Eastern’s English Gardner, an Olympic gold medalist in 2016 and silver medalist in 2021, recorded her fastest early season 100-meter dash time in six years Sunday.

Gardner ran a 11.13 at the Bermuda Grand Prix at Florda Duffy Stadium in Devonshire, Bermuda, her fastest wind-legal time in May or June since she ran 11.04 in the first round of the 2017 USATF Championships in Sacramento, on June 22, 2017.

Gardner ran slightly faster twice this year but both races were wind-aided – 11.09 with a 2.8 and 11.10 with a 4.1.

This was actually her first legal-wind race since she finished last season with an 11.08 at the Hungarian Grand Prix Series event at the Sportcentrum in Pápa. That was her fastest wind-legal race since she ran 11.02 in Rovereto, Italy, in August of 2018.

Gardner won Olympic gold on the U.S. 4-by-1 in Rio De Janeiro in 2016 and silver on the 4-by-1 in Tokyo in 2021. Her 10.74 to win the 2016 U.S. Championships is 10th-fastest in world history and 5th in U.S. history.

Ryan Merlino continued his climb up the South Jersey all-time pole vault list at the Atlantic County Championships.

Merlino, an Oakcrest junior, cleared 15 feet for the first time and won his 3rd straight county title Friday at Stockton University in Galloway Township.

He’s now tied for 12th in South Jersey history and remains No. 2 in Atlantic County history, behind Brandon Kurtz’s 15-7 from the 1991 South Jersey Group 3 sectionals at Bridgeton.

He did break the Oakcrest school record of 14-9 set by Tony DeFeo at the 2004 Cape-Atlantic Championships, held at the same facility at what was then known as Stockton College.

Merlino is No. 4 in New Jersey and No. 1 in Group 2 and No. 1 among underclassmen. He’s the 5th vaulter in South Jersey history to clear 15 feet as a junior. Haddonfield’s Mark Murphy won the 1985 state Group 1 title at Rutgers with a then-meet record 15-0 clearance, Kingsway’s Dylan Altland went 15-2 ¼ at New Balance Nationals in Greensboro in 2013 and Delsea’s Morales twins both did it in 2019 – 15-6 for Marco at the South Jersey Invitational at Delsea and 15-7 for Nico at the Tri-County Championships, also at Delsea.

It was a record-setting day for Merlino, but it almost never happened.

Merlino passed through 12-6 and then missed his first two attempts at his opening height of 13-0. But one miss from no-heighting, he cleared 13-0 on his 3rd attempt and then sailed over the bar on his first attempts at 13-6, 14-0, 14-6 and 15-0. He finished by taking three tries at 15-3.

Cedar Creek sophomore Ryan Hassa also PR’d for second place with a 12-0 clearance.

The only other 15-footers in New Jersey this year are Rutgers-bound Hillsborough senior Brian O’Sullivan [16-0 after a 16-6 ¼ indoors], Old Tappan senior Nathan Park [15-6] and Ridgewood senior Matthew Aono [15-2].

Merlino cleared 12-0 as a freshman and 13-6 as a sophomore. This past indoor season he improved to 14-9 and placed 4th in the Meet of Champions. He improved his outdoor PR to 14-8 at the Penn Relays before hitting 15-0 on Friday.

Senior Aaron Young popped the best long jump by a Burlington City athlete in 27 years Saturday at the Burlington County Scholastic League Championships.

Young won the Independence Division long jump with a 21-1 ½ (series not available), just 2 ¾ inches better than Palmyra senior Kwinton Ives, who was 2nd with a 20-10 ¾.

They were the two-best jumps of the day in the four divisions at Pennsauken.

Young’s jump is best by a City long jumper since the 1996 South Jersey Group 1 sectionals at Bridgeton, when two Burlington long jumpers jumped 21-8. Donnitto Patrick jumped 21-8 ¼ that day 27 years ago and George Sills 21-8 ½.

He’s the first City long jumper to win a BCSL title since Chris Barnes jumped 20-11 and won his second in a row in 2008 at Northern Burlington.

