Jessica Woodard bombed the 3rd-best throw of her spectacular shot put career Saturday and improved her standing as the No. 1 American woman this year.

Woodard, a Cherokee High School graduate, threw 61-7 at the USATF Golden Games at Mt. SAC University in Walnut, Calif. She was already No. 1 American before the meet with a 59-6 from an outdoor meet at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix back in February.

Her 61-7 is less than seven inches off her lifetime best of 62-3 ¾ from a meet in Tucson last May. It’s No. 6 in the world so far this year.

Woodard opened with a 60-4 ½ and after a 59-10 ¼ fouled on her third attempt. She recorded the 61-7 on her fourth attempt and then fouled on her last two. Jamaican Danniel Thomas-Dodd, a two-time Olympian and two-time World Championship silver medalist, won the event with a throw of 62-1, No. 4 in the world this year.

American Jessica Ramsey briefly passed Woodard and moved into second place with a 61-4 ¾ on her fourth throw before Woodard passed her back to reclaim second place behind Thomas-Dodd and to reclaim the No. 1 spot in the 2022 U.S. rankings.

Woodard ranks No. 18 in U.S. history indoors and No. 20 outdoors.

Here’s a look at all of Woodard’s 60-foot throws:

62-3 3/4 … Tucson Elite Classic, Tucson, Ariz., May 20, 2021
61-10 1/4 … USATF Throws Festival, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021
61-7 … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022
61-4¼i … U.S. Indoor Championships, Spokane, Wash., Feb. 26, 2022
61-3½ … NCAA Championships, Eugene, Ore., June 7, 2018
60-10i … U.S. Indoor Championships, Spokane, Wash., Feb. 26, 2022
60-9½ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., May 9, 2021
60-7¼ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., May 9, 2021
60-7½i … Don Kirby Elite, Albuquerque (N.M.) Convention Center, Feb. 12, 2022
60-5¾ … Tucson Elite Classic, Tucson, Ariz., May 20, 2021
60-4¾ … USATF Throws Festival, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021
60-4 … Goteborg Grand Prix, Goteborg, Sweden, Aug. 16, 2019
60-3¼ … U.S. Olympic Trials, Eugene, Oregon, June 24, 2021
60-3 … Big 12 Championships, Lawrence, Kans., May 13, 2017
60-1¼ … Chula Vista High Performance #3, Chula Vista, Calif., May 2, 2021
60-½ … Chula Vista High Performance #1, Chula Vista, Calif., April 3, 2021
60-4½ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022

Pennsauken ran its fastest 3,200-meter relay in 11 years Saturday and posted the fastest time so far this year in New Jersey.

Racing at the Fast Times at Cherokee High, the team of junior Premier Wynn, sophomore Ladanian McGrath and juniors Joel Oquendo and Bryce Tucker ran 8:06.83.

Cherokee, which had been New Jersey No. 1 with its 8:08.33 from the Don Danser Relays two weeks ago, placed second in 8:07.58 on its home track.

The time is Pennsauken’s 2nd-fastest ever and fastest since Elijah Swain, Charles Brewer, Donovan Torres and Eric Butler ran 8:03.33 at the 2011 Carl Lewis Relays in Willingboro. 

Wynn, a sprinter and intermediate hurdler, led off in 2:05 in his first-ever high school 800.  McGrath split 2:02 and Oquendo and Tucker ran 1:59. All were running their second or third race of the day.

Sunday at 5 p.m. is the deadline for Penn Relays 4-by-8 qualifying, and in a normal year 8:06.83 would be a few seconds short of making the field. But this has not been a particularly fast April for 4-by-800s around the area, so Pennsauken and Cherokee both have a shot at making the field for the 126th annual Penn Relays at Franklin Field later this month. The fields will be announced on Monday.

The Penn 3,200-meter relays accept the 35-fastest entries for two races in the Large School division and the 35-fastest for two races in the Small School division. Pennsauken and Cherokee are both classified as Large-School.

Lenape graduate Jasmine Staten shattered the 14-second barrier in the hurdles Saturday at the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton.

Staten, a junior at Bloomfield, placed 2nd in 13.92, behind only Villanova’s Jane Livington, the Big East runner-up last year. Livingston won the race in a PR of her own with a 13.55.

Staten’s PR at Lenape was 14.04 from her win at the 2016 South Jersey Group 4 sectionals at Egg Harbor Township.

From the end of the 2016 season through the start of this 2022 spring season, she only ran four hurdles races and did not race at all in 2017, 2019, 2020 or 2021.

