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: Sunsarai Moore, Glassboro

Sunsarai Moore started out her freshman year placing 28th in the discus at the Deptford Spartan Relays the first week of the season.

She improved so much over the next couple months that she was the top freshman discus thrower in the state by the end of the year.

Moore threw 95-9 in her 2nd meet, Fast Times at Cherokee, and then hit 100 feet for the first time at Delsea Crusader Field Event Meet in late May with a 107-9.

At Group 1 sectionals, she PR’d at 118-2 and placed 3rd behind Clayton junior Maylisa Bluford [129-5] and Schalick junior Grace O’Neill [125-11] and then PR’d again at states with 118-8 behind only Bluford’s 129-3.

So she went from 28th at Deptford on April 8 to 2nd in the entire state Group 1 on June 10.

She was the only freshman to even reach the Meet of Champions – she placed 17th overall – and finished the year 11th overall in South Jersey and is the No. 6 returning thrower for the 2024 season.

In the last 20 years, the only freshman in South Jersey to throw farther was Rancocas Valley’s Ravin Hood, who hit 130-6 at the 2019 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington. Moore is the top Group 1 freshman in at least 20 years.

With three years to go, Moore is already within 11 feet of the Glassboro school record of 129-3 set by Stacie Belzer at the 2002 Tri-County Conference All-Star Meet at Delsea.

It was a heck of a rookie year for Karon Brookins, a 1st-year sophomore sprinter and jumper at Timber Creek.

In his first season of high school track, Brookins had success in a number of events this spring and wound up tied as the No. 1 sophomore high jumper in New Jersey, No. 3 long jumper, No. 12 triple jumper and No. 15 in the 100-meter dash.

On the South Jersey lists, he’s No. 1 sophomore in the high jump, No. 1 in the long jump, No. 4 in the 100 and No. 7 in the triple jump.

Brookins cleared 6-6 in the high jump at the Woodbury Relays, hit 22-2 in the long jump to place 2nd in the state Group 4 meet – just 4 ½ inches from a state title – triple jumped 43-0 ½ to win the Camden County meet and PR’d in the 100 with his 11.11 at states after medaling at sectionals.

Not many athletes even attempt those diverse events. Brookins was the only athlete in the state this year just to jump as high as 6-6 and run as fast as 11.11. So you can can imagine how rare 6-6 / 22-2 / 43-0 1/2 / 11.11 is.

Brookins caught 15 passes for 250 yards and two TDs for Timber Creek’s football team this past fall. He’s listed at 6-foot-4, 180 pounds.

Delsea graduate Elisia Lancaster won the hammer throw at the Elliott Denman New Jersey International Track Meet at Holmdel High School on Saturday.

Lancaster threw 205-1 in her first meet in her home state since the Lions Invitational on April 26, 2019, when she was attending Rowan College Gloucester County. She then competed for Towson before settling at Southern Illinois, where she blossomed into one of the top throwers in the country.

Lancaster threw a PR 220-4 last spring in a meet in Des Moines and went on to compete in the NCAA Division 1 Championships.

Lancaster is the No. 22-ranked American woman this year with her near-PR 220-3 at the Gary Wieneke Memorial Invitational at Demirjian Park in Champaign, Ill., in April.

Audubon freshman Riley Fayer burst onto the South Jersey track scene just about five weeks ago with a 3rd-place finish in the 3,200 in the Camden County Championships, where she finished behind only Haddonfield’s Ava Thomas and Helene Usher and ran 11:14.40.

Fayer didn’t run indoors, so that was the first time her name showed up in any results. Talk about an auspicious debut.

Fayer ran 5:18.93 a few days later at the Haddonfield Invitational and then 2:21.43 at Haddonfield Distance Night.

Ten days into her high school track career, she had already shown great range and the ability to race at a high level against some of the best distance runners South Jersey had to offer.

Audubon raced Fayer sparingly, like you should with a freshman. She didn’t double at all until sectionals, where she won the 800 in a PR 2:19.44, placed a close 2nd to Haddon Township senior Meghan Lex in the 1,600 with a PR 5:13.29 and took 2nd in the 3,200 behind Schalick soph Jordan Hadfield.

