Freshman KaRon Ali, senior Premier Wynn, junior Ladanian McGrath and senior Bryce Tucker won the 1,600-meter relay to give Pennsauken its third State Relays title in the last five years.
Going into the 4-by-4, the final event of the Group 3 meet at the Bubble, Winslow Township led Pennsauken, 33-32, so Pennsauken had to finish ahead of Winslow to win the team title, and the Indians responded by running 3:24.41, 2nd-fastest by a New Jersey school this year and fastest by a public school. Winslow ran a season-best 3:32.01 for 2nd place.
Pennsauken also won the Group 3 State Relays in 2018 and 2022. The meet wasn’t held in 2021. Pennsauken is the first school to repeat in Group 3 since Kingsway in 2014 and 2015.
The Indians opened up with four points in the distance medley, with McGrath, Ali, Tucker and senior Joel Oquendo running 11:08.98 for 4th place.
They added eight points in the shuttles with the team of seniors Jhovany Rivera and Zah’kye Copling, Wynn and Tucker running 32.28.
Pennsauken picked up its first win in the 800-meter relay, with the team of Ali, junior Bronze Whitmore, junior Elijah Jennings and Wynn running 1:33.19, finishing just ahead of 2nd-place Winslow. Wynn, Whitemore, Jennings and Tucker ran a South Jersey No. 1 3:37.65 to win the sprint medley.
Winslow won the shuttle hurdles in 31.98, with senior Uchechukwu Ajaegbulemh, sophomore Cameron Miller and seniors Jamil Peterson and Jaylen Wall. In the 4-by-2, seniors Ejani Shakir and Quentin Pratt-Adams, Miller and senior Christian Munford ran 1:34.10 for second place.
Winslow also placed 3rd in the sprint medley, with Ajaegbulemh, sophomore Dominic Bassey, Shakir and Miller running 3:44.23, and tied for 1st in the high jump relay, with Wall clearing 6-0 and junior Je’Von Johnson 5-4.
Highland won the distance medley in 10:55.75 and the 3,200-meter relay in 8:24.03. Juniors Cortland Webb, Xavier Lynell Miller and Aziz Muhammad-Kane and senior Jake Smith ran on the DMR, holding off Rahway and XC Meet of Champions winner Micah Lawson by less than a second, and senior Gavin Gallo, Webb, senior Cole Knoedler and Smith ran on the 4-by-8.
For Delsea, juniors Greg Masso threw 46-7 and Jake Phelan 46-0 ½ for a combined 92-7 ½ and second place in the shot put relay, and junior Carlos Reyes cleared 12-0 and junior Francesco Edwards 11-0 for 23-0 and 3rd place in the pole vault relay.
Highland’s two distance wins gave them 20 points for 4th place, and Delsea was 6th with 16 points. Timber Creek placed 10th with 12 points.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 