City’s school record in the long jump is Mike Boone, who jumped 24-1 ¼ at the 1990 South Jersey Group 2 sectionals at Bridgeton. (Boone was one of seven 23-foot jumpers at sectionals that year. Boone also won the javelin at SJ-2 sectionals).

(All the field event results have disappeared in the results and there’s still no sign of the timing company fixing the track timing issues and in addition there are still several track results missing. Because of these ongoing timing and results issues, I’m going to wait to post anything else from this meet until we have verifiably correct and accurate results).

Once upon a time, running fast 4-by-400s was a way of life for the Willingboro girls. They set a South Jersey record of 3:43.94 at the 2001 adidas Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro that still stands and from 1997 through 2002 broke 3:50 each year and recorded five of the eight-fastest times ever run (still) in South Jersey history.

They won the Meet of Champions in 1992, 1993, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2004 and in 1999 won the Championship of America at the Penn Relays.

In 2010, the Chimeras broke 4:00 four times, including a 3:50.49 for 4th at the Meet of Champions.

Then Willingboro didn’t break 4 minutes again.

Until Saturday.

At the Burlington County Scholastic League Championships at Pennsauken, freshman Kaila Speight, freshman Jaden Murry, freshman Aaliyah Robinson and sophomore Nester Wea won the Liberty Division race in 3:55.0, Willingboro’s fastest 4-by-4 in 13 years.

Unfortunately, the timing service working the meet had issues and the times for every race after the Freedom Division girls 800 were all rounded to 0’s and not presented in hundredths. So for the shorter races, we’ll have to wait to see exactly what the correct times are.

Also no splits available.

Still, assuming the 3:55.0 is correct, it’s the fastest by a South Jersey school this year and equivalent to Rumson-Fair Haven’s state-leading 3:55.23 from the Penn Relays.

Willingboro broke the meet record of 3:58.2 set in 1998 by Latasha Taylor, Takia Canty, Kendra Brown and Shakirah Rutherford.

The Chimeras had come close to breaking 4 minutes a couple times this year. They ran 4:01.17 indoors at the Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze in March (the results don’t list any runners), they ran 4:01.33 to win the South Jersey Small School race at Penn with Wea, Speight, Murry and Robinson, and then they ran 4:01.39 to win the County Open.

Pennsauken ran 3:57.10 for 2nd with sophomore Amina Dyer, freshman Sianni Wynn, freshman Sanaya Dupree and sophomore Ameenah Rodriguez. Pennsauken is No. 4 in the state this year with its 3:55.75 at Penn.

Not really sure what’s up with team scoring. The results are a mess and they show Willingboro with a 74-61 lead over Burlington Township and Northern Burlington after nine events, but it appears the meet may be over and there are final results for 14 of 16 events in the Liberty girls division. Who knows.

Senior Emma Crozier-Carole had a monster Atlantic County meet Friday, helping the Mustangs win their 3rd straight county title.

Crozier-Carole won the 100-meter hurdles in a personal-best 15.05, won the high jump at 5-2 without a miss in the competition, won the long jump with a near PR 17-10 ½ – the best of her five jumps over 17 feet – and placed 2nd in the shot put with another PR of 33-4 ½.

Mainland outscored 2nd-place Absegami 187-123, and Crozier-Carole had a hand in 38 of those 187 points.

Believe it or not, this was the first time Crozier-Carole had ever raced the 100-meter hurdles in anything other than a dual meet. So PR by default. She ran 15.24 in the trials before her 15.05, which is No. 2 in South Jersey this year and No. 13 in New Jersey. Her time is fastest by a Mainland girl since Yvette Assongba ran 14.92 at the 2017 state Group 3 meet at Northern Burlington.

In the high jump, Crozier-Carole cleared 4-8, 4-10, 5-0 and 5-2 on her first attempt. With the win secure, she opted not to continue jumping. Her PR is 5-4 from the Woodbury Relays.

Crozier-Carole’s 17-10 ½ is just a few inches off her PR of 18-2 ¼ from Woodbury. She’s now No. 2 in South Jersey in the long jump this year, a quarter of an inch behind senior teammate McKenna Pontari, who jumped 17-10 ¾ at Woodbury. (Dual meets not included).