Her collegiate best before Saturday was a 14.08 for Bloomfield, when she won the 100-meter highs at the Brick City Classic in Newark in April of 2018. 

Staten returned to competition this spring this indoor season and had a season-best of 14.16 in a meet at Ramapo the first weekend of April.

On Saturday, she got started with a 14.17 in the trials, which was the 4th-fastest qualifying time, and then she flew in the finals with a legal tailwind of 0.7 meters per second.

Her time is No. 12 in NCAA Division 2. Bloomfield’s athletics web site does not list school records, and it may be the only college web site I’ve come across that doesn’t. There is no mention of Staten’s performance or the meet on Bloomfield’s web site.

Staten is well under the qualifying standard of 14.21 for the high hurdles at the NCAA Division 2 National Championships in Allendale, Mich., next month. 

Click to access 2021-22D2XTO_QualifyingStandards.pdf

In the same race, Egg Harbor graduate Mariah Stephens, a freshman at Rider, palced 5th in 14.55. She ran a personal-best 14.47 in the trials, No. 6 in program history and 4th-fastest this year in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Her previous PR was 14.53 last month in a meet on her home track in Lawrenceville.

Penn freshman Shevell Higgs from Winslow actually ran slightly faster than Stephens in the qualifying heats [14.45] but didn’t qualify for the final because Stephens was an auto qualifier in the slowest round. Higgs finished 2-100ths of a second behind Staten in the trials. Only the winner of each of four heats and the next four-fastest advanced to the finals. Higgs has a PR of 14.31 from a meet in Fairfax, Va., last weekend.

Rancocas Valley’s sophomore Nyla Byrd, seniors Sanai Jenkins and Jya Marshall and junior Kasey White solo’d the fastest 4-by-4 in South Jersey so far this year Saturday at the West Deptford Relays.

Rancocas Valley’s senior Sanai Jenkins and Jya Marshall, junior Kasey White and sophomore Leah Howe solo’d the fastest 4-by-4 in South Jersey so far this year Saturday at the West Deptford Relays.

The Red Devils ran 4:01.03 to win the Group 4 4-by-4 by about 150 meters over the field. Although all weekend results aren’t in yet, most of them are and as of mid-afernoon it appears their performance is No. 2 in New Jersey this year, behind only Union Catholic, which ran 3:57.67 at Arcadia High School in California last weekend.

In their only previous 4-by-4 this spring, R.V. ran 4:23.91 at the Rebel Relays opening weekend of the season at Howell High.

No splits available just yet for R.V., who has only run this fast before Penn Relays once – a 3:58.32 at The College of New Jersey in Ewing in mid-April 2019.

Rancocas Valley also won the 400-meter relay [freshman Cecelia King, Marshall, senior Olivia Smith, White] in 50.37, 800-meter relay [sophomore Adrienne Austin, King, Marshall, White] in 1:46.40 and shuttle hurdles [sophomore Laila Bailey, senior Anabella Chin, Jenkins, sophomore Neveah Lott] in 1:09.63.

They did keep track of team scoring at West Deptford, and R.V. was credited with a 108-72 victory in the Group 4 team scoring race, with Eastern and Millville both sharing second place with 72 points and Egg Harbor Township [68] and Clearview [64] no far behind.

Eastern sophomore Zoe Goldberg threw a 10-foot javelin PR Saturday at the West Deptford Relays, moving into the No. 3 spot in Camden County history and No. 1 in New Jersey this year.

Goldberg had a monster three-throw series to win the Group 4 javelin at West Deptford. She opened with a 126-9- a three-inch PR – and then followed that with her winning 136-7 before closing with a 133-7.

Her three throws averaged 132-3, which would have been a six-foot PR if it were a single throw.

Goldberg threw 117-10 as a freshman at the Meet of Champions and PR’d at 126-6 last weekend at the Lenape Girls Invitational. So she’s now PR’d in each of her last three major competitions.

Her mark is best by a Camden County thrower in 10 years, since Kate Johnson of Haddonfield set the county record of 152-9 at the 2012 state Group 2 meet at South Plainfield. Her throw is No. 22 in South Jersey history and best by a sophomore since Oakcrest’s Brielle Smith – the South Jersey record holder at 168-6 – threw 145-0 as a 10th-grader at the 2017 Rowan Open. It’s No. 3 all-time South Jersey among sophomores with the new javelin.

Millville junior Leah Howard also had a big throw, placing second with a season-best 121-10 throw. Howard has a PR of 123-3 from her win at South Jersey Group 4 sectionals last spring at Washington Township.

According to the MileSplit database, Goldberg’s throw is No. 4 nationally among all U.S. sophomores.

