From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

It’s the Monday before sectionals, and for more than half a century that meant East Coast Relays.

Now, the schedule is weird this year. Sectionals are a week later because of Memorial Day, so the East Coast Relays wouldn’t have been today anyway, but it just feels different not having the state-wide relay meet in North Jersey the Monday before sectionals.

East Coast Relays began in 1971 as the New Jersey Relays in Metuchen. The first combined boys and girls meet was at Rutgers in 1979. The meet moved around to Toms River South and Hub Stine Field in Plainfield and finished at Randolph. But for most of its existence it was at Morristown High (with the javelin across town at Delbarton), and during the meet’s heyday – the 1970s through the 1990s – schools from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania made it an incredibly deep and competitive meet that always produced incredible competition and dazzling performances.

I don’t know if the East Coast Relays is gone forever, but it’s not being held this year. So we thought we’d take a look back at the top 10 South Jersey performances at the East Coast Relays over the years. We selected five boys performances and five girls.

The list isn’t meant to be complete, and there are some amazing performances not listed. But it’s a good sampling of what South Jersey achieved in North Jersey for much of the last half century.

Boys
1974 Williamstown Distance Medley: The first South Jersey school to win an ECR event was Williamstown in the DMR in 1974. Tim Leydden’s 3:05.8 leadoff split got the Braves going, Hamlet Bey ran the 400, Bob Marino the 800 and Tony Uzdavines anchored. The Braves won in 10:20.8 for the full 2 ½ miles, which converts to 10:17.2 for 4,000 meters and half a century later ranks 12th in South Jersey history. Paul VI was 2nd in 10:23.0 (converts to 10:19.4), still No. 18 in South Jersey history.

1978 Woodbury Sprint Medley: Woodbury had run 3:31.4 at the South Jersey Relays and was shooting for the South Jersey record of 3:31.3 set by Pemberton in 1977. Howie Staeger made the trip to Toms River South just for one race, and Bruce Washington, Blane Martin, Keith Washington and Rich Caton made it worth it. The Thundering Herd won the sprint med with a South Jersey-record 3:30.7, which converts to 3:29.5 for 1,600 meters and remains No. 20 in South Jersey history 45 years later. Washington split 48.2 and Caton 1:54.3. Woodbury won a whopping by 40 meters over Roselle Park.

1999 Wilson Shuttle Hurdles: Wilson came up a little short of its goal of breaking the national shuttle hurdles record of 56.51 set by Wolfson High of Jacksonville, but they settled for the 2nd-fastest time in U.S. history with a 56.88 at the 1999 Relays at Morristown. Some 24 years later, Jeff Young, Rashad Baker, Jose Llanos and Enrique Llanos still own the state record and No. 6 in U.S. history. An aside – Baker’s interception of Jeff Garcia locked up the Raiders’ upset win over the Bucs on the final day of the 2006 season and opened the door for the Eagles to reach the playoffs with a win over the Cowboys, which they picked up later in the day.

1985 Cumberland Regional Distance Medley: It’s about 100 miles from Upper Deerfield Township to Brick Township, but that didn’t stop the Colts from making the trek up to Ocean County for a showdown with Ridgewood in the 1985 New Jersey Relays. Cumberland made the drive worth it by running 10:16.9 and edging the Chris Sullivan-anchored Ridgewood quartet, who was 2nd in a fast 10:18.1. Artie Rube, Mike Jackson and Don Stafford set up Cumberland anchor Jeff Davis, who ran 4:15.44 later that spring.

1994 Pleasantville Triple: Incredible triple win by Pleasantville 29 years ago at Morristown. William Jackson, Herb Simons, Rahman Prescott and Kaream James won the 400-meter relay in 41.9, then the same four guys in a slightly different order – Jackson, James, Prescott, Simons – won the 4-by-200 in 1:27.4. And Nate Harley, Simons, James and Kevin Hart ran 59.2 to win the shuttle hurdles. At the time, the 1:27.4 was a South Jersey record, the 41.9 was No. 2 in South Jersey history and the 59.2 was No. 9. To this day, those performances rank 29th, 10th and 21st in South Jersey history.

Girls
1992 Highland Triple: The Bartley twins – Eusheka and Nichole – put on a show along with their Highland teammates at Morristown in 1992. In the 800-meter relay, Eusheka led off with a 24.9 split and Nichole anchored in 24.7, Melanie Bell and Tonya May ran the middle legs, and Highland won in 1:44.1, smashing the South Jersey record of 1:44.2 set in 1984 by Edgewood. In the 1,600-meter relay, Jaimi Kinsler, May and the Bartleys won in 3:51.6, at the time No. 5 in South Jersey history (and still in the top-50). May, Bell and the Bartleys also took a close 2nd in the 4-by-1 with a 48.7 behind a 48.6 by Minee Blamo and Trenton.

1994 Willingboro Sprint Double: The Chimeras put together a hot sprint double in 1994 in Morristown, with Tiffany Butler, Sherron Lawson, Kim Hargrove and Kia Van Wright winning the 4-by-100 in 47.8 and Butler, Corey Thomas, Hargrove and Van Wright winning the 4-by-200 in a South Jersey-record 1:41.5. At the time, the 47.8 was No. 3 in South Jersey history (the same quarter ran 47.45 later in the year) and the 1:41.5 broke the South Jersey record of 1:43.0 set by the that Highland quartet of the Bartleys, Bell and May.

1995 Camden Sprint Double: Tiffany Jones, Summer Springs, Tynisha Revels and Medina Salaam put together quite a sprint double at the 1995. Camden out-raced Willingboro in a close 4-by-200, winning in 1:41.20 with Willingboro 2nd in 1:41.81. The same quartet won the 4-by-4 easily in 3:51.50, with Middletown South 40 meters back in 3:57.74. Camden’s 1:41.20 broke the South Jersey record of 1:41.2 set a year earlier by Willingboro and remains No. 3 in South Jersey history. Camden had run faster earlier in the year in the 4-by-4 – their 3:45.41 in the Penn Relays Championship of America remains No. 3 in South Jersey history.

1999 Edgewood Shuttle Hurdles: Yvette Murry, Kierra Clemons, Pam Richardson and Dennean Davis ran 59.00 at Morristown to break the national shuttle hurdles record of 59.2, set in 1996 by William Penn of Philadelphia. That remains the state record. Pennsauken, with Alethia Jenkins, Thananya Wooden, Sheena Ohlig and Sophie Solomon, placed 2nd in 59.85, which remains No. 3 in South Jersey history.

2019 Rancocas Valley 4-by-200: If the East Coast Relays is permanently cancelled, R.V. will go down as the last South Jersey school to win a title. R.V. won the 4-by-200 in 1:41.45 at Randolph in 2019 with Anabella Chin, Darynn Minus-Vincent, Brianna Snowden and Sheriyah Nutt beating 2nd-place Ramapo by 15 meters. R.V. ran faster when they placed 5th at nationals in 1:40.25, and that remains No. 13 in state history. But that 1:41.45 remains the 3rd-fastest 4-by-2 any South Jersey school ever ran at East Coast Relays (behind Washington Township’s 1:41.10 in 1999 and Camden’s 1:41.20 in 1995).