In the shot, Crozier-Carole had never competed in a meet other than duals. But her 33-4 ½ surpassed her 33-2 ½ from a dual meet last month. She placed 2nd to Hammton freshman Mitra Sampson, who threw 36-6 ¼ for the win. Sampson’s previous PR was a 35-0 ¾ at South Jersey Elite at Delsea earlier this month. That throw is best in New Jersey this year by a freshman, just ahead of Delsea’s Hannah Nuhfer, who threw 36-5 last month at the Lenape Girls Invitational.

Nice double PR for Cedar Creek junior Matthew Winterbottom wins in the 800 and 1,600 at the Atlantic County Championships Friday at Stockton University in Galloway Township.

Winterbottom ran 1:57.68 to win the 800 and 4:25.91 to win the 1,600 with a 62.7 last lap to run away from 2nd-place Ryan Taylor of Egg Harbor, who placed 2nd in 4:29.37.

Winterbottom’s previous PRs were 1:57.85 from last year’s South Jersey Group 2 sectionals at Delsea and 4:33.97 from the South Jersey Open earlier this month, also at Delsea.

In South Jersey Group 2, Winterbottom is No. 4 in the 800 and No. 8 in the 1,600. Among South Jersey juniors, he’s No. 3 in the 800 and No. 4 in the 1,600.

The county titles are the first for Winterbottom, who ran XC in 2020 and 2021 but didn’t compete in outdoor track until last spring and didn’t race indoors.

Oakcrest senior Royanah Farmer ran the 2nd-fastest 100-meter dash in Atlantic County history Friday, winning the county meet with a personal-best 11.98.

Farmer outran senior Amalinally Pemberton of Atlantic County Tech and senior Hannah Ross of Absegami, who both PR’d in 2nd and 3rd in 12.31 and 12.36 in the Atlantic County Championships at Stockton University in Galloway Township.

Farmer’s time is 2nd-fastest in county history, behind Egg Harbor’s Lauren Princz, who ran 11.66 in 2018 and set the meet record of 11.76 in the 2021 meet at Buena.

Farmer’s previous PR was a 12.27 from the Lenape Day of Sprints and Hurdles last month. This is only her 2nd year of track. She ran 12.94 last year.

Along the way, Farmer broke the school record of 12.10 set by Nijgia Snapp at the 2008 Cape-Atlantic League Championships at Atlantic City. Snapp was a 400 specialist, who ran 53.64 for 4th place at the 2008 Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.

Farmer is only the second girl under 12 seconds in New Jersey this year. Timber Creek junior Naylah Jones ran 11.96 last weekend at the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township. Farmer’s time is No. 26 in South Jersey history.

Farmer also won the 200 in 25.36, with Pemberton again 2nd with a PR 25.77. Her PR is 25.26 from Lenape Day of Sprints and Hurdles.

Farmer is now No. 1 in New Jersey Group 2 in the 100 and No. 2 in the 200, behind Willingboro sophomore Nester Wea, who ran 24.99 at the South Jersey Open.

All-Time Atlantic County 100-Meter Dash List
11.66 … Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2018
12.08 … Angie Clybourn [Egg Harbor Twp.], 1991
12.10 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], 2008
12.19 … Shereese Price [Pleasantville], 1998
12.22 … Nichole Hill [Oakcrest], 1997
12.22 … Ayanna Garrett [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2015
12.24 … Rebekah Clark [Pleasantville], 2017

Some 16 South Jersey athletes have earned spots in the NCAA Division 1 Track and Field Championships, which begin later this month.

Division 1 track is split up into two regions – East and West. In each region, the top 48 athletes per event (in most cases) qualify for the preliminary rounds, which reduce the fields for nationals. The top 12 in each region advance to the National Championships.

The regional prelims are scheduled for May 24-27, with the East competing at North Florida’s Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., and the West at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif.

The NCAA Championships are scheduled for June 7-10 at the University of Texas’s Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.

