What a double by Holy Spirit junior Elijah Steward!
Steward won both the long jump and 400 at the state Parochial B meet in Neptune, setting lifetime bests in both events.
Steward won the 400 in 49.62, lowering his PR from 49.97, and he jumped 22-4 1/2 to win the long jump, going over 22 feet for the first time.
Steward became the school’s first double winner at states since Cade Antonucci won the discus and javelin in 2015. Antonucci placed third in the javelin at this weekend’s NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.
In the 400, Steward won by 12 meters over Hudson Catholic sophomore Jacob Rodriguez, who ran 51.05.
The long jump was much closer. Another Hudson Catholic athlete, Kai’leel Jefferson jumped 22-3 3/4, so Steward won that event by three-quarters of an inch!
Holy Spirit also got Day 1 points from senior Markus Lewis [4th in discus], senior Devin Lee [3rd in 400] and freshman Luke Halburner [6th in 400].
Going into Day 2, Holy Spirit’s 31 points were only one behind Hudson Catholic for the Parochial B lead.
Terrific start to the state Parochial A meet for Paul VI junior Michael Mazero, who won his first state title in one event and PR’d in another.
Mazero ran 48.95 to edge top-seeded Joe Morrone of St. Peter’s Prep and win the 400 at Neptune High and ran 10.82 on his way to third place in the 100. He ran 10.82 in the trials and placed third in the final in 10.93.
He’s run slightly faster for 400 meters – 48.93 to win the Camden County title last month – but his previous 100 PR was 11.17 when he won the Olympic Conference race.
Mazero will run the 200 and 400-meter relay on Saturday.
It was no contest Friday in Willingboro freshman Malachi James’s first state championship race .
James was only the No. 6 seed in the 100 after winning Central Jersey Group 1 in 10.95 seconds. But he ran away with the state Group 1 race at Pennsauken, winning in 10.98 into a 0.8 wind with nobody else in the field going under 11.16.
James finished second to Rancocas Valley’s Herb Quarterman in the BCSL Liberty Division 100 and hasn’t lost a 100 since. Quarterman ran a lifetime-best 10.95 to place second to Egg Harbor’s Ahmad Brock (10.92) in the state Group 4 meet.
He’s the first Willingboro sprinter to win the 100 at states since Carl Lewis won the 100-yard dash at the 1979 state Group 4 meet in 9.9.
Clayton’s TerMeir Hill, the South Jersey Group 1 champ at 10.88, placed second in 11.16.
James is the first Burlington County freshman to win a state title in an individual event since Brondon Jenkins of Burlington City won the Group 1 200 in 22.26 in 1993. Jenkins won the Meet of Champions 200 a year later for Delran in 21.46.
James will be the No. 1 seed in the 200 on Saturday.
With one throw to go, Walkill Valley’s Oluwatomilayo Akintunde led the Group 1 shot with a throw of 37-9 1/4. Knorr was sitting in second with a best throw of 36-6 1/4 from her first attempt and was in danger of finishing second for a second year in a row. Last year, she finished second to Paulsboro’s Amaya Reed-Clark, who threw 40-4 1/2 to Knorr’s 36-1.
But she walked into the circle for her final throw and moved heaved it 3 3/4 inches farther than Akintunde to win the state title.
She appears to be the first Woodstown girl ever to win a state title.
Knorr PR’d at the Salem County Championships last month with a 38-5 1/2 and then won sectionals with a 37-4.
Going into Day 2, Clayton leads Shore Regional 42-32 as the Clippers go after the first state championship in school history.
Clayton scored 22 points in the 400, with Amirah Sharpe winning at 55.99, Arianna second in a personal-best 56.58 (previous PR was 57.35) and Ariel fourth at 58.88.
Amirah won the 400-meter intermediates in 1:02.23, and Arianna won the 100 in 12.44 for 20 more points.
In 2019 – the last state meet contested – the Sharpes combined for 29 points in individual events while competing for Paulsboro, leading the Red Raiders to the state Group 1 title, 67-47, over Malcolm X Shabazz at Franklin Township. That year, Arianna won the intermediates and placed fifth in the 200, Amirah won the 800 and took third in the 400 and Ariel placed sixth in the 100.
