Highland grad Floyd Whitaker popped two more 50-foot jumps and earned a berth at the World Athletics Under 20 Championships with a 2nd-place finish at the USATF National U20 Championships in Eugene.

Whitaker, who just finished his freshman year at Minnesota, jumped 50-4 ½ and 50-3 ½ on his first two jumps and led through four rounds before placing 2nd to Texas freshman Solomon Washington, who went 50-9 ½ on his 5th jump. All three 50-foot jumps were wind-aided.

Whitaker had a 49-10 with a 1.9 meters-per-second tailwind on his 4th jump that was the bet wind-legal jump of the competition.

Washington and Whitaker will represent the U.S. at the World Under-20 Championships next month in Cali, Columbia.

Whitaker set his PR indoors in Minneapolis in January, when he jumped 51-5 ¼. He hit his legal outdoor best of 50-2 ¼ at the NCAA West Preliminary Round last month in Fayetteville, Ark.

At Highland, Whitaker won numerous state and Meet of Champions titles, won Outdoor Nationals last May – also at Hayward Field – and jumped 50-2 ½ when he won his first M-of-C title. That’s No. 3 in South Jersey history.

In Eugene, Whitaker reached 49-5 ½ or better on all four of his legal jumps. He actually had four of the six-best jumps of the competition.

The World Athletics Under-20 Championships are scheduled for July 15-24 back at Hayward Field. The triple jump begins at 9:20 p.m. Thursday, July 21, with qualifying rounds followed by the final at 9 p.m. Saturday, July 23.

Curtis Thompson placed second Sunday in the javelin at the USATF Championships in Eugene – his 4th top-3 finish at nationals – but won’t throw at World Championships because he hasn’t hit the World Athletics qualifying standard.

Thompson, a Florence native who competed in the 2021 Olympics, threw 264-1 on his 5th throw to take the lead before finishing 2nd to Ethan Dabbs of Virginia, who hit 266-8 on his final attempt to move from 5th into the lead.

Thompson placed 2nd at Hayward Field in the 2016 Olympic Trials, 6th in the 2017 nationals in Sacramento, won the 2018 meet in Des Moines, took 4th in 2019 in Des Moines, there was no meet in 2020 and he won last year back in Eugene.

So he’s competed at nationals in Eugene three times and placed in the top two all three times. He also won the 2014 USATF Junior National title and 2016 NCAA title in Eugene.

The qualifying standard for the 2022 World Championships in Eugene next month is 278-10 ¼, (85 meters) and only four Americans have ever thrown that far.

The No. 1 mark by an American this year is Dabbs’ 272-0 when he placed 2nd in the NCAA Championships for Virginia in Durham, N.C., last month. Dabbs is a Pennsylvania native from Richland High in Johnstown, Cambria County.

When a country doesn’t have any qualified athletes in a specific event, one unqualified athlete can participate in Worlds, and that will be Dabbs because of his win at nationals.

Thompson opened with a 258-10 but fouled on his next two attempts while Penn’s Mark Anthony Minichello took the lead with a 259-4.

Thompson opened the finals with a 251-2 before popping the 264-1 on his 5th attempt. Since he was ahead of Dabbs going into the final, he threw after him, so he had one last chance to regain the lead but fouled on his 6th throw. Minichello, throwing last, wasn’t able to improve on his 259-4, so Dabbs and Thompson finished 1st and 2nd.

The 264-1 is four feet off his season best of 268-1, which he also threw at Hayward Field at the Oregon Relays in April.

Minichello, who wound up 3rd,, is from Wyoming Area High in Exeter, Pa., Luzerne County, so the top three finishers are all from Pennsylvania or New Jersey.

Going into the meet, Dabbs ranked No. 1 among Americans, Tim Glover was No. 2 at 271-8 and Thompson was 3rd. Glover placed 5th at 250-6.

Seven out of Thompson’s 10-best throws ever have been in either Tucson or Eugene.

271-11… Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, July 4, 2016
271-7 … Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, June 21, 2021
268-1 … Oregon Relays, Hayward Field, Eugene, April 23, 2022
267-2 … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021
266-5 … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 21, 2022
265-10 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 17, 2021
265-10 … Florida State Relays, Mike Long Track, Tallahassee, Fla., March 25, 2016
265-7 … Victoria Track Classic, Centennial Stadiumn, Victoria, British Columbia, June 15, 2022
264-8 … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 21, 2022
264-1 … USATF Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 26, 2022
263-10 … 94th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, Mike A. Myers Stadium, Austin, Texas, March 25, 2022
260-11 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 30, 2016
260-1 … NACAC Under-23, San Salvador, Estadio Jorge “Mágico” González, June 17, 2016

Delsea’s Josh Awotunde is on his way to his 2nd straight World Championships.

