Pretty amazing breakthrough Wednesday by Atlantic City senior Darius McClinton.

McClinton, in what appears to be just his third major 400-meter hurdles race, PR’d by nearly 1 ½ seconds and win the intermediates at the Cape-Atlantic Conference Championships at Bridgeton with a time of 56.94.

According to MileSplit, McClinton’s PR going into the meet was 58.25 at the Atlantic County Championships last week at Buena. Before that it was 59.21 at the South Jersey Elite earlier this month at Delsea. And before that it was 1:06.14 from a dual meet last year at Seneca.

That means he’s dropped his time nearly 10 seconds this month.

McClinton won the race by more than 2 ½ seconds, and his time is No. 8 this spring in South Jersey and No. 3 in South Jersey Group 4, behind only Toms River North junior Jacob Kiyler (55.53) and Washington Township’s Kanye Mills (55.81).

McClinton also placed 6th in the 200 in 23.48.

Some hot sprinting Tuesday at the Olympic Conference Championships, with Winslow senior Jaia James and Washington Township sophomore Dylan Giloley recording the two-fastest 100 times by South Jersey girls this spring.

Giloley led all qualifiers in the prelims with a PR 12.04 on her home track, a huge drop from her PR of 12.38 from Fast Times at Cherokee back in mid-April. James was second in qualifying with a 12.27 in a different heat, not far off her PR of 12.22 that she set last spring when she won the South Jersey Group 3 sectional race at Delsea.

In the final, James edged Giloley with a PR of 12.02, with Giloley less than a 10th of a second behind at 12.10. All three races had legal wind.

James and Giloley now rank 1-2 in South Jersey this year and 3-4 in the state. Christiana Nwachuku of Kent Place School in Summit is No. 1 in New Jersey with an 11.85 at the Union County Championships in Plainfield over the weekend, and Julia Jackson of Scotch Plains-Fanwood is second at 11.90 from the same race.

James and Giloley both moved into the all-time South Jersey top-50 (see below). Giloley broke the school record of 12.10 set by Jackie Dim at the 2008 Gloucester County Championships at Washington Township. James is No. 3 in Winslow history behind Shakira Dancy, who ran 11.71 in the trials at the 2017 Group 3 sectionals at Delsea and Torie Robinson, who ran 11.73 when she won the 2014 Meet of Champions at South Plainfield.

Their times are 3rd- and 4th-fastest fat times in meet history behind Olympian English Gardner of Eastern [12.01 in 2010] and Dancy [11.89 in 2017]. The only faster converted hand time is LaToya Benson’s 11.6 (equivalent to 11.84fat) in 2002.

James also won the 200 in 25.89 and placed 2nd in the 100-meter hurdles in a personal-best 15.54. Eastern junior Johnny Stilley won the hurdles in a PR 15.32.

