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: Eastern junior Zoe Goldberg
Talk about consistency. Eastern’s rising senior Zoe Goldberg threw the javelin at least 126-8 in her last seven meets and after a 119-6 at the Deptford Spartan Relays in her first meet of the year back on April 8, Goldberg threw at least 123-2 in her 10 remaining major meets.
Goldberg may have spent much of the spring in the shadow of another South Jersey Group 4 thrower, Millville’s Texas Tech-bound Leah Howard, who was U.S. No. 7 with her 163-1 and won the Meet of Champions, but Goldberg had a terrific year in her own right.
She surpassed 130 feet four times, including wins at Fast Times at Cherokee [131-4] and the Olympic Conference [132-0]. She was 3rd at the state Group 4 meet [127-0] and the Meet of Champions [136-3]
That 136-3 made her the top underclassman in New Jersey by about five feet over Kitty Williams of Montclair Kimberley, who threw 131-6 at a meet last month in Newark.
The only other returning 125-foot thrower in South Jersey is Goldberg’s teammate at Eastern, rising senior Aniyah Smith, who PR’d at 126-9 at the Woodbury Relays. Smith is also the No. 6 returner in the discus in South Jersey with her PR of 116-6 at sectionals. She was a top-10 finisher in the Meet of Champions in the disc and a sectional medalist in the shot.
Eastern won the South Jersey Group 4 title and placed 2nd at the Group 4 state championships.
As you can see, both Goldberg and Smith are on the all-time Camden County top-10 and No. 2 and 3 in Eastern history, behind Caitlin Cielo, who threw 140-1 at the 2002 Meet of Champions – the first year of the new javelin.
152- 9 … Kate Johnston [Haddonfield], 2012
148- 8 … Caitlin Cielo [Eastern], 2002
142-3 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2000
136-7 … Zoe Goldberg [Eastern], 2022
136- 6 … Danielle Still [Bishop Eustace], 2002
132- 4 … Kelsey Reese [Paul VI], 2011
128-5 … Saraly Gonzalez [Sterling], 2018
127-11 … Pam Watson [Haddon Heights], 2016
127-5 … Bernadette McGowan [Paul VI], 2016
126-9 … Aniyah Smith [Eastern], 2023
Just so these marks don’t get lost forever, here’s the all-time Camden County top-10 with the old javelin (actually it’s only a top-9 since only nine Camden County girls threw 125+ with the old javelin):
149-5 … Carla Brown [Overbrook], 1986
147-7 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2000
139-2 … Liz Griesback [Cherry Hill East], 2001
132-11 … Sherri Redd [Camden], 1982
133-3 … Brooke Derham [Haddonfield], 1998
128-2 … Mary Klinewski [Gloucester Catholic], 1980
127-3 … Tracie Pickard [Highland], 1979
126-9 … Connie Labouff [Haddon Twp.], 2000
125-8 … Sherreta Butler [Camden], 1996
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 