Shawnee graduate John Ruona, a sophomore at Mount St. Mary’s, ran a huge steeplechase PR over the weekend at the Metro Atlantic Conference Championships on his home track in Emmitsburg, Md.

Ruona lowered his PR in the 3,000-meter steeple 16 seconds to 9:25.30 and placed 5th in the conference meet. His previous PR was 9:41.44 from the Northeast Conference Championships last year, also in Emmitsburg.

Ruona’s time is No. 8 in St. Peter’s history.

Mount St. Mary’s competes this weekend at the 114th annual IC4A Championships in Fairfax, Va.

Williamstown senior Ciara Demarest turned in the best shot-disc double ever at the Gloucester County Championships Thursday, wining the shot with an outdoor PR 42-2 and the disc with a 125-5.

She’s the first to sweep the shot and discus at the Gloucester County Championships in 11 years, since Tara Daniels of Kingsway won both in 2012 with a 36-4 in the shot and 111-6 in the disc.

And she’s also the first in meet history – which goes back to 1978 on the girls side – to throw 42 feet and 125 feet at the same Gloucester County meet.

Demarest has PRs of 42-11 ¼ from a meet at Ocean Breeze in January and 138-3 from the Crusader Field Invite last May. Her outdoor shot PR was 41-10 from Thursday night’s South Jersey Elite before the county meet.

Demarest now ranks 9th in Gloucester County history in the shot and 8th in the disc. The only other Gloucester County throwers to hit 42 and 138 at any point are Delsea’s Jamine Moton in 1997 [44-5, 161-1] and Jocelyn White in 2004 [44-3, 172-2] and Williamstown’s Typhanie Bates in 1995 [44-2 ½, 140-6].

Although the county meet wasn’t held her freshman and sophomore years, Demarest is now a 3-time county champ. She won the shot last year at 38-8 ¾ and was 2nd to Gianni Johnson-Slater of Delsea in the disc, 128-5 to 124-0.

On Thursday, Demarest threw 36-5, 38-0, 40-5 and 42-2, increasing her distance on each of her throws. Washington Township sophomore Ella Karp was 2nd with a 34-7 1/2.

In the discus, Demarest opened with a 114-2, foul and a 111-2 before popping the 125-5 on her 4th and final attempt, which moved her from 3rd to 1st. Clayton junior Maylisa Bluford placed 2nd with a 121-8 and Washington Township senior Sophia Dunning PR’d at 116-1 for 3rd place.

Demarest is ranked No. 3 in New Jersey in the shot and No. 4 in the disc and No. 1 in South Jersey in both throws.

172-2 … Jocelyn White [Delsea], 2004
161- 1 … Jamine Moton [Delsea], 1997
149- 3 … Tara Daniels [Kingsway], 2013
140- 6 … Typhanie Bates [Williamstown], 1995
139-7 … Victoria Imbesi [Our Lady of Mercy], 2009
139- 5 … Taylor Johnson [Kingsway], 2011
138¬-11 … Jen Frank (Delsea], 2006
138-3 … Ciara Demarest [Williamstown], 2023
136-7 … Gianni Johnson-Slater [Delsea], 2022
131-5 … Chelsea Cioffi [Pitman], 2010

46-4 ……… Janiece Rose [Delsea], 2011
44-5 ……… Jamine Moton [Delsea], 1997
44-3 …. Jocelyn White [Delsea], 2004
44-2 ½ …. Typhanie Bates [Williamstown], 1995
43-8 ¾…. Janet Morris [Kingsway], 1991
43-7 …..… Shamire Rothmiller [Glassboro], 2008
42-7 ¼ … Tara Daniels [Kingsway], 2013
42-3 …… Tessie Allen [Kingsway], 2007
42-2 … Ciarra Demarest [Williamstown], 2023
41-7 ¾ … Genevieve Rybicki [Our Lady of Mercy], 2007

Five days after running an eye-popping 10.73 in his first high school 100, Washington Township junior Ajani Dwyer blew that PR out of the water as part of an explosive sprint double Thursday at the Gloucester County Championships at Deptford.