She scored 26 of Audubon’s 53 points as the Green Wave placed 4th at the Group 1 South Jersey sectionals.

Fayer focused on the 3,200 at states and dropped her PR to 11:03.78, finishing a fraction of a second behind Walkill Valley soph Delana Einreinhofer.

Then it was off to the Meet of Champions, where Fayer was the No. 17 seed. Relegated to an unseeded heat, she was able to run with leaders Olivia Murray of Pingry School and Emma Luo of Marlboro for much of the race before taking off with three laps to go, closing in 82.16 and 75.78 to win the unseeded race by 90 meters with a 10:58.45.

When only seven girls in the seeded heat broke 11 minutes, Fayer had herself eighth place in a Meet of Champions 3,200 five weeks into her high school track career. She placed 3rd among South Jersey runners, behind only Thomas, who won the race in 10:44.34, and Northern soph Liliah Gordon, who was 5th in 10:53.68.

Fayer finished the season with a 2:20.14 in the 800 at West Philly Nationals.

She’ll be the No. 13 returning 3,200 runner in the state and finished as the No. 3 freshman. She was also No. 7 freshman in New Jersey in the 1,600.

Fayer is the first South Jersey freshman to run both sub-2:20 for 800 meters and sub-11 for 3,200 meters since Haddonfield’s Briana Gess in 2014 [2:11.80, 10:45.12]. Before that, Erin Donohue in 2001 [2:13.41, 10:43.14].

Fayer already has the school record in the 3,200 and is closing in on the 800 [2:18.51] and 1,60 [5:09.77], both set in 2014 by Molly Furlong.

Olympian Curtis Thompson from Florence popped a season-best javelin throw at a meet in Finland.

Thompson threw 261-3 at the Kuortane Games at Kuortaneen Keskusurheilukenttä in Kuortane, Finland, in the South Ostrobothnia region.

That’s Thompson’s best throw since September, when he threw 269-4 at the Weltklasse Diamond League meet at Letzigrund Stadium in Zürich.

Thompson, 27, won U.S. championships in 2018 in Des Moines and 2021 at the Olympic Trials in Hayward Field in Eugene.

So far this spring, Thompson ranks 5th among American men. He’s No. 3 in U.S. history with his 287-7 at the American JavFest last July in East Stroudsburg, Pa.

Thompson is scheduled to throw Saturday at the USATF Grand Prix at Ichan Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York. Results will be posted here. As of now, there is still no order of events available. Maybe the NJSIAA is running the meet.

 

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

Timber Creek, which destroyed the South Jersey 400-Meter Relay record Saturday, ran well under the previous record again Sunday and placed 4th in the Championship race at West Philly Nationals.

Chloe Jones, Ryan Jennings, Nyla Jones and Naylah Jones ran 46.43 in Saturday’s semifinals, breaking a 20-year-old South Jersey record of 46.87 set by Eastern’s Brittany Wright, Jennifer Jackson, Kaliyma Barkley and Jenelle Wilson in the trials of the 2003 adidas Outdoor Nationals in Raleigh, N.C. That 46.43 is 6th-fastest in state history.

The Chargers didn’t run quite as fast in Sunday’s final, but they ran fast enough to place 4th and earn All-America honors with a 46.64.

Timber Creek finished behind track factory Bullis School of Potomac, Md. [45.63], Scotlandville High of Baton Rouge, La. [46.46] and Union Catholic [46.56].

√  Mainland senior Mawali Osunniyi cleared 6-6 ¼ on his 2nd attempt and tied for 5th in the Championship high jump to earn All-America honors. Three jumpers had identical ledgers, cleareing 6-2 ¾ and 6-4 ¾ on their first attempt and 6-6 ¼ on their 2nd and missing three attempts at 6-8. They all tied for 5th. Paulsboro senior Jamile Gantt cleared 6-4 ¾.

