As if high school track couldn’t get any stupider, there are now two track meets in the same city this weekend calling themselves “National Championships.”

One is at Ocean Breeze in Staten Island and is sponsored by an athletic shoe company, the other is 25 miles away at the 168th Street Armory in Manhattan sponsored by a different shoe company.

The meet in Staten Island is billing itself as 36th annual, and the meet in Manhattan is claiming to be a new meet – it lists no meet records – although there has been a national meet at the Armory for decades.

It appears the meet at Ocean Breeze may be the same meet that used to be at the Armory, but it’s hard to tell. For years, there was a meet at the Armory and one at Prince George’s Sports & Learning Center in Landover, Md. Then they merged and there was one meet. Now there are two meets again, and all the meet records and top-10 lists from one of the meets have disappeared. Something called the National Scholastic Athletic Federation sponsors one of the meets but I don’t care which. All I know is a ton of incredible performances from U.S. track history have evaporated because either the sponsor or the people running one of the meets has changed.

In any case, both meets run from Friday through Sunday, and South Jersey will be well-represented at both (in at least one case by the same school!).

We’ll update these links over the next 24 hours, but hopefully these help everybody follow along at home if you’re not headed to the Armory or Ocean Breeze.

Oh and next weekend? There’s a meet in Virginia, this one sponsored by yet another athletic shoe company. And guess what it’s calling itself. A national championship.

There may be more national championship meets that I don’t know about. Let’s just call every meet a national championship meet! The more national champions the better! Can’t wait for the Cape-Atlantic League American Division National Championships or the Woodbury Relay National Championships or the Burlington County Scholastic League Freedom Division National Championships.

Anyway,in the interest of clarity, we’re just going to call the two meets the Armory Nationals and Ocean Breeze Nationals. Sorry shoe companies. We’re not here to give you free advertising!

We did our best to create some quick links for the weekend. For reasons I can’t even begin to imagine, the Armory Nationals don’t even have an entry list. You have to search each event individually to see who’s competing.

Armory Nationals
Main meet page: Click here.
Entries: Click here. [You have click on each individual event to find the entries]
Live Results: Click here.
Order of Events: Click here.
Live Stream: Click here:
Meet Records: None listed.

Ocean Breeze Nationals
Main meet page: Click here.
Entries: Click here.
Live Results Click here. [presumably will be posted here]
Order of Events: Click here.
Live stream: Click here.
Meet Records: Click here.

Former Millville star Bryanna Craig, now a senior at Ruston High School, returns to the Northeast this weekend to compete in the pentathlon at Ocean Breeze.

Craig spent her first two years at Millville, where she set a national freshman heptathlon record and placed 4th at the USATF Under-20 Championships in Miramar, Fla., and also won the heptathlon at the New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.

Craig spent her junior year at Coronado High School in Lubbock, Texas, where her dad – former Millville star and 2019 South Jersey Coach of the Year – took a job as an assistant coach at Texas Tech. When Craig got a job this past year at Louisiana Tech, the family moved to Ruston.

Bryyanna Craig has a pentathlon PR of 3,678, which she set in January at a meet in Birmingham, Ala. That’s her only multi since she placed second at Outdoor Nationals in June
in Greensboro with a heptathlon PR of 5,138 points. Ariel Pedigo of Parkview Baptist in Baton Rouge won with 5,343 points, No. 6 in high school history. She has since graduated and is now competing for Oklahoma.

Craig’s indoor PR of 3,678 ranks 17th in U.S. history and is the U.S. No. 1 mark, which makes her the top seed this weekend in Staten Island. But as you can see from the chart below she’s only 33 points outside the all-time U.S. top-10.

There are two so-called “national” meets being held in New York City this weekend. Craig will compete at Ocean Breeze in the one-day, five-event challenge that includes the shot put, long jump, high jump, hurdles and 800.

Competition begins at 10 a.m. Friday with the 60-meter hurdles and continues with the shot put at 11 a.am., long jump at 12:15 p.m., high jump at 2:30 p.m. and 800 at 4:10 p.m.

Craig is also No. 2 nationally in the high jump at 5-9 3/4 but because the championship high jump is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday she won’t be able to contest it.

