Catching up with the Group 3 girls state relays and a terrific performance by the Winslow girls, who led a 1-2-3 South Jersey sweep Saturday to win their 7th title and a remarkable 5th in a row.

Winslow outscored 2nd-place Timber Creek 44-30, with Mainland Regional 3rd with 26 points, Saturday at the Bubble in Toms River.

The seven total titles are tied for 6th-most in state history – behind Willingboro (11), Columbia (10), Hopewell Valley (10), Haddonfield (8) and Union Catholic (8) – and their five-year streak is tied for 2nd-longest ever behind Hopewell Valley’s nine-year streak from 2002 through 2010 and tied with Vailsburg’s five-year streak back in 1983 through 1987. (Most of Hopewell Valley’s titles came with Moorestown graduate Mike Hammill coaching the Bulldogs.)

Freshman Ma’Syiah Brawner, senior Kamryn Holness and  Janelle Marshall and junior Sierra Handy won the shuttle hurdles in 33.58 leading a 1-2-3 sweep with Timber Creek [34.03] and Ocean City [35.03].

And in the high jump relay, Brawner and Chantina Walker – two freshmen – combined to jump 10 feet, with Brawner PR’ing at 5-2 and Walker PR’ing at 4-10.

Winslow only won those two events, but the Eagles scored points all over the place.

Senior Briyel Brown, Holness, Marshall and freshman Olivia Okaro ran 1:47.71 for 2nd in the 800-meter relay behind Timber Creek’s 1:45.43, and the Eagles also placed second to Timber Creek in the closing 4-by-4, with Brown, Holness, Henry and Okaro running 4:09.40.

The Eagles took 4th in both the 3,200-meter relay with the team of senior Alana Henry, freshman Jordyn Kennedy, senior Ciaira Wiltshire and sophomore Ava Millner running 10:15.24 and the sprint medley with Brown, Millner, Marshall and Holness running 4:25.56.

Clearview won the distance medley in 12:49.62 ahead of Mainland’s 12:53.61. Senior Abigail Kotran, freshman Rachael Williams, junior Maggie Wisniewski and senior Abigail Waddington ran for Clearview, and sophomore Sofia Day, freshman Madison Taylor, sophomore Ava McDole and junior Gillian Lovett for Mainland.

Timber Creek’s sprinters on the winning 4-by-200 were sophomores Billie Frazier and Adiat Olaogun-Dickson and juniors Chloe Jones and Naylah Jones. The Chargers won the 4-by-4 with junior Nyla Jones, Chloe Jones, Naylah Jones and Olaogun-Dickson. They ran 4:06.12.

In the shuttles, Frazier, junior Paige Haynes, Nyla Jones and junior Guerlande Pierre ran for Timber Creek and senior Elaina Styer, sophomore AnnaMaria Marczyk, freshman Callie Duff and junior Sophia Curtis for Ocean City.

Mainland also placed 2nd in the 4-by-8 with Day, Lovett, McDole and freshman Emma Preissman running 10:01.72 and 2nd in the high jump relay with senior Kalla Tocci-Rogers (PR 5-2) and senior Emma Crozier-Carole (4-10).

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.

The Washington Township boys won their first state relays title in 13 years Saturday, winning three events on the way to the state Group 4 relays championship at the Bubble.

Township finished with a 46-35 margin of victory over 2nd-place Westfield, with South Brunswick 3rd with 31 points. Rancocas Valley also hit double digits with 11 points for 6th place.

This is the third straight year a Gloucester County school has won the state Group 4 relays title. Kingsway won in 2020 and 2022. The meet wasn’t held in 2021.

Washington Township began the day by running the No. 1 time in New Jersey in the shuttle hurdles with Kanye Mills, Yashahya Brown, Nico DiGiacomo and Zachary Kotel. You can read about that performance here.

The Minutemen picked up their 2nd win in the 800-meter relay, where Logan Perez, John Santos, Miles Reed and John Williams ran a season-best 1:32.35, No. 3 in South Jersey so far this winter. Township also won the 4-by-4 with Mills, Reed, Brown and Jack Schuck running 3:31.42.

In the 4-by-8, Tellus McDonald, Hunter Bostwick, Colin Keane and Aaron Kolosowsky ran 8:23.59 for 2nd. Keane, Santos, Perez and Brown ran 3:44.96 for 5th place in the sprint medley.

In the field, junior Carson Thomas [5-10] and senior Francois Hanson [5-8] placed 3rd in the high jump relay,

Rancocas Valley won the high jump relay with junior David Godbolt [6-0] and senior Donovan Ross [5-10] combining to go 11-10.