First, here are some helpful links:

East Regional Men’s Qualifiers: Click here.
East Regional Women’s Qualifiers: Click here.
West Regional Men’s Qualifiers: Click here.
East Regional Women’s Qualifiers: Click here.

East live results from Jacksonville: Click here.
West live results from Sacramento: Click here.
Championship live results from Austin: Click here.

Leading the way for the South Jersey contingent is Winslow graduate Tionna Tobias, an Iowa junior.

Tobias qualified in the heptathlon, 100-meter hurdles and long jump. Because the heptathlon is so grueling, the qualifiers advance directly to the finals and don’t compete at prelims. That will allow Tobias to compete in her individual events at the West Regional if he chooses without worrying about another multi until next month. Her 5,640 score in the heptathlon at the conference meet was a huge PR.

Tobias qualified in the high hurdles with a 13.20 (in the Big Ten heptathlon) and in the long jump with a 20-2 ½ last month at a meet in Tucson, Ariz. She’s also listed on Iowa’s 400-meter relay team, but she’s not a regular on that unit. She did run a PR 23.97 as part of her Big Ten heptathlon win.

South Jersey’s top medal hopes are a pair of No. 6 seeds – Penn State’s Lucciano Pizarro from Cherokee in the shot put and Princeton’s Greg Foster from Lumberton in the long jump. Pizarro threw a PR 65-0 ¾ at Big Tens, and Foster long jumped a PR 26-1 ¾ at Heps at Franklin Field. Both will compete in Jacksonville.

Here’s a look at all of South Jersey’s qualifiers:

East
Women
Dennisha Page, Woodrow Wilson, Rutgers, 100, 200: Page, a Rutgers junior, ran a pair of PRs at Big Tens, winning the 200 in 23.08 and taking 6th in the 100 in 11.30. Page is now 3rd-fastest in South Jersey history in both the 100 [behind English Gardnerin the 200 [behind English Gardner 10.74 and Amandi Rhett’s 11.29] and the 200 [behind Gardner’s 22.62 and Gabrielle Farqu’arson’s 23.07].

Arianna Sharpe, Clayton, Auburn, 400: Arianna Sharpe PR’d with a 52.42 indoors, and her 53.28 in Tallahassee in March is an outdoor PR and qualified her for NCAAs. Sharpe and twin sister Amirah, both freshmen, both qualified in the 400 and are on Auburn’s 1,600-meter relay team, which ran 3:32.00 in Gainesville last month.

Amirah Sharpe, Clayton, Auburn, 400: Amirah ran 53.37 in Tallahassee to record her 400 qualifier. Although Amirah ran 1:00.41 for the intermediates in high school, she has yet to run one for Auburn.

Bryanna Craig, Millville, Purdue, High Jump,: Craig is the No. 4 Under-20 heptathlon in the world with her 5,460 score for 2nd to Tobias in the Big Ten meet, but she qualified for NCAAs in the high jump with her 5-8 ¾ high jump as part of the Drake Relays heptathlon.

Ashley Preston, Delsea, Villanova, Pole Vault: Preston makes her 3rd trip to NCAA East Prelims after going in 2019 and 2021. She just PR’d at the Penn Relays with a PR 13-2 ½ then won her 4th Big East title last weekend at her home track.

Aliya Garozzo, Paul VI, Penn, 1,600-Meter Relay: Garozzo didn’t compete at all from mid-March until last weekend, but she did run sub-60 for the intermediates this spring and is listed on Penn’s 4-by-4 roster. The Quakers ran 3:34.30 at Penn, not far off the school record of 3:32.12 from 2019.

Men
Lucciano Pizarro, Cherokee, Penn State, Shot Put Pizarro had the five biggest throws of his life at the Big Ten Championships and moved into the No. 4 spot in Nittany Lion history (behind three Olympians) with his 65-0 ¾. This is his first trip to NCAAs.

Sincere Rhea, St. Augustine, Miami, 110-meter hurdles, 13.48: Rhea recorded a huge PR with that 13.48 in the prelims of ACCs earlier this month in Raleigh. This is Rhea’s 4th trip to NCAAs and his 2nd since transferring from Penn State to Miami.