Awotunde popped a 70-7 throw on his third shot put attempt at the USATF National Championships in Eugene, Ore., to move from 4th to 3rd and secure a berth at Worlds

Awotunde placed 5th at indoor Worlds at Штарк арена (Stark Arena) in Belgerade, Serbia, in March.

Awotunde had only competed once outdoors this spring – he threw 70-11 ½ on April 16 at the USATF Golden Games at Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, Calif – so Nationals was his first meet in 10 weeks and only his sixth since the end of his 2021 season.

After throwing 69-8 ¼ and 67-10 ¼ on his first two throws, Awotunde was sitting in 4th place, one spot outside qualifying for Worlds.

But with his 70-7 he moved past Tripp Piperi of Texas, who was sitting in 3rd at 70-3 ¾, and that held up for the final spot on the U.S. team that will compete in the World Championships later this summer back at Hayward Field.

Awotunde closed with throws of 67-11 and 68-9 ¼ before fouling on his final throw. His five legal throws averaged 69-0.

Awotunde is ranked No. 9 in the world this year with his 70-11 ½ from April and No. 15 in U.S. history with his PR of 72-2 from a meet in Padova, Italy, last September.

The U.S. men’s and women’s teams will both be represented by South Jersey shot putters. Cherokee graduate Jessica Woodard PR’d with a 63-7 ¾ – No. 14 in US. History – to place 3rd in the women’s shot put. Woodard graduated from Cherokee in 2013, one year before Awotunde graduated from Delsea.

The 2022 World Athletics Champions are scheduled for July 15-24 at Hayward Field. The men’s shot put qualifying round is scheduled for 9:55 p.m. EST on July 15 with the final slated for July 17 at 9:27 p.m.

Here is a look at all of Awotunde’s 70-foot throws, including all secondary throws within a series. Note that full series information was never released in the results from last year’s Meeting Città di Padova at Stadio Colbachini in Padovad, Poland. So it’s possible he has additional 70-foot throws from that meet we don’t know about.

Josh Awotunde All-Time 70-Foot Throws
72-2 … Meeting Città di Padova, Stadio Colbachini, Padovad, Poland, Sept. 5, 2021 [N/A] [place]
71-8 … U.S. Olympic Trials, Eugene, Ore., June 18, 2021 [6th throw] (5th place]
71-2 ¼i … World Athletics Indoors, Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022 [3rd throw] (5th)
71-2 ¼ … Gyulai István Memorial, Székesfehérvár, Hungary, July 6, 2021 [4th throw] (3rd)
71-1 ½ … Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., May 9, 2021 [6th throw] [2nd place]
70-11 ¾ … World Athletics Indoors, Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022 [5th throw] [2nd]
70-11 ½ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [5th throw) [2nd]
70-10 ¾ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [4th throw) [—]
70-7 … USATF Championships, Eugene, Ore., June 24, 2022 [3rd throw] [2nd]
70-6 ½ … Gyulai István Memorial, Székesfehérvár, Hungary, July 6, 2021 [6th throw] [—]
70-6 ¼i … American Track League, Louisville, Ky., Feb. 12, 2022 [3rd throw] [1st]
70-3 ½ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [3rd throw] [—]
70-2 ½i … American Track League, Louisville, Ky., Feb. 12, 2022 [1st throw] [—]
70-0 ¼ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [2nd throw] [—]
70-0 ¼ … World Athletics Indoors, Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022 [2nd throw] [—]

Cherokee’s Jessica Woodard bombed one of the top shot put performances in U.S. history Sunday to secure a spot on the U.S. team that will compete later this summer at the World Championships.

Woodard, 27, moved up from 4th to 3rd and locked up the final qualifying spot when she threw 63-7 ¾ on her 5th attempt at the USATF Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

The top three finishers qualify for the U.S. national team as long as they’ve met the World Athletics standard, which in the case of the shot put is 60-8 ¼.

This is Woodard’s first national team.

Woodard came into the meet with a lifetime-best of 62-3 ½.

She threw exactly 61-7 ¾ on her 1st and 4th attempts separated by two fouls but despite throwing within six inches of her PR she was still sitting in 4th with two throws left, behind world leader and world indoor silver medalist Chase Ealey (70-6 ¾), Ohio State Olympian Adelaide Aquilla (63-9 ¾) and 2021 Olympic silver medalist Raven Saunders (62-2 ¼).

