A day after helping Cherokee win the Meet of Champions 3,200-meter relay, Megan Niglio became New Jersey’s fastest freshman miler.

Niglio finished a terrific freshman year by placing 5th in the Freshman Mile at the New Balance Nationals Saturday morning at Franklin Field in a personal-best 5:07.39, fastest by a New Jersey 9th-grader this year by more than seven seconds.

Her time over a full mile converts to 5:05.61 for 1,600 meters, which is fastest by a South Jersey freshman in seven years, since Mainland Regional’s Alyssa Aldridge ran 5:06.13 at 2015 Group 4 sectionals at Central Regional in Bayville.

It’s fastest by a Burlington County freshman since Natalia Ocasio and Amanda Restivo of Lenape ran 5:01.02 and 5:05.42 in 2010.

She becomes Cherokee’s fastest freshman since Lisa Burkholder ran 5:01.94 to win the freshman mile at 2003 adidas Nationals in Raleigh, N.C.

Niglio was out in 75.40, then split 78.23 and 78.31 before closing in 76.46. Olivia Cieslak of Haverford High won the race in 5:01.70.

Her previous PR was 5:08.16 for 1,600 meters at the indoor state Group 4 meet at the Bubble. Her outdoor PR had been 5:13.31 at the Burlington County Open.

Niglio is the 3rd Cherokee girl to run sub-5:10 this year. Nicole Clifford ran 4:48.82 in New York and older sister Kelsey Niglio ran 5:09.08 at Holmdel.

The Cherokee girls capped a tremendous year by winning the 3,200-meter relay Saturday at the Meet of Champions at Franklin High, the first MoC relay title in school history.

Junior Kelsey Niglio, sophomore Kerry O’Day, freshman Megan Niglio and senior Nicole Clifford ran 9:25.70 in windy, difficult conditions and won by over 100 meters, the largest victory margin in meet history.

Jessica Woodard won three shot put titles and a discus title between 2011 and 2013 and Kaela Schrier won the javelin in 2016, but this is Cherokee’s first Meet of Champions title on the track in 32 years – since Monica Olkowski won her second straight 800 in 1990.

Kelsey Niglio gave Cherokee a 30-meter lead just 400 meters into her 2:16.29 leadoff leg and the race was pretty much over at that point.

Cherokee is the third South Jersey school to win the girls 4-by-800 at a Meet of Champions since the event was added to the state program in 2010. Lenape won in 2011 and Haddonfield last year.

With an entirely different lineup, Haddonfield placed 2nd this year in 9:42.72.

Cherokee’s 17.02-second margin of victory is the largest in meet history. In 2018, Ridge beat Westfield by 14.65 serconds.

As for Haddonfield, two days after placing both 4th and 6th in the 4-mile relay at New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field, the Bulldogs placed 2nd to Cherokee with Riley Slootsky, Thea Spellmeyer, Sarah Fetter and Audrey Naticchia.

When Haddonfield won last year in 9:10.24, their lineup was Allison Colflesh, Payton Weiner, Olivia Stoner and Linday Colflesh.

Cherry Hill East made it a 1-2-3 South Jersey sweep in 3rd place with a 9:43.98. Alexis Tepper, Michelle Barry, Madison McNiff and Kiley Walsh ran for the Cougars.

Cherokee had an outdoor-best 9:17.77 from its 4th-place finish at Penn Relays. The Chiefs ran 9:07.27 indoors when they placed 4th at Armory Nationals.

The win gave Cherokee a sweep of the two 3,200-meter relays. The Cherokee boys won earlier Saturday in 7:54.34.

This is the first time a South Jersey school has swept any Meet of Champions relay since Willingboro won the boys and girls 1,600-meter relay in 2006.

The win finished off an unprecedented season in XC and indoor and outdoor track for Cherokee, coached year-round by 1989 Burlington County Open 800 winner Mark Jarvis.

In cross country, Cherokee this year won South Jersey and state Group 4 titles, the Meet of Champions and the Nike Regional.