√  Glassboro junior Cartrell Moore placed 10th in the Rising Stars triple jump with a 45-5 ¼. Moore’s PR going in was 45-1 ½ at the Gloucester County Championships at Deptford last month. The 45-5 ¼ was wind-aided at 2.9, but he also had a wind-legal PR 45-3 ¾ in his series. Moore was the No. 2 junior in South Jersey this year behind Sterling’s Justice Gamble, who hit 46-9 when he placed 5th at the Meet of Champions.

√  Ocean City senior Nick Scarangelli finished his season with a PR mile in the Rising Stars race. Scarangelli ran a full-mile 4:20.19, which converts to 4:18.68 for 1,600 meters. Scarangelli’s previous PR was 4:20.44 at Haddonfield Distance Night. That’s No. 4 in Cape May County history behind a few Ocean City legends – Brett Johnson [4:07.06y in 2008], John Richardson [4:09.20 in 2003] and Miles Schoedler [4:11.46 in 2010].

√  Paul VI junior Shaelan McNally ran 5:06.74 full mile in the Rising Stars race, equivalent of a 5:04.96. McNally PR’d last month with a 5:01.44 and is the No. 2 returning miler in South Jersey behind Northern’s Liliah Gordon, who ran 4:58.91 at the Holmdel Twilight Royal Rumble last month.

√  Audubon’s Riley Fayer ran 2:20.14 in the freshman girls 800, just off her PR of 2:19.44 from sectionals. Cherokee’s Madeline Meder finished one place behind Fayer with a PR 2:20.19.

√  Winslow placed 7th in the Rising Stars 400-Meter Relay final in 43.04 with Jamil Peterson, Jaylen Wall, James Wilson and Cameron Miller.

√  Millville senior Leah Howard wasn’t at her best but still threw 135-4 and placed 10th in the javelin, finishing her brilliant career as the No. 2 javelin thrower in state history with her 163-1 from Woodbury Relays. Howard will compete for Texas Tech starting next year.

Timber Creek, Pennsauken and Eastern finished the season with some fast 4-by-4’s Sunday as the West Philly Nationals came to a close at Franklin Field.

Timber Creek ran 3:50.13 for 7th place, Pennsauken a school-record 3:51.11 for 9th place and Eastern 3:53.75, just off their 3:52.40 from Meet of Champions and placed 17th overall.

Timber Creek, which won the Meet of Champions in 3:46.38, placed 7th with sophomores Ryan Jennings and Billie Frazier and juniors Chloe Jones and Naylah Jones, Chloe splitting 56.54 and Naylah 56.05.

Pennsauken lowered its school record from its 3:52.69 at the state Group 4 meet with sophomore Amina Dyer leading off, Meet of Champs winner Sianni Wynn running 2nd leg in 54-low-ish, freshman Ameenah Rodriguez running 59.76 and freshman Sanaya Dupree anchoring in 57.09.

And Eastern got 56.65 and 56.67 splits from freshman Natalie Dumas and senior Kadence Dumas after legs by sophomore Samantha Osei-Kyei and senior Makenzie James ran the first two legs.

[Splits for first two legs aren’t available because they’re running in lanes in a three-turn stagger and you can’t have a separate camera for each lane.]