Millville placed 2nd in the pole vault relay, senior Zachary Hendershott clearing 11-6 and senior Travis Gandy 11-0. Hillsborough’s Brian O’Sullivan cleared 16-6, just off his U.S. No. 4 16-6 ¼ from last week’s Skyland Conference Championships at Ocean Breeze.

Egg Harbor Township took 3rd in the 4-by-8 with Amir Halim, Chase Mazur, Ryan Taylor and Christopher Manzo posting an 8:23.59 and finishing a step behind Washington Township.

Lenape picked up a 4th place in the distance medley, with Benjamin Rose, Will Whalen, Colin Hermack and Sean Brennan running 10:49.59, No. 1 this indoor season in South Jersey.

Other South Jersey schools that have won Group 4 state relays titles are Edgewood [1985, 1986], Shawnee [1992], Willingboro [1982, 1983, 1990, 1996], Lenape [1997, 1998], Winslow [2003] and Vineland [2004].

Washington Township ran the fastest shuttle hurdles time in the state Saturday, outracing South Brunswick to win the shuttles at the Group 4 State Relays at the Bubble.

Kanye Mills, Yashahya Brown, Nico DiGiacomo and Zachary Kotel ran 30.98, edging South Brunswick’s 31.29.

It’s Washington Township’s second-fastest time ever, behind a 30.52 to win the 2012 state relays at the Bubble. Larry Floyd, Tyler Stumm, Jordan Ashley and Arthur Ashton ran on that team 11 years ago yesterday.

The fastest previous time in the state was Rahway’s 31.10 last week at the Union County Relays at the Jersey City Armory. The fastest South Jersey time was Washington Township’s own 31.47 at the Bubble last week.

The time is No. 4 in Gloucester County history, behind Deptford’s South Jersey-record 29.45 at the Group 2 State Relays in 2019, Washington Township’s 30.52 and Deptford’s 30.94 at Armory Nationals in 2018.

It’s also fastest in the country so far this year, although now that the shuttle hurdles is no longer run at indoor nationals, it’s rarely contested in other states indoors.

Here’s a look at the all-time South Jersey fat list followed by the fastest hand times on record. I didn’t merge the lists because unless you have more faith than me in the stopwatch crews at the finish line in the 1970s and 1980s, the standard 0.24 really doesn’t reflect the difference between the hand times and the fat times.

All-Time South Jersey Indoor Shuttle Hurdles List
29.45 … Deptford, 2019
29.72 … Winslow Twp., 2004
29.74 … Egg Harbor, 2009
30.07 … Oakcrest, 2012
30.18 … Winslow Twp., 2020
30.22 … Camden, 2009
30.26 … Winslow Twp., 2003
30.41 … Camden, 1996
30.42 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2020
30.47 … Willingboro, 2012
30.52 … Washington Twp., 2012
30.62 … Lenape, 1997
30.63 … Camden, 2001
30.64 … Seneca, 2012
30.67 … Willingboro, 2007
30.81 … Willingboro, 2016
30.90 … Winslow Twp. 2015
30.92 … Seneca, 2006
30.94 … Deptford, 2018
30.96 … Woodrow Wilson, 1998
30.98 … Washington Twp., 2023

All-Time S.J. Indoor Shuttle Hurdles Hand-Time List
29.5h … Woodrow Wilson, 1999
29.6h … Camden, 1978
29.7h … Paul VI, 1972
29.8h … Willingboro, 1982
29.9h … Moorestown, 1975
30.0h … Willingboro, 1978
30.3h … Willingboro, 1990
30.3h … Camden, 1999
30.4h … Camden, 1979
30.4h … Camden, 1997
30.4h … Eastern, 1998
30.5h … Moorestown, 1976
30.5h … Overbrook, 1977
30.5h … Willingboro, 1989
30.5h … Lenape, 1996
30.5h … Camden, 2000
30.6h … Edgewood, 1974
30.6h … Willingboro, 1983
30.6h … Willingboro, 1992
30.7h … Eastern, 1992

Timber Creek graduate Jaden Johnson popped another triple PR Friday, and this one isn’t just an indoor PR.

Johnson, a freshman at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, won the triple jump at the St. Thomas Aquinas Spartan Invite at Ocean Breeze with a 47-10 ¾.

That breaks his indoor PR and school record of 47-3 ¾. He’s broken the school record three times in three meets so far this year.

