Sophia Curtis improved on her No. 2 triple jump mark in South Jersey history at the SJTCA meet at Ocean Breeze.
Curtis, an Ocean City junior, jumped 38-6 to extend her season-best from 38-4 ½, which she jumped in her Ocean City debut last month at the Bishop Loughlin Games, also at Ocean Breeze.
Her lifetime best is an outdoor 38-8 ¾ from the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association Meet of Champions this past May at Salesianum’s Abessinio Stadium in Wilmington as a sophomore at Padua Academy.
The South Jersey indoor record in the triple jump is 40-1 ½ by Atlantic City’s Claudine Smith at the 2019 New Balance Nationals at the Armory.
Curtis also won the 55-meter hurdles at Ocean Breeze with a personal-best and Cape May County-record 8.64. Her previous PR was an 8.78 at the DIAA indoro states last February at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Hytche Arena in Princess Anne, Md.
That’s No. 3 in South Jersey this year behind Eastern’s Johnay Stilley [8.34 at Ocean Breeze last month] and Winslow’s Janelle Marshall [8.44 at the Armory last month].
Curtis actually already had the county hurdles record with an 8.82 at the Bishop Loughlin Games. Before that, the record belonged to Ocean City’s Mellisa Terwilliger, who ran 9.20 at the 2008 Group 3 sectionals at the Bubble.
Elaina Styer, a senior at Ocean City, is No. 2 on that list with her PR 9.12 at Ocean Breeze over the weekend. Styer has also high jumped 4-10, long jumped 16-6 and thrown the shot put 31-7 this winter.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 