Here’s a look at the all-time Camden County Top-10:
152- 9 … Kate Johnston [Haddonfield], 2012
148- 8 … Caitlin Cielo [Eastern], 2002
142- 3 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2000
136- 7 … Zoe Goldberg [Eastern], 2022
136- 6 … Danielle Still [Bishop Eustace], 2002
132- 4 … Kelsey Reese [Paul VI], 2011
128- 5 … Saraly Gonzalez [Sterling], 2018
127-11 … Pam Watson [Haddon Heights], 2016
127- 5 … Bernadette McGowan [Paul VI], 2016
126- 6 … Connie Labouff [Haddon Twp.], 2000

And the all-time South Jersey 135-foot list:
168- 6 … Brielle Smith [Oakcrest], 2019
160- 8 … Maria Jimenez [Vineland], 2012
152- 9 … Kate Johnston [Haddonfield], 2012
152- 4 … Jill Shaner [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2009
148- 8 … Caitlin Cielo [Eastern], 2002
146- 7 … Victoria Imbesi [Our Lady of Mercy], 2008
143-11 … Ayana Culhane [Absegami], 2016
142- 6 … Kaela Schrier [Cherokee], 2016
142- 1 … Alexa Gardner [Hammonton], 2018
141- 6 … Lindsay Minch [Pennsville], 2009
141- 5 … Kelly Yanucil [Bordentown], 2013
141- 1 … Tumelo Nwanma [Vineland], 2016
141- 0 … Jocelyn McRae [Millville], 2006
140- 8 … Julianne Foering [Rancocas Valley], 2017
140- 0 … Melissa Lake [Cherokee], 2011
139- 9 … Heather Juhring [Kingsway], 2011
139- 0 … Danielle Steff [Rancocas Valley], 2016
138- 4 … Megan Saxvanderweyden [Pennsville], 2015
137- 6 … Mercedes Glover [Burlington Twp.], 2010
137- 6 … Alyssa Whipkey [Pennsville], 2015
137- 1 … Ayana Culhane [Absegami], 2016
136- 7 … Zoe Goldberg [Eastern], 2022
136- 6 … Danielle Still [Bishop Eustace], 2002
136- 0 … Shamire Rothmiller [Glassboro], 2008
135-10 … Mary Wilks [Bridgeton], 2007
135-6 … Faith Blamon [Cinnaminson], 2012
135- 2 … Nicolette Burns [Kingsway], 2013

Hammonton junior Emma Peretti popped the No. 2 discus throw in South Jersey this year Saturday at the West Deptford Relays.

Peretti threw 118-5 on her third and final attempt to win the Group 3 discus. 

South Jersey No. 1 in the discus is Williamstown junior Ciara Demarest, who threw 125-2 at the Deptford Spartan Relays last weekend.

This was Peretti’s first major competition this spring. She was just two feet off her PR of 120-5, which she set last May at the Atlantic County Championships at Buena, where she finished second to Egg Harbor’s Michaela Pomatto, who now throws for Ursinus.

Washington Township senior Gabby Ventere moved into the all-time South Jersey top-10 in the pole vault Saturday with a personal-best 11-6 clearance at Fast Times at Cherokee High.

Ventere is now No. 2 in Gloucester County history, behind only Delsea graduate Ashley Preston, a three-time Big East champion for Villanova. Preston cleared 12-7 ½ when she placed 3rd at the 2018 Penn Relays. Ventere equalled the No. 7 mark in South Jersey history.

Coming into the meet, Ventere had a PR of 11-0 from the indoor Meet of Champions at the Bubble, where she placed third. Her outdoor PR was 10-0, which she cleared last weekend at the Husky Relays in Matawan. Before last week, her outdoor PR was 9-0 from Group 4 states last spring at Franklin.

On Saturday, Ventere passed the first five heights before entering the competition with a first-attempt clearance at 9-6. She cleared 10-0 on her second attempt to clinch the victory, then sailed over the bar at 10-6 and 11-0 on her first attempts before moving the bar up to 11-6, which she cleared on her second try. She took three tries at 12 feet, which only five South Jersey girls have ever cleared.

