Washington Township grad Isabelle Deal is off to a great start in the javelin this spring for Ursinus.

Deal, a junior, threw a huge PR of 144-10 at the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton, the same meet Hammonton’s Alexa Gardner threw 155-6 for Rutgers.

That broke her own school record of 143-0 from a home meet earlier in April in Collegeville.

That mark broke the 39-year-old school record of 137-9 set by Sandy Wirth when she won the 1983 Mid-Atlantic Conference Championships at Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) in Westminster, Md.

Deal has been incredibly consistent this spring, hitting 136-11, 143-0, 144-10 and 138-5 in her four meets so far.

That’s an average of 141-1, which is well beyond her PR of 136-6 coming into the season. That was from last year’s Centennial Conference Championships in Allentown.

Deal, an All-America last spring after placing 3rd at nationals, is now ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division 3, behind Ava Nelson of Pacific Lutheran of Parkland, Wash. [150-3] and Chrissy Strickland of George Fox of Newberg, Ore. [147-9].

Deal, a 2019 Washington Township graduate, had a high school PR of 126-9 from her win at South Jersey Group 4 sectionals her senior year at her home track.

She’s scheduled to throw at the 126th annual Penn Relays Friday afternoon at Franklin Field.

Highland graduate Nia Holden, a sophomore at American University, ran an outdoor 800 PR Saturday at the Bucknell Team Challenge in Lewisburg, Pa.

Holden ran 2:15.32 lowered her outdoor PR from 2:15.60, which she ran when she placed 5th at last year’s Patriot League Championships in West Point, N.Y.

Holden’s time is No. 8 in American history and just 1-100th of a second out of seventh place.

This year’s Patriot League Championships are scheduled for May 5-6 at Ingram Field at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Former Shawnee middle-distance runner Kara Bonner continued her terrific senior year at Lehigh Saturday with a massive 1,500 PR in Charlottesville, Va.

Bonner lowered her PR for the second time in the last month, running 4:31.12 at the Virginia Challenge. That’s the equivalent of a 4:52.81 mile for Bonner, who had a high school PR of 5:04.48, which is equivalent to a 5:06.25 mile.

Lehigh is one of the few Division 1 schools that doesn’t have an all-time top-10 on its web site, although a story on Lehigh’s web site does indicate that Bonner’s time is No. 5 in school history.

Bonner now ranks No. 9 in the Patriot League in the 800 and No. 5 in the 1,500.

Bonner’s previous PR was a 4:34.18 at the Raleigh Relays late last month, but before that her PR was 4:49.14 in the spring of 2019 in a meet at Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa.

Bonner PR’d in the mile indoors with a 4:55.27 to place 7th at the Patriot League Championships, also at Bucknell.

And earlier this month she destroyed her 800 PR with a 2:12.74 in a meet at Lafayette University in Easton. Her previous 800 PR was a 2:16.29 at an indoor meet at Lehigh’s Rauch Fieldhouse in January. That erased an 800 PR that dated back to the 2016 Burlington County Open at Rancocas Valley, where she ran 2:18.56 and placed second to Lenape’s Megan Quimby.

Bonner will run on Lehigh’s 3,200-meter relay team at the Penn Relays late Saturday afternoon.

Curtis Thompson unloaded the 3^rd-best throw of his life Saturday and improved on his U.S. No. 1 javelin ranking at the Oregon Relays.

Thompson threw a personal-best 268-1 on his first attempt of the meet, No. 10 in the world this year and a season best. Australian Cameron McEntyre threw 268-10 on his first attempt to win the event with the No. 6 throw in the world this year.

The only bigger throws of Thompson’s life also came at the last two U.S. Olympic Trials, also at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. He threw 271-11 at the 2016 Trials and 271-7 at the 2021 Trials and went on to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Games.

Thompson’s previous season best was a 263-10 in a meet in Austin, Texas, last month.

Thompson only got off two legal throws on Saturday. He fouled on four straight attempts after the 268-1 and then finished with a 236-1.

