Clearview senior Abby Waddington, Kingsway senior Nicole Lipieta and Cherokee sophmore Megan Niglio ran the three-fastest South Jersey 1,600s this year Friday night at the Olympic Conference meet at the Bubble.
Waddington ran 5:08.11 to win the race, Lipieta was just behind in 5:08.23 and Niglio ran 5:09.61 for 3rd.
Cherokee senior Kelsey Niglio was 4th in 5:10.72 and Kingsway senior Aubrey Pierontoni made it five girls under 5:13 with a 5th-place finish in 5:12.80.
Waddington, Lipieta and Megan Niglio bumped Delsea senior Lillie Widmer out of the top spot on the 2023 South Jersey 1,600 list. Widmer ran a PR 5:10.03 at the bubble last week.
Waddington had a PR of 5:11.51 from earlier this month at Ocean Breeze. Lipieta ran 4:57.63 outdoors at Holmdel in May and 5:06.09 indoors this past March at the Bubble in the Meet of Champions. Niglio has run slightly faster, with a 5:08.16 last winter at the state Group 4 meet at the Bubble. Kelsey Niglio’s time is an indoor PR, although she has run slightly faster outdoors with a 5:09.08 in May at Holmdel.
Here’s a look at the updated South Jersey top-10
5:08.11 … Abby Waddington [Clearview], Bubble
5:08.23 … Nicole Lipieta [Kingsway], Bubble
5:09.61 … **Megan Niglio [Cherokee], Bubble
5:10.03 … Lillie Widmer [Delsea], Ocean Breeze
5:10.72 … Kelsey Niglio [Cherokee], Bubble
5:12.80 … Aubrey Pierontoni [Kingsway], Bubble
5:14.01 … Gillian Lovett [Mainland Reg.], Ocean Breeze
5:16.00 … Michaela Schlemo [Egg Harbor Twp.], Ocean Breeze
5:18.54 … Abigail Kotran [Clearview], Ocean Breeze
5:20.02 … Shaelan McNally [Paul VI], Ocean Breeze
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 
This was a great race and a great finish, this is video is one to watch.
There were some other great girls’ races to watch including Eastern and Winslow with some of the best races all year. The 4×400 was epic with some of best times in group 4 and 800 with USA Top 50 times, Almost every seeded race was a pleasure to watch including terrific finishes.
LikeLiked by 1 person