Lawrenceville senior Greg Foster, a Lumberton native, unleashed the No. 2 long jump in New Jersey history Friday night with a 24-8 1/2 mark at the Mercer County Championships at the Lawrenceville School.
Although his full series and official results are not available, there is a video on YouTube that shows Foster hitting his mark perfectly from a new take-off board that was just added to the facility to enable him to land safely after a big jump.
Foster’s previous PR was a 24-0 at a scrimmage at Lawrenceville on Dec. 11. He came into the winter season with a PR of 23-6 from a meet last summer at the Peddie School in Hightstown and an official high school PR of 21-6 in an outdoor meet at Peddie and an official high school indoor PR of 22-5 3/4 from a meet last March in Virginia Beach.
Foster’s mark is No. 2 in state history behind Carl Lewis’s 25-5 1/2 at 1979 Eastern’s a few miles north at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym.
It’s also No. 1 nationally so far this indoor season, bumping Micah Larry of Montverde (Fla.) Academy, who jumped 24-2 1/4 at the Virginia Showcase last weekend in Virginia Beach.
Foster also broke his own Mercer County indoor record of 24-0 that he set last month at the same facility.
He also broke the overall Mercer County record of 24-3 1/4 sort in 2019 by Princeton’s Nils Wildberg at thee New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.
Here’s a look at every 23-foot jumper in New Jersey indoor track history:
25-5 ½ … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1979
24-8 1/2 … Greg Foster [Lawrenceville School], 2022
24-6 ¼ … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 1990
24-3 3/4 … Hanif Kendrick [Franklin]. 2007
24-3 1/4 … Kaelen Mitchell [Piscataway], 2021
24-2 ½ … Isaac Samuels [Kennedy], 1983
24-0 ¾ … Mike Morrison [Willingboro], 2003
24-0 1/4 … Justes Nance [Blair Academy], 2016
24-0 ½ … William Spearmon [Wilson], 1996
23-11 3/4 … Corey Crawford [Indian Hills], 2010
23-11 ½ … Kerry Vivett [Edgewood], 1985
22-10 ¾ … Nick Brown [Bridgeton], 1999
23-10 ….. Matt Rose [Bordentown], 1985
23-9 1/2 … James Bivins [Donovan Catholic], 2021
23-9 …… Syteek Farrington [Camden], 2009
23-7 ¾ … Anthony Averett [Woodbury], 2012
23-5 ½ … Floyd Whitaker [Highland Reg.], 2020
23-5 1/2 … Rahdel Savage [Roselle], 2007
23-4 3/4 … Zack Bazile [St. Joe’s], 2014
23-4 1/2 … Nils Wildberg [Princeton], 2019
23-4 ½ … Maurice Hunter [Woodbury], 1983
23-4 ….. Andrew Athias [Cherry Hill East], 2011
23-3 ¾ … Jamar Byrd [Vineland], 2005
23-3 1/2 … Matias Pellegrino [Morris Knolls], 2018
23-3 … Jamal Williams [Teaneck], 2012
23-3 … Jon Pitt [South Brunswick], 2013
23-3 … Patrick Warren [Montgomery], 2016
23-2 1/4 … Tyler Heller [Hunterdon Central], 2020
23-2 ½ … Rich Winstead [Egg Harbor Twp.], 1988
23-2 … Victor Cotto [Bayonne], 2017
23-1 ….. Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2014
23-0 ….. Derek King [Cumberland Reg.], 1984
And here’s a look at every 24-foot jumper in New Jersey history indoors or out:
26-8 1/4 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1979 [outdoors]
25-2 1/2 … Anthony Averett [Woodbury], 2012 [outdoors]
25-0 1/2 … Corey Crawford [Indian Hills], 2010 [outdoors]
25-0 … William Spearmon [Woodrow Wilson], 1996 [outdoors]
24-11 1/2 … Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 1977 [outdoors]
24-11 1/4 … Anthony Miles [Winslow Twp.], 2002 [outdoors]
24-11 … Darius Pemberton [Hackensack], 1993 [outdoors]
24-8 1/2 … Greg Foster [Lawrenceville School], 2022 [indoors]
24-8 1/4 … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 1990 [outdoors]
24-8 … Isaac Samuels [Kennedy], 1983 [outdoors]
24-5 … Todd Baskerville [Rahway], 1984 [outdoors]
24-5 … Brad Mayo [West Orange], 1984 [outdoors]
24-5 … Mike Morrison [Willingboro], 2003 [outdoors]
24-4 1/2 … Eulace Peacock [Union], 1933 [outdoors]
24-4 … Emeke Eze [Sayreville], 2012 [outdoors]
24-3 3/4 … Hanif Kendrick [Franklin Twp.], 2007 [indoors]
24-3 3/4 … Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2013 [outdoors]
24-3 1/4 … Marcus Hickerson [Delbarton], 1987 [outdoors]
24-3 1/4 … Kaelen Mitchell [Piscataway], 2021 [indoors]
24-3 1/4 … Nils Wildberg [Princeton], 2019 [outdoors]
24-2 1/4 … Ed Ryan [Barringer], 1938 [outdoorts]
24-1 3/4 … Mark Henry [Plainfield], 1980 [outdoors]
24-1 3/4 … Evans Tobler [Trenton], 1984 [outdoors]
24-1 3/4 … Ron Lewis [Asbury Park], 1984 [outdoors]
24-1 1/2 … Richie Cimer [Paramus], 1965 [outdoors]
24-1 1/2 … Derrick Horner [Don Bosco], 1989 [outdoors]
24-1 … Bob Calhoun [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 1974 [outdoors]
24-1 … Zack Bazile [St. Joe’s], 2014 [outdoors]
24-0 1/2 … Kerry Vivett [Edgewood], 1984 [outdoors]
24-0 1/4 … Justes Nance [Blair Academy], 2016 [indoors]
24-0 … Sherman Gramby [Elizabeth], 1986 [outdoors]
24-0 … A’nan Bridgett [West Windsor-Plainsboro South], 2018 [outdoors]
24-0 … Donavan Anderson [Bergenfield], 2021 [outdoors]
Foster is also New Jersey No. 1 in the 55-meter hurdles with a 7.61 in a meet at the Armory last month.
Although Foster is from Lumberton, his marks are not eligible for the South Jersey record book since he attends a school in Mercer County.
Foster’s father, also Greg, competed for Shawnee High and was the 1988 NCAA Division 3 long jump and triple jump champion for Stockton University. He competed in the triple jump at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Indianapolis and was actually the first jumper in the first event at the Trials that year. The senior Foster continued has continued competing on the masters in recent years.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 