Indoors, Cherokee placed 2nd in the country in the 3,200-meter relay with the No. 2 time in South Jersey history and No. 11 time in state history, took 2nd in the sprint medley with the No. 3 time in South Jersey history and ran 2nd in the distance medley with the No. 5 time in South Jersey history. The Chiefs also won the Group 4 state relays indoors.

Outdoors, Cherokee traveled to Eugene, Ore., and won the sprint medley and placed 7th in the distance medley at the Oregon Relays with 4:04.69 (No. 12 in South Jersey history) and 12:07.43 (No. 11 in South Jersey history). The Chiefs won their 4-by-8 race at Penn and went on to place 4th in the Championship of America. Cherokee also placed 2nd to Rancocas Valley in the S.J.-4 sectional and a best-ever 2nd to Scotch Plains-Fanwood in the state Group 4 meet.

All in all, one of the greatest three-season performances in state history and it ended fittingly with a Meet of Champions title.

Kingsway senior Ryan Allen won the 3,000-meter racewalk Saturday at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Ore.

Allen covered 3,000 meters in 13:45.62, winning by 10 meters over Clayton Stoil of Langley High in McLean, Va., who was second in 13:48.69.

Stoil led for the first four laps before Allen built a four-second lead on the 5th lap. His lead grew to just over eight seconds with two laps to go. Stoil trimmed five seconds off Allen’s lead over the last two laps, but Allen crossed the line first.

The national title is the 5th of Allen’s high school career.

He won the one-mile racewalk at the adidas Indoor Nationals in Virginia Beach in February of 2021, the 3,000 walk at Outdoor Nationals at Hayward Field in Eugene last June and the one-mile events the same weekend in March at both the Ocean Breeze and Armory nationals in New York.

Allen’s 13:45.62 shattered his PR of 14:28.87, which he recorded last year at Hayward Field. He’ll be back at Hayward Field next week for the 10,000-meter event at USATF Under-20 Championships. Stoil is also entered.

Allen also ran for Kingsway. He placed 13th at Group 4 sectionals in XC this past fall and 4th in the Tri-County Championships. This spring, he PR’d at 3,200 meters in 9:54.15 for 12th at sectionals.

Allen’s older brother Sam, who was a freshman this year at Cornell, placed 6th at the U.S. Olympic Trials at 20,000 meters last June in Springfield, Ore. He represented the U.S. at the World Athletics Race Walking Championships in February in Muscat, Oman. You can read his account of that experience here.

He barely got into the Meet of Champions. Now he’s one of the best in South Jersey history.

It’s been an interesting week for St. Augustine senior Franklin Simms, who was the No. 21 seed in the discus for the Meet of Champions and is now No. 5 in South Jersey history.

Simms began the day with a PR of 167-6 from winning the Cape-Atlantic Meet last month at Bridgeton, but after throwing 151-7 and placing 4th at the Parochial A meet at Middletown North, he only advanced to the M-of-C as a wild-card.

All he did Saturday was throw 191-11 – a 24-foot PR – and place 3rd with the best throw by a South Jersey athlete in nine years.

Yes, it was very windy at Franklin High, and yes, the wind certainly aided the field, most of whom posted huge PRs. When seven guys throw 183 feet or better, that’s not normal. The last seven Meet of Champions that were contested, the winning throw was below 190 feet. On Saturday, you had to throw 190 just to get 3rd.

The meet produced three of the top-20 throws in state history.

Discus marks aren’t wind-aided, and Simms will go down as the No. 5 thrower in South Jersey history and No. 20 in state history.

His 191-11 makes him the No. 11 thrower in the 53-year history of the Meet of Champions and No. 3 in South Jersey history.

Simms, who is planning to play football next year for Wagner, posted the No. 2 throw in Atlantic County history, behind James Plummer’s 197-0 at Nationals in Greensboro in 2013.

It’s the best mark ever recorded by a non-public thrower at the Meet of Champions and the No. 2 mark ever recorded by a non-public thrower in New Jersey in any meet, behind Ben Shue, a freshman at Bergen Catholic in Oradell and the national freshman record holder at 198-5 from last weekend’s state Parochial A meet.