On her 5th throw, Woodard hit 63-7 ¾ to pass Saunders and move into 3rd. Saunders then fouled on her 5th attempt and threw 61-5 on her 4th to lock Woodard into 3rd place.

Woodard’s 63-7 ¾ is No. 8 in the world this year and and No. 14 in U.S. history.

The 2022 World Athletics Championships are scheduled for July 15-24 back at Hayward Field in Eugene.

The women’s shot put qualifying rounds are scheduled for 8:05 p.m. EST July 15 with the final at 9:25 p.m. July 16.

Bryanna Craig is headed for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships later this summer after all.

Craig, a Millville native who graduated from Ruston (La.) earlier this month, placed 3rd in the hepthatlon at the USATF Under-20 Championships this week in Eugene, Ore., and only the top two placers reveive automatic invitations to join the U.S. national team that will compete at the World Championships in South America in August.

Craig scored 5,388 points, the 11th-highest score in high school history. She finished 13 points behind JaiCieonna Gero-Holt, a freshman at Emerald Ridge High School in Puyallup, Wash., who broke Craig’s U.S. freshman record earlier this year and improved it this weekend to 5,401 points. That’s No. 10 in U.S. high school history.

NCAA Division 2 All-America Blakelee Winn, who recently finished her freshman year at Pittsburg (Kans.) State University, won the event with 5,473 points in her final year of Under-20 eligibility. She placed 3rd at the NCAA Division 2 Championships in Allendale, Mich.

But due to an administrative issue, Winn will apparently not be able to represent the U.S. at the World Under 20 Championships, which is scheduled for Aug. 1-6 at Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero in Cali, Colombia.

As the first alternate, Craig joins Gero-Holt on the U.S. Under-20 team.

Winn, Gero-Holt and Craig rank 27th, 38th and 41st among all U.S. women through Saturday.

In Eugene, Craig PR’d in the shot put (34-7), 200 (25.11), javelin (118-0) and 800 (2:19.42). She also ran 14.55 in the high hurdles, high jumped 5-7 ¾ and long jumped 18-6 ¼ in the two-day, seven-event challenge.

 

Pleasantville’s Nia Ali ran the 8th-fastest high hurdles time in the world this year in the semifinals at USATF Nationals Saturday, then scratched from the final with her spot at the World Championships assured.

Ali ran 12.49 to win the first of two 100-meter hurdles semifinal races Saturday afternoon at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. That was the 2nd-fastest time going into the final behind only world record holder Kendra Harrison, who ran 12.40 to win the 2nd semifinal. Harrison set the world record of 12.20 to win the Olympic gold medal in London in 2016.

Ali was 2nd in that race but ran her PR of 12.34 when she won the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. That’s 7th in world history.

At 33 years old after taking a year and a half off to have her third baby, that 12.49 is Ali’s fastest time since Doha and only 15-100ths of a second off her lifetime-best time.

The 12.49 is also her 4th-fastest time ever, behind the 12.34 in Doha, a 12.44 in the semifinals in Doha and a 12.48 at the 2013 U.S. Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

The only hurdler to run faster at 33 years old is Gail Devers, who was 33 years, 8 months, 14 days old when she ran 12.33 at the 2000 U.S. Championships in Sacramento. Ali is 33 months, 8 months and 2 days old – 12 days younger than Devers.

But when the final went off, Ali’s lane 6 was vacant. Harrison went on to win the final in a 2022 world-best 12.34.

There was no immediate word whether Ali is injured or why she scratched. But she did not need to place in the top two at the U.S. Championships to qualify for the World Championships because as the 2019 World Champion she has an automatic berth into the meet.

The 2022 World Athletics Championships are scheduled for July 15-24 back at Hayward Field. The first round of the hurdles is scheduled for 2:20 p.m. EST on July 23 with the semifinals and finals a day later at 8:05 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Pleasantville’s Nia Ali matched her season-best time and advanced to the semifinals of the 100-meter hurdles Friday at the USATF Championships in Eugene.

Ali placed 2nd in the 2nd of three heats in 12.59, the 5th-fastest time overall at Hayward Field. The top four finishers in each of the three hearts plus the next four-fastest times qualified for the semifinals on Saturday evening.

Ali, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist, also ran 12.59 in a meet in Gainesville in April. She did not race outdoors in 2020 or at all in 2021 as she had a baby, so the 12.59 matches her fastest time since she ran a lifetime best 12.34 to win the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Ali races in the semifinal at 4:04 p.m. Saturday. The top three finishers in each of two heats plus the next two-fastest advance to the final, which follows at 5:41 p.m.