11.42 … Michele Glover [Willingboro], 1981
11.49 … English Gardner [Eastern], 2008
11.57 … Patti Dunlap [Camden], 1979
11.58 … Bria Mack [Williamstown], 2017
11.61 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], 2000
11.63 … Dennisha Page [Woodrow Wilson], 2019
11.66 … Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2021
11.71 … Shakira Dancy [Winslow Twp.], 2017
11.73 … Torie Robinson [Winslow Twp.], 2014
11.77 … Aisha Morgan [Schalick], 1998
11.78 … Shameka Speed [Bridgeton], 2003
11.81 … Denise Liles [Kingsway], 1984
11.81 … Audrey Wilson [Deptford], 2008
11.82 … Annie Johnson [Shawnee], 2012
11.84 … Robin Taylor [Deptford], 1980
11.85 … Dana Burnett [Willamstown], 1996
11.88 … Denis Mitchell [Edgewood], 1983
11.89 … Cecelia Gerstenbacher [Delsea], 2017
11.91 … Aliya Harrison [Sterling], 2017
11.94 … Emily Carson [Haddonfield], 2013
11.95 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
11.96 … Jamillah Nock [Woodrow Wilson], 2004
11.96 … Jailya Ash [Eastern], 2019
11.98 … Jennifer Jackson [Eastern], 2003
11.98 … Ciera Ismail [Schalick], 2013
11.98 … Kiara Lester [Deptford], 2014
12.00 … Andrea Conway [Bordentown], 1986
12.00 … Aisha Morgan [Schalick], 1998
12.01 … Kylene Bines [Highland], 1998
12.01 … Nadia Davy [Bridgeton], 1999
12.02 … Jaia James [Winslow Twp.], 2022
12.04 … Latoya Carmichael [Woodrow Wilson], 1991
12.04 … Dylan Giloley [Washington Twp.], 2022
12.05 … Anu Ward [Moorestown], 2000
12.06 … Cidae’a Woods [Winslow Twp.], 2014
12.06 … Bryanna Williams [Timber Creek], 2011
12.07 … Jewel Ash [Eastern], 2017
12.08 … Angie Clybourn [Egg Harbor Twp.], 1991
12.08 … Kim Hargrove [Willingboro], 1996
12.08 … Jaye Pollard [Penns Grove], 2013
12.09 … Gabrielle Farquharson [Williamstown], 2011
12.10 … Teneacia Smith [CherryHill East], 1991
12.10 … Jackie Dim [Washington Twp.], 2008
12.10 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], 2008
12.10 … Iyanla Kollock [Our Lady of Mercy], 2017
12.11 … Michelle Brown [Seneca], 2009
12.11 … Nia Lawrence [Pemberton], 2012
12.12 … Maya Drayton [Cherry Hill East], 2019
12.13 … Dominique Merchant [Winslow Twp.], 2003
12.15 … Rageana Marigna [Palmyra], 2008
12.17 … Shardae Anderson [Paulsboro], 2004
12.17 … Aaliyah Vandergrift [Paul VI], 2019
12.17 … Sade Jones [Millville], 2002

Led by seniors Olivia Smith and Anaya Young, Rancocas Valley had a big day in the horizontal jumps at the East Coast Relays Tuesday at Randolph.

Smith and Young teamed with senior Joyce Adegoke to win the long jump relay and with sophomore Lauren Fadairo to win the triple jump at the 50st annual East Coast Relays, held for the first time since 2019.

Smith PR’d at 16-11 ½ to lead all 24 long jumpers in the competition, Adegoke hit a PR 16-1 ¾ and Young also jumped 16-1 ¾ for a combined 49-3 ½.

In the triple jump, Smith had the 2nd-best jump of the day at 34-6 ½, Young hit 34-4 and Fadairo jumped 34-0 ½ for a combined 102-11.

R.V. last won the long jump relay in 2014 when it was a two-person event. This is the Red Devils’ first ECR triple jump win.

Rancocas Valley also won the 800-meter relay in 1:43.58 with seniors Anabella Chin, Sanai Jenkins and Jya Marshall and junior Kasey White. R.V. is No. 1 in South Jersey with its 1:43.12 at Woodbury.

R.V. was also 2nd in the 400-meter relay with a 50.11 [Chin, Marshall, White, Jenkins], 5th in the sprint medley in 4:43.08 [sophomore Laila Bailey, senior Jianna Benton, senior N’Duwonee Kangar, freshman Cecilia King], 2nd in the 3-by-intermediates [freshman Aniya Wilkins, sophomore Neveah Lott, sophomore Nyla Byrd], 4th in the 1,600-meter relay with. 4:26.95 [Byrd, sophomore Adrienne Austin, Lott, Wilkins] and 3rd in the pole vault relay [senior Mia Paolone, junior Ashlan Williams, sophomore Ava Paolone]. Also, Fadairo PR’d with a 5-0 clearance in the high jump relay.

Remarkable race Tuesday by Washington Township’s Yashahya Brown, who became South Jersey’s fastest sophomore hurdler in at least 20 years.

Brown, whose PR before Tuesday was 14.64, ran 14.08 – with legal wind – to win the 110-meter highs at the Olympic Conference Championships on his home track.

That’s the fastest time by any New Jersey sophomore since 2015 – when Cory Poole of East Orange ran 14.03 at the state Group 4 meet at Egg Harbor. Poole is now ranked 27th in the world in the intermediate hurdles at 49.42.