Shue did not compete at the Meet of Champions, opting instead for New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field, where he placed 2nd with a 193-10.

Incredibly, the timing company the NJSIAA used for the Meet of Champions does not list field event series (or splits) in its results, so Simms’ series is not available.

All-Time State Discus List
218- 4 … Sam Mattis [East Brunswick], 2010
216-11 … Ron Dayne [Overbrook], 1996
213- 4 … Glenn DiGiorgio [Bayonne], 2002
209- 9 … Adam Kuehl [Monmouth Regional], 2002
204- 8 … Yemi Ayeni [South Brunswick], 2005
203- 6 … Jordan West [Rahway], 2017
202- 0 … Terrence Glover [Hamilton West], 1999
200- 1 … Gabe Gonzalez [Elizabeth], 2002
199- 6 … Braheme Days Jr. [Bridgeton], 2013
199- 3 … Mike Columbus [Scotch Plains], 1974
198- 5 … Ben Shue [Bergen Catholic], 2022
197- 0 … James Plummer [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013
196- 5 … Daniel Mikay [Northern Valley-Demarest], 2022
196- 2 … Ron Klotzer [Union], 1974
194- 3 … Joe Licata [Southern Regional], 2022
193-10 … Phil Hartung [Columbia], 1979
192- 8 … Russ Frame [Union], 1969
192- 5 … Josh Awotunde [Delsea], 2013
191-11 … Mike Gregorowicz [Bloomfield], 2000
191-11 … Franklin Simms [St. Augustine], 2022

All-Time South Jersey Discus List
216-11 … Ron Dayne [Overbrook], 1996
199- 6 … Braheme Days Jr. [Bridgeton], 2013
197- 0 … James Plummer [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013
192- 5 … Josh Awotunde [Delsea], 2013
191-11 … Franklin Simms [St. Augustine], 2022
189- 7 … Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], 1995
185-11 … John Mooers [Middle Twp.], 2015
185-10 … Russ Willett [Penns Grove], 1985
185- 7 … Matt Huckabee [Timber Creek], 2010
185- 6 … Kamron Kobolak [Cinnaminson], 2018
185- 5 … Ken Manahan [Deptford], 1976
184- 4 … Adam Hunt [Collingswood], 2017
183- 9 … Jason Nwosu [Delsea], 2022
181-10 … Jason Winrow [Cumberland Reg.], 1989
180- 3 … Howard Clark [Pennsauken], 1998

All-Time Meet of Champions Performance List
215-3 … Ron Dayne [Overbook], 1996
207-2 … Sam Mattis [East Brunswick], 2011
206-0 …..….. Mattis, 2012
205-4 … Glenn DiGiorgio [Bayonne], 2001
201-0 …..….. Dayne, 1995
199-6 … Braheme Days Jr. [Bridgeton], 2013
197-6 … Terrence Glover [Hamilton], 1999
197-4 … Adam Kuehl [Monmouth], 2002
197-0 …..….. G. DiGiorgio, 2002
196-5 … Daniel Mikay [Northern Valley Demarest], 2022
194-3 … Joe Licata [Southern Regional], 2022
193-8 … Gabe Gonzalez [Elizabeth], 2002
192-9 …..….. Days Jr., 2011
192-8 … Russ Frame [Union], 1969
191-11 … Franklin Simms [St. Augustine], 2022
191-6 …..….. Kuehl] 2002
191-5 … Mike Columbus [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 1974
190-9 … Yemi Ayeni [South Brunswick], 2005
190-2 … Jordan West [Rahway], 2016

Willingboro’s Malachi James on Saturday became the 14th South Jersey athlete and the first sophomore in 22 years to win two events at the same Meet of Champions.

With defending 100 and 200 champ Shamali Whittle of Nottingham [10.55, 20.95] and St. Peter’s Fitzroy Ledgister [10.39, 21.29] opting for New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field, two of James’ biggest challengers were absent, and the Chimeras’ sophomore won the 100- and 200-meter dash at the 53rd annual Meet of Champions at Franklin High.