Greg Foster, Lumberton / Lawrenceville Prep, Princeton, Long Jump, Triple Jump: Foster PR’d at Penn with his 26-1 ¾ that makes him the No. 6 seed in the East Prelims in the long jump. He only triple jumped twice this spring but qualfied with a 50-2 ¾ at Heps.

Orion Joyner, Kingsway, Rhode Island, Triple Jump: Joyner sailed over 50 feet for the first time at the Atlantic 10 Championships this weekend, where he placed 2nd with a 50-4 ¾. This will be his first trip to the NCAAs.

Zach Manorowitz, Pennsville, Rider, Long Jump: Manorowitz equalled his lifetime-best of 25-0 ¾ at a home meet in Lawrenceville in April. This is his 2nd NCAA appearance. He competed in the East Prelims in Bloomington, Ind., in 2021.

Keven Kevelier, Collingswood, Monmouth, High Jump: Kevelier was more of a triple jumper in high school than a high jumper – he triple jumped 47-5 ¼ at Collingswood and only high jumped 6-4. But he’s made huge strides in the high jump at Monmouth and cleared 6-10 ¾ at a meet at Lehigh last month to qualify for NCAAs. That’s No. 2 in Monmouth history, behind Joe Marini’s 6-11 ½ at a meet in High Point, N.C., in April of 2016.

Austin Gabay, Cinnaminson, Duke, 1,500: Gabay ran 3:42.94 in April at Wake Forest – equivalent of a 4:00.78 mile – and snagged the final qualifying spot in the 1,500. This will be his first NCAA experience on the track, although he ran at the NCAA Southeast Region Cross Country Championships in Louisville in November and placed 49th of 222 runners.

Mike Mazero, Paul VI, Cornell, 4-by-400: Cornell qualified for the 1,600-meter relay with a 3:07.95 to win the Heps at Franklin Field earlier this month. If Cornell goes with the same lineup as Heps, Joshua Gittens (from Elmwood Park, Bergen County, and Paramus Catholic) and Domenic Barresi will run the first two legs, followed by Mazero and Tomas Kersulis.  Mazero split 47.07 at Heps and Kersulis, an indoor All-America, split 44.84.

West
Women
Tionna Tobias, Winslow Twp., Iowa, 100 hurdles, long jump, 400 relay, heptathlon: We wrote about Tobias above, but this is her 2nd trip to NCAAs. She qualified in the hurdles last year.

Nylah Perry, Winslow Twp., Iowa, 400 hurdles: Tobias’s high school and college teammate will also make the trip to Sacramento. Perry ran an intermediates PR of 58.61 last month in Gainesville to qualify for a repeat trip to NCAA prelims. Last year, Perry advanced to the second round in the intermediates.

Men
No South Jersey qualifiers in the men’s West Preliminary.

Huge day for Ocean City senior Elaina Styer at the Cape May County Championships Thursday at Ocean City.

Styer won the high jump at 5-0, the long jump with a 17-7 ½ and the shot put (yes, the shot put!) with a 31-7 throw and anchored the Red Raiders’ winning 1,600-meter relay team.

Four events, four wins for Styer, who helped Ocean City outscore Middle Township 172-108 for the team title.

With junior Sophia Curtis limited to just a win in the intermediate hurdles and one attempt in the long jump, Styer came up huge and had a hand in 40 of Ocean City’s 172 points.

Other Ocean City winners were sophomore Naomi Nnewihe in the 100 and 200 [13.37 and 27.42], sophomore Chloe Care in the 1,600 [5:31.96], sophomore Maeve Smith in the 3,200 [11:25.80] and junior Corrine Williams in the javelin [78-7].

Styer can pretty much jump in any event and have success. She has PRs of 60.0 in the 400, 2:25.38 in the 800, 5-4 high jump, 18-5 long jump, 79-2 javelin, 33-5 ½ shot and hurdles indoors at 9.12.

On Thursday, she cleared 4-6, 4-8 and 4-10 on her first attempt and 5-0 on her second, and with the win secured she didn’t continue.