U.S. No. 2 Elise Dobson of Nolensville (Tenn.), who has scored 3,357 points this year, and U.S. No. 4 Evie Culbreath of Baylor School in Chattanooga, who has scored 3,231 points, are also entered.

Here’s a look at the all-time U.S. pentathlon top-20:

4,302 … Anna Hall [Valor Christian, Highlands Ranch, Colo.], 2019
4,068 … Kendell Williams [Kell, Marietta, Ga.], 2013
3,976 … Sterling Lester [Marietta, Ga.], 2018
3,924 … Shana Woods [Poly, Long Beach, Calif.], 2006
3,823 … Ryann Krais [Methacton, Norristown, Pa.,], 2008
3,765 … Annika Williams [College Station, Tex.], 2018
3,740 … Chloe Royce [Collège Durocher Saint-Lambert, Montreal], 2019
3,738 … Alex Harmon-Thomas [Free State, Lawrence, Kans.], 2013
3,717 … Katherine Sherman [Dennis-Yarmouth, Yarmouth, Mass.], 2004
3,711 … Loren Leaverton [Naaman Forest, Garland, Tex.], 1998
3,709 … Gayle Hunter [North, Riverside, Calif.], 2004
3,706 … Shaina Burns [South, Lakeville, Minn.], 2014
3,700 … Felecia Majors [South County, Lorton, Va.], 2013
3,696 … Brooklyn Gould [Chugiak, Anchorage, Alaska], 2019
3,682 … Alaina Brady [Tahoma Maple Valley, Wash.], 2019
3,681 … Kendall Gustafson [Palisades Charter, Pacific Palisades, Calif..], 2013
3,678 … Bryanna Craig [Ruston, La.], 2022
3,674 …Tia Livingston [Union Catholic, Scotch Plains, N.J.], 2016
3,673 … Tiana Riel [Hopkinton, Mass.], 2004
3,667 … Brianna Smith [Cheltenham, Pa.], 2019

And here’s a glance at Craig’s indoor and outdoor PRs:

PRs
Outdoor
100: 12.82 [Lubbock Coronado]
200: 24.99 [Ruston]
400: 56.30 [Millville]
800: 2:21.44 [Millville]
100HH: 14.08 [Lubbock]
400IH: 1:03.36 [Millville]
High Jump: 5-9 3/4 [Ruston]
Javelin: 117-1 [Lubbock Coronado]
Long Jump: 19-0 1/2 [Lubbock Coronado]
Shot Put: 32-1 1/2 [Millville]
Heptathlon: 5,138 Lubbock Coronado

Indoor
200: 25.29 [Millville]
400: 57.21 [Ruston]
800: 2:21.32 [Millville]
55HH: 8.31 [Millville]
60HH: 8.78 [Ruston]
400IH: 1:03.36 [Millville]
High Jump: 5-9 3/4 [Ruston]
Long Jump: 18-5 1/4 [Ruston]
Shot Put: 30-8 1/4 [Millville]
Pentathlon: 3678 [Ruston]

Some monster long jumping this weekend by the Rowan tandem of freshman Nana Agyemang and junior Ahmir Johnson.

Competing at the ARTFC Championships, Agyemang jumped 24-0 3/4 and Johnson 23-9 1/2 to take the top two spots at the Golisano Training Center on the Nazareth College campus in Rochester.

Agyemang and Johnson are ranked No. 5 and No. 12 in NCAA Division 3 and will compete this weekend at Division 3 National Championships at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C. The official entry list is here.

Agyemang’s mark is an indoor PR. He jumped 24-2 1/2 at an outdoor meet in Glassboro this past May.

Johnson’s mark broke his indoor PR of 23-2 1/2 from two weeks earlier at the NJAC  Championships at Ocean Breeze. His outdoor PR is 22-11 from last year’s NJAC Championships in Mahwah.

Agyemang and Johnson both had bigger jumps that were wind-aided at the 2021 Fast Times Before Finals meet in Glassboro, Agyemang with 24-9 aided by a 2.8 meters-per-second wind and Johnson with a 24-6 1/2 aided by a 3.3 wind.

Agyemang missed Rowan’s 40-year-old indoor school record by one-quarter of an inch.