Ali will be in lane 6 in the first of the two semis. She had the 2nd-fastest time in the trials among the women in her semifinal. Alaysha Johnson, who ran 12.40 Friday, will be in lane 4.

Click here for live results: https://results.usatf.org/2022Outdoors/

Millville native Bryanna Craig fell an agonizing 14 points short of making the U.S. National team for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships but recorded the 11th-highest heptathlon score in U.S. high school track history.

Competing in the USATF Under-20 Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., Craig scored 5,388 points and placed 3rd at the USATF Under-20 Championships Thursday and Friday.

She finished 13 points behind JaiCieonna Gero-Holt, a freshman at Emerald Ridge High School in Puyallup, Wash., who broke Craig’s U.S. freshman record earlier this year and improved it this weekend to 5,401 points. That’s No. 10 in U.S. high school history.

USATF has a rule that doesn’t allow athletes to attend World Under 20 Championships if they’re 15 or under, but according to her bio on the IAAF web site Gero-Holt is 16.

NCAA Division 2 All-America Blakelee Winn, who recently finished her freshman year at Pittsburg (Kans.) State University, won the event with 5,473 points in her final year of Under-20 eligibility.

Winn and Gero-Holt will represent the U.S. at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, in August.

Craig doesn’t turn 19 until Feb. 12, so she has another year of eligibility in the Under-20 Championships.

Craig’s previous heptathlon PR was 5,117 points last year in Myrtle Beach, S.C., although she also had a 5,138 with incomplete wind information, which makes the performance wind-aided and not eligible for list purposes.

Craig’s score of 5,388 ranks No. 23 in the world in the Under-20 division and No. 41 among all U.S. women.

Going into the final event Friday, the 800 meters, Gero-Holt held a 192-point lead over Craig (4,749-4,557). But Craig ran a personal-best 2:19.42 and finished five seconds ahead of the field and nearly 14 seconds ahead of Gero-Holt, making up all but 13 points of the deficit.

Craig, a two-time national high school champion, set personal bests in the 800 (2:19.42), 200 (25.11), shot put (34-7) and javelin (118-0) as well as the heptathlon overall. That’s five PRs in a weekend, and no matter what anybody else did, that’s an incredible weekend.

She also ran 14.55 in the high hurdles, high jumped 5-7 ¾ and long jumped 18-6 ¼ in the two-day, seven-event challenge.

Craig, who recently graduated from Ruston (La.) High School, will be a freshman this fall at Louisiana Tech, where her father – former Millville legend Raffael Craig – is a coach. Craig’s former Millville teammate, long jumper and hurdler Leah Ellis, will also be at Louisiana Tech.

Bryce Tucker ran an intermediate hurdles PR and advanced to the finals at the USATF Under-20 Championships Friday.

Tucker, who finished his junior year at Pennsauken this month, ran 52.14 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., and advanced to the final as a “small-q” qualifier, which means he wasn’t one of the first three finishers in his heat – which is an auto qualifier for the final – but he had one of the next-two-fastest times.

Competing against mainly college freshmen, Tucker placed 4th in the first of two heats. His time is fastest by a South Jersey junior since Millville’s Azim Smith ran 51.82 to place 2nd at the 2001 adidas Outdoor Championships in Raleigh, N.C.

Tucker’s time is No. 25 in state history and No. 7 in South Jersey history, fastest in 13 years, since Washington Township’s Tim Carey ran 52.10 to win the 2009 state Group 4 meet at Egg Harbor.

It’s fastest by a Camden County hurdler in 18 years, since Rueben McCoy of Winslow Township ran 51.39 as part of an insane Meet of Champions triple at South Plainfield – 21.51 in the 200, 47.42 in the 400 and 51.39 in the 400IH.
Tucker’s time is fastest by a U.S. underclassman this year.

Tucker, who set his previous PR of 52.17 when he won the Meet of Champions last year at South Plainfield, had a season-best this year of 53.01 from his 4th-place All-America performance at New Balance Outdoors last week at Franklin Field.

The final is scheduled for 7:43 p.m. Saturday. The top two finishers make the U.S. national junior team that will compete in the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in August in Cali, Colombia.

