Ocean City junior Sophia Curtis opened up her first Cape May Championships with another PR and county record in the intermediate hurdles.
Curtis on Thursday afternoon lowered her own county record from 1:01.50 from the South Jersey Elite at Delsea earlier this month to 1:01.14 to win the Cape May title on her home track.
That’s No. 1 in New Jersey this year and No. 24 in South Jersey history for the versatile Padua Academy transfer. It also puts Curtis only 14-100ths of a second off the qualifying standard for the USATF Under-20 Championships in Eugene July 6-9.
Curtis’s time is No. 4 in the U.S. this year according to the MileSplit national database and No. 2 among underclassmen, behind only Michelle Smith of Monteverde (Fla.) Academy, who ran 56.66 at a meet last month in Lubbock, Texas.
Curtis is scheduled to compete in the long jump and triple jump later Thursday. She’s No. 20 in the U.S. in the triple jump with her 40-10 1/4 from the Penn Relays.
Here’s the updated all-time South Jersey 400IH list:
56.83 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2005
59.03 … Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], 1988
59.56 … Torie Robinson (Winslow Twp.], 2013
59.66 … Mandie Dulin [Shawnee], 1997
1:00.13 … Arianna Smith [Pennsville], 2019
1:00.16 … Aliya Rae Garozzo [Paul VI], 2018
1:00.1h … Danielle Myricks [Willingboro], 2001
1:00.26 … Helena Leyrer [Buena], 2012
1:00.40 … Diamond McLaughlin [Absegami], 2021
1:00.47 … Shaquanda Meylor [Wilson], 2006
1:00.48 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
1:00.55 … Katrina Sye [Buena], 1997
1:00.58 … Andrea Olsen [Buena], 2013
1:00.67 … Meredith Updike [Cinnaminson], 2019
1:00.69 … Kristina Keegan [Haddonfield], 2003
1:00.73 … Pam Richardson [Edgewood]., 2001
1:00.79 … Courtney Smith [Penns Grove], 2014
1:00.8h … Brittany Caserta [Highland], 2003
1:00.90 … Medea Ashton [Washington Twp.], 1999
1:01.0h … Eusheka Bartley [Highland], 1992
1:01.04 … Tynisha Revels [Camden], 1999
1:01.07 … Amirah Sharpe [Clayton], 2022
1:01.1h … Zonya Cross [Edgewood], 1983
1:01.14 … Brooke Kott [Millville], 2009
1:01.14 … Okechi Ogbuokiri [Willingboro], 1995
1:01.14 … Sophia Curtis [Ocean City], 2023
1:01.23 … Brianna Snowden [Rancocas Valley], 2019
1:01.25 … Carly Pettipaw [Lenape], 2015
1:01.29 … Morgan Gantt [Winslow Twp.], 2002
1:01.3h … Vernick Smith [Wilson], 1998
1:01.32 … Brittany Preston [Winslow Twp.], 2016
1:01.35 … Thaila Cooper [Kingsway], 2015
1:01.41 … Aliya Rae Garozzo [Paul VI], 2018
1:01.42 … Natalie Edwards [Pleasantville], 1995
1:01.46 … Jewel Ash [Eastern], 2019
1:01.49 … Mary Bohi [Seneca], 2009
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 