From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Junior Lathan Brown ran on four scoring teams and senior Miles Williams on three, and Deptford’s sprinters carried the Spartans to their second Group 2 state relays title at the Bubble.

Deptford went into the 4-by-400, the final event, with a 32-22 1/2 lead over Rumson-Fair Haven, which means the Spartans needed only a 6th-place finish to clinch the team title.

As it turned out, Rumson-Fair Haven did win the 4-by-4 in 3:36.61, but Deptford placed 5th – safely 5 1/2 seconds ahead of 6th-place Delsea – to wrap up the championship by a final score of 34-32 1/2.

The team title is Deptford’s second in the state relays. The Spartans won the 2019 championship with 42 points. There was no meet held last year.

Deptford scored its only win on the track in the 800-meter relay, the team of Brown, Williams, sophomore Christian Berry and senior Lloyd Boggs running 1:34.42 and finishing a second ahead of 2nd-place Delsea.

Deptford placed second in the shuttle hurdles in 33.54 with senior Gursharan Singh, Brown, sophomore Manny Perdue and senior George Rodgers and also second in the sprint medley, with Brown, Boggs, Williams and sophomore Carl Carter in 3:45.01.

In the 1,600-meter relay, Brown, Williams, Berry and Carter ran 3:41.57 for fifth place.

In the field, Deptford scored six big points with a 3rd-place finish in the high jump relay. Singh cleared 5-8 and senior Kymir Stewart 5-2.

South Jersey schools swept the top four spots in the distance medley, led by Haddonfield, which ran 10:44.48 with junior George Andrus, senior Tobias Janssen, senior Seth Clevenger and junior Joseph Nugent.

Haddon Heights was second in 10:49.02 with juniors Jack Bolling and Colin Patterson and seniors Chris Hunter and Matthew Iuvara, with Cinnaminson also well under 11 minutes at 10:50.55 with juniors Tyler Schill, Alex Boyko, Patrick Storti and Derek Coceano. Lower Cape May’s junior Jack Cura and seniors Anthony V. Gentile, Elijah Jackson and Zeb Hinker took 4th in 11:08.53.

The Haddonfield, Heights and Cinnaminson times are the three-fastest in South Jersey so far this year.

Haddonfield also won the 3,200-meter relay with Andrus, Clevenger, Janssen and senior Ethan Wellborn running 8:15.64, also No. 1 this year in South Jersey.

Cinnaminson and Haddon Heights both also medaled in the 4-by-8. Boyko, Schill, Storto and Coceano doubled back to place third in 8:25.71 for Cinnaminson, and Jonathon Hastings, Patterson, Bolling and senior Zachary Rehn ran for Heights, which ran 8:37.66. Cinnaminson also took second in the shot put relay, behind junior Malicah Etienne (49-4 3/4) and senior Colin Kind (42-0).

Haddon Heights also placed third in the 1,600-meter relay with junior Adam Furlong, senior Steve Crespo, Hunter and Iuvara running 3:36.90.

Delsea won the shot put relay behind senior Jason Nwosu (52-0 1/2) and senior Josh Caudill (48-3).

For Delsea in the 4-by-200, sophomores Christian Langston and Xavier Wyatt and seniors Jaedyn Stewart and Devin Hooks ran 1:35.45. Langston, Wyatt, sophomore Domenic Teti and senior Ismael Ortiz ran 3:46.23 for 6th in the 1,600-meter relay. 

Seneca scored eight points with a 2nd-place in the high jump relay, sophomore Jason Sheairs clearing 5-10 and senior Josh Swain 5-2 and added two points in the shuttle hurdles with sophomores Ethan Cutts and Mason Cutts, Swain and Sheairs running 35.46.

Pleasantville, Lower Cape May and Delsea ran 4th, 5th and 6th in the sprint med. Senior Irvin Marable III, junior Samir Miller, junior Xander Roberts-Bogin and junior Semaj Williams ran 3:45.76 for Pleasantville, senior Davon Figueroa, Gentile, Jackson and Hinker ran 3:47.38 for Lower Cape May, and senior Andrew Littlehales, Teti, Stewart and Hooks ran 3:48.92 for Delsea.

Delsea (23), Haddon Heights (22), Cinnaminson (20) and Haddonfield (20) placed 4th, 5th and tied for 6th, giving South Jersey five of the top seven teams in Group 2.