 6.92 in the trials, then he broke that in the final.

Senior Brandon Gregoire was third in the 400 with an indoor PR of 53.04, and he also took fourth in the 800 in 2:07.33 and fifth in the pole vault at 9-0 in what MileSplit shows as his first career pole vault competition.

Coleman, Gregoire and Wilson were joined by sophomore Aaron Myers on the 4-by-4 team. That group ran 3:35.96, only about a second off the indoor school record of 3:34.83 set at the 2017 Meet of Champions. 

Audubon also got a win from junior high jumper Aden Tomeo, who cleared 6-7. Here’s my story on his remarkable performance. Junior Timothy Knoll also scored, taking sixth at 5-4.

Audubon junior Aden Tomeo soars over high jump bar for FIVE-INCH PR, sectional title and near meet record!!!!!

Junior Zachary Williams ran a PR 4:32.02 for third in the 1,600 and added a fifth in the 3,200 in 10:10.52. His previous indoor 1,600 PR was 4:34.24. He’s run slightly faster outdoors (4:31.73).

In the shot, senior Jaquan Mellette placed fifth with a throw of 38-0.