Rancocas Valley graduate Kristina Tossas, a Rutgers junior, opened her 2023 outdoor season with a monster 20-5 long jump at the UCF Black and Gold Invitational in Orlando.,
That’s No. 4 in Rutgers outdoor track history behind Shameka Marshall of Oakcrest [21-6 ¾ at the 2005 ECAC Championships at Princeton], Williamstown’s Gabrielle Farquharson [21-5 ½ at the 2016 Seminole Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla.] and Asha Ruth [21- ½ at the 2012 Big East Championships in Tampa].
So three of the top four long jumpers in Rutgers history are from South Jersey. Ruth attended high school in Bowie, Md.
Tossas only managed three legal jumps, but she hit 20-1 ½ and 20-5 on back-to-back jumps in the trials before a 19-3 ½ to open the finals. She fouled on her 1st, 5th and 6th attempts.
Tossas is coming off a monster indoor season that she concluded by winning the Big Ten long jump at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, with a 20-9 ¼. That’s No. 3 in Rutgers history indoors and was a PR by more than a foot. It gave her a final U.S. ranking of No. 18 and left her just 2 ½ inches from qualifying for the NCAA Championships in Albuquerque.
Tossas also had a 20-2 ¼ at indoor Big Ten’s as well as a near-miss 19-11 ½. So after entering Big East with a PR of 19-7 ½ she’s now jumped 20 feet plus four times in her last two meets – one indoors and one outdoors.
Before Saturday, her outdoor PR was 19-0 on her only legal jump at the Tennessee Relays last April in Knoxville.
At R.V., Tossas had a PR of 18-7 ½ from the 2019 state Group 4 meet at Franklin High. Her indoor PR was 17-10 from a meet at Ocean Breeze in February, 2020.
Tossas will be in action a little closer to home next weekend when Rutgers competes in the Monmouth Open in West Long Branch
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 