James won the 100 in 10.54 and the 200 in 21.88.

Both races were aided by significant tailwinds, well over the legal allowable limit of 2.0 meters per second for a performance to count for record and all-time list purposes.

The 100 final was aided by a 3.9 wind and his section of the 200 was assisted by a 5.6 wind.

In the 100, James outleaned Fabian France of Bergen Catholic, who was second in 10.55. Kingsway senior Evan Corcoran was 3rd in 10.71. In the 200, East Brunswick’s Jayden Phillip was 2nd in 21.88.

James is the first South Jersey athlete to record a Meet of Champions double win in 10 years, since Fabian Santiago of Oakcrest won the 100 in 10.59 and the 200 in 21.52. He’s the first from Willingboro to record a MoC double win since Carl Lewis won the 100 in a hand-timed 10.5 and the long jump at 23-6 ½ in 1979.

He’s the first Burlington County sophomore to win a Meet of Champions title since Brondon Jenkins of Delran was first in the 200 in 1994 in 21.46.

He’s Willingboro’s first Meet of Champions winner in 15 years, since Antonio Abney won the 400 in 47.35 in 2007.

The only other sophomore to win two events at a Meet of Champions is Glenn DiGiorgio of Bayonne, who won the shot put [61-7 3/4] and discus [184-6] at the 2000 meet at South Brunswick.

Here’s a look at all the M-of-C double winners from South Jersey:
1979 Carl Lewis, Willingboro [100, Long Jump]
1983: Dennis Mitchell, Edgewood [100, 200]
1992 Curtis McIntyre, Bridgeton [200, 400]
1995 Royce Reed, Bridgeton [400 Hurdles, Javelin]
1996 Ron Dayne, Overbrook [Shot, Disc]
1996: Robert Hargrove, Vineland [100, 200]
1997 Fred Sharpe, Paulsboro [400IH, 800]
1997: John Stone, Mainland Regional [100, 200]
1998 Robert Jordan, Millville [High Jump, Long Jump]
1999 Nick Brown, Bridgeton [200, Long Jump]
2002 Todd Dutch, Washington Twp. [100, 200]
2004 Reuben McCoy, Winslow Twp. [400, 400IH]
2012 Fabian Santiago, Oakcrest [100, 200]
2022: Malachi James, Willingboro [

Haddonfield teammates Seth Clevenger and George Andrus finished 1-3 in the 3,200 Saturday at the Meet of Champions.

Clevenger, a senior, won the race in 9:08.92 and Andrus, a junior, was 3rd in 9:16.XX.
Clevenger becomes Haddonfield’s first Meet of Champions winner in 16 years.

The Iowa State-bound Clevenger is the first Haddonfield distance runner to win a Meet of Champions title since Dan Gough won the 1,600 in 4:16.4 in 1987. Other Haddonfield Meet of Champions winners are pole vaulter Mark Murphy in 1984 and 1985 and Dan Purves in 2006.

Clevenger’s PR is 9:03.65 from the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township in May, which is No. 10 in South Jersey history. Andrus’s PR is 9:08.09 from the indoor Meet of Champions at the Bubble in March.

The Meet of Champions title capped a phenomenal season for Clevenger, who ran five 3,200s and never ran slower than 9:12.99. He didn’t run the 1,600 Saturday, but he never ran slower than 4:13.11 this year. His PR of 4:09.34 from the Haddonfield Invitational is No. 6 in South Jersey history.

His only loss at either 1,600 or 3,200 meters came to Andrus in the Cherokee Night of 3200s on April 14, when Andrus ran 9:12.32 and Clevenger 9:12.99.

Clevenger is the only runner in South Jersey history to run sub-4:10 and sub-9:10.

Rancocas Valley stayed at home for the Meet of Champions instead of racing at New Balance Nationals, and the Red Devils emerged with a triumph in the 800-meter relay.

Seniors Anabella Chin, Jya Marshall and Olivia Smith and junior Kasey White ran 49.86 and won by 1-100th of a second over North Hunterdon.