Paulsboro’s Robert Beaman jumped 24-1 as part of a pentathlon at the New Jersey Collegiate Championships at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym on Jan. 16, 1982. The mark is incorrectly listed as being from 1981 on Rowan’s web site.

Johnson is also the No. 3 seed at D-3 nationals in the triple jump with his school-record 48-11 1/2, and Agyemang is on Rowan’s top-seeded (3:15.89) 4-by-400 team, which also includes Charlie Serrano, Sterling’s Jah’mere Beasley and freshman Amara Conte. Johnson is also Rowan’s outdoor school record holder in the triple jump at 48-8 1/4 from his win at NCAA Division 3 nationals in Greensboro, N.C., in the spring of 2020.

Beasley also qualified in the 200 (21.99), Conte in the 400 (48.82), Washington Township’s Jake Kolodziej in the 800 (1:54.28) and Marquise Young in the 60-meter hurdles (8.18).

Agyemang attended Paramus Catholic and Parsippany and had a PR of 23-5 1/2 when he won the North 2 Group 2 sectional title in May of 2019 at Middletown North. 

Johnson competed for Wissahickon High in Ambler, Pa., and had PRs of 23-4 3/4 and 48-5 3/4, both at Lehigh’s Rauch Fieldhouse. He also cleared 6-4 in the high jump 

Johnson spent the 2019 indoor season competing for Gwynedd-Mercy, jumping 21-4 3/4 and 46-8 1/4.

NCAA Division 3 nationals, cancelled the last two years, begins at 10 a.m. Friday. The men’s high jump is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday. For the full order of events, click here.

Shawnee graduate Grace Kearns continued her remarkable breakthrough sophomore season at Monmouth by running the 4th-fastest 800 time in school history Saturday at the IC4A Championships in Boston.

Kearns, a Monmouth sophomore, lowered her PR more than four seconds – from 2:14.56 to 2:10.39 – in the 800 qualifying rounds at Boston University.

She missed reaching the final by 52-100ths of a second.

Kearns had just PR’d with that 2:14.56 at the Metro Atlantic Championships at the Armory last month after a PR 2:16.56 in Boston earlier in February.

Coming into the indoor season, Kearns had a PR of 2:18.74 from her last season of indoor competition in February of 2020 at the MAC Championships at the Armory.

So that means she’s lowered her PR from 2:18.30 to 2:10.39 – nearly eight seconds – since Feb. 5.

Monmouth has been an 800 factory in recent years, producing NCAA All-America Allie Wilson, who ran 1:59.02 at the Olympic Trials last year, among others.

Kearns’ time makes her Monmouth’s fastest half-miler ever from South Jersey. Amanda Eller, a Millville graduate, ran 2:10.79 at Boston University in 2013.

Kearns also ran a 2:11.23 split on the third leg of Monmouth’s school-record 3,200-meter relay team, which won the IC4A title in 8:43.56. Sydney Todd (Monmouth Regional), Katie Locker (Elizabethtown, Pa.) and Ashley Navarro (Steinert) also ran on the 4-by-8, which finished 35 meters ahead of Rutgers, who was second in 8:49.80.

Monmouth’s previous school record was 8:44.08 set by the team of Jenna Cupp (Newark Valley, N.Y.), Kendal Hand (Howell), Lindsey Belleran (Red Bank Catholic) and Tionna Garner (Trenton Catholic) at the 2016 ECAC Championships.

At Shawnee, Kearns ran 2:21.33 indoors at 2018 Easterns – also at the Armory – and 2:19.97 outdoors at Group 4 sectionals in the spring of 2018 at Washington Township.

Kearns is the second former Shawnee runner to run a fast 800 this winter. Kristin Neidrach ran an indoor PR of 2:11.44 in Apeldoom, Netherlands, last month. She has an outdoor PR of 2:07.18 from Kortrijk, Belgium, from this past July. Niedrach, who graduated in 2012, had a high school PR of 2:21.55. She ran 2:10.28 at the 2016 IC4A in her final meet for Cornell.

The fastest former Shawnee half-miler is Michelle DiMuro, who ran 1:59.85 at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta.

Pitman graduate Sebastien Reed shattered Monmouth’s school record in the 3,000-meter run Sunday at the IC4A Championships in Boston.

