Another huge meet for Princeton freshman Greg Foster, who was part of two all-time Tiger performances Saturday even though the Larry Ellis Invitational wasn’t completed.

First Foster, a Lumberton native who attended Lawrenceville School, led off Princeton’s 400-meter relay team, which ran 40.31 – 5th-fastest in Princeton history. Joey Gant, John Catherman and Ibrahim Ayorinde ran the last three legs.

Princeton’s time is No. 3 this year in the Ivy League but only 12-100ths behind top-ranked Harvard, which ran 40.19 last month at a meet in Houston.

Then he PR’d with a 14.23 with a legal wind – into a 0.1 – in the 110-meter high hurdles trials. He was the 2nd-fastest qualifier, behind only Richard Gilchrist of Mount St. Mary’s, who ran 14.14.

The meet was cancelled because of bad weather soon after the hurdles trials, and the hurdles final wasn’t held, and Foster didn’t get the chance to long jump or triple jump either.

Still, his 14.23 is tied for 4th-fastest in Princeton history. Foster’s previous hurdles PR was 14.30 last weekend at the Oscar Moore Invitational in Glassboro. Those are the only two races he’s ever run over the 42-inch hurdles at 110 meters.

Foster is No. 6 in the Ivy in the hurdles and the No. 2 freshman, 1-100th of a second behind Penn’s Jake Rose, but he’s the top wind-legal freshman in the conference.

Foster is No. 4 in the Ivy in the long jump at 24-5 ½ from the Texas Relays. He hasn’t triple jumped outdoors yet, but he was second at Heps indoors with a 50-7 ½ in Hanover, N.H.

His PRs are 51-0 ½ in the triple jump and 25-6 ¼, both from last June at Franklin Field.

 

Syracuse sophomore and Deptford graduate Naseem Smith won the 110-meter hurdles at a recent meet at Cortland, N.Y., this weekend with a PR.

Smith ran 14.38 to win the Red Dragon Open at SUNY Cortland. That lowered his PR from 14.46, which he ran last March at a meet at Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. He won this past weekend as well at a meet in Providence, R.I.

Smith has an indoor PR of 8.00 over the 60-meter highs, a time he achieved twice.

Smith’s time makes him No. 9 this year in the ACC, and he’s one of four South Jersey natives in the top-15: Miami junior Sincere Rhea from St. Augustine is No. 3 at 13.72, Syracuse junior Anthony Vazquez from Egg Harbor is No. 6 at 14.08, Smith is No. 9 and Syracuse sophomore Isaiah Lewis from Winslow is No. 15 at 14.96.

Syracuse will compete next weekend at the 127th annual Penn Relays at Franklin Field. The college men’s hurdles is scheduled for 3:20 p.m. Friday, although the fields are not listed on the Penn Relays’ site yet.

The ACC Championships are scheduled for May 11-13 in Raleigh, N.C.

On Tuesday, we wrote about Iowa’s Tionna Tobias, and here’s the latest on another Iowa athlete from Winslow Township – Nylah Perry.

Perry, an Iowa sophomore, PR’d in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles over the weekend with a 58.61 at the Tom Jones Memorial at Percy Bread Track in Gainesville, Fla.

Perry’s previous PR was 58.72 from last year’s NCAA Division 1 West Preliminary round in Fayetteville, Ark.

Perry’s time is No. 7 in Iowa history and No. 6 in the Big Ten Conference so far this year.

 

 

Tionna Tobias picked up a hurdles PR and a long jump victory over the weekend at the Tom Jones Memorial at the Percy Beard Track on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville.

Tobias, a Winslow graduate, ran 13.55 in the 100-meter hurdles and won the long jump at 20-0 ½.

Her previous hurdles PR was a 13.57 earlier this month at the University of Illinois, but that was wind-aided at 3.6 meters-per-second. Her race Saturday was into a significant 2.2 wind, which makes it even more impressive.

Her previous wind-legal PR was a 13.59 as part of the Big Ten Championships heptathlon in May of 2021.

Tobias had a strong long jump series, with two 20-0 jumps and a 20-0 ½. Her PR is 20-1 ¾ from an indoor meet in December in Iowa City. Her outdoor PR is a 20-1 from last month in Coral Gables, Fla.