North Hunterdon ran 49.87 in the second of three sections, and R.V. ran in the final race and crossed the line 1-100th of a second faster.

It was R.V.’s first Meet of Champions win in the 400-meter relay and second MoC relay title. The Red Devils won the 4-by-4 in 2019.

R.V. ran a season-best 48.65 to win Group 4 states last weekend.

It was a tricky race for the Rancocas Valley girls because they knew they had to run faster than 49.87, but they were in a race with nobody to push them.

The Red Devils won the “seeded” race by over a second.

Rancocas Valley is the first South Jersey school to win the Meet of Champions 4-by-100 since Winslow Township in 2016 and the first Burlington County school since Michelle Glover and Willingboro won it in 1980. (It wasn’t held from 1981 through 2009.)

Bryce Tucker won his second straight Meet of Champions intermediate hurdles title Saturday one day after earning All-America honors in the event.

Tucker, a Pennsauken junior, ran 53.57 to win the 400IH at the 53rd annual Meet of Champions at Franklin High one day after running 53.01 for 4th place at the New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field.

Tucker won by six meters over senior Daniel Jakubowski-Lewis, who placed 2nd in 54.28.

Tucker is the first to win the Meet of Champions intermediate hurdles in back-to-back seasons since East Orange’s Cory Poole in 2015 and 2016 and the first South Jersey runner since ever.

He’s only the 20th South Jersey athlete in the meet’s more than half a century to win the same event in consecutive years. In 2023, he’ll have the opportunity to join Murad Campbell as South Jersey’s only three-time winner of the same event in Meet of Champions history. Campbell won the 3,200 for Overbrook in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Isaac Samuelos [Kennedy], Long Jump [1982, 1983]
Mark Murphy [Haddonfield], Pole Vault [1984, 1985]
Ken Reynolds [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash [1985, 1986]
Russ Willett [Penns Grove], Discus [1985, 1986]
Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 110-Meter Hurdles [1989, 1990]
Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], Long Jump [1989, 1990]
Lamont Smith [Willingboro], 400-Meter Dash [1990, 1991]
Dwayne Robinson [Bridgeton], High Jump [1991, 1992]
Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], Shot Put [1994, 1995]
Ron Dayne [Overbrook], Discus [1995, 1996]
William Spearman [Wilson], Long Jump [1995, 1996]
Murad Campbell [Overbrook], 3,200-Meter Run [1997, 1998, 1999]
Robert Jordan [Millville], High Jump [1998, 1999]
Anthony Miles [Winslow Twp.], Long Jump [2002, 2003]
Mike Morrison [Willingboro], High Jump [2002, 2003]
Anthony Averett [Woodbury], Long Jump [2011, 2012]
Cade Antonucci [Holy Spirit], Javelin [2016, 2017]
Jonathan Taylor [Salem], 100-Meter Dash [2016, 2017]
Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], Triple Jump [2017, 2018]
Floyd Whitaker [Highland], Triple Jump [2019, 2021*]
* – no meet in 2020

Tucker is also the No. 1 seed going into the 110-meter hurdles final later Saturday after running a lifetime-best 14.22 in the trials.

Cherokee opened the Meet of Champions with its first win in the 3,200-meter relay.

On a very windy day that rendered fast times impossible, junior Conor Jacob, sophomore Nick Kuenkel, sophomore Robert Poplau and junior Patrick Ditmars ran 7:54.34 and won by 50 meters at the 53rd annual Meet of Champions at Franklin High School.

Cherokee led by more than 1 ½ seconds at the first handoff, 3 ½ seconds 400 meters into Kuenkel’s leg and by over 50 meters when Ditmars got the stick.

Cherokee had run 7:50.53 at the state Group 4 meet last weekend on the same track without 1:55 half-miler Patrick Ditmars.

But with nobody else running fast, Cherokee won easily, finishing more than six seconds ahead of 2nd-place Chatham, which ranked 8:00.63.

Jacob led off with a 1:57.63 split, Kuenkel ran 1:58.05, Poplau split 1:58.93 and Ditmars – in his first race since May 19 – split 1:59.73.