South Jersey All-Time List
50.37 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
51.39 … Rueben McCoy [Winslow Twp.], 2004
51.5h … Martin Booker [Camden], 1981
51.62 … Fred Sharpe [Paulsboro], 1997
51.82 … Azim Smith [Millville], 2001
52.14 … Bryce Tucker [Pennsauken], 2021
52.0h … Vince Rawlins [Eastern], 1992
52.4h … Diandre Chandler [Camden], 1986
52.4h … Donovan Darius [Wilson], 1993
52.54 … Marcus Lee [Vineland], 2004
52.56 … Royce Reed [Bridgeton], 1995
52.62 … Devon Matthews [Pleasantville], 1999
52.62 … Harran Williams [Delran], 1999
52.62 … Ian Moore [Lenape], 2001
52.66 … Justin Dupree [Camden], 1996
52.66 … Aaron Younger [Delsea], 2007
52.71 … Mike Brown [Lenape], 1996
52.71 … Mike Morrison [Willingboro], 2003
52.72 … Devon Carter [Washington Twp.], 2000
52.87 … Demetrius Rooks [Absegami], 2008
52.89 … Barry Bethea [Eastern Reg.], 2010
52.92 … Alex Reber [Eastern Reg.], 2012
52.8h … Jack Thompson [Edgewood], 2001
52.89 … Devon Patton [Willingboro], 1990
52.94 … Maurice Young [Camden], 2002
52.96 … Tyler Davidson [Willingboro], 2016

New Jersey All-Time List
50.14 … Cory Poole [East Orange], 2017
50.20 … Taylor McLaughlin [Union Catholic], 2015
50.37 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
50.84 … Justin Gaymon [Phillipsburg], 2005
51.02 … Tony Valentine [Plainfield],. 1983
51.0h … Chris Person [Plainfield], 1978
51.39 … Rueben McCoy [Winslow Twp.], 2004
51.5h … Martin Booker [Camden], 1981
51.62 … Fred Sharpe [Paulsboro], 1997
51.62 … Shaquan Brown [JFK Paterson], 2006
51.66 … Ramy Berberena [North Brunswick], 2019
51.69 … David Jones [Montclair], 1985
51.78 … Randall Walker [Rahway], 1985
51.82 … Azim Smith [Millville], 2001
51.85 … Akeem Lindo [East Orange], 2018
51.91 … Paul Quitzau [Mount Olive], 1983
51.92 … Anthony Hampton [Englewood], 1994
51.98 … Emanuel Mayers [Lakewood], 2007
52.05 … Andrew Cameron [Paterson East Side], 1987
52.06 … Christopher Serrao [East Brunswick], 2022
52.09 … Mark Cooke [J.P. Stevens], 2014
52.10 … Tim Carey [Washington Twp.], 2009
52.12 … Felix Lawrence [Freehold Twp.], 2019
52.13 … Greg Christie [Perth Amboy], 1997
52.14 … Bryce Tucker [Pennsauken], 2021

Ryan Allen, who graduated this month from Kingsway, won the 10,000-meter race walk Friday morning at the USATF Under-20 Championships in Eugene

With a top-two finish, Allen earned a spot on the U.S. National team that will compete at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in August in Cali, Colombia.

Allen set a nearly two-minute PR of 49:53.14 and beat the field at Hayward Field by over half a mile.

Clayton Stoil, who Allen edged by 10 meters to win the National Scholastic title at 3,000 meters on the same track last weekend, placed 2nd in 54:15.71.

He finished about 850 meters behind Allen.

Allen walked his previous 10,000 PR of 51:39.97 in February in a meet at Cuyamaca College El Cajon, Calif.

Allen is the first U.S. junior champion from Kingsway in 38 years, since Pedricktown native Denise Liles won the 100-meter dash in 11.81 in 1984 in what was then known as The Athletics Congress Junior Nationals at L.A. Coliseum in Los Angeles.

Stoil built an early five-second lead. Just 800 meters into the 6.2-mile race, Stoil came through in 3:52.55 and Allen was at 3:57.41. Stoil still led at 2,000 meters – by 4-100ths of a second – before Allen took the lead for good. At 2,800 meters – through seven laps – Stoil was only 2 ½ seconds back.

But the next time they came across the line Allen’s lead was up to nine seconds and by 4,400 meters – 11 laps in – the lead had grown to 40 seconds.

It only grew largert and larger as Allen ripped off steady sub-two-minute laps.

His first 15 laps were all between 1:57.22 and 1:59.94.

Allen is the first South Jersey race walker to win a U.S. junior title in 49 years, since Willingboro’s Randy Mimm won the 1973 10,000 in 51:45.1.

For those of you who want to see the official judge’s summary sheet, click here.