Cherokee graduate Jack Shea, a Northern Arizona junior, shattered the 14-minute barrier in the 5,000 Friday night in Seattle.

Shea ran 13:55.92 at the Husky Classic at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Fieldhouse, dropping his PR from 14:08.74, which he ran outdoors in the spring of 2018 in a meet at Asuza (Calif.) Pacific, and lowering his indoor PR from 14:14.33, which he ran in February of 2018 in a meet at the University of Iowa in Ames.

Shea’s time is No. 8 in the Big Sky Conference this season, and he’s the sixth NAU runner to break 14 minutes this winter.

Shea is also No. 8 in the Big Sky in the 3,000 [8:06.83] and No. 18 in the conference in the mile [PR 4:10.87].

We wrote just two weeks ago about Kamron Kobolak blowing away his shot put PR in a meet in Boston.

Kobolak did it again.

Kobolak, a Cinnaminson graduate and Rutgers junior, bombed a 56-5 ¼ Saturday adding nearly two feet to his PR of 54-7 ½, which he just set earlier this month. Before that, his indoor PR was 52-6 from Ocean Breeze in January, and his lifetime best with the 16-pound shot was 52-11 from last spring at the University of Maryland.

So he’s added nearly four feet to his PR in two weeks.

Kobolak placed 3rd at the Rutgers Invitational at the Armory in New York, behind only Benjamin Clay of FDU [58-0] and Jeff Kline of Maryland [57-9]. Kobolak also had a 55-8 1/4 throw that was beyond his previous PR.

Collingswood graduate Adam Hunt, a Rutgers senior, threw 55-3 ½ in the same meet and placed fifth. He also had a 55-2 3/4 in his series.

On the all-time Rutgers list, Kobolak is now up to No. 4, behind only Sam Segond, who threw 59-11 ¾ at the 2005 Big East Championships at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse; James Plummer, who hit 57-11 ¼ at the Great Dane Classic at the Armory in 2013; and Hunt, who threw 56-1 ¼ last weekend at Notre Dame.

Williamstown junior Ciara Demarest became the newest member of the 40-foot club when she won her first sectional title Friday at Toms River Imtermediate East School next to the Bubble.

Demarest threw 40-5, which is No. 8 in Gloucester County history and the top throw by a South Jersey thrower this year. Demarest ranks No. 4 in New Jersey and No. 1 among underclassmen.

It’s the best throw by a Gloucester County underclassman in six years, since Kingsway’s Emily Hilt threw 40-7 ¼ in a meet at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., in 2016.

Demarest has just missed the 40-foot barrier numerous times. She threw 39-2 last spring in a meet at Delsea and had throws of 39-1 ¼ at Cherokee and 39-11 ¼ at the Bubble earlier this season.

Demarest placed second in the South Jersey Group 4 discus last spring as a sophomore with a PR 117-5, and she was third in the shot. She was the No. 2 ranked soph in New Jersey a year ago in the disc and No. 3 in the shot.

Here’s the all-time Gloucester County indoor shot put top-10 performance list:

44-3 ½ … Jocelyn White [Delsea], 2004
43-4 ½ … Victoria Imbesi [Our Lady of Mercy], 2009
43-3 … Janiece Rose [Delsea], 2011
42-7 ¾ … Typhanie Bates [Williamstown], 1995
42-5 ½ … Genevieve Tybicki [Our Lady of Mercy], 2007
41-3 … Tara Daniels [Kingsway], 2013
40-8 ¾ … Emily Hilt [Kingsway], 2017

40-5 … Cierra Demarest [Williamstown], 2022
39-8 ¼ … Karen Johnson [Williamstown], 2006
39-8 … Elisia Lancaster [Delsea], 2016

And here’s a look at every 40-foot indoor thrower in South Jersey history:

