With track season finally over, we’ll catch our breath and spend the next couple weeks taking a look at some top South Jersey athletes who fell through the cracks this year that we didn’t have a chance to write about .Today: Justice Gamble.
Sterling junior Justice Gamble picked the right time to pop a few PRs. His triple jump before sectionals was 43-8 ½ from the Haddonfield Invitational in mid-May. But he hit 44-10 ¾ to win South Jersey Group 2 sectionals, then 45-7 to place 2nd at Group 2 states and 46-9 to take 5th place at the Meet of Champions.
In the span of 13 days, he improved more than three feet – from 43-8 ½ to 46-9 – and became the first Sterling boy to place in a Meet of Champions field event since Glenn Murray was 6th in the long jump with a 21-9 ½ in 1993.
Gamble’s 46-9 broke the school record of 45-9 set at the 2021 state Group 2 meet at Franklin by Jaden Johnson.
Gamble also high jumped 6-3 and long jumped 21-4 ½ this year, but he did his best work in the triple and goes into 2024 as the No. 3 returning triple jumper in the state, behind Don Bosco junior and Meet of Champions winner Bobby Mays [48-3 ¼] and Demarest sophomore Liam Paneque [46-11 ½].
Mays was the only underclassman to finish ahead of him at the Meet of Champions, and Egg Harbor senior Ahmad Fogg [46-11 for 4th] was the only South Jersey jumper to finish ahead of him
Overall, Gamble was the No. 3 jumper in South Jersey this year behind Mainland’s Mawali Osunnyi [47-0 ½] and Fogg [46-11]. He was the top underclassman in South Jersey by a foot.
What’s really impressive is how far Gamble came this spring.
He high jumped 6-2 last spring but his long jump PR as a sophomore was 18-9 ¾ and triple jump was 42-9. He didn’t compete indoors, so he added 2 ½ feet in the long jump and four feet in the triple jump in the span of two months.
Gamble is No. 28 in South Jersey history with one year to go. He’s No. 12 on the all-time Camden County list but only 1 ¼ inch out of the top 10.
All-Time South Jersey Triple Jump List
50- 9 1/4 … Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], 2018
50- 6 3/4 …. Dominique Irons [Haddon Heights], 2013
50- 2 1/2 … Floyd Whitaker [Highland], 2019
48-10 1/2 … Larry Russell [Timber Creek], 2015
48- 3 1/4 … Ryan Chance [Glassboro], 2009
48- 1 1/2 … Mubeen Momodu [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2019
48- 1 1/4 ……Orion Joyner [Kingsway], 2019
48- 0 ………. Josh Butler [Delsea], 2006
47- 9 1/4 … Marcus Edghilll [Pemberton], 1981
47- 7 1/2 … Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2014
47-7 ½ … Jaden Johnson [Timber Creek], 2022
47- 6 1/2 … Chris Roundtree [Haddon Hts.], 2009
47- 5 1/2 … Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], 2017
47- 5 1/4 … Kevin Kevelier [Collingswood], 2019
47- 5 ……… Steven Brown [Penns Grove], 2009
47- 4 3/4 … Cheo King [Woodbury], 2017
47- 4 1/2 … Zakiyy Williams [Rancocas Valley], 2017
47- 4 ……… Tristan Wilson [Delsea], 2014
47- 3 1/4 … Antwan Dickerson [Pennsauken], 2013
47- 3 ……… Mike Baker [Cherry Hill West], 1976
47-0 ½ … Mawali Osunniyi [Mainland Reg.], 2023
47- 0 1/4 … Earnest Daniel [Kingsway], 2017
46-11 … Tarik Robinson [Penns Grove], 2016
46-11 … Ahmad Brock [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2021
46-11 … Ahmad Fogg [Eg Harbor Twp.], 2023
46-10 ¼ … Malachi Whitfield [Overbrook], 2018
46-10 … Rhodeni Spence [Wilson], 2007
46-9 … Justice Gamble [Sterling], 2023
46-7 ¾ … Ameer Banks [Delsea Reg.], 2015
46-6 ½ … Allen Killiebrew [Penns Grove], 2015
46-6 … Brian Williams [Pemberton], 1980
All-Time Camden County Triple Jump List
50- 6 3/4 …. Dominique Irons [Haddon Heights], 2013
50- 2 1/2 … Floyd Whitaker [Highland], 2019
48-10 1/2 … Larry Russell [Timber Creek], 2015
47- 7 1/2 … Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2014
47-7 ½ … Jaden Johnson [Timber Creek], 2022
47- 6 1/2 … Chris Roundtree [Haddon Hts.], 2009
47- 5 1/4 … Kevin Kevelier [Collingswood], 2019
47- 3 1/4 … Antwan Dickerson [Pennsauken], 2013
47- 3 ……… Mike Baker [Cherry Hill West], 1976
46-10 ¼ … Malachi Whitfield [Overbrook], 2018
46-10 … Rhodeni Spence [Wilson], 2007
46-9 … Justice Gamble [Sterling], 2023
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 