Thompson ranks No. 16 in U.S. history with his PR of 271-11

Here’s an updated look at Thompson’s lifetime 260-foot throws:
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 Fest, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021
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
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

Haddonfield teammates Seth Clevenger and George Andrus ran a couple hot mile PRs at the Blue Devil Classic Saturday at Westfield.

Clevenger, a senior, won the race in 4:15.36 and Andrus, a junior, ran 4:15.93 for second. Rahway junior Micah Lawson made it three under 4:17, taking 3rd in 4:16.84, and Cherokee junior ran a season-best 4:21.36 in 4th.

This is the first time ever one South Jersey high school has had two milers run this fast in the same year. Mainland came close in 2004, when Jimmy Wyner ran a mile equivalent of 4:12.95 and Greg Hughes ran 4:16.32.

Clevenger and Andrus ran the No. 2 and No. 3 mile times in New Jersey this year behind Jackson Barna of Ridge, who ran 4:09.53 earlier this month at the Explorer Invitational at La Salle High School in Springfield, Pa., chasing Archbishop Wood’s Gary Martin, who ran a Pennsylvania state-record 4:00.95.

Clevenger’s previous PR was a 4:18:18 at New Balance indoors, and Andrus’s was 4:18.74 at Group 2 sectionals at the Bubble in February.

We shouldn’t convert mile times to 1,600 meters, but we’ll do it just for the purposes of comparing the fastest milers in Haddonfield’s rich running history. Clevenger’s time converts to 4:13.80, and Andrus’s time to 4:14.45. They now rank No. 3 and No. 6 in Haddonfield’s history, and I’m guessing there’s not very many high schools in the country that have had nine milers go 4:15.0 or faster for 1,600 meters or its equivalent.

4:09.30 … Colin Baker, 2009
4:13.26y … Greg Pelose, 2015
4:13.80y … Seth Clevenger, 2022
4:14.14 … Ben Potts, 2009
4:14.25 … Matt Nussbaum, 2010
4:14.45y … George Andrus, 2022
4:14.3y … Jim Smith, 1980
4:14.50 … Chris Platt, 2003
4:15.0h … Dan Gough, 1987

Clevenger and Andrus also ran legs on Haddonfield’s 3,200-meter relay team, which won easily in 8:16.87. Junior Robert DiMedio and sophomore Liam Dougherty also ran.

The Cherokee girls won the sprint medley and placed 7th in the distance medley with all-time South Jersey top-12 times in both events Saturday at the Oregon Relays at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Cherokee won the sprint medley in 4:04.69, No. 12 in South Jersey history, Saturday afternoon, then came back and took 6th in the DMR in 12:07.43, No. 11 in South Jersey history.

In the sprint med, Maddie Van Haren and Alison Cooke ran the 200 legs, Kelsey Niglio the 400 in 58.51 and Nicole Clifford anchored in 2:13.55. That’s the fastest time in the state in five years. Cherokee broke the school record of 4:08.81 set by the 2011 team at Nationals.

In the DMR, freshman Megan Niglio led off with a 3:46.08 for 1,200 meters, Cooke ran 58.80 for the 800 and Kelsey Niglio split 2:00.40 for the 800, handing off to Clifford at 7:05.28.

Clifford, in her third hard effort in two days, split 5:02.15 to bring Cherokee home. Clifford also placed 8th in the mile in 4:57.81.

Cherokee, which ran 11:57.91 indoors, broke the outdoor school record of 12:21.87, set by the 2012 team at the Rowan Invitational.

O’Day also ran personal bests of 2:23.99 in the 800 and 5:16.28 in the mile, Van Haren ran PRs of 12.84 in the 100 and 25.60 in the 200, Cooke ran 25.86 to PR in the 200, Niglio PR’d with 59.60 in the 400 and Megan Niglio ran 10:35.26 to place 6th in the freshman 3,000. Cherokee also ran 1:46.26 in the 800-meter relay.