It’s the fastest time by a South Jersey sophomore as far back as my available records go. I’ll go farther back on Wednesday.

It’s also the fastest time in New Jersey so far this year and fastest at the Olympic Conference meet since Timber Creek’s Kevin Hegamin set the fat meet record of 13.73 in 2014.

The only faster times over the last 30 years are hand times – Danyne Brown of Camden ran a ht 13.5 to win the Olympic in 1999. Scot McCray in 1997 and Anwar Moore in 1998, both also from Camden, ran 13.9, which actually converts to 14.14 fat, which is slower than Brown’s time Tuesday.

And according to the MileSplit national database, it makes Brown the 5th-fastest sophomore in the U.S. so far this spring.

Before Tuesday, Brown’s PR was 14.64 from the trials of the South Jersey Elite at Delsea earlier this month.

In the trials, Brown led all qualifiers in 14.75, with top-seeded A.J. Brooks next at 14.77.

The final was run with a legal tailwind of 1.6 meters per second, and Brown and Brooks both PR’d, with Brooks taking second in 14.27. They’re the two-fastest times in the state so far this year.

Brown’s time is No. 3 in school history, behind Devon Carter, who ran 13.96 at the 2010 state Group 4 meet at Egg Harbor, and Arthur Ashton, who ran 14.01 at the 2012 South Jersey Group 4 sectionals, also at EHT.

Brown also ran the second leg on Washington Township’s 2nd-place 4-by-4 team, which ran 3:29.92.

Brooks had a huge meet, winning the long jump at 20-10 ¾ on his only legal jump, taking second to teammate Jashad Kersey in the triple jump at 42-11 and placing 7th in the 200 in 23.12.

Cherokee senior Nicole Clifford ran the 13th-fastest 800 in South Jersey history Tuesday and became only the 6th girl in South Jersey history to run sub-2:12 for the 800 and sub-4:51 for the mile.

Clifford won the 800 at the Olympic Conference Championships at Washington Township in a meet-record 2:11.52, lowering her PR from 2:12.13 from earlier this month at the South Jersey Elite at Delsea and breaking the hallowed school record of 2:12.09 by two-time Meet of Champions winner Monica Olkowski at the 1990 M-of-C.

The previous meet record was 2:12.2 hand-timed set by legendary Michelle Rowen of Washington Township in 1982.

Clifford ran 4:50.50 for a full mile on Friday in New York. The only girls in South Jersey history to run sub-2:12 for 800 meters and sub-4:51 for a full mile (or metric equivalent) are Rowen [2:10.1, 4:41.5], Ocean City’s Renee Tomlin [2:09.50, 4:49.11], Haddonfield Olympians Marielle Hall [2:07.33, 4:48.78] and Erin Donohue [2:08.87, 4:41.16] and Haddonfield’s Briana Gess [2:11.80, 4:47.63].

Clifford’s time is No. 4 in New Jersey this year, including two girls from North Jersey who don’t run for their schools and compete for a club team.

It’s No. 2 in Burlington County history. Lenape’s Shelby Whetstone set the county mark of 2:10.55 at the 2019 state Group 4 meet at Franklin High.

Cherokee junior Kelsey Niglio placed second in 2:14.30, 2nd-fastest in South Jersey this year, No. 6 among all New Jersey underclassmen and No. 12 in Burlington County history.

Cherry Hill East junior Alexis Tepper PR’d with 2:19.68 for 3rd. Her previous PR was 2:19.69 earlier this month at the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township.

All-Time South Jersey 800 List
2:07.33 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2009
2:08.87 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2001
2:09.2h … Katrina Sye [Buena], 1999
2:09.50 … Renee Tomlin [Ocean City], 2005
2:09.84 … Rachel Stremme [Ocean City], 2014
2:10.1h … Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1982
2:10.55 … Shelby Whetstone [Lenape], 2019
2:10.57 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], 2009
2:10.79 … Krista Ferrara [Vineland], 1991
2:10.9h … Ruth Lockbaum [Glassboro], 1985
2:11.07 … Miya Johnson [Lenape], 2007
2:11.45 … Sydney Coppolino [Sterling], 2017
2:11.52 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
2:11.56 … Mary Bohi [Seneca], 2009
2:11.80 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2016
2:11.88 … Kayla Martin [Seneca], 2015
2:11.94 … Bridget Flynn [Ocean City], 2014

Rowan’s army of javelin throwers leads the Profs into the NCAA Division 3 Track and Field Championships starting Thursday in Northeastern Ohio.