47-5 ¾ … Zyra Thomas [Schalick], 2018
46-1 ½ … Najeaya Singleton [Vineland], 2017
46-1 … Cydney Thomas [Haddon Heights], 2019
45-3 … Nacole Moore [Bridgeton], 2000
44-6 ½ … Sylvia Galarza [Millville], 2004
44-3 ½ … Jocelyn White [Delsea], 2004
44-0 ½ … Melinda Boykin [Bridgeton], 1996
43-11 ¾ … Stephanie Scaramella [Bishop Eustace], 2007
43-10 ¼ … Mercedes Hicks [Atlantic City], 2006
43-10 … Rosetta Hunter [Burlington Twp.], 2015
43-4 ¾ … Jessica Woodard [Cherokee], 2012
43-4 ½ … Victoria Imbesi [Our Lady of Mercy], 2009
43-3 … Janice Rose [Delsea], 2011
42-7 ¾ … Typhanie Bates [Williamstown], 1995
42-5 ½ … Genevieve Tybicki [Our Lady of Mercy], 2007
42-4 … Sophia Coleburn [Haddon Heights], 2007
42-1 … Donovan Bennett [Vineland], 2014
42-0 ½ … Lisa Stuto [Winslow Twp.], 2009
42-0 ¼ … Lola Agabalogun [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013
41-10 … Lillian Rivera [Pemberton], 1984
41-9 … Bernadette McGowan [Paul VI], 2016
41-8 … Alijah Caul [Sterling], 2019
41-6 ½ … Dana White [Camden], 2000
41-3 … Tara Daniels [Kingsway], 2013
41-2 … Ciarra Johnson [Winslow Twp.], 2018
41-0 … Nicole Scott [Willingboro], 1997
40-11 … Alexis Kennedy [Millville], 2012
40-10 … Danea Wint [Vineland], 2015
40-10 … Nyla Noble [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2014
40-9 … Amanda Thompson [Camden], 2001
40-8 ¾ … Emily Hilt [Kingsway], 2017
40-5 ½ … Cameron Daniels [Vineland], 2015
40-5 … Cierra Demarest [Williamstown], 2022
40-4 … Shanna Campbell [Pemberton], 2007
40-3 ½ … Lacole Fields [Camden], 1996
40-1 ¾ … Kelly Staten [Atlantic City], 2001
40-1 ½ … Sophia Colburn [Haddon Heights], 2007
40-1 … Katherine Johnston [Haddonfield], 2012
40- ½ … Linda Dougherty [Sterling], 1982

Pleasantville’s Gabriel Moronta, now a freshman at Mississippi State, ran an indoor 800 PR Saturday at the Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson.

Moronta ran 1:50.80 off a 54.21 first 400 and clipped his indoor PR of 1:52.46, which he ran when he won the Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze two years ago. His time is No. 13 in the Southeastern Conference and No. 4 among freshmen.

Moronta dipped under 1:50 a couple times outdoors last spring and has a PR of 1:49.33 from last year’s SEC Championships in College Station, Texas.

 

Senior Kaelin Marshall and juniors Meghan Lex and Lilli Santomauro combined to score 46 and lead the Haddon Township girls to their first indoor sectional title Friday.

Haddon Township outscored Audubon 54-41 ½ to win the South Jersey Group 1 title at the Bubble in Toms River. Schalick (32), Clayton (30), Burlington City (27) and Glassboro (26) made it four teams within six points for third place.

Lex won the 1,600 5:38.76 and the 3,200 in 12:41.23, Marshall placed 2^nd in the 400 in 1:03.80 and the high hurdles in 9.20, and Santomauro ran 7.49 to win the 55.

Both of Lex’s performances were indoor PRs, and her 3,200 was an indoor/outdoor best. She was also the South Jersey Group 1 XC sectional champ. Marshall also PR’d in both her races. Santomauro also PR’d, and her time is No. 5 in South Jersey this year.

Santomauro, Marshall, freshman Maddie Clauson and junior Elise Curran took 3^rd in the 1,600-meter relay in 4:28.54.

Sophopmore Genevieve Gentlesk also contributed two points with a 5^th-place finish in the 3200 in a PR 13:23.76.

Senior Kyle Rakitis turned in a fast distance triple to lead Kingsway to its fifth indoor sectional title but first since 2015.

Rakitis won the 800 in 1:59.23, the 1,600 in 4:28.83 and the 3,200 in 9:38.74, and Kingsway scored 70 points, topping Southern (45), Rancocas Valley (37) and Washington Township (35) to win the South Jersey Group 4 championship at the Bubble in Toms River.

The title is Kingsway’s first in Group 4. The Dragons won South Jersey Group 3 in 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

The only South Jersey boys programs with more titles since the inception of indoor sectionals in 2008 are Willingboro (9), Delsea (6), Egg Harbor (6) and Highland (6).

Kingsway scored 70 points with just five athletes – Rakitis, seniors Jeffrey Heineman and Evan Corcoran, junior Damon Dukes Jr. and sophomore Benny Liles Jr. All the Dragons’ points came on the track.

Heineman, Corcoran, Dukes Jr. and Liles Jr. put an exclamation point on the team title by winning the 1,600-meter relay in 3:30.25.