On Saturday, Clayton has Amirah Sharpe as the No. 1 seed in the 800 and Amirah and Arianna are the No. 2 and 3 seeds in the 200, with Ariel also in the field.
And a non-Sharpe – sophomore Rayael Marshall – is the No. 3 seed in the 100-meter hurdles.
Additionally, the Clippers have a chance for big points in the two short relays. They’re the No. 1 seed in the 4-by-4 and No. 2 seed in the 4-by-100.
Incredible race this afternoon for Collingswood senior Josh Forrest, who lowered his PR by five seconds and won the 1,600-meter run at the state Group 2 meet at Franklin Township High School.
Forrest ran 4:15.61 and used his tremendous closing speed to overtake Madison’s Adam Angelone on the final lap.
Angelone came through 1,200 meters at 3:12.16, and Forrest was second, 15 meters back, at 3:13.96.
But Forrest closed in 61.64 and won by 20 meters over Angelone, who ran a PR of his own at 4:17.68.
Forrest’s previous PR was 4:18.46 at the Haddonfield Invitational last month.
Three other South Jersey runners broke 4:20 in the race. Delsea senior Dawson Baptiste was third in 4:18.42 (previous PR 4:21.54), Lower Cape May Regional junior Zeb Hinker ran 4:19.37 for fifth (previous PR 4:22.43) and West Deptford junior Jacob Cobb was fifth in 4:19.62 (previous PR 4:21.64).
Haddonfield seniors Sarah Naticchia and Allison Colflesh went 1-2 in the 1,600, both running PRs and both running sub-4:55.
Naticchia won the race in 4:54.25 and Colflesh was a step back in 4:54.76. Another Haddonfield senior, Olivia Stoner, placed seventh and PR’d at 5:04.80.
She’s had numerous seconds and thirds – and had her junior year wiped out – but this is Naticchia’s first state title in track or cross country.
Naticchia and Colflesh moved into the No. 9 and No. 11 spots on the all-time South Jersey list, a list that now has five Haddonfield runners among the top 11 (Olympian Erin Donohue No. 1 at 4:41.16, Brian Gess No. 3 at 4:45.97, Olympian Marielle Hall No. 4 at 4:48.73).
Naticchia’s previous PR was a 4:55.90 when she placed third at the last state meet two years ago at Central Regional in Bayville.
Colflesh’s previous PR was 4:57.41 at the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township.
Pennsauken’s remarkable Bryce Tucker opened up the state Group 3 meet with a South Jersey sophomore-record performance in the intermediate hurdles.
Racing on his home track, Tucker ran 52.68, the second-fastest time ever by a New Jersey sophomore and the fastest eight years. It’s also No. 5 in the U.S. this year.
The only New Jersey sophomore to run faster is Union Catholic’s Taylor McLaughlin, who ran 51.69 at the USATF World Youth Trials in Edwardsville, Ill., in June of 2013. McLaughlin is the older brother of American record holder Sydney McLaughlin.
Tucker broke the South Jersey sophomore record of 53.79 set at the 2011 Group 2 sectionals at Buena by Willingboro’s Brandon Hill.
His time is No. 17 in South Jersey history (but only 12-100ths out of the all-time top-10) and fastest by any South Jersey intermediate hurdler in 12 years, since Washington Township’s Tim Carey ran 52.10 in 2009.
It’s also the fastest run at the Group 3 state meet in 14 years, since Emanuel Mayers of Lakewood won the 2007 race at South Plainfield in 51.98.
And according to the MileSplit database, it’s the fastest time by a U.S. sophomore in high school competition since McLaughlin ran 51.69 and Rai Benjamin of Mount Vernon (N.Y.)ran 52.36 in 2013. Benjamin is currently No. 3 in world history at 46.98. He and McLaughlin both qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Tucker’s time is also fastest by any intermediate hurdler in the Burlington County Scholastic League in 22 years, since Delran’s Harran Williams ran 52.66 at the 1999 Meet of Champions. It’s No. 9 in Camden County history.