Johnson surpassed his outdoor PR of 47-7 ½ that he set this past spring when he won the state Group 3 title at Pennsauken.

Once again, Johnson had a very strong series, with five jumps over 45 feet, three over 46 feet and two close to 48 feet – the winning 47-10 ¾ on his 5th attempt and then a 47-9 ½ on his final attempt.

Johnson won by 2 ¾ inches over Rider junior Jayson Lee, a graduate of Jackson. Lee never broke 44 feet in high school

The Timber Creek girls qualified for the Millrose Games 4-by-400 by winning the Suburban 1,600-Meter Relay at the Millrose Trials Wednesday at the Armory.

Unfortunately, the results don’t list who ran for each school (I finally got the lineup!), but the Chargers won the race in 4:01.76, fastest by a New Jersey school this year.

Timber Creek ran with the lineup of sophomore Billie Frazier, junior Chloe Jones, sophomore Adiat Alaogun-Dickson and junior Naylah Jones.

Timber Creek won by 45 meters over Winslow Township, which also qualified thanks to its 4:08.41 for 2nd place. Their time is No. 10 in the U.S. this year.

The 115th annual Millrose Games are scheduled for Feb. 11 back at the Armory, its home since moving from Madison Square Garden after the 2011 meet.

 

Even after the graduation of the remarkable Sharpe sisters, the Clayton girls track team is still loaded.

Clayton, which won the state Group 1 title last spring, placed second Thursday in the Group 1 state relays at the Bubble with 50 points, just eight points behind winner Hasbrouck Heights.

Junior Mirrah Perdue, freshman Marina Perdue, senior Ciera Smith and senior Rayael Marshall won the shuttle hurdle in 35.17 to begin the day and sophomore Miyana Johnson, junior Alanna Woolfolk, senior Erica Thomas and senior Kelsey Thomas followed by winning the 800-meter relay in 1:49.59.

Clayton also won the 1,600-meter relay, with Erica Thomas, Kelsey Thomas, Woolfolk and sophomore Leila Ortiz running 4:22.15 and leading a 1-2-3 South Jersey sweep with Woodstown [4:22.71] and Audubon [4:24.01].

Woolfolk cleared 5-2 and Johnson equalled her PR at 4-10 to give Clayton a win in the high jump relay at 10 feet.

Junior Maylisa Bluford threw 33-8 ¾ and junior Josephine Connolly a PR 31-6 for a total of 65-2 ¾ and 2nd place in the shot put relay.

Clayton added two points in the 3,200-meter relay, with the team of Mirrah Perdue, Smith, Johnson and Ortiz running 4:44.01 and taking 5th.

Woodstown won the 3,200-meter relay in 10:20.82 with the team of sophomore Kayla Ayers, senior Katelyn Deal, sophomore Sarah Seiden and junior Kayleigh Leyman. Audubon was 5th with senior Ava Rizzo, sophomore Ella Braddock and juniors Mia Munn and Madelin Carter running 10:40.71.

Woodbury junior Jamiyah Smith, junior Free Daley, sophomore Gabrielle White and senior Jordyn Miller-Knuckles ran 36.31 for 3rd in the shuttle hurdles, and senior Aylani Eberl, sophomore Allyson Green and juniors Grace O’Neill and Brooke Watt ran 36.54 for 5th-place Schalick.

Woodbury ran 1:55.26 for 5th in the 800-meter relay with senior Zhane Tunstall, freshman Mirly Saintsulne, Smith and senior Nyla Nelson.

In the sprint medley, Woodbury’s Tunstall, Smith, Nelson and Daley took 4th place in 4:42.01, just ahead of 5th-place Audubon, with junior Arianna Bittner, freshman Alaina Copsetta, junior Kira Collins and Carter going 4:42.16.

In the 4-by-4, Katelyn Deal, sophomore Jamie Deal, junior Arie Still and Ayers ran 4:22.71 for Woodstown, and Rizzo, Copsetta, Collins and Bittner ran 4:24.01 for 3rd-place Audubon.

Glassboro tied for 5th in the high jump relay with junior Rebecca Crispin clearing 4-10 and sophomore Kaylee Johnson 4-6.

Woodstown finished 4th with 18 points, Woodbury tied for 8th with 12 points

Deptford qualified for the Millrose Games 4-by-400 by winning the Suburban 1,600-Meter Relay at the Millrose Trials Wednesday at the Armory.

Unfortunately, the results don’t list who ran for each school, but the Spartans won the race in 3:27.82, fastest by a South Jersey school this year.

