In her collegiate debut for Stanford, Oakcrest graduate Brielle Smith threw 157-5 at the Hornet Invitational in Sacramento. Smith won the event by 21 inches over teammate Virginia Miller, who threw 155-8. Miller has a 162-8 PR.
Smith hit 157-5 on the first collegiate throw. She also threw 154-10, 152-11 and 151-10 in her series.
Her mark is No. 10 in Stanford history, bumping 2015 All-America Victoria Smith for a spot in the top-10. Smith threw 156-5 at the 2015 NCAA Division 1 West Preliminary Round in Austin.
Smith is the No. 8 freshman in NCAA Division 1, No. 23 overall in the country and No. 5 in the Pac-12.
This was Smith’s first meet since June of 2018, when she won the Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington with a throw of 157-0. Smith set the state New Jersey state mark of 168-6 with the new javelin in April 2019 at the Woodbury Relays.
In his first meet in nearly two years, Florence’s Curtis Thompson threw 252-8 to win the javelin Saturday at the Falcon Classic in Montevallo, Ala.
It was the 25-year-old Thompson’s first meet since the Bulldog Relays in Starkville, Miss., on March 23, 2019.
Thompson, a four-time All-America at Mississippi State, the 2016 NCAA champ and 2018 U.S. national champ, has a PR of 271-11 from the 2016 Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. That’s No. 16 in U.S. history.
Thompson’s mark is No. 22 in the world so far early in the 2021 outdoor season and the No. 1 throw among Americans. He bumped Donovan Banks as the top U.S. thrower early in the outdoor season. Banks threw 246-2 last week at a meet in Mobile, Ala.
Thompson opened with a 244-7 and then the 252-8 followed by a 240-5, 240-10 and a foul and a 236-1.
St. Augustine senior David Kenny led seven half-milers under 2:02 and four under 2:00 Saturday at the Cherokee Distance Invitational, winning the 800 in a personal-best 1:57.16.
Cumberland junior Jalen Ridgeway took the field through 400 meters in 55.80, with Timber Creek senior Brian Eaton (55.88) and Kingsway junior Jeffery Heineman (56.34) on his tail, and Kenny 20 meters back of the lead in 57.73.
But Kenny closed strong, with a 59.41 second lap to edge Ridgeway by four meters. Ridgeway was second in 1:57.58, Heineman ran 1:58.69 and Eaton 1:59.36.
Kenny’s previous PR was a 1:58.84 indoors at Virginia Beach in January. Heineman lowered his PR from 1:59.04 at indoor states last year, and Eaton from 2:00.20 in a meet at the Bubble last month.
The time is an outdoor PR for Ridgeway, who ran 1:57.91 for Toms River North as a freshman at the state Group 4 meet at Franklin. He’s run 1:53.72 indoor at the 2000 Meet of Champs at Ocean Breeze.
It looks like the St. Augustine school record is 1:57.08, set by Chris Gough at Parochial A sectionals at South Plainfield in 2011. Anybody know if Mark Sivieri ever ran a fast 800 in high school?
Haddon Heights senior Andrew Bayna (2:01.53) and Timber Creek senior Joshua Thaler (2:01.99) also ran big PRs. For Thaler, it was his first time under 2:08!
Four other South Jersey half-milers ran sub-2:05: Washington Township senior Julian Lawson (2:03.75), Eustace junior Ryan Carney (2:03.84), Cherry Hill East sophomore (2:04.27) and Cherokee sophomore Thomas Bromley (2:04.51). All were PRs.
Erika Kemp, a Rancocas Valley graduate racing for Boston Athletic Association, placed 5th Saturday in the USATF 15K Championships in Jacksonville, Fla.
Kemp ran 50:10 in windy conditions on the 9.3-mile Gate River Run course. Emily Sisson won in 48:09. Kemp was also 5th last year but ran 17 seconds faster this year. Kemp won the 2019 race in 50:54 on the same course.
For those of you who keep track of these things, Kemp’s time ranks her No. 5 in the world this year on the IAAF 15K list and No.61 in U.S. history for a woman on a 15,000-meter road course and is No. 4 by a New Jersey runner, behind Anne Marie Lauck (Letko) of North Hunterdon (48:43 in 1994), Mount Laurel native and Haddonfield graduate Marielle Hall (48:52 in last year’s USATF 15K) and Amy Van Alstine of Midland Park High School (49:49).
Kemp has PRs on the track of 15:28.69 for 5,000 meters and 31:35.63 for 10,000 meters.
Freshman Chase Miller from Cherokee, in his first collegiate race, and junior Jack Ennis of Shawnee finished 3rd and 5th overall and were The College of New Jersey’s top two finishers as the Lions won the New Jersey Athletic Conference XC championship by one point Saturday.
The team title is the 25th in the last 27 seasons for The college of New Jersey.