Reed, a Monmouth freshman, ran 8:10.69 and placed 10th in the 100th annual IC4A Championships, which brings together runners from Division 1 schools across the Northeast.

He broke the Monmouth record of 8:12.79 set by Kyle Mueller at the Albany Winter Classic at Ocean Breeze in 2020. Reed came in with a PR of 8:21.11 from a meet in late January at Ocean Breeze and was the No. 20 seed in the race.

Reed has made quite an immediate impact on the Monmouth record book. He’s No. 2 in school history in the 5,000 at 14:22.05 and No. 7 in the 10,000 with 31:05.43 in addition to his school record in the 3,000.

Reid ran his 1000s in 2:44.36, 2:43.28 and 2:43.06. Reid’s high school 3,200 PR was 9:27.16 at the Bubble in January of 2020. His pace Sunday was the equivalent of running 8:43 for a high school 3,200.

Reid’s 8:10.69 is fastest this winter by a South Jersey high school graduate. Oliver Adler of Cherry Hill East ran 8:11.81 last month at Boston University, Schalick and Elizabethtown graduate Samuel Gerstenbacher ran 8:14.39 at Ocean Breeze two weeks ago, Bucknell’s Connor Melko from Bishop Eustace ran 8:17.95 at the Armory last month, Ethan Wechsler of Cherokee and Syracuse ran 8:19.17 in January at Boston University, Duke’s Mike Ungvarsky from Cinnaminson ran 8:20.00 in Blacksburg, Va., in January, Cherokee’s Jack Shea from Northern Arizona ran 8:20.11 in Bozeman, Mont., last weekend, Yale’s Martin Riddell from Haddonfield ran 8:20.57 at IC4As and Camden Catholic’s Matt Coffey ran 8:20.90, also at IC’s.

Haddonfield teammates George Andrus and Seth Clevenger and Delsea’s Andrew Littlehales all broke into the all-time South Jersey top-5 in the 3,200 Saturday at the Meet of Champions.

http://milesplit.live/meets/437567/events/13/F/M

Andrus placed 3rd in 9:08.09 and Clevenger was 4th in 9:08.89. Those times rank No. 3 and No. 5 in South Jersey history. Andrus’s 9:08.09 is the 3rd-fastest 3rd-place team in the meet’s 53-year history, and Clevenger’s 9:08.89 is the 2nd-fastest 4th-place time ever.

Littlehales ran 9:12.05, which is the 4th-fastest 5th-place time ever and equals No. 10 in South Jersey history. The race produced three of the 10-fastest times in South Jersey history.

Marco Langon of Bridgewater-Raritan and Jackson Barna of Ridge went 1-2 in the race in 8:48.28 and 8:51.94, the No. 2 and 3 times in the U.S. this year and the two-fastest times in New Jersey indoor history.

Here are the 10-fastest 3,200 times in Meet of Champions history by South Jersey runners. As you can see, six of the top 10 come from the last two races – 2020 at Ocean Breeze and Saturday at the Bubble.

8:58.81 … Jon Vitez [Haddonfield], 2010 [1]
9:00.27 … Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], 2020 [3]
9:08.09 … George Andrus [Haddonfield], 2022 [3]
9:08.42 … Oliver Adler [Cherry Hill East], 2020 [5]
9:08.89 … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 2022 [4]
9:10.4h … Ken Medlin [Haddon Twp.], 1970 [1]
9:11.7h … Mike Butynes, [Sterling], 1970 [2]
9:11.9h … Johnny Englehardt [Willingboro], 1976 [5]
9:12.05 … Andrew Littlehales [Delsea], 2022 [5]
9:12.20 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2020 [7]

✓ Andrus had a previous PR of 9:18.89 from Group 2 sectionals last month, where he placed 2nd to Clevenger. He’s never run an outdoor 3,200.

✓  Clevenger’s previous PR was 9:17.39 from states last weekend at the Bubble, where he was 2nd to Littlehales. That’s where Littlehales ran his prior PR of 9:13.20.

✓  Littlehales has now lowered the Gloucester County record twice in eight days. The previous record was 9:13.93 set by Williamstown’s Paul Szulewski at the 2011 Meet of Champions. Littlehales’ time is tied for the No. 10 spot on the all-time S.J. list with Willingboro’s Johnny Englehardt, who ran 9:15.1 for two miles at the 1976 meet at Jadwin. That converts to a hand-timed 9:11.9, which converts to a 9:12.04 for fat timing, and I’m not going to put him 1-100th of a second ahead of Littlehales when his time has already been converted twice.