The Meet of Champions title is the 3rd for Cherokee. Marc Pelerin won the 3,200 at South Brunswick in 2002 and Luciano Pizarro won the shot put in 2019 at Northern Burlington.

Cherokee is the 4th South Jersey school to win the 4-by-8 since it was added to the state program in 2010. Vineland won in 2012, Kingsway in 2013 and Delsea in 2018.

 

Pennsauken earned All-America honors Friday with the fastest 800-meter relay by a South Jersey school this year.

Senior Nadir Paige, junior Bryce Tucker, sophomore Elijah Jennings and junior Premier Wynn ran 1:28.28 and placed 8th at the New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field.

That’s No. 2 in the state this year, just 10-100ths of a second behind the 1:28.18 East Brunswick ran at the Middlesex County Relays last month at South Brunswick.

It’s also fastest by a South Jersey school in six years, since Paul VI ran 1:27.38 at the Woodbury Relays.

Pennsauken’s best previous time this year was a 1:28.84 at the Woodbury Relays. Their school record is 1:27.68 at the 2016 Willingboro Relays.

Tucker is now a five-time All-America before the end of his junior year.

He also earned All-America honors with a 4th-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles on Friday. He ran a season-best 53.01, his fastest time since he won last year’s Meet of Champions in 52.17. He’ll be back on the track Saturday to defend his M-of-C title.

Tucker also earned All-America honors with a 4th-place finish in the 400 indoors at Ocean Breeze Nationals this past winter as well as on Pennsauken’s 800- and 1,600-meter relay teams.

All-Time South Jersey 800-Meter Relay List
1:24.49 … Winslow Twp., 2003
1:24.90 … Camden, 2004
1:26.05 … Camden, 2000
1:26.68 … Camden, 1997
1:27.38 … Paul VI, 2016
1:27.52 … Woodrow Wilson, 1996
1:27.66 … Oakcrest, 2011
1:27.68 … Pennsauken, 2016
1:27.69 … Oakcrest, 2012
1:27.74 … Pleasantville, 1994
1:27.75 … Willingboro, 2007
1:27.80 … Pleasantville, 1999
1:27.84 … Winslow Twp., 2002
1:27.90 … Winslow Twp., 2008
1:27.96 … Williamstown, 2015
1:27.98 … Camden, 2002
1:28.01 … Camden, 1999
1:28.02 … Edgewood, 2000
1:27.9 ….. Edgewood, 1985
1:27.9 ….. Winslow Twp., 2008
1:28.23 … Rancocas Valley, 2015
1:28.0h … Willingboro, 1979
1:28.0h … Edgewood, 1984
1:28.0h … Edgewood, 1985
1:28.0h … Camden, 2001
1:28.0h … Winslow Twp., 2004
1:28.28 … Pennsauken, 2022
1:28.29 … Cherry Hill East, 2012
1:28.35 … Timber Creek, 2014
1:28.37 … Camden, 2005
1:28.38 … Paul VI, 2018
1:28.40 … Cherokee, 2008
1:28.42 … Pennsauken, 2005
1:28.2h … Cumberland Regional, 1981
1:28.44 … Lenape, 1996
1:28.47 … Pennsauken
1:28.52 … Timber Creek, 2013
1:28.57 … Deptford, 2017
1:28.62 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2017
1:28.62 … Delsea, 2010
1:28.64 … Rancocas Valley, 2014
1:28.4h … Woodrow Wilson, 1986
1:28.4h … Edgewood, 2001
1:28.65 … Camden, 2000
1:28.70 … Paul VI, 2021
1:28.79 … Willingboro, 1999
1:28.82 … Buena, 2000
1:28.6h … Willingboro, 1982
1:28.6h … Willingboro, 1990
1:28.6h … Vineland, 2002
1:28.90 … Delsea, 2008
1:28.7h … Willingboro, 1977
1:28.7h … Edgewood, 1982
1:28.7h … Edgewood, 1982
1:28.96 … Deptford, 2015
1:28.96 … Egg Harbor Twp.,2015
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