It was a busy Day 1 of sectionals for Highland senior Floyd Whitaker, who scored 28 points in three events at the South Jersey Group 3 meet.
Whitaker won the high jump at 6-4, won the triple jump at 48-0 and placed second in the 400-meter hurdles with a 57.97 behind Julian Rodriguez of Deptford, who ran 56.02.
Highland leads Toms River South 44-40 with Deptford third at 37 points going into Saturday’s Day 2 at Delsea.
Whitaker’s 28 points would put him single-handedly fourth in team scoring in SJ-3.
Whitaker also won the triple jump last year. He’s the first Highland athlete to win the same event in back-to-back years at sectionals since high jumper Reggie Williams in Group 4 in 1996 and 1997.
The 6-4 matches a career-best for Whitaker, who also cleared 6-4 in a meet at Deptford last month. His 48-0 is a season best in the triple jump and No. 2 in the state this year, behind Mount Olive’s A.J. McKay, who hit 48-7 in a meet at Morris Hills last month.
Whitaker averaged 46-9 on five legal attempts in the triple jump. He had the five-best jumps of the competition.
Whitaker will compete in either the long jump or 110-meter hurdles on Saturday.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 