All-Time South Jersey SMR list
3:59.6h … Willingboro, 2003
4:00.34 … Willingboro, 2006
4:00.71 … Willingboro, 2002
4:01.07 … Lenape, 2015
4:02.60 … Sterling, 2017
4:02.69 … Willingboro, 2004
4:02.89 … Woodrow Wilson, 2002
4:03.04 … Camden, 1995
4:03.42 … Millville, 2008
4:03.54 … Lenape, 2006
4:04.44 … Millville, 2013
4:04.69 … Cherokee, 2022
4:04.86 … Woodrow Wilson, 2009
4:05.2h … Winslow Twp., 2003
4:05.36 … Willingboro, 2010
4:05.38 … Millville, 2019
4:05.70 … Ocean City, 2004
4:06.06 … Ocean City, 2005
4:06.36 … Millville, 2011
4:06.56 … Rancocas Valley, 2007
4:07.16 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2015

All-Time South Jersey DMR list
11:53.15 … Lenape, 2012
12:00.47 … Haddonfield, 2021
12:00.64 … Ocean City, 2004
12:02.34 … Haddonfield 2000
12:02.37 … Haddonfield, 2014
12:04.39 … Lenape, 2010
12:05.39 … Ocean City 2005
12:05.98 … Sterling, 2017
12:06.73 … Ocean City 1994
12:07.21 … Lenape 2008
12:07.43 … Cherokee, 2022
12:08.61 … Ocean City, 2014
12:10.75 … Sterling, 2016
12:10.76 … Lenape, 2017
12:12.24 … Millville, 2009
12:13.16 … Bishop Eustace, 2011
12:14.05 … Cherry Hill East, 2007
12:14.24 … Highland, 2004
12:14.61 … Lenape, 2013
12:15.42 … Ocean City, 2015
12:16.79 … Lenape, 2015
12:18.27 … Bishop Eustace, 1995
12:18.29 … Shawnee, 2012
12:19.26 … Woodrow Wilson, 2001
12:19.41 … Rancocas Valley, 2011
12:19.46 … Ocean City, 2013
12:19.60 … Shawnee, 2015
12:19.79 … Haddonfield, 2015

 

Rancocas Valley graduate Jasmine Staten annihilated her high hurdles PR and ran the 4th-fastest time in NCAA Division 2 Saturday in Baltimore.

Staten, a sophomore at Bloomfield, won the 100-meter highs at the Morgan State Legacy Meet in 13.74. Her previous PR was 13.92 last weekend at the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton University, and that was her first time under 14 seconds.

The women’s track page on Bloomfield’s web site does not list school records, and there’s nothing on the site about Staten’s performance.

However, Staten beat a field of Division 1 runners, finishing a step ahead of second-place Catherine Glenn of Delaware State, who ran 13.86. The wind wa a legal minus-1.1 meters per second, so she ran into a headwind. Staten ran 14.01 in the trials, only 9-100ths of a second off her PR.

Staten last competed for Bloomfield in the spring of 2018. She competed for Lenape up through her junior year,, which was 2016, and she never competed for Rancocas Valley. So this is only her second season of competition in the last six years.

Hammonton senior Austin Hudak popped the No. 12 javelin throw in South Jersey history Saturday at the Woodbury Relays.

Hudak unloaded a 193-10 on his final throw of the competition to not only win the event but move into the No. 13 spot on the MileSplit U.S. performance list.

Hudak entered the competition with a PR of 188-2 from the Jim Camburn Relays back on the first weekend of the season after throwing 175-9 last spring for 4th place at the Meet of Champions.

On Saturday, Hudak opened with a 163-1 and a foul before getting a solid mark with a 180-7 on his third attempt. After a 164-6 and a 171-8, he floated the javelin 193-10 on the final attempt of the competition.

He’s the first thrower from Atlantic County to win at Woodbury since Oakcrest’s Terrence Smith threw 178-5 in 2015.

Cade Antonucci of Holy Spirit won the Meet of Champions in 2017 with a throw of 220-11 and placed second at Nationals but was second that year at Woodbury to Rancocas Valley’s Nick Mirabelli. Antonucci and Mirabelli both went on to compete at NCAAs.

Hudak moved into the No. 4 spot in Atlantic County history, behind Antonucci, Mainland’s Kobe Roberts [199-10 in 2018] and Smith [196-9 in 2016].

Here’s a look at every 190-foot thrower in South Jersey history with the new javelin, in use since 2003.