TCNJ edged host Stockton 29-30 on Stockton’s campus in Galloway Township. TCNJ went 3-5-6-7-8 and Stockton 1-2-4-11-12.
Miller covered the 8,000-meter course in 25:58 and Ennis ran 26:11.
Stockton, seeking its first conference title, got a 2nd-place finish from Triton graduate Daniel Do, who ran 25:54. Senior Stephen Conte of Paul VI ran 11th in 27:04 and sophomore Chris Shaw from Washington Township was 12th in 27:34. Chris Johnson of Wildwood Catholic was Stockton’s No. 6 runner.
Stockton’s Cooper Knorr from Manalapan High was the overall winner in 25:33. He’s Stockton’s second conference XC champ and first since Atlantic City High School graduate Abad Akhtar in 2010.
Junior Jason Hyland from Audubon was Rutgers-Camden’s first finisher, taking 13th place overall. Sophomore David Morrow of Williamstown was 14th.
Only four teams competed: TCNJ, Stockton, New Jersey City and Rutgers-Camden.
Tobias Janssen, a Haddonfield junior, ran 4:17.57 to win the 1,600 Saturday at the Cherokee Distance Festival.
Janssen’s previous PR was a 4:31.92 at last year’s indoor sectionals, and his previous outdoor PR? He doesn’t have one. According to the MileSplit database, this was the first outdoor track race of his life. It looks like Janssen didn’t run outdoors as a freshman and of course his sophomore year was wiped out.
You’re going to get a lot of big PRs right now because so many distance runners are competing in good conditions outdoor for the first time in nearly two years.
But 4:32 to 4:17 is remarkable!
Janssen closed in 59.1 after splitting 66.2, 66.4 and 65.8. So that’s out in 2:12.6 and back in 2:04.9! Talk about negative splits!
Pitman senior Brady Shute ran 4:18.62, a huge PR for him as well. Shute’s previous 1,600 PR was a 4:29.00 at the Haddonfield Invitational in the spring of 2019.
There was a great battle for third, with West Deptford junior Jacob Cobb [4:20.34], Collingswood senior Josh Forrest [4:20.74] and Camden Catholic junior Billy Clewell [4:20.75] all finishing within less than half a second of each other.
Cobb dropped his PR nearly 30 seconds from a 4:49.24 as a freshman at the South Jersey Invitational. Forrest lowered his from 4:38.66 from a meet last year at the Bennett Center. And Clewell also had a previous PR of 4:38, also a 4:38.25 from the Bubble last winter.
That’s five runners under 4:21 in March!
And Audubon senior Zachary Williams wasn’t far off, with a 4:23.63, a seven-second PR for him as well.
As for Janssen, he’s the 11th Haddonfield runner under 4:18 for 1,600 meters outdoors:
4:09.30 … Colin Baker, 2009
4:13.26y … Greg Pelose, 2015
4:14.14 … Ben Potts, 2009
4:14.25 … Matt Nussbaum, 2010
4:14.3h … Jim Smith, 1980
4:14.50 … Chris Platt, 2003
4:15.0h … Dan Gough, 1987
4:15.52 … Derek Gess, 2018
4:15.92 … Jon Vitez, 2009
4:17.57 … Tobias Janssen, 2021
4:17.74 … Mike Burke, 200
Delsea senior Carly Nicholson, closing in 70 for her last lap and 2:29 for her last 800, recorded a big win in the 1,600 Saturday at the Cherokee Distance Invitational.
Nicholson ran a PR 5:05.40, lowering her personal best from a 5:08.45 at 2019 sectionals on her home track at Delsea.
Nicholson is within 5 1/2 seconds of becoming Delsea’s fourth sub-5 runner, along with Celine Mazzi [4:56.23 in 2014], Felicia O’Donnell [4:57.48 in 2011] and Amanda Goetschius [4:59.45 in 2007].
Cherokee junior Nicole Clifford ran 5:13.33 for second, lowering her PR from 5:17.37 at the 2019 Rowan Open in Glassboro.
Six other girls ran under 5:23: Paul VI freshman Shaelan McNally [5:19.30], Kingsway sophomore Nicole Lipieta [5:20.33], Ocean City senior Alexa Palmieri [5:20.91, Haddonfield senior Olivia Stoner [5:21.56] and Delsea sophomore Lillie Widmer [5:22.13].
Haddonfield senior Lindsay Colflesh ran away with the 800 at the Cherokee Distance Festival Saturday, clocking a quick 2:15.18.
Colflesh ran less than half a second off her PR of 2:14.87, which she set the last time she ran an official outdoor 800 – at the 2019 state Group 2 meet at Central Regional.
Allentown senior Jessica Lyons, who ran 2:13.98 in winning the outdoor state 3 title the same day on the same track, took the field out in 64.9, with Colflesh half a stride back at the bell lap. But Colflesh ran away from Lyons, winning by 30 meters.