✓  Triton’s Dennis Fortuna also PR’d in the race, placing 13th in 9:18.19. His previous indoor PR was a 9:21.36 en route time at the New Balance Games at the Armory in January, where he ran 9:24.66 for the full two miles.

Here’s the all-time South Jersey list:
8:58.81 ….. Jonathan Vitez [Haddonfield], 2010
9:00.27 … Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], 2020
9:08.09 … George Andrus [Haddonfield, 2022
9:08.42 … Oliver Adler [Cherry Hill East], 2020
9:08.89 … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 2022
9:10.4y ….. Ken Medlin [Haddon Twp.], 1970
9:11.1y ..… Mike Butynes [Sterling], 1970
9:11.2y ..… Mike Elder [Haddon Twp.], 1974
9:11.86y … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
9:12.05 … Andrew Littlehales [Delsea], 2022
9:11.9y ….. Johnny Englehardt [Willingboro], 1976
9:12.20 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2020
9:13.33 ….. Michael Rankin [Paul VI], 2010
9:13.93 ….. Paul Szulewski [Williamstown], 2011
9:14.31 ….. Jimmy Daniels [Sterling], 2013
9:14.70 … Martin Riddell [Haddonfield], 2020
9:15.8y ….. Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1978
9:15.76 … Kevin Pumphrey [Highland], 1986
9:16.09 ….. Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East], 2016
9:16.7y … Jim Smith [Haddonfield], 1980
9:17.52 ….. Lou Corgliano [Hammonton], 2013
9:17.55 ….. Greg Hughes [Mainland Reg.], 2004
9:17.71 ….. Dave Forward [Shawnee], 2009
9:18.19 … Dennis Fortuna [Triton], 2022
9:18.59 … Kevin Antczak [Mainland Reg.], 2019