Rowan, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division 3, is seeking its first national title in 38 years, since it won its fifth straight in 1984.

The meet runs Thursday through Saturday at SPIRE Institut in Geneva, Ohio.

Complete men’s entries: Click here.

Complete women’s entries: Click here.

Rowan’s chances to win its sixth  national championship depend largely on the success of its javelin group. The Profs have the No. 1, 2, 4, 7 and 17 seeds so a real opportunity to score huge points in one event.

Sophomore Greg Poloso, a Rider transfer from Wayne Valley, is the No. 1 seed at 230-11, grad student Dan McAleavey from Howell is No. 2 at 220-2, junior Edgar Rosa from Paulsboro is No. 4 at 212-11, freshman Lane Owens from Ocean City No. 7 with a season-best 209-7, and sophomore Julio LeBron from Memorial of West New York No. 17 at 190-11.

So with the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring system, if the javelin goes by seed Rowan would score 25 points in one event. The highest winning score since 2015 has been 46 points. The javelin final is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. on Thursday.

Other top-10 seeds for the Profs are sophomore Nana Agyemang of Parsippany in the long jump [No. 4 at 24-9], sophomore Ahmir Johnson of Wissahickon in the triple jump [No. 6 at 49-2 ½] John Owens from West Windsor-Plainsboro North in the 400-meter hurdles [No. 8 at 52.86] and the 4-by-4 relay [No. 10 at 3:12.77], which will likely include Marquise Young of Sterling, Agyemang, Jah’mere Beasley of Sterling and Amara Conte from Ferris High in Jersey City.

Beasley also qualified in the 200 [21.26], Young in the 110-meter high hurdles [14.37], Millville’s Treshan Stevenson in the intermediates [53.24], Kingsway’s Earnest Daniel in the high jump [6-8 ¼] and Johnson in the long jump as well as the triple [24-1 ¾].

The hammer throw will be of particular interest to South Jersey. Rutgers-Camden senior Jude Misko from Cherry Hill East, defending national champion with a 198-5, is the No. 2 seed at 204-1, and his longtime rival Stockton senior Darren Wan of Egg Harbor Township is the No. 7 seed at 190-8.

Stockton will also be represented by senior pole vaulter Keith Holland of Central Regional, who is the No. 12 seed in the pole vault at 16-0 ¾.

In the women’s meet, Rowan is sending freshman Nevaeh Lorjuste of Triton [56.77 in 400], freshman Molly Lodge of Woodstown [56.88 in 400], senior Nicole Notarianni from South Brunswick [No. 10 seed at 14.12 in 100 hurdles] and the 1,600-meter relay team of Lodge, Lorjuste, junior Kat Pedersen from Hillsborough and junior Amanthy Sosa Caceres [No. 9 seed at 3:50.11].

Shawnee graduate Amanda Demko, a sophomore at The College of New Jersey, is No. 10 seed in the 400 at 56.15 and is also on TCNJ’s 400-meter relay team, which is No. 9 seed.

In the NCAA Division 2 meet at Grand Valley State in Allendale, Mich., Kingsway graduate will race in the 10,000-meter run, which is scheduled for 8:50 p.m. on Thursday.

Rancocas Valley graduate Jasmine State of Bloomfield ranks No. 9 in NCAA Division 2 in the high hurdles at 13.74 but is not entered.

Sixteen South Jersey athletes are headed for the NCAA Track Championships this week.

Five men and five women will compete in the NCAA East Region preliminary meet at Robert C. Hughes Track and Field Complex at the University of Indiana in Bloomington, and three men and three women are on their way to the NCAA West Region preliminary meet at John McDonnell Field at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

A total of 48 athletes in each individual event (except multis) comprise the regional fields. The top 12 finishers in each event at each regional meet advance to the NCAA Championships June 8-11 at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene.

