Washington Township senior Gabby Vetere, who had a pole vault PR of 9-0 coming into the indoor season, cleared a lifetime best 10-9 Tuesday at the Bubble, the No. 2 pole vault performance in Gloucester County history.
No. 1 on the all-time Gloucester County list is current Villanova junior Ashley Preston of Delsea, whose 12-7 at the Bubble in 2018 ranks No. 7 in state history. Preston is a three-time Big East champ and has jumped 13-3 ¾ at Villanova.
Vetere won the event at the final SJTCA meet at the Bubble. Her previous PR was 10-6, which she cleared twice previously – once at the Bubble and once at Ocean Breeze.
That placed her tied for No. 2 in Gloucester County history with Katie Selfridge of Delsea [2014], Elizabeth Douglas of West Deptford [2015], Madison Mamounis of Delsea [2018] and Allison Bobst of Kingsway [2020].
It’s also the No. 7 jump in the state this year.
Vetere won her first sectional title last weekend and shares the top seed in Saturday’s state Group 4 meet at the Bubble at 10-0. Talia Hutchinson of Ridgewood [11-0] and Vetere have the top two PRs in the Group 4 field.
So she beat her previous PR on three of her four legal throws, and those four legal throws averaged 59-8 ¾ – well beyond her PR of January.
Woodard competed in one other meet this year, the Puma Indoor Invitational at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix in January, where she threw 59-6. That broke her indoor PR of 59-0 ¼, which she set in the winter of 2020 in a meet in Norman, Okla.
Woodard threw an outdoor PR 62-3 ½ last spring in Tucson, No. 18 in U.S. historyand No. 14 in the world last year.
USATF Nationals are scheduled for this weekend at the Podium in Spokane, Wash. The women’s shot put is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. EST on Saturday. As long as they’ve met the qualifying standard, the top two placers in each event will represent the U.S. in the World Indoor Championships March 18-20 at Štark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia. The women’s shot put standard is 60- ¼, so Woodard has already met the standard.
Left to right: Kerry O’Day, Kelsey Niglio, Nicole Clifford, Megan Niglio [photo courtesy Mark Jarvis].Cherokee’s Kelsey Niglio, Kerry O’Day, Megan Niglio and Nicole Clifford ran the No. 10 3,200-meter relay in state history Tuesday night at the Bubble.
Racing at the final SJTCA meet of the winter, Cherokee ran 9:07.81, a minute faster than any of the three other schools in the field.
Their time is No. 2 in the U.S. this year, No. 2 in South Jersey history and fastest ever at the Bennett Center (or on any track in New Jersey).
It’s fastest ever by any South Jersey 4-by-8 on a flat track. The previous fastest time at the Bubble was a 9:14.47 by Ridge at the 2017 Meet of Champions.
Kelsey Niglio led off with a 2:15.3 split, O’Day split 2:21.0, Megan Niglio 2:20.0 and Clifford anchored with a monster 2:11.3. All are indoor PRs.
The only faster time in South Jersey history belongs to the 2013 Lenape team of Emily McGee, Carly Pettipaw, Camille Franklin and Natalia Ocasio, who ran 9:04.66 at Indoor Nationals at the Armory. That’s No. 5 in state history.
No. 1 nationally is Pioneer High of Ann Arbor, Mich., which ran 8:59.20 at a meet last weekend in Saginaw, Mich.
Cherokee set its previous school record of 9:23.85 last month at a meet in Lynchburg, Va.