In the long jump, she had three jumps over 17 feet – 17-7 ½ opener, then 17-0 ½ and 17-5 ¼. Although her 18-5 in a dual meet vs. Mainland is considered the school record, for record-keeping purposes, her PR -and the county record – is 17-9 ½ from her win at South Jersey Group 3 sectionals last June at Delsea.

Styer had the two best throws in the shot put competition, a 30-2 ½ on her 2nd throw and then a 31-7 on her 3rd. Junior teammate Sophia Whalen PR’d with a 28-11 ¼ for 2nd place.

In the 4-by-4, freshman Scarlett Fletcher, sophomore Zoe Zammit and freshman Molly Quinn ran the first three legs, and at the final handoff Ocean City trailed Middle Township. But Styer anchored in 60.18 to give the Raiders a win in 4:23.90.

Middle junior Iyanna Bennett doubled the 100 hurdles [17.38] and triple jump [34-5] and also placed in the 100 and high jump.

Other winners in the girls meet were Middle Township freshman Reagan Powell in the 400 [1:03.28], Lower Cape May Regional freshman Jenna Hill in the 800 [2:30.14], senior Paulina Rios in the pole vault [8-6] and Middle junior Daniella Oliver in the discus [106-9].

Lucciano Pizarro, a Cherokee graduate and Penn State junior, bombed one of the biggest shot puts ever by a New Jersey native Saturday at the Big Ten Championships in Bloomington, Ind.

Pizarro, who came into the meet with a 61-1 ½ PR, uncorked the five best throws of his life with the 16-pound ball, including a 65-0 ¾ on his final attempt to move up from 7th to 4th. That’s the best throw by a Penn State athlete in eight years and No. 4 all-time.

His 65-0 3/4 is No. 17 among U.S. men this year, according to the World Athletics database, and it’s No. 6 in New Jersey history and No. 4 ever by a South Jersey thrower. He took over the Burlington County alumni lead from discus specialist Steve Muse of Kennedy High in Willingboro, who threw 61-8 on March 28, 1987, as a senior at Boise State in a tri-meet against Oregon and Fresno State in Fresno.

Pizarro moved into the No. 15 spot in NCAA Division 1 and No. 6 in the East, which easily qualified him for the NCAA Championships East Prelimins at North Florida’s Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville May 24-27.

Pizarro PR’d with a 62-1 on his 1st attempt and again with a 63-7 ½ on his 2nd. He surpassed 63 feet again on his 3rd throw with a 63-0 ¾ and after fouling to open the finals, he hit 62-11 ¼ on his 5th attempt before the 65-foot bomb to finish.

He averaged 63-4 on his five legal throws, so his average throw went more than two feet farther than his previous personal best.

Pizarro moved into the No. 4 spot on a very strong all-time Penn State list behind two-time Olympic silver medalist Joe Kovacs [69-2 in 2012], 2016 Olympian Darrell Hill [68-5 ¼] and the late 1996 Olympian C.J. Hunter [65-5 in 1990].

All-Time New Jersey Shot Put Alumni Top 10
73-1 ½ … Josh Olayinka Awotunde [Delsea], July 17, Eugene, Ore.
71-5 … Stephen Mozia [Hackensack / Nigeria], July 19, 2016, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
67-7 … Nick Vena [Morristown], July 19, 2019, Kutztown, Pa.
67-5 ¾ … Jordan West [Rahway], May 12, 2023, Baton Rouge, La.
66-3 ½ … Braheme Days [Bridgeton], April 23, 2016, La Jolla, Calif.
66-2 ¾ … Jon Kalnas [Paulsboro], May 2, 2008, Princeton
65-0 ¾ … Lucciano Pizarro [Cherokee], May 15, 2023, Bloomington, Ind.
62-11 ½ … Adam Kuehl [Monmouth Reg.], March 24, 2007, Tucson, Ariz.
61-8 ¼ … Steve Muse [Kennedy], March 28, 1987, Fresno, Calif.
60-11… Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], May 15, 1999, Chapel Hill, N.C.

At Cherokee, Pizarro won the 2019 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington with a 60-11 throw.