Here’s a look at all 16 qualifiers (all times EST). Note that the rounds listed are the only rounds scheduled for this week. If there’s one round, the top 12 from there advance to nationals. If there are two rounds, the top 12 from the second round advance. The regionals are considered the same meet as NCAAs. So there are no finals in the preliminary round. A race listed as a quarterfinal is the national quarterfinal. If that makes sense.

Complete Entries:
East Regional Men: Click here.
East Regional Women: Click here.
West Regional Men: Click here.
West Regional Women: Click here.

Eastern Regional Preliminary Meet
Men
Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine, University of Miami], 110 Hurdles
In his first year at Miami after spending last year at Penn State, Rhea PR’d with a 13.89 at LSU last month. Rhea, the Big Ten winner indoors last year, is making his third consevutive trip to NCAAs but his first for the Hurricanes.
Schedule: First round 6 p.m. Wednesday, Quarterfinals 6:15 p.m. Friday

Gabriel Moronta [Pleasantville, Mississsippi State], 400 Hurdles
Moronta, best known in high school as a half-miler, focused on the 400-meter hurdles this spring and got his time down to 51.38 last week at SECs in Oxford, Miss. – more than five seconds faster than he ran in high school. Moronta made it to the finals at NCAA East Regionals last year in the 800, when he ran 1:49.33, but he didn’t run any 800s this spring, and the payoff is a return to NCAA Regionals in a new event.
Schedule: First round 8:20 p.m. Wednesday, Quarterfinals 7:25 p.m. Friday

Mike Ungvarsky [Cinnaminson, Duke], 3,000 steeplechase
Ungvarsky, a Duke grad student, missed six weeks of training this spring with a stress fracture, but he must have done something to stay in shape because when he returned he ran the fastest steeplechase ever by a South Jersey native – 8:46.16 earlier this month at ACCs in Durham, N.C. (since broken by Samuel Gerstenbacher).
Schedule: Semifinals 5:40 p.m. Friday

Adam Hunt [Collingswood, Rutgers], discus
Hunt, a senior, makes his second trip in a row to Eastern Prelims after throwing a discus PR 181-8 in March in Orlando.
Schedule: First round 1 p.m. Friday

Zach Manorowitz [Pennsville, Rider], long jump
Manorowitz just PR’d two weeks ago with a 25-0 3/4 to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title in Lawrenceville.The Rider sophomore has increased his PR from 23-6 in the past year. At Pennsville, his best jump was a 21-6, so that’s a 3 1/2-foot PR in three years.
Schedule: First round 6 p.m. Wednesday
Women
Sydney Coppolino [Sterling, Virginia], 800
Coppolino makes her first trip to NCAAs after PR’ing in the trials of the ACC Championships in Durham at 2:06.15 and making the final, where she placed 8th.
Schedule: First round 7:50 p.m. Thursday, Quarterfinals 7:05 p.m. Saturday

Jailya Ash [Eastern,  UConn], 100HH
Ash PR’d in the high hurdles with a 13.58 when she placed 2nd at the Big East Championships in Storrs. She’s the 5th-ranked freshman in the entire field at East Prelims, and she’ll be able to hang out with older sister Jewel, who will also be in Bloomington this week.
Schedule: First round 6 p.m. Thursday, Quarterfinals 6:151 p.m. Saturday

Jewel Ash [Eastern, Charleston Southern], 400IH
The highest seed from South Jersey, Ash is the No. 7 seed in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at 57.16 from the Big South Championships in High Point, N.C., earlier this month before winning the final in 57.92.
Schedule: First round 8:20 p.m. Thursday, Quarterfinals 7:25 p.m. Saturday

Danielle Steff [Rancocas Valley, Monmouth], Javelin
This is Steff’s 4th straight trip to NCAA prelims. She placed 10th in 2019 and made it to nationals. Steff qualified by virtue of her season-best 160-8 in a meet last month at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa. Her PR is 166-6 from a dual meet against Rider in Lawrenceville last April.
Schedule: First round 2 p.m. Thursday