Dwyer, a 1st-year runner, won the 100 in 10.60 – No. 14 in South Jersey history – breaking the meet record of 10.62 set in 2009 by Shawney Kersey at Delsea.

Dwyer also won the 200 in a meet-record 21.59. He ran slightly faster – 21.55 – at South Jersey Elite. But he raced unpressed, winning by over half a second. The previous meet record was 21.97, also set by Kersey in 2009.

Dwyer bumped Ewing’s Mekhi Stafford out of the top spot on the 2023 MileSplit New Jersey performance list. Stafford ran 10.62 at a meet in Landover, Md., Dwyer’s 21.55 from Delsea Saturday is No. 3 in New Jersey this year.

The last South Jersey sprinter to run as fast as Dwyer for both the 100 and 200 was Salem’s Jonathan Taylor, now an all-pro running back with the Colts. Dwyer is only the 5th to run 10.60 and 21.55.

10.47, 21.06 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 1983
10.49, 21.53 … Jonathan Taylor [Salem], 2017
10.53, 21.40 … Todd Dutch [Washington Twp.], 2001
10.54, 21.52 … Fabian Santiago [Oakrest], 2010, 2012
10.60, 21.55 … Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp.], 2023

Dywer now ranks tied for 4th in the 100 in Gloucester County history and 5th in the 200. He’s the fastest South Jersey junior at 100 meters since Taylor ran 10.55 at South Jersey Group 1 sectionals at Egg Harbor in 2016 and fastest in the 200 since Antonio Tarantino of Paul VI ran 21.21 at 2017 Parochial A, also at EHT.

He’s the fastest underclassman in New Jersey in both sprints this year.

In the 100, Washington Township sophomore John Santos made it a 1-2 Minuteman sweep. Santos PR’d at 10.94, making him the fastest sophomore in South Jersey and the 3rd-fastest in the state this year. He’s Gloucester County’s fastest 10th-grader since Deptford’s Jean-Paul Roane ran 10.92 at the 2015 Tri-County Conference meet at Delsea. This appears to be Santos’ first open race this year. His previous PR was 11.11 from Group 4 sectionals last year at Buena.

All-Time Gloucester County 100-Meter Dash List
10.47 … James Brown [Glassboro], 2009
10.53 … Todd Dutch [Washington Twp.], 2001
10.55 … Evan Corcoran [Kingsway], 2022
10.60 … Robert Page [Kingsway], 2008
10.60 … Shawney Kersey [Woodbury], 2009
10.60 … Thomas Hampton [Clayton], 2019
10.60 … Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp.], 2022
10.65 … Dorian Bryant [Kingsway], 2003
10.65 … Mar-quel Davis [Deptford], 2017
10.66 … Bruce Owens [Deptford], 2004
10.70 … R.J. Page [Kingsway], 2008
10.70 … Jared Nicholson [Williamstown], 2016
10.73 … Sean McPherson [Delsea], 2010
10.73 … Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp.], 2023

All-Time Gloucester County 200-Meter Dash List
21.40 … Todd Dutch [Washington Twp.], 2001
21.41 … Dorian Bryant [Kingsway], 2002
21.53 … A.J. Bunton [West Deptford], 2006
21.54 … Derek Ward [Kingsway], 1992
21.55 … Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp.], 2023
21.56 … Bruce Owens [Deptford], 2005
21.56 … Darrell Bush [Woodbury], 2011
21.57 … Mar-Quel Davis [Deptford], 2017
21.60 … Juwan Johnson [Glassboro], 2013
21.62 … Evan Corcoran [Kingsway], 2022
21.69 … Robert Page [Kingsway], 2007

 

Woodbury junior Peyton Shute, running unpressed, posted the 4th-fastest 3,200 in Gloucester County history Thursday night at the Gloucester County Championships at Deptford.

Shute ran 9:11.11, fastest ever by a Gloucester County junior and 4th-fastest in New Jersey this year. He won by 150 meters over Williamstown’s Nicholas Krol, who was 2nd in 9:38.71.