Also, Heineman placed 3^rd in the 800 in 2:01.30 and 4^th in the 400 in 52.97, Corcoran ran a PR 6.60 for 3^rd in the 55 and another PR 52.90 for 3^rd in the 400 and Dukes Jr. ran a PR 6.56 for 2^nd in the 55.

Samuel Gerstenbacher, a graduate of Schalick and Elizabethtown University, won the 3,000 Friday night at the Fastrack National Invitational at Ocean Breeze with a personal-best time.

Gerstenbacher, racing unattached, ran 8:19.36 and won by 40 meters over Matt Hynes of Vermont, who ran 8:26.03.

Gerstenbacher’s previous 3,000 PR was an 8:26.67 when he won his final indoor race for Elizabethtown at the AARTFC Championships in March of 2000 in Rochester.

Gerstenbacher and Hynes separated from the pack on the sixth lap and ran together until the 13^th lap, when Gerstenbacher took off with a 32.59 lap. He then closed with 31.42 and 30.00 for a final 400 of 61.42. His final 800 was a 2:07.72.

This was Gerstenbacher’s first race on the track since last summer, when he ran a 9:23.53 steeplechase at Icahn Stadium in New York, but he’s been running outstanding on the roads, including a 1:06.18 for 25^th place in the U.S. Half Marathon Championships in Hardeeville, S.C., in December; 23:54 for sixth in the Philadelphia Marathon 8K in November; 31:11 in a road 10K in Camden and Philly in November

Senior Nicole Clifford won four events and led the Cherokee girls to the first indoor sectional title in school history Friday.

Clifford won the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 and anchored the winning 1,600-meter relay, and Cherokee outscored Rancocas Valley 84-60 to win the South Jersey Group 4 championship at the Bennett Center in Toms River.

Cherokee’s 84 points are 2^nd-most in South Jersey Group 4 since the inception of indoor sectionals in 2008. Southern Regional scored 91 to win the 2012 title.

We wrote earlier tonight about Cherokee’s 1-4-5 finish for 16 points in the 1,600 with Clifford, freshman Megan Niglio and sophomore Kerry O’Day [https://sjtrackblog.com/2022/02/11/nicole-clifford-runs-all-time-s-j-11-in-1600-as-cherokee-girls-go-1-4-5-at-sectionals/], but Cherokee’s distance team added 11 points in the 800 and 16 in the 3,200.

In the 800, Clifford ran 2:18.87 and won by three meters over Olivia Takla of Toms River North, who ran 2:19.35, and junior Kelsey Niglio was sixth in 2:22.25, and in the 3,200, Clifford ran 11:15.18 and finished about 30 meters ahead of Kingsway’s Aubrey Pierontoni, who was second in 11:23.02. O’Day and Niglio once again finished 4-5, O’Day with an 11:28.55 and Niglio just 5-100ths of a second back in 11:28.60.

That’s 43 points in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.

Senior Alison Cooke, junior Kelsey Niglio, sophomore Madison Van Haren and Clifford ran 4:01.96 to win the 1,600-meter relay, Clifford anchoring in 59.2.

Cooke and Kelsey Niglio picked up 14 points in the 400 with a 2-3 finish, Cooke running 59.87 and Niglio 1:00.29. Rancocas Valley’s Kasey White won the race in 59.79.

Van Haren ran 7.51 for third place in the 55-meter dash, behind seniors Anabella Chin of R.V. [7.31] and Joslynn Whaley of Atlantic County Tech [7.45].

Cherokee added 11 points in the pole vault, with senior Jillian Strauss placing second with a 9-0 clearance and senior Isabella Kadar tied for fourth at 8-0.

Senior Miles Allen won three gold medals and senior Anaias Hughes won two, and the Willingboro boys won their seventh consecutive indoor sectional title and ninth overall.

Allen won the 55 in a personal-best 6.60 and the 400 with a PR 51.90 and also led off the winning 1,600-meter relay team, which ran 3:35.09. Hughes won the hurdles in a PR 7.79 and the high jump at 5-8.

Willingboro won the South Jersey Group 1 title at the Bennett Center in Toms River with an unofficial 104 points, 4th-most any group in South Jersey since the inception of indoor sectionals in 2008 and 9th-most ever of any sectional meet state-wide. (The results do not list team scoring, so the total is based on my own often shaky math.)

Willingboro won Central Jersey Group 2 titles in 2011 and 2012 and then started its streak in 2015, when it won Central Jersey Group 1. After winning South Jersey Group 1 in 2016, the Chimeras won CJ-1 four straight years. Sectionals weren’t held last year.