And here’s the all-time Meet of Champions performance list. (You’ve got to run sub-9:13 to break into the top 50!!!)
8:48.28 … Marco Langon [Bridgewater-Raritan], 2022 [1]
8:51.94 … Jackson Barna [Ridge], 2022 [2]
8:54.22 … Liam Murphy, Allentown, 2019 [1]
8:54.45 … Devin Hart, Point Pleasant Boro, 2019 [2]
8:58.16 …….. Murphy, 2020 [1]
8:58.19 … Jack Jennings [Mendham], 2020 [2]
8:58.81 … Jon Vitez [Haddonfield], 2010 [1]
8:59.77 … Brian Leung, West Windsor South, 2008 [1]
9:00.27 … Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], 2020 [3]
9:00.95 … Jeramy Elkaim [Livingston]. 2010 [2]
9:01.86 … Doug Smith [Gill St. Bernard’], 2008 [2]
9:02.00 … Tom O’Neill [Middletown North], 2013 [1]
9:03.58 … Craig Forys [Colts Neck], 2007 [1]
9:04.7h … Chris Inman [Essex Catholic], 1973 [1]
9:04.8h … Tim Conheeney [Paramus Catholic], 1973 [2]
9:05.6h .. Vince Cartier, [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 1971 [1]
9:06.2h … Chris Hallinan [Bernards], 1974 [1]
9:06.11 …….. Hart, 2018 [1]
9:06.58 … Mohamed Khadraoui [Paterson Kennedy], 2004 [1]
9:06.86 … Jackson Braddock [Southern Regional], 2020 [4]
9:07.17 … Tyler Udland [Millburn], 2010 [3]
9:08.09 … George Andrus [Haddonfield], 2022 [3]
9:08.32 … Jordan Brannan [Colts Neck], 2017 [1]
9:08.42 … Oliver Adler [Cherry Hill East], 2020 [5]
9:08.55 … Sean Poherence [Morris Hills], 2009 [1]
9:08.7h … Carlos Bazo [Essex Catholic], 1972 [1]
9:08.89 … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 2022 [4]
9:09.54 … Vidhur Polam [South Brunswick], 2020 [6]
9:10.0h … Ed Taylor, [Edison], 1976 [1]
9:10.09 … Alex Roth [Princeton], 2017 [2]
9:10.27 … Chris Pannone [Hunterdon Central], 2004 [2]
9:10.4h … Ken Medlin [Haddon Twp.], 1970 [1]
9:10.69 … Tim Ball [Piscataway], 2012 [1]
9:10.8h … Chris Hallinan [Bernards], 1976 [2]
9:10.9h … Royce Flippin [Princeton], 1976 [3]
9:11.39 …….. Smith, 2007 [2]
9:11.55 … Matt Valeriani [Southern Regional], 2010 [4]
9:11.5h … Brian Penn [Watchung Hills], 1975 [1]
9:11.69 … Joe Kotran [Toms River North], 2010 [5]
9:11.7h … Mike Butynes, [Sterling], 1970 [2]
9:11.9h … J.J. Clark [Columbia], 1982 [1]
9:11.9h … Jerry Young [Franklin], 1976 [4]
9:11.9h … Johnny Englehardt [Willingboro], 1976 [5]
9:12.05 … Andrew Littlehales [Delsea], 2022 [5]
9:12.20 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2020 [7]
9:12.5h … John Kiernan [Sayreville], 1982 [2]
9:12.5h … Bill Mahon [Bergen Catholic], 1970 [3]
9:12.70 … Blaise Ferro [Christian Brothers], 2014 [1]
9:12.73 … Avery Keith [Westfield], 2022 [6]
9:12.7h … Dave Thomson [Dover], 1979 [1]
9:12.96 …….. Ferro, 2015 [1]
9:13.03 … Jim Rosa [West Windsor-Plainsboro North], 2010 [6]
9:13.2h … Dave Lamm [Morris Catholic], 1975 [2]
9:13.30 … Joe Rosa [West Windsor North], 2009 [2]
9:13.33 … Mike Rankin [Paul VI], 2010 [7]
9:13.58 … Mike O’Dowd [Colts Neck], 2010 [8]
9:13.66 … William Hare [Princeton], 2017 [3]
9:13.71 … Tom Rooney [Christian Brothers], 2013 [2]
9:13.93 … Paul Szulewski [Washington Twp.], 2010 [9]
9:13.9h … Richie Gordon [Morristown] ,1970 [4]

Bryce Tucker outleaned Westfield anchor Charles Stock at the finish line to give Pennsauken its first Meet of Champions 1,600-meter relay title Saturday.

Tucker, in his fourth race of the day, split 48.0 and made up 10 meters on Stock, who had won the Meet of Champions 800 in 1:52.70 earlier in the day at the Bubble in Toms River.

Pennsauken won in 3:23.84, with Westfield 2nd in 3:23.93. Nobody else ran under 3:26.

Tucker, the Meet of Champions intermediate hurdles champ last spring, gave Pennsauken the win by 9-100ths of a second.

The all-junior team of Kahlil Ali, Premier Wynn, Joel Oquendo and
Tucker became the first South Jersey school to win the indoor Meet of Champions 4-by-4 since Egg Harbor in 2016.

Oquendo moved the Indians up from 4th to 2nd and set the stage for Tucker, who closed gradually on Stock before catching him just before the line.

Earlier in the day Tucker placed 2nd in the 400 in a PR 49.59 behind Paul VI’s Michael Mazero in a 1-2-3-4 South Jersey finish, with Wynn 3rd in 49.66. Tucker then took 2nd in the 55-meter hurdles in a PR 7.53 after a 7.78 in the trials. Tucker wound up as the fastest hurdler in South Jersey this winter, edging Eastern’s A.J. Brooks by 1-100th of a second.

Tucker on Saturday was part of three school records. His 49.59 broke the school record in the 400 set by Marquan Jones in 2016, his 7.53 broke the school record of 7.56 set the same year by Antwan Dickerson, and Pennsauken’s 3:23.84 broke the indoor school record of 3:25.02 the Indians ran at the 2020 Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze.

Pennsauken will be in action in a number of events and relays this coming weekend at the Ocean Breeze version of indoor nationals.

Pennsauken’s relay team was the second Meet of Champions winner in school history. Martin Booker won the 200 in 2017.

