From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

If the Delsea shot put crew was a team, it would have placed 4^th in the state Group 2 championships all by itself.

Seniors Jason Nwosu and Josh Caudill and sophomore Greg Masso produced a rare state-level sweep in the shot put Saturday, scoring a perfect 24 points and leading Delsea to the team title at the Bubble.

Delsea outscored 2^nd-place Nottingham 44-36 to win its 4^th state indoor championship. Haddonfield was 3^rd with 30 points and Ocean Township scored 24, the same number as the Crusaders’ weight crew.

Delsea actually scored more points outside the Bubble than inside. The shot is contested next door at Toms River Intermediate School.

Delsea also won Group 2 in 2011, 2018 and 2020, which was the last time the meet was contested. The only other South Jersey schools to win four indoor state titles are Willingboro (15), Haddonfield (11), Bishop Eustace and Bridgeton (6), Camden, Pleasantville and Woodbury (5) and Winslow (4).

Nwosu won the shot with a mammoth throw of 62-0 ½, No. 5 in South Jersey history. More on Nwosu in a moment.

Caudill placed second with a PR throw of his own at 54-5 ¾. His previous best was a 53-9 ½, also at Cherokee last month.

And Masso finished off the sweep with a 51-7 ½,  more than a foot over his PR of 50-0 set – you guessed it – at the Cherokee Throwdown.

Cinnaminson junior Malicah Etienne made it a 1-2-3-4 South Jersey sweep with a 51-5 ½ for 4^th place.

Delsea also got 10 points in the 3,200, where Andrew Littlehales broke the Gloucester County record – you can read about his race here – and 10 more in the 55-meter dash, where senior Jaedyn Stewart and junior Ziyan Smith went 3-4, Stewart in 6.65 and Smith in 6.66. Both previously had PRs of 6.73.

Stewart and Smith were seeded 9th and 10th in the dash, so Delsea got 10 points where they weren’t seeded for any. That was huge. Before sectionals last weekend, neither Stewart nor Smith had ever broken 6.80.

As for Nwosu, his 62-0 ¼ is No. 2 in the state this year, behind only Gill St. Bernard’s Joe Licata, who threw 63-8 Friday in the Parochial B meet. His throw is No. 5 in South Jersey history and No. 9 in the U.S. this year, according to MileSplit’s national performance list.

He moved closer to the Gloucester County record of 63-1 ¾ set in 2014 by West Deptford’s Nick Pulli at Cherokee.

All-Time New Jersey 62-foot list
71-9 1/2 … Nick Vena [Morristown], 2011
70-8 … Braheme Days Jr. [Bridgeton], 2012
67-3 … Kevin DiGiorgio [Bayonne], 1998
67-1 3/4 … James Gilligan [Toms River East], 2008
66-6 … Glen DiGiorgio [Bayonne], 2002
65-10 … Steve Adams [St. Joe’s Montvale], 1970
65-6 … Jordan West [Rahway], 2017
65-4 … Cole Tucker [Colts Neck], 2021
65-2 1/2 … Greg Cortina [Hun], 1971
64-5 3/4 … Luke Grodeska [St. Rose], 2016
64-5 1/4 … Bruce Heide [Springfield], 1975
64-5 1/2 … C.J. Licata [Gill St. Bernard’s], 2018
63-11 … Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], 1995
63-8 1/2 … Mike Alleman [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 2008
63-8 1/4 … Rudy Guevara [Essex Catholic], 1971
63-8 … Joe Licata [Gill St. Bernard’s], 2022
63-6 … Ron Klotzer [Union], 1974
63-5 1/2 … Aaron Echternacht [Hopewell Valley], 1991
63-2 1/2 … Uzoma Orji [Matawan], 2002
63-1 3/4 … Nick Pulli [West Deptford], 2014
62-11 1/2 … Stephen Mozia [Hackensack], 2011
62-11 … Keith Rzewuski [St. Joe’s Metuchen], 1998
62-9 1/2 … Christopher Staton [Franklin Twp.], 2012
62-7 3/4 … Kamron Kobolak [Cinnaminson], 2018
62-4 … Tyrone Garland [Matawan], 1993
62-2 1/4 … Brian Cortina [Hun], 2005
62-1 1/2 … Bob Vorhies [Our Lady of the Valley], 1977
62-0 ¼ … Jason Nwosu [Delsea], 2022]

Here’s the all-time South Jersey top-10
70-8 … Braheme Days Jr. [Bridgeton], 2012
63-11 … Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], 1995
63-1 ¾ … Nick Pulli [West Deptford], 2014
62-7 ¾ … Kamron Kobolak [Cinnaminson], 2018
62-0 ¼ … Jason Nwosu [Delsea], 2022
61-9 … Lou Gordon [Bridgeton], 1995
60-3 … Harry Dilks [Pitman], 1971
60-10 ¾ … John Purvis [Winslow Twp.], 2020
60-0 ½ … Ell Ash [Willingboro], 2004
59-9 … Kofi Yamoah [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013

All-time Gloucester County indoor top-10
63-1 ¾ … Nick Pulli [West Deptford], 2014
62-0 ¼ … Jason Nwosu [Delsea], 2022
60-3 … Harry Dilks [Pitman], 1971
58-9 … Greg Ross [Deptford], 1976
58-8 ¾ … Bill Goldsborough [Delsea], 2018
57-11 … Kwabena Keene [Washington Twp], 2008
57-9 ½ … Rich Lewis [Williamstown], 1985
57-8 1/4 … Josh Awotunde [Delsea], 2013
56-5 ¼ … Chris Pressley [Woodbury], 2003
57-5 … Joe Metzger [Delwea], 2020