Alexa Gardner [Hammonton, Rutgers], Javelin
The only event with two South Jersey competitors, Gardner PR’d with a 157-9 just last weekend at the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, but she’s been over 155 feet in her last three meets.
Schedule: First round 2 p.m. Thursday

Western Regional Preliminary Meet
Men
Jack Shea [Cherokee, Northern Arizona], 5,000-meter run
Shea dropped a 13:44.57 PR three weeks ago at the Peyton Jordan Invitational at Stanford in Palo Alto. That was a 12-second PR for Shea, who hadn’t broken 14:08 as recently as February.
Schedule: First round 9:10 p.m., Friday

Floyd Whitaker [Highland, Minnesota], Triple Jump
Only a freshman, Whitaker qualified with a 51-2 1/4 at the Big Ten Championships. That’s his best official jump competing for Minnesota, although he did record a 51-5 1/2 competing unattached during the indoor season, when he red-shirted. Whitaker is the No. 3-ranked freshman in the field in Fayetteville.
Schedule: First round 6 p.m. Friday

Nick Mirabelli [Rancocas Valley, Texas A&M], Javelin
Incredible comeback season for Mirabelli, who hadn’t competed since June of 2019. He only threw four times after coming back from a serious injury but his 228-1 not only got him into NCAAs it was only only eight feet off his pre-injury PR of 236-6 from the 2019 Clyde Littlefield Relays in Austin. He’s gotten better each meet this spring. He’s No. 11 seed in the West.
Schedule: First round 3 p.m. Wednesday

Women
Tionna Tobias [Winslow Township, Iowa], 100 Hurdles
Tobias focused on multi-events most of the spring, but the heptathlon field is only a total of 24 athletes, so she goes to NCAAs in the high hurdles, where she had a season best of 13.64 and has a PR of 13.59 as part of last year’s Big Ten heptathlon.
Schedule: First round 7 p.m. Thursday, Quarterfinals 6:15 p.m. Saturday

Nylah Perry [Winslow Township, Iowa], 400 Hurdles
Tobias’s teammate both in high school and college, Perry PR’d with a 59.67 at Big Ten’s in Minneapolis, her first time under a minute.
Schedule: First round 9:20 p.m. Thursday, Quarterfinals 8:25 p.m. Saturday

Elisia Lancaster [Delsea, Southern Illinois], Hammer Throw
Lancaster is a legit All-America candidate after PR’ing with a 220-4 when she won the Missouri Valley Conference meet in Des Moines earlier this month. Lancaster is the No. 9 seed in the Western Region. She’s thrown over 210 feet in her last five meets. Lancaster competed in the hammer last spring at NCAAs and placed 10th in the weight throw at NCAAs this past winter in Birmingham, Ala.
Schedule: First round 11 a.m. Thursday

Fourteen South Jersey athletes are headed for the NCAA Track Championships this week.

Four men and five women will compete in the NCAA East Region preliminary meet at Robert C. Hughes Track and Field Complex at the University of Indiana in Bloomington, and two men and three women are on their way to the NCAA West Region preliminary meet at John McDonnell Field at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

A total of 48 athletes in each individual event (except multis) comprise the regional fields. The top 12 finishers in each event at each regional meet advance to the NCAA Championships June 8-11 at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene.

Here’s a look at all 14 qualifiers (all times EST). Note that the rounds listed are the only rounds scheduled for this week. If there’s one round, the top 12 from there advance to nationals. If there are two rounds, the top 12 from the second round advance. The regionals are considered the same meet as NCAAs. So there are no finals in the preliminary round. A race listed as a quarterfinal is the national quarterfinal. If that makes sense.