Here’s a look at the all-time New Jersey sub-9:20 performance list, with the meet and location listed for the top 10:
8:54.11 … Southern Reg., 2009 [1st, Nike Indoor Nationals, Reggie Lewis Center, Boston]
8:56.94 … Red Bank Cath., 2011 [1st, Nike Indoor Nationals, 168th Street Armory, NYC]
9:00.62 … Freehold Twp., 2014 [1st, Nike Indoor Nationals, 168th Street Armory, NYC]
9:01.64 … Ridge, 2017 [1st, New Balance Indoor Nationals, 168th Street Armory, NYC]
9:04.66 … Lenape, 2013 [4th, New Balance Indoor Nationals, 168th Street Armory, NYC]
9:05.28 … Red Bank Cath., 2012 [3rd, New Balance Indoor Nationals, Armory, NYC]
9:05.40 … Columbia, 2014 [Easterns, 168th Street Armory]
9:05.97 … Pope John, 2007 [Easterns, 168th Street Armory]
9:07.44 … Union Catholic, 2019 [Millrose Games, 168th Street Armory] 9:07.81 … Cherokee, 2022 [SJTCA Winter Meet #16, Bennett Center, Toms River]
9:08.07 … Ridge, 2018
9:08.34 … Columbia, 1997
9:09.14 … Columbia, 1998
9:09.70 … Mount St. Dominic, 2012
9:09.71 … Lenape, 2012
9:10.22 … North Hunterdon, 2016
9:11.69 … Freehold Twp., 2013
9:11.94 … Lenape, 2008
9:12.82 … Roxbury, 2006 9:12.91 … Haddonfield, 2021
9:13.42 … Union Catholic, 2015
9:13.72 … Columbia, 1983
9:13.90 … Union Catholic, 2018
9:13.95 … Ridge, 2015
9:14.49 … Ridge, 2020
9:15.05 … Pingry, 2018
9:15.07 … Ridge, 2019
9:15.16 … Hunterdon Central, 2010
9:16.15 … Pope John, 2006 9:16.34 … Immaculate Heart Academy, 2008
9:16.8h … Kearny, 1980
9:17.00 … Union Catholic, 2016
9:18.17 … Middletown South, 2002
9:18.26 … Southern Regional, 2014
9:18.62 … River Dell, 2018
9:18.87 … Red Bank Catholic, 2015
9:19.01 … Lenape, 2011
9:19.06 … Union Catholic, 2022
9:19.20 … Ridge, 2016 9:19.35 … Wilson, 2002
9:19.47 … Voorhees, 2009
9:19.55 … Columbia, 2012
9:19.88 … Pope John, 2008
And here’s the all-time South Jersey sub-9:30 list:
Nice double Tuesday night for Burlington City junior Ny’era Hand-Brooks in the first two events of the final SJTCA meet of the year.
Hand-Brooks ran a personal-best 8.89 in the 55-meter hurdles Tuesday night at the Bubble in Toms River and followed that up just a few minutes later with a PR 7.57 in the 55-meter dash.
Brooks hurdles time is fastest this year in all of New Jersey Group 1, and her 55 time is 3rd-fastest, behind Kennedy Pitts of McNair Academic, who ran 7.45 last month at the Jersey City Armory, and Haddon Township junior Lilli Santomauro, who won the South Jersey Group 1 sectional ahead of Hand-Brooks last weekend.
Overall, she now ranks No. 6 in South Jersey in the hurdles and No. 12 in the 55.
Hand-Brooks’ previous 55 PR was a 7.74 in the sectional trials at the Bubble last weekend, and her hurdles PR was 9.03 at sectionals in the final.
Hand-Brooks also placed 2nd in the 200 in 26.85 – a personal best because it’s the first time she’s run it indoors.
Hand-Brooks was sectional 200 champ as a sophomore 1st-year competitor last spring and also placed 2nd at sectionals in the 100 and 100 hurdles.
Rowan freshman Marquise Young outraced Montclair State’s Kimani Carrington in the hurdles by 5-100ths of a second Monday to win his first NJAC title.
Young, a Sterling graduate, ran a personal-best 8.25 over the 60-meter highs at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at Ocean Breeze. Carrington was second in 8.30.
In the trials, Young led all qualifiers with an 8.27, with Carrington next at 8.45. The final was closer, but it was Young all the way.
Young’s 8.27 broke his PR of 8.30, which he set at the Bomber Invitational earlier this month at Ithaca. This is his first year of indoor track at Rowan, although he ran outdoors last spring and was 2nd to freshman teammate Liam Davies of Wissahickon High in the NJAC Championships in the 110 highs and placed 4th in the intermediates. Davies is no longer listed on Rowan’s roster.
Young’s time ranks No. 17 in NCAA Division 3 so far this year. The top 20 performers in each individual event qualify for NCAAs.
Young competed in the spring of 2019 for Camden County College and placed 2nd in both the 110 highs and 400 intermediates at the NJCAA Division 3 Outdoor National Championships at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, N.Y. In both races he finished behind Deptford graduate Glenn Abbott of Glouester County College.
The Pros outscored The College of New Jersey 184 ½-138 ½ to win their 7th consecutive title.
Rowan will look to improve on its qualifying marks for NCAA Division 3 Nationals at the Fasttrack Last Chance at Ocean Breeze on Friday and then at the AARTFC Championships in Rochester March 4-5.
Nationals are scheduled for March 11-12 at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.
It was a big day all around for Sterling graduates at the NJAC meet.
In addition to Young, Rowan sophomore Jah’mere Beasley placed second in the 60 with a school-record 6.89, took second in the 200 with the No. 19 time in NCAA Division 3 history and ran a leg on Rowan’s winning 800-meter relay team, which ran the 2nd-fastest time in Division 3 history. Another Sterling graduate, Stockton senior Jessie Klenk, won the women’s mile.
Alyssa Condell, a Timber Creek and University of Pennsylvania graduate now competing for the Breakneck Trac Club, ran a personal-best 5,000 at the recent Garden State Track Club Invitational at Ocean Breeze.
Condell ran 16:48.45, reeling off all 20 laps from the 800 mark to the 4800 point between 39.8 and 41.3 and then closing in 36.6. She was the first woman across the line in the mixed race.