Shute destroyed the meet record of 9:28.83 set in 2011 at Delsea by Washington Township’s Anthony Dentino.

This winter, Shute ran a PR 9:14.51 at indoor Group 1 states at the Bubble. His outdoor PR was 9:15.76 from last spring at Cherokee’s Night of Racing.

His time is fastest by any South Jersey Group 1 runner since Luke Petela of Haddon Township ran 8:58.32 at the 2015 Meet of Champions at South Plainfield.

The only Gloucester County 3,200 runners to go faster than Shute are former Gateway stars of the 1970s Mike Mantini [9:01.9h] and Greg Stremmel [9:06.2] with converted two-mile times and Delsea’s Andrew Littlehales, who ran 9:10.39 last year at Group 3 sectionals at Delsea.

The previous county junior class record was 9:14.93 set by Kingsway’s Kyle Rakitis at Cherokee’s Night of 3200s in April of 2021.

Here’s a look at the fastest 3200s and converted two miles in Gloucester County history:

9:01.9y … Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1979
9:06.2y … Greg Stremmel [Gateway], 1974
9:10.39 … Andrew Littlehales [Delsea], 2022
9:11.11 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 2023
9:11.88 … Paul Szulewski [Williamstown], 2011
9:14.31 … Anthony Dentino [Washington Twp.], 2011
9:14.93 … Kyle Rakitis [Kingsway], 2021
9:16.39 … Stone Caraccio [Kingsway], 2019

Delsea senior Reese Gebhard equalled the No. 3 pole vault performance in Gloucester County history Thursday and broke the meet record at the Gloucester County Championships at Deptford.

Gebhard cleared 11-0, smashing her PR of 10-6, which she cleared both indoors in February at the Bubble and outdoors last week at the South Jersey Elite at Delsea.

She shattered the meet record of 10-2 set in 2012 by Clearview’s Christina Kursewicz.

Gebhard was clean all the way up through 11-6. She passed through the first three heights, then cleared 9-0, 9-6, 10-0, 10-6 and 11-0 all on her first attempt.

Runner-up Sophia Bostwick of Washington Township also PR’d with a 9-6 clearance on her first attempt. Freshmen took 3rd and 4th and both also PR’d at 8-6 – Cali Lacovara of Washington Township and Brynn Greenwood of Williamstown. Lacovara got 3rd based on fewer misses at 8-6.

Here’s a look at the all-time Gloucester County top-10:

12- 7 1/2 … Ashley Preston [Delsea], 2018
11-6 … Gabby Vetere [Washington Twp.], 2022
11-0 … Elizabeth Douglas [West Deptford], 2015
11-0 … Christina Kursewicz [Clearview], 2012
11-0 … Elissa Ingram [Kingsway], 2011
11-0 … Reese Gebhard [Delsea], 2023
10-10 … Miranda Roberts [Washington Twp.], 2012
10-10 … Katie Selfridge [Delsea], 2014
10-9 … Lexi Brown [Delsea], 2013
10-7 … Kaitlyn Smith [Gateway], 2022
10-6 … Claudia Theriault [West Deptford], 2013
10-6 … Erin Gray [Kingsway], 2017

Deptford’s Lathan Brown ran Gloucester County’s fastest intermediate hurdles race in 14 years Thursday at the Gloucester County Championships on his home track at Deptford.

Brown won the race in 53.67, dropping his PR from 54.11 from last week’s South Jersey Elite at Delsea. His time is No. 4 in the state this year, behind Pennsauken’s Bryce Tucker [52.18], Seton Hall Prep’s Ryan Matulonis [53.41] and Morristown’s Jason Meza [53.65].

That 53.67 is fastest by a Gloucester County runner since 2009, when Washington Township’s Tim Carey ran 52.10 . He broke the school record of 54.03 set by Shaquille Dixon at the 2015 state Group 3 meet at South Plainfield.

Brown’s time is 2nd-fastest in meet history. Carey set the meet record of 52.90 when he won the 2009 race at Delsea.