Here’s a look at all the South Jersey 4-by-4 winners in indoor Meet of Champions history:

2022: Pennsauken, 3:23.84
2016: Egg Harbor Twp, 3:22.75
2012: Oakcrest, 3:20.53
2008: Winslow Twp., 3:24.32
2004: Camden, 3:27.53
2003: Winslow Twp., 3:24.32
2002: Eastern, 3:27.04
2001: Camden, 3:22.44
2000: Lenape, 3:24.50
1999: Camden, 3:25.23
1998: Lenape, 3:24.53
1996: Woodrow Wilson, 3:24.64
1995: Willingboro, 3:27.96
1994: Woodrow Wilson, 3:30.49
1990: Willingboro, 3:28.80
1988: Willingboro, 3:28.35
1985: Edgewood, 3:26.0cf

And here’s a look at the fastest South Jersey 4-by-4 times in Meet of Champions history:

3:20.53 … Oakcrest, 2012 [1]
3:21.16 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2017 [2]
3:21.64 … Winslow, 2013 [1]
3:22.44 … Camden, 2001 [1]
3:22.75 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2016 [1]
3:23.12 … Cherry Hill East, 2012 [3]
3:23.31 … Paul VI, 2016 [2]
3:23.40 … Cherokee, 2012 [4]
3:23.42 … Winslow, 2009 [2]
3:23.78 … Pleasantville, 2007 [3]
3:23.84 … Pennsauken, 2022 [1]
3:23.98 … Buena, 2001 [2]

2020: Union Catholic, 3:18.78
2019: Westfield, 3:24.29
2018: East Orange, 3:24.02

2022: Pennsauken, 3:23.84
2016: Egg Harbor Twp, 3:22.75
2012: Oakcrest, 3:20.53
2008: Winslow Twp., 3:24.32
2004: Camden, 3:27.53
2003: Winslow Twp., 3:24.32
2002: Eastern, 3:27.04
2001: Camden, 3:22.44
2000: Lenape, 3:24.50
1999: Camden, 3:25.23
1998: Lenape, 3:24.53
1996: Woodrow Wilson, 3:24.64
1995: Willingboro, 3:27.96
1994: Woodrow Wilson, 3:30.49
1990: Willingboro, 3:28.80
1988: Willingboro, 3:28.35
1985: Edgewood, 3:26.0h

Pennsville graduate Zach Manorowitz, a at Rider, won the long jump Saturday at the 100th IC4A Championships at Boston University with a leap of 24-4 ½.

Manorowitz finished three inches ahead of Glenn Butler of Lincoln (Pa.) of Oxford, Pa., who placed second with a 24-1 ½ jump.

Manorowitz missed his PR of 24-5 ¾, set just two weeks ago when he won the Metro Atlantic Championships title at the Armory.

On Saturday, Manorowitz popped the winning jump on his first attempt. He followed with legal jumps of 23-6 ½ and 23-3 before fouling on his three attempts in the finals.

Manorwitz now ranks No. 2 in Rider history, behind only Tyree Adams, who leaped 24-9 ¼ in 2017.

The IC4A – the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America – has been around for a century, but good luck trying to find any previous results from their indoor championships. Their web site has nothing. Like zippo. How can a meet with this much history not provide all-time individual winners going back to the 1920s and all-time performance lists? They don’t. So I can’t tell you how many IC4A long jump winners Rider has had. Or anything else about the 99 long jump competitions that preceded this one.

But in any event, Manorowitz has improved dramatically since his days at Pennsville, where he had an outdoor PR of 21-6 and never competed indoors. He graduated from Pennsville in the spring of 2019 and then didn’t compete again until the spring of 2021 at Rider.

From his last meet at Pennsville – the Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington in Mansfield on June 8, 2019 (he was 29th in the triple jump and 25th in the long jump) – until his first meet for Rider – the Monmouth Spring Invitational in West Long Branch on April 8, 2021 – it was a span of 670 days without a meet.

Manorowitz hit 24-5 as a freshman this past May at the MAC Championships on his home track – No. 2 in program history outdoors – and also placed 4th in the triple jump, hitting 45-4 ½ at the conference meet and 46-0 ½ last month when he placed 5th at the indoor conference meet.

He does not appear to be entered in the IC4A triple jump on Sunday, which means his indoor season is over.

