From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

What makes Clayton’s sectional sweep so unique is that neither the Clayton boys or Clayton girls track teams had ever won a sectional title.

Now they both have.

Clayton became the first Gloucester County school to record a sectional sweep since Delsea in Group 2 in 2010 and the first in Group 1 since Paulsboro in 1997.

The Clayton boys, led by the remarkable TerMeir Hill’s insane quad win, won their first sectional title ever, 97-81, over Audubon. 

The Clayton girls, led by the Sharpe sisters, won 113-95 over Schalick, with the Sharpe triplets scoring 82 points. All 113 of Clayton’s points came on the track.

Let’s take a look at this historic weekend for the Clipper:

BOYS

100-METER DASH: Hill ran a PR 10.88 to win the 100, senior Justin Gibson ran a PR 11.05 to take second and senior Dominck Bishop took fifth in a PR 11.37 for a whopping 20 points. This was the first 1-2 sectional finish ever by Clayton.

200-METER DASH: Hill and Gibson again went 1-2, Hill winning in 22.59 and Gibson second at 22.63 for 18 more points. This was the second 1-2 sectional finish ever by Clayton.

400-METER HURDLES: Senior Giorgio Bruno placed third in 57.76, a two-second PR. It was a crazy finish, with Salem’s Bobby Arnold III, Pitman’s Jonathan Zubert and Bruno all placing within 12-100ths of a second of each other.

400-METER RELAY: Bishop, Bruno, Gibson and Hill ran 43.55 for the win, the fastest time in the state this year in Group 1.

1,600-METER RELAY: The same quarter ran 3:30.06 for another relay win.

DISCUS: Junior Shane Thompson, a first-year thrower, threw 136-8, nearly 30 feet beyond his listed PR of 109-1 from the Deptford Spartan Relays last month. Junior Marques Hall added two points with a fifth-place finish at 122-5.

LONG JUMP: Hill won his third straight sectional long jump title – 2018, 2019, 2021 – with a monster 23-6 1/2 jump, more than a foot over his previous PR of 22-1 and just two inches shy of the meet record of 23-8 1/2 by Lamar Sturdivant of Woodbury in 1996. It was the best jump in any South Jersey section in nine years, since Reginald Morton of Oakcrest won Group 3 at 23-7 in 2012. We’ll have more on Hill’s incredible weekend later this week!

TRIPLE JUMP: Another PR for Hill with a two-inch win over Arnold at 44-6 3/4. His previous PR was a 44-3 1/2 at the 2019 sectionals. Junior Justin Pessoa placed sixth for Clayton with a 41-0.

GIRLS

100-METER DASH: Arianna Sharpe ran 12.61 for the win and Ariel Sharpe took fourth in 12.99.

200-METER DASH: Amirah, Arianna and Ariel swept the 200 in 25.3, 25.53 and 25.55 for 24 huge points.

400-METER DASH: The Sharpe sisters swept the 400, Amirah winning in 56.24, Arianna 57.35 for second and Ariel 58.61 for third and 24 more points.

800-METER RUN: Amirah recorded her third win of the weekend with an unpressed 2:20.54 win.

100-METER HURDLES: Sophomore Rafael Marshall ran a huge PR of 15.85 for the win.

400-METER HURDLES: Amirah Sharpe ran 1:04.20 for the win.

400-METER RELAY: Even without a Sharpe, Clayton won in 51.64 with Marshall, Erica Thomas, Kelsey Thomas and Ciera Smith.

1,.600-METER RELAY: Ariel and Arianna Sharpe were joined by Kelsey Thomas and Erica Thomas and ran 4:05.64.

3,200-METER RELAY: Tori Millward, Erica Thomas, Skylah Surren and Kelsey Thomas ran 11:28.59 for sixth place.