Tucker’s previous PR was 54.28 at the BCSL Championships, also at Pennsauken.
Pennsauken scored 16 points in the event, with another sophomore, Premier Wynn, taking third in 56.48.
Salem senior Bobby Arnold III, the No. 3 seed, ran a huge PR and won a state Group 1 title Friday at Pennsauken in an event he just began competing in.
Arnold, who according to the MileSplit database ran his first lifetime 400-meter intermediates race 17 days ago, ran 55.58 and upset top-seeded Thomas Gibbard of Emerson, who was second in 56.38.
His previous PR was 57.64 from sectionals and before that 58.10 at the Salem County Championships on May 25, which according to MileSplit was the first major 400IH race he ever ran.
So he’s gone from never running the event in major competition to a state title in 2 1/2 weeks.
Arnold is the first Salem runner to win a state title in the intermediates since junior William Barnes ran 54.91 to win Group 1 in 2004 at Notre Dame High in Lawrenceville.
Arnold also advanced to states in the 400 and triple jump.
From Auburn Track and Field and XC Twitter account.
Auburn senior Cade Antonucci, a 2017 Holy Spirit graduate, hit a massive javelin PR and finished third at the NCAA Track and Field Championships Wednesday night at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., earning All-America honors.
Along the way, he qualified for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials four days before the qualifying deadline. The Trials are scheduled for later this month at the same track.
Antonucci threw 249-10 on his fifth throw. LSU’s Tzuriel Pedigo moved up from seventh to first with a 252-7 on his final throw, and Mississippi State’s DJ Jonsson of Iceland finished second at 251-9.
Antonucci, seeded 8th coming in with his 235-6 at the Eastern Regional prelims, barely qualified for the finals. He threw 231-3 on his third and final throw of the trials, advancing by less than three feet.
He opened the finals with a 227-9 before bombing his 249-10 on his fifth throw. He added a 245-10 on his final throw, the second-best throw of his life.
The Olympic Trials standard is 75.00 meters (246-0).
Antonucci’s previous PR was 241-0 at the Pepsi Florida Relays in Gainesville in April. He also broke the school record of 243-9, set by current teammate Nils Fischer in April at the LSU Alumni Gold Invitational in Baton Rouge. Fischer placed 10th at NCAAs with a throw of 228-8.
With his 249-10, Antonucci moves up to No. 10 in the U.S. this year. No. 1 is Florence graduate Curtis Thompson, who threw 267-2 in Tucson two weeks ago.
Antonucci, who’s from Mays Landing, also competed in the 2018 NCAA Championships in Eugene and the 2019 NCAA Championships in Austin, placing 24th and 21st.
Antonucci’s 3rd-place finish is the best ever by an Auburn javelin thrower. The previous best finish came 90 years ago, when Sam Robinson placed sixth in 1931.
Antonucci moved up from 9th to 8th on the all-time New Jersey alumni list:
271-11 … Curtis Thompson [Florence], July 4, 2016, Eugene, Ore.
261- 2 … Vince Labosky [Holy Cross], June 15, 1990, Norwalk, Calif.
261- 2 … Tim VanLiew [Deptford], May 21, 2016, Tucson, Ariz.
259- 7 … Bob Roggy [Holmdel], June 7, 1986, Eugene, Ore.
251- 6 … Chris Mirabelli [Holy Cross], April 29, 2017, Philadelphia
251- 0 … John Amabile [Wall Twp.], May 31, 1987, Piscataway
250- 2 … Gerard Langlois [Madison Central], June 10, 1995, Piscataway
249-10 … Cade Antonucci [Holy Spirit], June 9, Eugene, Ore.
249- 6 … Bobby Smith [Hopatcong], July 6, 2008, Eugene, Ore.
236- 5 … Nick Mirabelli [Rancocas Valley], March 27-30, 2019, Austin, Texas
At Holy Spirit, Antonucci threw 220-11 and won the 2017 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 