In the 100 hurdles, Tobias is now No. 8 in Iowa history, and in the long jump she’s No. 5 outdoors. She’s also 6th in the heptathlon with her 5,124 from last year’s Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis.

Indoors, she’s 7th in the 60-meter hurdles at 8.39 from a meet in Iowa City this past January, 3rd in the long jump with that 20-1 ¾ and 3rd in the penthathlon with a 3,997-point performance when she placed 3rd at the Big Ten’s in Geneva, Ohio, this past February.

Tobias was a Meet of Champions winner and hurdles and high jump medalist at Winslow.

Eleven South Jersey relay teams made the cut for the invitational 3,200-meter relay and distance medley next week at the 127th annual Penn Relays.

The DMRs are one-race championships. The 4-by-8’s lead to a Championship Race, with the 12-fastest times from the four heats advancing to the final.

The meet is scheduled for April 27-29 at Franklin Field in West Philadelphia. Click here for the complete schedule.

Click on any race for the field.

The boys 4-by-8’s qualifying races are scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday:
Race 1 
Race 2
Race 3
Race 4

The girls 4-by-8’s qualifying races are scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday:
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3 
Race 4 

The boys 4-by-8 Championship of America is scheduled for 5:50 p.m. Friday:

The girls 4-by-8 Championship of America is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. Saturday:

The boys DMR Championship of America is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. Friday:

The girls DMR Championship of America is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. Friday

Here’s a look:

Small-School Boys 3,200-Meter Relay
Highland: Highland won a fast 4-by-8 at the South Jersey Track Coaches Association meet at Ocean Breeze in February. Four schools – three from South Jersey – broke 8:08, led by Highland’s 8:02.08.
Haddon Heights: Heights ran 8:07.47 at Ocean Breeze, taking 4th behind Highland, Rahway [8:03.62] and Cinnaminson [8:05.78].

Large-School Boys 3,200-Meter Relay
Cherry Hill East: East qualified by running 8:03.93 at Boston Nationals.
Washington Township: The Minutemen ran 8:07.60 at the Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze.

Boys DMR
Cinnaminson: The Pirates put together a terrific DMR at Armory Nationals, running 10:21.80. That’s No. 9 in South Jersey history indoors.

Small-School Girls 3,200-Meter Relay
Haddonfield: Haddonfield qualified for Penn by running 9:43.45 at the indoor Meet of Champions.

Large-School Girls 3,200-Meter Relay
Mainland Regional: An early 9:48.47 at Ocean Breeze in early February got Mainland into Penn.
Washington Township: Township’s 9:54.92 at Ocean Breeze in a different meet in early February earned the Minutemaids an invite.
Cherokee: The Chiefs could have opted for the DMR thanks to their 12:10.07 at Boston Nationals, but they chose the 4-by-8, which they qualified for with a 9:19.80 at Millrose at the Armory in February. Cherokee ran 9:17.77 last year at Penn.
Kingsway: The Dragons ran 9:53.83 at Armory Nationals.

Girls DMR
Clearview: The Pioneers qualified for the DMR with a program-record 12:19.53 at Easterns at the Armory last month.

Rancocas Valley graduate Erika Kemp became the fastest marathon runner in South Jersey history Monday at the Boston Marathon.

Kemp placed 28th among women and 12th (I think) among American women in her marathon debut in 2:33.57.

The fastest previous marathon by a South Jersey native was Cherokee graduate Megan Lacy’s 2:39.12 in Duluth, Minn., in June of 2019.

Kemp and Lacy overlapped in high school in various Burlington County and South Jersey races.

Kemp, 28, averaged 5:52.6 per mile over the 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton, Mass., into downtown Boston.

It’s tough to figure out how many American women finished ahead of Kemp, since the BAA web site for some reason doesn’t list nationalities in its results.