Condell’s previous 5,000 PR was a 16:56.36 outdoors at the 2019 HEPS at Princeton. She didn’t run many indoor 5,000s in college, but her previous indoor PR was a 17:14.03 at the Armory in December of 2018.
Haddon Township graduate Jacob Dinerman, competing for Moody Park Trak Club, ran 4:13.23 and placed 2nd in his first mile race in two years. Dinerman, who ran one year for TCNJ, has an indoor mile PR of 4:08.49 in Boston in 2020. Dinerman also ran 14:58.49 in the 5,000, which is quite a double.
Another Haddon Township graduate, Luke Petela, who ran at Penn and graduated from Vermont, placed 3rd in the 3,000 in 8:40.54.
Rutgers-Camden senior Jude Misko of Cherry Hill East, the NC AA Division 3 hammer throw champ last spring, won his won his 4th NJAC title Monday.
Misko threw the 35-pound ball 57-10 ½ on his final attempt in the weight throw to edge long-time rival Darren Wan of Stockton, who was second with a throw of 55-7 ½.
Misko had three throws over 57 feet.
He threw within just a couple inches of his PR of 58-1 ¼ from earlier this month in a meet at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa.
After opening with a 54-9, Misko threw 57-8 and 57-0 ½ to close out the trials. He fouled twice to open the finals before popping the 57-10 ½ throw.
Wan was in 3rd until he hit 54-4 on his 4th throw. He improved to 55-7 ½ on his 5th before closing with a foul.
It was only the second meet of the year for Wan, who spends most of his time during the winter playing ice hockey for Stockton’s club team.
Former Cherokee teammates Justin Kelly and Will Gross each won their first conference title Monday at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at Ocean Breeze.
Kelly, a Rowan junior, won the 3,000, and Gross, a Stockton senior, won the shot put.
Kelly won the 3,000 in a personal-best 8:37.89, finishing 10 meters ahead of Chris Anderson of Ramapo, who was 2nd in 8:39.74. Kelly was seeded 4th in the race with his season-best of 8:46.06 from two weeks ago at Ithaca.
Anderson led most of the race, with Kelly tucked in just behind him. Kelly took the lead on the 11th lap.
Kelly came through 2,200 meters in 6:29.11 before surging over the final 800 meters, closing in 2:08.76. He needed a strong finish because Anderson closed in 2:10.42 with a 61.78 final 400 and 29.27 final lap.
Gross opened with a 44-9 throw, which was the early leader until Griffith hit 48-5 ½ on his second attempt.
Gross’s next two throws came up agonizingly short of Griffith – he threw 48-4 ¾ on his third throw and then opened the finals with a 48-5, just half an inch behind Griffth, before a 46-11 ¼ on his fifth attempt.
Meanwhile, Griffith – a graduate of Northern Highlands in Allendale, Bergen County – fouled on each of his final four throws, so going into his sixth and final attempt, Gross was half an inch away . But Gross came up huge with the 49-2 ¾ winner.
Griffith and Gross went 1-2 in the outdoor NJAC meet last spring at Ramapo in their only previous meeting. Gross began his career at Rutgers-Camden.
Sterling graduate Jessie Klenk, a Stockton senior, used a 76-second final lap to move up from 3rd to the lead and won the NJAC mile title Monday at Ocean Breeze.
Klenk ran a personal-best 5:17.62 at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships, finishing two meters ahead of Salini Iyer of TCNJ, who took second in 5:21.58. Klenk’s previous best mile time was 5:19.44 in her last race, the Gotham Cup on the same track. Before this year she hadn’t broken 5:25 in a mile indoors or out.
The NJAC title is Klenk’s second. She won the 1,500 last spring in 5:00.71 at Ramapo College in Mahwah. She was 2nd at the NJAC cross country championships this past fall on Stockton’s course in Galloway Township.
Klenk is versatile enough that as a freshman she placed 3rd in the NJAC heptathlon.
At Sterling, Klenk didn’t run indoor track and had a PR of 5:44.58 for 1,600 meters, so to win a Division 3 conference title is quite a remarkable accomplishment and a testament to her determination and perseverance.
With a lineup featuring three South Jersey alums, Rowan on Friday ran the 2nd-fastest 800-meter relay in NCAA Division 3 history.
But not a school record or a meet record.
Freshman Nana Agyemang from Parsippany, sophomore Jah’mere Beasley of Sterling, freshman Robert McKinney from Highland and freshman Isaiah Arzu from Rancocas Valley won the 4-by-200 at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at Ocean Breeze in 1:27.88.
The No. 3 time in Division 3 history also belongs to Rowan – that’s a 1:28.27 at the 2018 NJAC meet with Garland, Jonathan Ramirez of Memorial of West New York, Steven Jones of Kingsway and Mumford.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 