Sophomore Leila Ortiz and junior Maylisa Bluford won two events each to help Clayton roll to its 3rd straight South Jersey Group 1 title.
Clayton goes to the state Group 1 meet at Franklin High with a chance to score some pretty big points. Both relays are top-seeded as is Bluford in the discus and junior Alana Woolfolk in the high jump.
Bluford is No. 2 seed in the shot, sophomore Rainelle Blocker is 3rd seeded in the javelin, Ortiz is No. 2 seed in the 400, No. 4 in the 100 and No. 6 in the 200 and senior Kelsey Thomas is No. 2 seed in the 400.
Clayton outscored 2nd-place Haddon Township 126-67 at Pennsauken, with Schalick [54 ½], Audubon [53] and Salem [50] all fighting for 3rd place.
The Clippers also won the 2021 title 113-95 over Schalick at Washington Township and won last year 129-93 over Haddon Township at Buena.
Let’s start with Ortiz, who won the 100 in 12.89, won the 400 in a PR 58.39 placed 3rd in the 200 with a PR 26.42 and ran on one of Clayton’s winning relays – we don’t know which because she’s listed on both but could only have raced on one.
Bluford PR’d with a 129-5 in the discus, breaking the South Jersey Group 1 record of 127-3 set by Cydney Thomas of Haddon Heights in 2018 at Washington Township, and won the shot by 4 ½ feet with a 36-11 ¾. Bluford is the first Clayton girl to double the shot and discus at sectionals in 42 years, since Emma Painter won the Group 1 shot [36-9 ½], discus [115-8] and javelin [140-2] at Cherokee in 1981.
Woolfolk won the high jump at 5-4 before shutting down without a mis. This is Woolfolk’s 3rd straight sectional title, including Group 2 as a Delsea freshman.
Senior Kelsey Thomas had a huge weekend, with 2nd-place finishes in both the 200 [26.38] and 400 [PR 59.90] as well as anchor legs on both winning relay teams – the 4-by-100 ran 49.72 and the 4-by-4 4:06.24.
Sophomore Rainelle Blocker PR’d at 102-1 to win the javelin, Clayton’s first sectional javelin winner since Portia Poole in 2004.
And soph Miyana Johnson placed 2nd in the high jump, matching her PR of 5-0, and 4th in the 200 with a 27.02. She also led off the 4-by-1.
Junior Josephine Connolly placed 2nd in the javelin at 98-0 and senior Rayael Marshall took 6th in the 100-meter hurdles in 17.73.
Senior Erica Thomas ran legs on both relay teams, freshman Deondria Simon ran the 2nd leg on the 4-by-4.
Clayton will be shooting for its 3rd straight state title this weekend. The Clippers outscored Shore Regional 89-48 in 2021 and defeated Hasbrouck Heights 101 ½-60 last year, all with the Sharpe sisters, who are now at Auburn.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 