In the wildest three-team race at a South Jersey sectional meet in 34 years, Audubon, Salem and Glassboro were separated by two points at the end of the weekend at Buena.
Audubon and Salem finished tied for the South Jersey Group 1 team title with 96 points, an Glassboro finished two points back with 94.
The only other time in meet history three teams were separated by two points in a South Jersey sectional in any group was 1988 in Group 4, when Toms River South won with 29 points, Cherry Hill East scored 28 ½ and Brick was 3rd with 27. That of course was with the 6-4-3-2-1 scoring system, where closer scorers were the norm.
Just three years ago, Haddon Township [72], Clayton [71] and Woodbury [69] were separated by three points. This year’s meet outdid that one.
The tie is the first ever in the South Jersey Group 1 meet and the first in any South Jersey sectional since 1998, when Vineland and Overbrook shared the Group 4 title.
The team title is the first ever for Audubon and the first in 30 years for Salem, which won Group 2 in 1987 and 1991. Glassboro last won a sectional title in 2009 with the record-setting group that scored 181 ½ points.
Here’s how the anatomy of the closest three-team sectional race ever:
100-METER DASH [Salem 13, Audubon 0, Glassboro 0]: Salem junior Amare Smith ran 10.98 to remain unbeaten this year at 100 meters, and junior Abdul Bell [11.24] and junior Emmanuel Lane [11.28] placed 5th and 6th,, giving the Rams 13 points.
200-METER DASH [Salem 18, Glassboro 10, Audubon 0]: Glassboro senior Dallas Hohney won the race in 22.50, and Salem took the next three spots with Amare Smith [22.54], Bell [23.18] and Lane [23.19].
400-METER DASH [Glassboro 14, Audubon 6, Salem 1]: Hohney ran 50.27 for the win, Audubon senior Connor Bilotta went 51.59 for 3rd, Glassboro sophomore Clifton Moore was 4th in 51.96, and Salem freshman Terrance Smith placed 6th in 52.87.
800-METER RUN [Audubon 12, Salem 0, Glassboro 0]: Audubon senior Scott Hubbard PR’d with a 1:57.47 for the win, and senior teammate Makaio Kelii was 5th in 2:02.08.
1,600-METER RUN [Audubon 8, Glassboro 4, Salem 0]: Hubbard broke 4:20 for the first time with a 4:19.32, finishing just 16-100ths of a second behind Woodbury’s Peyton Shute. Both Shute and Hubbard ran under the SJ-1 meet record of 4:21.59 set last year by Brady Shute, Peyton’s older brother who now runs for Monmouth. Glassboro sophomore Elijah Whitaker placed 4th in 4:39.55.
3,200-METER RUN [Audubon 14, Glassboro 1, Salem 0]: Hubbard took 2nd to Peyton Shute with a 9:47.66, and junior teammate Joseph Gaspari was 3rd with a PR 10:00.75. Whitaker took 6th in 10:15.27 for Glassboro.
110-METER HURDLES [Glassboro 4, Audubon 2, Salem 0]: Glassboro sophomore Desmond Vassell [16.35] and Audubon senior Aaryn Myers [16.39] went 4-5.
400-METER HURDLES [Audubon 11, Glassboro 0, Salem 0]: Bilotta ran 57.25 to win the race, and Myers took 6th in 1:01.14.
400-METER RELAY [Salem 10, Glassboro 8, Audubon 6]: Salem ran 43.76 and edged Glassboro by 6-100ths of a second with Audubon 3rd in 44.64. Senior Jessiah Gildersleeve, freshman Cameron Smith, Amare Smith and junior Zaheim Jones ran for Salem; sophomore Brysheen Ferguson, senior Ralph McBride, senior Jonathan Sutton and sophomore Caron Wright for Glassboro; and Bilotta, junior William Lindemuth, Myers and sophomore Luke Hoke for Audubon.
1,600-METER RELAY [Audubon 10, Glassboro 8, Salem 2]: Audubon got the win with Bilotta, sophomore Amauri Pimental, Myers and Lindenmuth running 3:33.25. Glassboro was second in 3:34.72 with Ferguson, Hohney, Moore and junior Olawale Osinowo. And Salem picked up a 5th with Bell, Lane, Cameron Smith and Amare Smith going 3:39.28.
3,200-METER RELAY [Audubon 10, Glassboro 1, Salem 0]: Senior Clifford Gilmore, Kelii, sophomore Aiden Williams and senior Joshua Rossell ran 8:32.54 to record the win for the Wave. Glassboro placed 6th with sophomore Gavin Hoover, Osinowo, Vassell and Whitaker.
HIGH JUMP [Glassboro 5, Salem 5, Audubon 0]: Paulsboro junior Jamile Gantt went 6-6 for the win – that’s the best clearance in SJ-1 since Mark Jones of Lindenwold cleared 6-6 in 2006 and matches the best in SJ-1 since Haddon Township’s Mike Starks won the 1993 meet with a 6-10 ½ clearance. Salem junior Demetrius Jones and Hohney tied for 3rd at 5-10.
LONG JUMP [Salem 20, Glassboro 1, Audubon 0]: Lane went 20-10 for the win, Bell 20-7 for 3rd and Cameron Smith 19-10 for 4th for Salem. Glassboro’s Moore jumped 19-5 ¼ for 6th.
TRIPLE JUMP [Salem 14, Glassboro 10, Audubon 0]: Glassboro’s Moore went 42-0 ½ for the win, and Salem took the next two stops with Cameron Smith [40-7 ¼] and freshman Davi-Yonn Jackson [39-6 ¼].
POLE VAULT [Audubon 6, Salem 1, Glassboro 0]: Green Wave freshman Leo Davis cleared 11-0 for 3rd place, and Salem senior Collin Roy cleared 11-0 for 6th.
SHOT PUT [Salem 11, Glasboro 6, Audubon 0]: Senior Jayden Wright popped a PR 52-2 ¾ to win the shot, and senior Angel Torres Cruz added a 6th for the Rams with a 43-0. Glassboro junior Carter Kensil threw 44-4 for 3rd.
DISCUS [Glassboro 18, Audubon 1, Salem 0]: The Bulldogs went 2-3-4 for 18 points, with sophomore Damere Lassiter [149-5], Kensil [134-5] and sophomore Claivon Suggs [131-2]. Audubon senior Brady Gilbert snagged a point for the Green Wave with a 125-6 for 6th. Janier Armsteod of Penns Grove won the event with a 160-8, the best throw in SJ-1 since Pitman’s Will Cioffi threw 171-1 in 2013.
JAVELIN [Audubon 8, Glassboro 4, Salem 1]: One of only four events where all three schools scored. Audubon’s Lindemuth threw 145-2 for 2nd, Glassboro sophomore Maddox Wilson 143-7 for 4th and Salem junior Randy Sayers 136-7 for 6th.
Incredible meet! And the best thing about it is they’ll all do it again this weekend at Pennsauken.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 