Four other girls ran 2:20 to 2:21: Allentown senior Jessica Lyons [2:20.19], Cherokee sophomore Kelsey Giglio [2:20.19], Paul VI Abigail Lutz [2:21.36] and Ocean City Erin Hanlon [2:21.49].
As a sophomore, Niglio was running her first outdoor track race for Cherokee.
Hanlon took a big chunk out of her PR of 2:26.32 from last year’s indoor sectionals and her outdoor PR 2:31.82 from 2018 sectionals.
What a titanic battle Saturday morning between juniors Kyle Rakitis of Kingsway and Dennis Fortuna of Triton, who both ran 9:20 and change at the Cherokee Distance Invitational.
Rakitis won in 9:20.45 and Fortuna finished a stride back in 9:20.97.
With a lap to go, Fortuna had a slight lead on Rakitis and they both finished strong, but Rakitis closed in 66.9 and Fortuna in 67.6.
These are monster PRs for both two-milers.
Rakitis lowered his PR 23 seconds from an indoor 9:43.46 at a meet at the Bennett Center last indoor season. Fortuna’s previous PR was a 10:03.67, also last year at the Bubble.
Obviously the first outdoor race in nearly two years for both runners and the perfect conditions and great competition resulted in huge performances for both runners.
Rakitis ran within about four seconds of the Kingsway school record of 9:16.39 set two years ago by Stone Caraccio at Holmdel. It looks like Fortuna took down the Triton school record of 9:27.62, set by Rudy Bello at the 2006 state Group 4 meet at Egg Harbor.
In all, 14 runners broke 10 minutes and another five broke 10:10, all of them in the first heat.
Four runners finished between 9:39.68 and 9:41.27: Seniors Matthew Gonzalez of East Brunswick, Dawson Baptiste of Delsea [9:40.08], Aidan Groff of Cherry Hill East [9:40.36] and John Hurly of Haddonfield [9:41.27].
Baptiste PR’d by 36 seconds from a 10:16.92 at the Bubble last February, Groff from a 10:21.71 on the same Cherokee track two years ago and Hurly from a 10:20.12 at Holmdel in the spring of 2019.
Also under 10 minutes were senior Nicolas Valdivieso of Egg Harbor [9:44.75], senior Gabe Rodriguez of Cherry Hill East [9:46.58], junior Liam Tinton of Highland Park [9:46.78], senior Renzo Almedia of Robbinsville [9:53.30], sophomore Patrick Ditmars of Cherokee [9:55.53], senior Mason Brewster of Washington Township [9:57.90], senior Matthew Tiongko of East Brunswick [9:58.27] and senior Justin Whitney of Cherry Hill East [9:59.09].
Kingsway sophomore Aubrey Pieronotoni kicked off the Cherokee Distance Invitational in fine fashion Saturday morning, winning the 3,200 in a personal-best 11:06.25.
Pierontoni outran Haddonfield senior Allison Colflesh by 50 meters. Colflesh took second with a huge PR of 11:15.56, and three other runners – Eastern’s Regan Bewley, Collingswood’ Sophie Steidle and Haddonfield’s Helene Usher – ran under 11:30.
All five PR’d.
Pierontoni and Colflesh were together through 2000 meters, Pierontoni in 6:51.9 and Colflesh a step back in 6:52.3. But Pierontoni opened up some space on the sixth lap with a 77 and cruised from there.
Pierontoni lowered her PR from 11:24.31, which she ran indoors at the Bennett Center last month. Her previous outdoor PR was an 11:29.19 as a freshman at states. Pierontoni has shown great range this year, running 2:23.21 for 800 meters, 4:47.40 for 1,500, 5:10.01 for 1,600 and now 11:06 for the 3,200.
Her time is No. 3 in Kingsway history outdoors, behind two of the fastest in state history – Chelsea Ley ran 10:19.31 in 2009 and Rachel Vick 10:29.28 in 2017.
Aubrey ran slightly faster than her sister Allie ran in 2019 at Holmdel – 10:06.98 at the Holmdel Twilight Series.
Colflesh lowered her PR from 11:30.61, which she ran at the 2018 Camden County Championships at Haddon Township.
Bewley, a freshman, ran 11:25.23 in her first-ever outdoor race and her first high school 3,200. She ran 2:33.880 and 5:32.90 indoors.
Steidle, a Collingswood senior, ran 11:25.90, dipping below her PR of 11:27.51 from last year’s indoor Meet of Champions.
And Usher, a sophomore, ran 11:28.35 in her first lifetime outdoor high school race and her first-ever high school 3,200.
Clearview sophomore Abby Waddington and Haddonfield Jess Goode weren’t far back. Waddington ran 11:34.09 for 7th in her first high school race outdoors and Goode, a Haddonfield junior, was just behind in 11:34.66, an enormous PR from her 12:29.39 indoors last winter.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 