But from what I can tell:

5 – Emma Bates [2:22.10]
11 – Aliphine Tuliamuk [2:24.37]
17 – Sara Hall [2:25.48]
18 – Desiree Linden [2:27.18]
20 – Annie Frisbee [2:28.45]
22 – Annie Rohrer [2:30.52]
23 – Sydney Devore [2:31.08]
24 – Maggie Montoya [2:31.19]
25 – Anne-Marie Blaney [2:31.32]
26 – Maegan Krifchin [2:32.46]
27 – Dakota Lindwurm [2:33.53]
28 – Erika Kemp [2:33.57]

Kemp ranks 57th in U.S. history with her 15:10.10 for 5,000 meters in Boston in May 2021 and 43rd with 31:35.63 for 10,000 meters in San Juan Capistrano in December 2020. Her 32:18 for a 10K road course is 36th, and she’s 6th on the 20K road course list.

Here’s a look at the fastest marathoners ever from New Jersey I was able to find:

2:31.18 … Anne Marie Lauck, North Hunterdon [1996, Columbia, S.C.]
2:32.05 … Sarag Pagano, Immaculate Heart [2023, Nagoya, Japan]
2:33.57 … Erika Kemp, Rancocas Valley [2023, Boston]
2:35.09 … Amanda Marino, Jackson [2019, Duluth, Minn.]
2:39.06 … Megan Curham, Villa Walsh [2022, Minneapolis]
2:39.12 … Megan Lacy, Cherokee [2019, Duluth, Minn.]

One-time Sterling and St. Joe’s runner Jimmy Daniels broke 30 minutes for 10,000 for the first time Saturday.

Daniels, now running for New Freedom Athletics, ran 29:50.19 at the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa.

Daniels ran very steady and very efficiently, with his first 24 laps all between 1:10.08 and 1:12.96 before a closing 1:07.13.

He ran 4:44.99 for his first 1,600, then 4:44.76, 4:46.87, 4:48.61, 4:49.23 and 4:48.89 1,600s, closing in 2:18.73 for his final 800. His final mile was his fastest – 4:43.20.

Daniels’ previous track 10,000 PR was 30:06.04 at the 2017 Sam Howell Invitational in Princeton as a St. Joe’s senior.

Daniels ran 2:25.42 in his marathon debut in November, placing 20th in the Philadelphia Marathon.

At Sterling, Daniels placed 3rd in the 2013 Meet of Champions in the 3,200 in 9:00.30 and also ran 4:16.53 for 1,600 meters. He ran 14:32.78 for 5,000 meters at St. Joe’s before graduating in the spring of 2017.

Army West Point senior Garrett Gough from Nevada City, Calif., the Patriot League XC champ this past fall, won the race in 29:11.98, a lifetime best.

Seneca graduate Julia Greeley continues to enjoy a breakthrough sophomore season in the pole vault at Lafayette.

Greeley, a sophomore, recorded the 2nd-best jump in Lafayette outdoor track history with a 12-1 ½ clearance at a meet at her home facility in Easton. Only Elise Buffinton has gone higher in school history. She set the school record of 12-5 ½ at the 2013 Penn Relays and matched it in 2014 at a meet at Moravian College in Bethlehem.

Indoors, Greeley also cleared 12-1 ½ at the Patriot League Championships in Annapolis in February. That’s also No. 2 in program history behind Buffinton, whose collegiate best of 12-11 ½ is the overall program record. Buffinton cleared 12-11 ½ to win the 2014 indoor ECAC Championships at Boston University.

On Sunday, Greeley cleared 11-11 ¾ on her 3rd attempt at the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa., before missing three tries at a PR of 12-5 ½.

At Seneca, Greeley won the 2020 indoor state Group 3 title at the Bubble with an 11-0 clearance. She had PRs of 11-0 indoors and 11-9 outdoors from 2021 Group 3 sectionals, which she won at Delsea.

As a Lafayette freshman, Greeley cleared 11-7 ¾ indoors and 11-11 ¼ outdoors. She’s been over 12 feet five times since late January.

Liberty senior Rayshawn Johnson, a graduate of Burlington County Institute of Technology, posted a huge hurdles PR Saturday in a meet in Lynchburg, Va.

Johnson won the 110-meter hurdles at the Dennis Craddock Coaches Classic in 14.67, edging teammate Luke Anderson, who ran 14.71.