Eastern Regional Preliminary Meet
Men
Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine, University of Miami], 110 Hurdles
In his first year at Miami after spending last year at Penn State, Rhea PR’d with a 13.89 at LSU last month. Rhea, the Big Ten winner indoors last year, is making his third consevutive trip to NCAAs but his first for the Hurricanes.
Schedule: First round 6 p.m. Wednesday, Quarterfinals 6:15 p.m. Friday

Gabriel Moronta [Pleasantville, Mississsippi State], 400 Hurdles
Moronta, best known in high school as a half-miler, focused on the 400-meter hurdles this spring and got his time down to 51.38 last week at SECs in Oxford, Miss. – more than five seconds faster than he ran in high school. Moronta made it to the finals at NCAA East Regionals last year in the 800, when he ran 1:49.33, but he didn’t run any 800s this spring, and the payoff is a return to NCAA Regionals in a new event.
Schedule: First round 8:20 p.m. Wednesday, Quarterfinals 7:25 p.m. Friday

Mike Ungvarsky [Cinnaminson, Duke], 3,000 steeplechase
Ungvarsky, a Duke grad student, missed six weeks of training this spring with a stress fracture, but he must have done something to stay in shape because when he returned he ran the fastest steeplechase ever by a South Jersey native – 8:46.16 earlier this month at ACCs in Durham, N.C. (since broken by Samuel Gerstenbacher).
Schedule: Semifinals 5:40 p.m. Friday

Adam Hunt [Collingswood, Rutgers], discus
Hunt, a senior, makes his second trip in a row to Eastern Prelims after throwing a discus PR 181-8 in March in Orlando.
Schedule: First round 1 p.m. Friday

Women
Sydney Coppolino [Sterling, Virginia], 800
Coppolino makes her first trip to NCAAs after PR’ing in the trials of the ACC Championships in Durham at 2:06.15 and making the final, where she placed 8th.
Schedule: First round 7:50 p.m. Thursday, Quarterfinals 7:05 p.m. Saturday

Jailya Ash [Eastern,  UConn], 100HH
Ash PR’d in the high hurdles with a 13.58 when she placed 2nd at the Big East Championships in Storrs. She’s the 5th-ranked freshman in the entire field at East Prelims, and she’ll be able to hang out with older sister Jewel, who will also be in Bloomington this week.
Schedule: First round 6 p.m. Thursday, Quarterfinals 6:151 p.m. Saturday

Jewel Ash [Eastern, Charleston Southern], 400IH
The highest seed from South Jersey, Ash is the No. 7 seed in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at 57.16 from the Big South Championships in High Point, N.C., earlier this month before winning the final in 57.92.
Schedule: First round 8:20 p.m. Thursday, Quarterfinals 7:25 p.m. Saturday

Danielle Steff [Rancocas Valley, Monmouth], Javelin
This is Steff’s 4th straight trip to NCAA prelims. She placed 10th in 2019 and made it to nationals. Steff qualified by virtue of her season-best 160-8 in a meet last month at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa. Her PR is 166-6 from a dual meet against Rider in Lawrenceville last April.
Schedule: First round 2 p.m. Thursday

Alexa Gardner [Hammonton, Rutgers], Javelin
The only event with two South Jersey competitors, Gardner PR’d with a 157-9 just last weekend at the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, but she’s been over 155 feet in her last three meets.
Schedule: First round 2 p.m. Thursday

Western Regional Preliminary Meet
Men
Jack Shea [Cherokee, Northern Arizona], 5,000-meter run
Shea dropped a 13:44.57 PR three weeks ago at the Peyton Jordan Invitational at Stanford in Palo Alto. That was a 12-second PR for Shea, who hadn’t broken 14:08 as recently as February.
Schedule: First round 9:10 p.m., Friday

Nick Mirabelli [Rancocas Valley, Texas A&M], Javelin
Incredible comeback season for Mirabelli, who hadn’t competed since June of 2019. He only threw four times after coming back from a serious injury but his 228-1 not only got him into NCAAs it was only only eight feet off his pre-injury PR of 236-6 from the 2019 Clyde Littlefield Relays in Austin. He’s gotten better each meet this spring. He’s No. 11 seed in the West.
Schedule: First round 3 p.m. Wednesday