The versatile Brown has run 48.96 for 400 meters, 1:56.19 for 800 meters and 15.80 in the high hurdles. He was 3rd at Group 2 states in the intermediates last year at Franklin Township and this past indoor season won the 400 at indoor states at the Bubble and placed 3rd in the 800 at Easterns at the Armory.

Washington Township’s Kanye Mills also PR’d for 2nd place with a 55.03. His previous PR was 55.06 at last year’s state Group 4 meet at Franklin. His time is No. 10 in the state this year and No. 3 in South Jersey behind Tucker and Brown.

Here’s the all-time Gloucester County sub-54 list:

51.62 … Fred Sharpe [Paulsboro], 1997
52.10 … Tim Carey [Washington Twp.], 2009
52.66 … Aaron Younger [Delsea], 2007
52.72 … Devon Carter [Washington Twp.], 2000
53.22 … Will Washington [Delsea], 2006
53.67 … Lathan Brown [Deptford], 2023
53.84 … Andy Carson [Woodbury], 1997
53.94 … Edwyn Pierre [Williamstown], 2017

You want a PR? We’ve got you a PR.

Jordan Hadfield, a sophomore at Schalick, went into the Salem County Championships at Pennsville Wednesday with a 1,600 PR of 5:41.21 from indoor Group 1 states at the Bubble in February and an outdoor PR of 5:45.40 from last year’s Salem County Championships, also at Pennsville.

All she did Wednesday was shave nearly half a minute off her PR and win her first county title.

Hadfield won the 1,600 in 5:16.54, making her the 3rd-fastest sophomore in South Jersey this year – behind Cherokee’s Megan Niglio [5:05.21] and Vineland’s Georgina Chalow [5:16.20], both at the South Jersey Elite last Thursday at Delsea.

What’s more, Hadfield ran unpressed.

She was out in 2:32.99 and had a 50-meter lead with 800 to go and a 100-meter lead at the gun lap, eventually winning by 150 meters.

That’s a Salem County sophomore class record, and it’s No. 2 among Group 1 sophomores this year, behind only Delana Einreinhofer of Walkill Valley, who ran 5:05.31 at a meet this week at Walkill Valley High in Hamburg.

It’s also fastest by a South Jersey Group 1 miler since 2017, when Abby McCully of Pitman ran 5:14.99 at the Gloucester County Championships at Delsea.

The Salem County 1,600 record was set by Olivia Gerstenbacher with a 5:13.06 at the 2016 Rowan Open in Glassboro, so she’s only 3 1/2 seconds off that with 2 1/2 seasons to go.

Hadfield also won the 3,200 in 12:18.09. Her PR is 11:58.96 from her 5^th-place finish at Group 1 states last spring at Pennsauken.

Hadfield plays soccer in the fall.

Washington Township’s Izzy Deal put together a monster performance for Ursinus in the Centennial Athletic Conference Championships this past weekend, winning the javelin throw, setting a school record in the hammer throw and recording a personal best in the shot put.

At her home facility in Collegeville, Deal won the javelin with a 140-5, broke the school record with a 132-10 for 5th place in the hammer and PR’d in the shot with a 43-5 for 2nd place.

The javelin is her 3rd conference title. She won the shot and javelin in 2021 at Mulhenberg College in Allentown.

Deal won the javelin by more than six feet over Holly Ferrara of Gettysburg. Her PR and school record is 148-6 from a meet last month at Princeton. That’s No. 4 in NCAA Division 3 this year and less than five feet off No. 1 Avery Decker of Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln, who threw 152-3 last month at a meet in Crete, Neb.

In the shot, Deal improved her PR from 42-9 ½ from last month in a meet at Widener University in Chester, Pa. Adria Better of Swarthmore won the event with a 46-11 3/4, No. 7 nationally in D-3.

She’s now No. 33 in Division 3 in the shot. She’s also only 8 ½ inches off the school record of 44-1 ½ supposedly set by Rachelle Pecovsky in 1994 (at least, that’s according to Ursinus’s web site. From Newspapers.com, it appears that Pecovsky was a triple jumper and gymnast, so who knows).