His time is No. 4 in the Atlantic Sun Conference, behind teammates Prosper Ekporere [13.83] and Felix Lawrence [14.08] and Makai Williams of Kennesaw (Ga.) State [14.60].

Johnson’s previous best in his first year at Liberty was a 15.41 at a meet in Lynchburg last month. His lifetime best was a 15.08 in April of 2021 while competing for St. Peter’s in a meet in Jersey City.

Johnson competed in high school for Willingboro since BCIT doesn’t have a track team. He was the state Group 1 champ in the 55-meter hurdles in February of 2018 at the Bubble.

Millville senior Leah Howard uncorked one of the top javelin throws in New Jersey history Saturday, breaking the 150-foot plateau for the first time at the Lenape Invitational.

Howard threw 151-10, No. 9 in state history since U.S. high schools went to a new javelin implement in 2002 and No. 5 in South Jersey history.

That’s a qualifier for the USATF Under-20 Championships (formerly U.S. Junior Championships) scheduled for July at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The standard is 149-3 (45.5 meters).

According to the MileSplit national database, Howard’s throw is No. 11 in the U.S. so far this outdoor season.

Looks like it will rank about No. 26 among U.S. women so far this spring according to the World Athletics U.S. list.

Howard’s previous PR was a 148-2 from her win at the state Group 4 meet last year at Franklin High. She approached that with a 146-2 in her opener last weekend in Deptford before popping her PR on Saturday.

After a foul on her 1st attempt, Howard PR’d with a 149-0 on her 2nd throw before hitting the big throw on her third attempt. She fouled again on her 4th and final throw.

She’s New Jersey’s first 150-footer since Oakcrest’s Brielle Smith set the state record of 163-8 at the 2019 Woodbury Relays.

All-Time South Jersey 140-Foot Javelin List
168- 6 … Brielle Smith [Oakcrest], 2019
160- 8 … Maria Jimenez [Vineland], 2012
152- 9 … Kate Johnston [Haddonfield], 2012
152- 4 … Jill Shaner [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2009
151-10 … Leah Howard [Millville], 2023
148- 8 … Caitlin Cielo [Eastern], 2002
146- 7 … Victoria Imbesi [Our Lady of Mercy], 2008
143-11 … Ayana Culhane [Absegami], 2016
142- 6 … Kaela Schrier [Cherokee], 2016
142- 1 … Alexa Gardner [Hammonton], 2018
141- 6 … Lindsay Minch [Pennsville], 2009
141- 5 … Kelly Yanucil [Bordentown], 2013
141- 1 … Tumelo Nwanma [Vineland], 2016
141- 0 … Jocelyn McRae [Millville], 2006
140- 8 … Julianne Foering [Rancocas Valley], 2017
140- 0 … Melissa Lake [Cherokee], 2011

All-Time New Jersey 150-Foot Javelin List
163- 8 … Brielle Smith (Oakcrest), 2018
160- 8 … Maria Jimenez (Vineland), 2012
155- 8 … Daina Pucurs (Demarest), 2004
155- 0 … Jamie Klein (Paramus Catholic), 2011
154-11 … Nia Barnes (West Orange), 2011
152- 9 … Katherine Johnston (Haddonfield), 2012
152- 4 … Jill Shaner (Egg Harbor Twp.), 2009
152- 3 … Shauntierah Douglas (Garfield), 2012
151-10 … Leah Ellis [Millville], 2023
151- 6 … Nicole Woods [Northern Valley-Demarest], 2022
150- 5 … Alianna Eucker [Bergen Tech], 2019

Before the javelin implement changed, there were only eight 150-foot throwers in New Jersey, including the national record holder and two South Jersey girls.

198-8 … Barbara Friedrich [Manasquan], 1967
159-8 … Amy Krilla [Red Bank Catholic], 2000
156-6 … Audra Corson [Monmouth Reg.], 1985
154-8 … Lynlee Phillips [Shawnee], 1999
152-7 … Emma Painter [Clayton], 1980
152-3 … Rena Antanellis [Randolph], 1980
150-9 … Jen Austin [Garfield], 2000
150-2 … Jill Watts [Morristown], 1978