Here are all the 11-foot vaulters in South Jersey history:
13- 3… Danielle O’Reilly [Shawnee], 2004
12- 7 1/2 … Ashley Preston [Delsea], 2018
12- 0 … Jessica Kloss [Moorestown], 2005
12- 0 … Brittney Raffo [Seneca], 2017
12- 0 … Fiona Basewitz [Collingswood], 2021
11-10 … Kaitlin Dermen [Millville], 2014
11- 6 … Lauren Tauscher [Moorestown], 2007
11- 6 … Gabby Ventere [Washington Twp.], 2022
11- 4 … Melissa Gale [Millville], 2006
11- 3 … Jennifer Scott [Haddonfield], 2019
11- 2 … Tracey Masterson [Mainland Reg.], 2012
11- 1 3/4 … Kristin Weigel [Pennsville], 2010
11- 0 1/2 … Emily Waldron [Triton], 2014
11- 0 … Colleen McDowell [Seneca], 2011
11- 0 … Alexandra Elder [Moorestown], 2012
11- 0 … Casey Sturts [Buena], 2013
11- 0 … Alana Cohen [Cherry Hill East], 2018
11- 0 … Lindsey Michie [Northern Burlington], 2018
11- 0 … Sarah Parr [Audubon], 2019
11- 0 … Anna Heim [Moorestown], 2006
11- 0 … Allyson Brooks [Moorestown], 2007
11- 0 … Katherine Gray [Triton], 2010
11- 0 … Elizabeth Douglas [West Deptford], 2015
11- 0 … Christina Kursewicz [Clearview], 2012
11- 0 … Elissa Ingram [Kingsway], 2011

All-Time Gloucester County Pole Vault List
12- 7 1/2 … Ashley Preston [Delsea], 2018
11- 6 … Gabby Ventere [Washington Twp.], 2022
11- 0 … Elizabeth Douglas [West Deptford], 2015
11- 0 … Christina Kursewicz [Clearview], 2012
11- 0 … Elissa Ingram [Kingsway], 2011
10-10 … Miranda Roberts [Washington Twp.], 2012
10-10 … Katie Selfridge [Delsea], 2014
10- 9 … Lexi Brown [Delsea], 2013
10- 6 … Claudia Theriault [West Deptford], 2013
10- 6 … Kaitllyn Smith [Gateway], 2019
10- 6 … Erin Gray [Kingsway], 2017

Washington Township’s senior Tracy Marshall, junior John Williams and seniors Jo’Nathan Silver and Nahmere Graves  teamed up Saturday to run the fastest 400-meter relay in South Jersey this year at Fast Times at Cherokee High.

Township won a deep race in 43.16 over Pennsauken [43.75], Delsesa [43.82] and Deptford [44.12].

The time is Township’s fastest in nine years, since the 2013 team ran 43.01 at the Meet of Champions in South Plainfield.

The Minutemen had run 44.12 at the Don Danser Relays two weeks ago.

Kingsway graduate Stone Caraccio, a Monmouth sophomore, had a breakthrough performance Friday night in the 1,500 at Bucknell.

Caraccio ran 3:49.25 and placed 11th out of 69 runners at the Bucknell Bison Invitational in Lewisburg, Pa.

That’s more than five seconds faster than his previous 1,500 PR of 3:54.32, which he ran in West Long Branch last April, and it’s https://monmouthhawks.com/documents/2022/4/11/21_22Top10s.pdf.

After covering the first 300 in 47.58, Caraccio reeled off laps of 62.30, 61.53 and 57.85 for 3:01.68 for his final 1,200. He ran his final 800 in sub-2 – 1:59.38.

His time converts to 4:07.59 for a full mile. His mile PR is 4:11.49 from Ocean Breeze in January.

Caraccio now ranks No. 4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference behind three runners from Iona University in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Caraccio’s PR at Kingsway was 4:13.46 for 1,600 at the 2019 state Group 4 meet at Franklin. That’s equivalent of a 4:14.93, so he’s lowered his time the equivalent of nearly 7 ½ seconds for a full mile since arriving at Monmouth.

Last weekend, Caraccio PR’d at 800 meters with a 1:51.84 in a meet at Lehigh, No. 9 in school history.

Closing in 59.53, Camden Catholic graduate and Rider sophomore Richie Castañeda ran a 1,500 PR Friday at Bucknell.

Castañeda ran 3:53.30 at the Bucknell Bison Invitational in Lewisburg, Pa., closing in 2:01.75 for his final 800 meters.

His previous PR was a 3:53.41 last spring at the Penn Challenge at Franklin Field. Castañeda did not race indoors this year, and this was only his third open race since the end of cross country season in mid-November. He ran a 3:54.10 at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., earlier this month.

Castañeda’s time is fastest by a South Jersey miler for Rider in 26 years, since Riverside graduate Ron Brock ran 3:50.95 in 1996. It converts to a 4:11.96 mile.

Castañeda had PRs of 1:57.81, 4:21.75 and 9:41.73 at Camden Catholic.