Boro also got wins from senior C.J. Johnson with a 53-10 1/4 in the shot put and sophomore Jackson Murry in the pole vault with a 10-6.

Seniors Geordan Collins, Jaylen Young and Christopher Johnson joined Allen on the winning 1,600-meter relay team.

Senior Byron Gary placed second in the pole vault (10-0), Collins was third in the 400 (PR 52.62), Young was fourth in the 400 (52.74), sophomore Rae-Juan Gayle ran 6.86 for fourth in the 55 (6.86), junior Xavier Tolliver took fourth in the high jump (5-6), soph Kedaar Wilson placed fourth in the hurdles (8.50), Johnson ran fifth in the 800 (PR 2:10.68) and senior Nazsir Sheppard-Kidd placed fifth in the shot put (41-1 1/2).

Cherokee senior Nicole Clifford became the 13th South Jersey girl to run sub-5 minutes for 1,600 meters Friday evening at the Bubble.

Clifford led a 1-4-5 finish in the 1,600 at the South Jersey Group 4 sectional race with a 4:58.69.

That’s No. 11 in South Jersey history and No. 4 in Burlington County history, and she did it on a slow, flat track.

That’s fastest by a South Jersey girl indoors since Haddonfield’s Briana Gess ran 4:51.60 at the 2016 Meet of Champions. It’s also No. 3 in New Jersey this year, behind Lilly Shapiro of Colts Neck, who ran an all-time New Jersey No. 2 4:45.39 full mile in Boston Friday evening, and Lindsay Hausman of Kent Place School in Summit, who ran 4:57.01 last month at the Armory.

Freshman Megan Niglio placed 4th in 5:14.96 and sophomore Kerry O’Day was 5th in 5:17.46.

That’s 16 points in one event for the Chiefs.

This was Clifford’s first indoor 1,600 since her freshman year, and her previous indoor PR was 5:31.19 at 2019 sectionals on the same track in Toms River.

Her outdoor PR is 5:07.10 this past spring at Group 4 sectionals at Washington Township.

Niglio’s time was a PR since it was her first lifetime 1,600-meter race. It’s fastest by a South Jersey freshman since Haddonfield’s Allison Colflesh ran 5:13.49 at 2018 states and fastest by a Burlington County freshman in 10 years – since Camille Franklin of Lenape ran 5:07.01 at the 2012 Meet of Champions.

This was also O’Day’s first indoor 1,600. Her lifetime PR was a 5:21.95 last spring at Group 4 sectionals at Washington Township.

Clifford, Niglio and O’Day ran in an unseeded heat because they didn’t have seed times, thanks to cancellations that the Bubble’s recent temporary closing caused.

Kingsway’s Aubrey Pierontoni ran 5:05.01 to win the seeded heat and wound up second overall. 

All-Time South Jersey Indoor Sub-5 List
4:41.52y … Michelle Rowen [Wash. Twp.], 1983
4:49.46y … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2001
4:51.60 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2016
4:53.36 … Lindsey Kane [Washington Twp.], 2014
4:54.58 … Celine Mazzi [Delsea], 2014
4:55.04y … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2010
4:56.1h,y … Ruth Lockbaum [Glassboro], 1985
4:57.12 … Megan Quimby [Lenape], 2015
4:57.72 … Caitlin Orr [Lenape], 2010
4:58.48 … Natalia Ocasio [Lenape], 2010
4:58.69 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
4:59.29 … Julia Despirito [Shawnee], 2014
4:59.39 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012

All-Time Burlington County List
4:57.12 … Megan Quimby [Lenape], 2015
4:57.72 … Caitlin Orr [Lenape], 2010
4:58.48 … Natalia Ocasio [Lenape], 2010
4:58.69 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
4:59.29 … Julia Despirito [Shawnee], 2014
4:59.39 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012
5:00.39 … Lisa Burkholder [Cherokee], 2004
5:00.78y … Monica Olkowski [Cherokee], 1990
5:01.86 … Kristen Niedrach [Shawnee], 2012
5:03.97 … Camille Franklin [Lenape], 2014
5:04.48 … Kara Bonner [Shawnee], 2016
5:06.53 … Brittnee Bynoe [Willingboro], 2003
5:07.60 … Miya Johnson [Lenape], 2008
5:08.12 … Shelby Bobbie [Rancocas Valley], 2014
5:08.46 … Casey Doyle [Shawnee], 2008
5:08.7y … Deanna Germano, Shawnee, 1986