Women
Tionna Tobias [Winslow Township, Iowa], 100 Hurdles
Tobias focused on multi-events most of the spring, but the heptathlon field is only a total of 24 athletes, so she goes to NCAAs in the high hurdles, where she had a season best of 13.64 and has a PR of 13.59 as part of last year’s Big Ten heptathlon.
Schedule: First round 7 p.m. Thursday, Quarterfinals 6:15 p.m. Saturday

Nylah Perry [Winslow Township, Iowa], 400 Hurdles
Tobias’s teammate both in high school and college, Perry PR’d with a 59.67 at Big Ten’s in Minneapolis, her first time under a minute.
Schedule: First round 9:20 p.m. Thursday, Quarterfinals 8:25 p.m. Saturday

Elisia Lancaster [Delsea, Southern Illinois], Hammer Throw
Lancaster is a legit All-America candidate after PR’ing with a 220-4 when she won the Missouri Valley Conference meet in Des Moines earlier this month. Lancaster is the No. 9 seed in the Western Region. She’s thrown over 210 feet in her last five meets. Lancaster competed in the hammer last spring at NCAAs and placed 10th in the weight throw at NCAAs this past winter in Birmingham, Ala.
Schedule: First round 11 a.m. Thursday

Curtis Thompson, Florence’s javelin Olympian, uncorked two of the eight-best throws of his life Saturday night.

Thompson opened his series at the USATF Throws Festival at Roy P. Drachman Stadium on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson with a throw of 266-5, No. 5 in his career. He followed that with a 264-8, his 8th-best throw ever.

Although he had thrown 260 feet or more in 10 meets before Saturday, this was the first time he had thrown 260 feet more than once in any meet. Four of his nine-best lifetime throws have now come since March 25.

U.S. all-time No. 5 Tim Glover threw 271-8 on his 5th attempt – his best throw in seven years and No. 16 in the world this year – to win the event. Glover’s PR is 275-10 from 2015.

Thompson followed his two big throws with a foul, a 251-5, another foul and a closing 254-4.

Thompson ranks No. 16 in U.S. history with his PR of 271-11 and has a season best of 268-1 from last month, No. 1 among U.S. men this year and No. 20 in the world.

Thompson’s next meets are the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville on June 5, two meets in Canada in June – Harry Jerome in Burnaby June 14 and then the Victoria Track Classic two days later in Victoria – and then the USATF National Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., June 23-26.

Here’s a look at all the 260-foot throws of Thompson’s life:

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
264-8 … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 21, 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

Two tremendous sprint battles between Northern Burlington junior Samuel Thomas and Willingboro sophomore Malachi James Saturday at the BCSL Championships.

Although we still don’t have any team scorers, we can tell you that the Liberty Division 100 and 200 in the Burlington County Scholastic League meet at Pennsauken were incrediblle races.

Thomas won both races by 1-100th of a second over James. In the 100, Thomas ran 10.78 and James 10.79, and in the 200, Thomas ran 21.97 and James 21.98.

Incredible drama!

For Thomas, the 10.78 was a school record and a big PR from his 10.93 at the South Jersey Elite earlier this month at Delsea. His 200 PR is a school-record 21.74 from the Lenape Day of Sprints and Hurdles late last month.

James has PRs of 10.76 for 100 meters from the prelims at last year’s Meet of Champions and 21.82 from last year’s County Open. He was state Group 1 champ at 100 and 200 last spring and placed in both races at the Meet of Champions as a freshman

He didn’t run indoors and didn’t open his 2022 outdoor season until last weekend because of an injury.

Thomas is the first Northern Burlington sprinter ever to win either the 100 or 200 at the BCSL Championships. He’s the first to win both races in sub-11 and sub-22 since Sterling Pierce of Rancocas Valley in 2015 [10.87, 21.75] and only the third ever in any division.

His 10.78 is the fastest FAT time in meet history – Pierce’s 10.87 was the previous meet record. The hand-timed 100 record is 10.6 by RV’s Josh Raines in 2006, but 10.78fat is faster than 10.6 hand-timed, which converts to 10.84.

There have been only two other sub-11 and sub-22 doubles in meet history:

1989 [Liberty]: Mario Henry [Lenape]: 10.8, 21.9
1997 [Patriot]: Louis Smith [Burlington]: 10.7, 21.9