Presumably, senior Lathan Brown – who has run 49.18 this year – anchored. We’re going to guess the other legs were junior Abu Jabbie, junior Christian Berry and junior Darryl Wayman, but if we’re wrong please let us know!

Deptford won by four meters over Newburgh Free Academy, which placed second in 3:28.44. It looks like Winslow Township also qualified with its 6th-place finish in 3:33.28, presumably with seniors Uchechukuwu Ajaegbulemh and Quentin Pratt-Adams in the lineup.

The 115th annual Millrose Games are scheduled for Feb. 11 back at the Armory, its home since moving from Madison Square Garden after the 2011 meet.

Washington Township junior Yashahya Brown moved into the No. 1 spot in New Jersey in the 55-meter hurdles over the weekend at Ocean Breeze.

Brown ran a personal-best and school-record 7.46 to win the hurdles at the Ocean Breeze Freedom Games in Staten Island.

That’s No. 4 in Gloucester County history

Brown, who didn’t break 8.0 as a sophomore, had just set a PR of 7.51 at the Armory in December. He lowered that to 7.50 in the trials at Ocean Breeze before hitting 7.46 in the final.

The previous school record was 7.49, set in 2010 by Devon Carter when he won at Easterns at the Armory.

He and senior teammate Kanye Mills went 1-2, with Mills placing 2nd in 7.64. Sterling senior Samuel Agbessi ran 5th in a PR 7.86, giving South Jersey three of the top five finishes.

Mills’ previous PR was a 7.70 from last year’s indoor South Jersey Group 4 meet at the Bubble. Agbessi’s was 8.28 from last year’s Easterns.

All three are outstanding intermediate hurdles outdoors. Mills ran 55.06 last spring, Agbessi ran 57.17 and Brown ran 55.88 over the summer.

Here’s the full list of all hurdlers in South Jersey history who’ve run 7.50 or faster, with Brown in the No. 21 spot:

7.10 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
7.18 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1996
7.22 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
7.22 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
7.29 … Nate Harley [Pleasantville], 1996
7.29 … Danyne Brown [Camden], 1999
7.29 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], 2001
7.29 … Will Brown [Palmyra], 2006
7.31 … Anthony Vasquez [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2020
7.32 … Jon Dickey [Penns Grove], 1985
7.34 … Chais Hill [Highland], 2015
7.35 … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 1990
7.39 … Rashad Baker [Wilson], 2000
7.39 … Isaiah Lewis [Winslow Twp.], 2020
7.42 … Kevon Brown [West Deptford], 2009
7.42 … Naseem Smith [Deptford], 2019
7.43 … Danyne Brown [Camden], 1999
7.43 … Edwin Alston [Winslow Twp.], 2015
7.44 … Lance Reed [Willingboro], 1983
7.45 … Kevin Hagamin [Timber Creek], 2014
7.46 … Herb Reid [Lenape], 1999
7.46 … Syteek Farrington [Camden], 2010
7.46 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2023
7.47 … Diandre Chandler [Camden], 1986
7.47 … Darius Holmes [Willingboro], 2012
7.48 … Reuben McCoy [Winslow Twp.], 2004
7.48 … Tyrell Ross [Clearview], 2005
7.49 … Devon Carter [Washington Twp.], 2010
7.49 … Vince Rawlins [Eastern], 1991
7.49 … Chris Nichols [Willingboro], 1991
7.49 … Sam Aviles [Palmyra], 2019
7.49 … Donovan Wright [Burlington Twp.], 2020

Delsea junior Greg Masso posted an indoor shot put PR Monday night at the Cherokee Throw Down #1 in Marlton.

Masso threw 52-2 to win and surpass his indoor PR of 51-7 ½, which he set while placing 3rd at Group 2 states at the Bubble in February as part of a Delsea sweep with Jason Nwosu and Josh Caudill, who graduated.

His overall PR is 52-8 ¼, which he threw at outdoor Group 3 sectionals at Delsea in June, again as part of Crusader sweep.

Masso’s throw is No. 6 in the state so far this indoor season and No. 1 among South Jersey throwers. He’s South Jersey’s only 50-footer so far. Cinnaminson senior Malachi Etienne is No. 2 at 48-10- ¾. He placed 2nd Monday with a 48-5 ½.

Masso opened his series Monday with a 50-4 and hit 52-2 on his second throw. He finished with a 49-8 ½ and 48-3. That averages out to 50-1 ¼ for his four throws.