(For the record, the Altantic County record with the old jav was 213-8 by Cornelius Cruz of Oakcrest in 1994.)

227-10 … Nick Mirabelli [Rancocas Valley], 2017
224-10 … Curtis Thompson [Florence], 2014
220-11 … Cade Antonucci [Holy Spirit], 2016
216- 6 … Chris Mirabelli (Holy Cross), 2014
212- 2 … Alexander Georgia [Timber Creek], 2017
209- 4 … Steve Jernee (Ocean City), 2017
203- 6 … Stephen Benigno (Cherry Hill East), 2014
201- 1 … Sean Biehn (Burlington City), 2006
199-10 … Kobe Roberts [Mainland Reg.], 2018
196- 9 … Terrence Smith [Oakcrest], 2016
195-11 … Joshua Moore [Middle Twp.], 2017
193-10 … Austin Hudak [Hammonton], 2022
192- 6 … Matt Rafferty (Northern Burlington), 2012
192- 6 … Chris Reider (Eastern), 2010
192- 3 … Shane McDevitt (Cinnaminson), 2014
192- 1 … Nick Cando [Eastern], 2004
191- 6 … Robert Marks (Rancocas Valley), 2016
191- 5 … Andrew Pierce (Cumberland Reg.), 2009
190- 0 … Andrew Forbes (Williamstown), 2011
190- 2 … Ian Meneswisch (Highland), 2003

Monster discus performance Saturday by Delsea junior Gianni Johnson-Slater, who bombed a 20-foot PR and the No. 1 throw in the state this year at the Woodbury Relays.

Johnson-Slater, who came into the meet with a PR of 116-9, threw over 120 feet four times, including her winning bomb of 136-7 on her fifth throw.

That’s No. 20 in South Jersey history, No. 8 in Gloucester County history and the top throw by a South Jersey girl since 2017.

She’s the fourth Delsea girl to surpass 135 feet in the discus, following South Jersey record holder Jocelyn White [172-2 in 2004], Jamine Moton [161-1 in 1997] and Jen Frank [138-11 in 2006].

Johnson-Slater only began throwing the discus last April. She PR’d at 116-9 when she won the South Jersey Group 3 meet at Delsea. She opened this spring with a 112-6 at the Jim Camburn Relays at Buena earlier this month.

But Saturday, she averaged 130-6 on her four legal throws and won a great battle with Williamstown junior Ciara Demarest, who recorded a nice PR of her own at 129-3, the best non-winning mark ever at Woodbury. Her previous PR was 125-2.

Johnson-Slater opened with a PR 123-4 and then PR’d again at 129-8 and again with a 132-7 heading into the finals. She fouled on her 4th attempt before hitting the 136-7, then fouled on her final attempt.

Her 136-7 is the best throw at Woodbury since Cherokee’s Jessica Woodard set the meet record of 149-11 in 2012.

In what appears to be only his fourth lifetime high jump competition, Paulsboro junior Jamile Gantt nailed a four-inch high jump PR Saturday and won the event at the Woodbury Relays.

Gantt cleared 6-6 on his first attempt to break a tie with Egg Harbor senior Isaiah Glenn.

Gantt and Glenn had both cleared 5-10, 6-0, 6-2 and 6-4 on their first attempt, but Glenn was in the lead with the bar going up to 6-6 because Gantt had a miss at the opening height of 5-8.

Cherry Hill East senior Dillon Page, the Meet of Champions winner last spring at 6-6, placed third at 6-2.

Gantt appears to be Paulsboro’s first high jumper over the bar at 6-6 since Spencer Irvin, who cleared 6-10 at the 1993 Haddonfield Invitational. Irvin is also Paulsboro’s last Woodbury Relays high jump winner. He cleared 6-8 in 1995.

According to his MileSplit results page, Gantt only high jumped twice last year, clearning 6-2 at the Haddonfield Invite and 6-0 for 2nd place at South Jersey Group 1 sectionals at Washington Township. He also ran as fast as 2:02.26 in the 800, which made him the No. 7 sophomore half-miler in South Jersey last year.

Gantt didn’t compete indoors, and his only previous major meet this spring was the Deptford Spartan Relays, where he cleared 6-2.