Here’s a look at the updated all-time South Jersey list:
3:43.94 … Willingboro, 2001
3:44.64 … Willingboro, 2002
3:44.67 … Clayton, 2022
3:45.41 … Camden, 1995
3:45.67 … Willingboro, 1999
3:46.13 … Willingboro, 2000
3:46.38 … Timber Creek, 2023
3:46.67 … Winslow Twp., 2018
3:47.16 … Eastern, 2003
3:47.30 … Willingboro, 2003
3:47.41 … Winslow Twp., 2017
3:47.4h … Camden, 1978
3:47.55 … Camden, 2006
3:48.00 … Wilson, 2001
3:48.17 … Wilson, 2006
3:48.6y … Camden,, 1978
3:48.78 … Lenape, 2014
3:48.7h … Washington Twp., 1999
3:48.87 … Rancocas Valley, 2019
3:48.91 … Penns Grove, 2013
3:49.25 … Lenape, 2015
3:49.2y … Camden, 1979
3:49.30 … Winslow Twp., 2004
3:49.43 … Willingboro, 1997
3:49.53 … Willingboro, 1998
3:49.63 … Winslow Twp., 2016
3:49.93 … Willingboro, 2009
3:50.10 … Millville, 2008
3:50.13 … Timber Creek, 2023
3:50.21 … Winslow Twp., 2003
3:50.24 … Willingboro, 2009
3:50.27 … Lenape, 2017
3:50.31 … Eastern, 2002
3:50.36 … Rancocas Valley, 2018
3:50.46 … Woodrow Wilson, 2005
3:50.49 … Willingboro, 2010
3:50.56 … Winslow Twp., 2019
3:51.0h … Willingboro, 1982
3:51.11 … Pennsauken, 2023
3:51.18 … Eastern, 2003
3:51.22 … Camden, 2008
3:51.32 … Willingboro, 2000
3:51.43 … Lenape, 2012
3:51.44 … Willingboro, 1994
3:51.51 … Woodrow Wilson, 2007
3:51.68 … Millville, 2007
3:51.70 … Camden, 2010
3:51.6h … Highland, 1992
3:51.85 … Woodrow Wilson, 2000
3:51.91 … Camden, 2005
3:51.8h … Camden, 1979

Just 2 ½ months after first he first picked up a javelin, Kevin Burr Jr. can call himself an All-America.

Burr Jr., a Rancocas Valley senior and 1st-year javelin thrower, placed 4th at West Philly Nationals Sunday at Franklin Field, earning All-America honors to cap a remarkable year.

Burr Jr. had four throws over 190 feet, including a 194-3 on his 4th attempt. He was the top New Jersey finisher, finishing ahead of Mahwah’s George Kalkanis, who edged him Thursday in the Meet of Champions with both throwing over 200 feet.

Burr Jr. had a PR of 141-9 five weeks ago but surpassed 190 feet in each of his last four meets, including sectional and state Group 4 titles and his PR 204-4 at the Meet of Champions – No. 7 in South Jersey history and No. 14 in state history.

Burr finished behind only Peter Bellomo of Jersey Shore (Pa.) Area High [208-8], Leikel H. Cabrera who doesn’t appear on any 2023 javelin lists and has no apparent affiliation and may not actually exist [200-11] and Aidan Broussard of Niceville High (Fla.) [198-4]

Washington Township junior Yashahya Brown earned All-America honors Sunday with a 5th-place finish in the finals of the 110-meter hurdles at West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field.

Brown, who PR’d at 13.82 in Saturday’s semifinals – No. 13 in South Jersey – ran 13.85 into a 0.9 headwind and was the top underclassman in the race.

Brown’s race capped a tremendous season that saw him win the indoor Meet of Champions over the 55-meter hurdles and break 14 seconds in four meets – 13.99 at Fast Times at Cherokee in April, 13.84 at Group 4 sectionals at Pennsauken, 13.99 at the state Group 4 meet at Franklin and then three times at nationals – 13.84 in the trials, 13.82 in the semis and 13.85 on Sunday.

Btown is No. 2 in Gloucester County history behind only Sultan Tucker of Delsea, who ran 13.66 at the 1997 Meet of Champions at South Plainfield, where he was 2nd to Notre Dame’s Todd Matthews.

Brown is the No. 4 underclassman in South Jersey history, behind Dwight Ruff of Camden [13.74 in 2001], Sincere Rhea of St. Augustine [13.74 in 2019] and Danyne Brown of Camden [13.80 in 1999].

All-Time South Jersey 110-Meter Hurdles List
13.43 … Danyne Brown [Camden], 1999
13.51 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
13.59 … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 1990
13.66 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1997
13.73 … Kevin Hagamin [Timber Creek], 2014
13.74 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
13.75 … Rashad Baker [Wilson], 2000
13.76 … Nate Harley [Pleasantville], 1996
13.76 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
13.77 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], 2001
13.81 … Scot McCray [Camden], 1997
13.81 … Jeff Young [Wilson], 1999
13.82 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2023