Northern Burlington freshman Liliah Gordon broke the 11-minute barrier for the first time, ran the 4th-fastest 3,200 in Burlington County history and finished 7th in the Meet of Champions Saturday at the Bubble.

Gordon ran 10:56.77 and was South Jersey’s top finisher in the 3,200 at the 43rd annual girls Meet of Champions in Toms River.

Her time is fastest ever by a South Jersey freshman at an indoor Meet of Champions (and is most likely the South Jersey freshman record (I’m still working on confirming that). The fastest previous South Jersey freshman at an indoor M-of-C was Chelsea Ley of Kingsway, who ran 11:00.79 for 2nd place in the 2007 meet.

Gordon ran four 3,200s this year and PR’d in each one – 11:20.06 at the Bubble in January, 11:09.91 to win S.J. Group 3 sectionals, 11:06.89 to win Group 3 states last weekend and her 10:56.77 Saturday.

On Saturday, Gordon broke Colleen Sunderland’s 27-year-old school record of 11:06.43. Sunderland actually ran 11:10.32 for two miles at the 1997 National Scholastic Indoor Championships at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, which converts to 11:06.43 for 3,200 meters.

Gordon placed 8th in the XC Meet of Champions at Holmdel in November, so she’s raced in two Meet of Champions and finished in the top 10 in both races. Angelina Perez of Lakeland won both races and set a state 3,200 record of 10:00.90 on Saturday.

Here’s a look at the all-time Burlington County list:
10:31.06 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012
10:46.63 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], 2013
10:55.58 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
10:56.77 … Lialah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2022
11:00.7y … Deanna Germano (Shawnee), 1986
11:06.32y … Colleen Sunderland (Northern Burlington), 1995
11:06.89 … Lialah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2022
11:08.85 … Nina Bendixen, [Shawnee], 2015
11:09.91 … Liliah Gordon [Northrn Burlington], 2022
11:10.88 … Caitlin Orr (Lenape), 2009

All-Time S.J. Girls Indoor 3,200 Top-50
10:15.71 … Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2006
10:23.49 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2011
10:29.90 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2009
10:33.95 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2016
10:38.11 … Megan Venables [Highland], 2011
10:38.90 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2001
10:40.03 … Dina Iacone [Washington Twp.], 2012
10:40.80 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2017
10:42.06 … Holly Bischof [Bishop Eustace], 2012
10:42.22 … Theresa Cattuna [Cherry Hill East], 2007
10:43.2y … Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1983
10:45.20 … Devon Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2015
10:45.40 … Julianna Catania [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2016
10:46.63 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], 2013
10:48.78 … Shelby Cain [Haddonfield], 2014
10:49.12 … Madison Coppolino [Sterling], 2017 [3]
10:49.46 … Alyssa Condell [Timber Creek], 2016
10:52.05 … Amanda Goetschius [Delsea], 2007
10:52.53 … Allie Pierontoni [Kingsway], 2020
10:53.4h … Christin Bettis [Hammonton], 2012
10:53.89y … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2020
10:55.29y … Ann Klocke [Bishop Eustace], 1996
10:55.58 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
10:56.77 … Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2022
10:57.95 … Katy Storti [Bishop Eustace], 2019
10:59.02 … Catherine Van Horn [Triton], 2005
10:59.04 … Maria Ruiz [Williamstown], 2009
10:59.13 … Vickie Ajimoko [Williamstown], 2013
10:59.90 … Aubrey Pierontoni [Kingsway], 2022

Cherokee graduate Megan Lacy placed 13th in the U.S. 15K Road Championships Saturday in Jacksonville.

Lacy covered the 9.3-mile Gate River Run course in 52:57, running her 5Ks in 17:42, 17:31 and 17:44. She passed two runners in the final 200 to move up from 15th to 13th.

This was Lacy’s first race at the 15K distance. Over the past few months, she’s PR’d at 5,000 meters on the track outdoors with a 16:36.18 in Nashville in June, at 10,000 meters outdoors on the track with a 33:07.10 in Portland, Ore., in May, and in the half marathon with a 1:15.21 in September in Valley Cottage, N.Y.

In December, Lacy placed 4th in the World Trail Championships over 21K in Kualoa Ranch in Kapalua, Hawaii.