In the hammer, Deal threw 132-10, which topped the school record of 130-11 set last year by Zenya Yanoff in a meet last year at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.

Deal is a two-time javelin All-America. She placed 8th in the 2021 meet in Greensboro, N.C., and 6th last year in Geneva, Ohio.

This year’s NCAA Championships are scheduled for May 25-27 at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, N.Y.

Rowan’s Nevaeh Lorjuste, a sophomore from Triton, ran one of the fastest 400s in NCAA Division 3 Sunday in winnng the NJAC title at Ramapo University in Mahwah.

She also teamed up with a couple other South Jersey middle-distance runners to help Rowan run top-10 national times in two relays.

Lorjuste ran 55.46 to win the New Jersey Athletic Conference 400 title by more than a second over 2nd-place Maria Grill of The College of New Jersey, who ran 56.50.

Lorjuste’s time is No. 6 in NCAA Division 3 and is almost certain to qualify her for the NCAA Division 3 Championships in …..

Her previous PR was a 56.77 when she placed 3rd in last year’s NJAC meet in Ewing. She lowered that to 56.60 when she led the qualifiers in Saturday’s trials before her breakthrough race in the final.

Her time is fastest by a Rowan woman in seven years, since Pemberton graduate Shailah Willoiams set the school record of 54.74 in her final college meet, when she placed 3rd at the 2016 NCAA Division 3 Championships in Waverly, Iowa.

At Triton, Lorjuste won South Jersey Group 3 sectionals at Delsea as a senior in a high school PR 56.98 and placed 2nd at states in 57.21 and 4th in the Meet of Champions with a 57.07. She was also a state champ in the 200.

As a freshman at Rowan, she ran 59.10 indoors 57.18 outdoors then reached NCAAs indoors in Albuquerque this past winter and ran an indoor lifetime best 58.06.

In the 4-by-4, Rowan ran 3:50.31, No. 9 in NCAA Division 3. Kat Pederson of Hillsborough, sophomore Molly Lodge of Woodstown and sophomore Jasmine Broadway of Burlington Township anchored in 55.09.

In the 4-by-1, the Profs ran 46.76, No. 7 in NCAA Division 3. Lorjuste, Broadway and Lodge were joined by anchor Promise Fadahunsi from Monroe Township High. That’s only 20-100ths of a second off the school record of 46.56 set when the Profs placed 3rd at the the 2016 NCAA Division 3 Championships in Waverly, Iowa. Williams was joined by Ebonique Jones from William Penn, Aspen McMillan of South Brunswick and Lexus Matos of Camden Catholic on that team.

Broadway also won the 200 and set a school record of 24.33 in the trials, placed 6th in the 100 in 12.30 after a PR 12.21 in the trials and also ran on the 4-by-1.

Lodge also ran a PR 1:02.01 for 2nd in the intermediates, placed 5th in the 100 with a 12.22 after a PR 12.14 in the trials and took 5th in the 200 in 25.19.

Jason Nwosu, a William & Mary freshman from Delsea, was named Most Valuable Field Performer after winning one event and placing in two others at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships.

Nwosu threw 54-6 with the 16-pound ball and won the shot put Saturday by 4 ¾ inches over Brayden Hodgest of North Carolina AT&T, who threw 54-1 ¼. On Friday, he threw 156-10 for 6th in the hammer and 150-0 for 4th place in the discus.

Nwosu has PRs this year of 55-2 ¼ in the shot, 157-10 in the discus and 165-5 in the hammer. Indoors, he threw 53-1 ½ in the shot (No. 11 in school history) and 54-4 ¾ in the weight throw (No. 15 in school history).

He already ranks No. 7 in school history in the shot, No. 11 in the discus and No. 15 in the hammer, an event he never tried before March.

He’s closing in on the William & Mary freshman class shot record of 55-6 set 40 years ago by George Dippold at the 1983 William & Mary Invitational in Williamsburg, Va.

William and Mary has the best page of school records and performance lists I’ve ever seen. Great job!