The USATF Under-20 Championships was first held in 1972 under the auspices of the AAU, which became The Athletics Congress, which became USATF. The meet was initially called Junior Nationals and more recently Under-20 Championships. So it’s had a lot of names but whatever it’s been called it’s been a very competitive meet that pits the best young athletes in the country against each other.
South Jersey’s first winner at Under-20 Nationals was Willingboro’s Randy Mimm in the 10,000-meter walk at the 1973 meet half a century ago in Gainesville, Fla. Ironically, South Jersey’s most recent winner was another racewalker, Kingsway’s Ryan Allen, who just won his 2nd straight 10,000 walk last week in Eugene, Ore.
I was curious about New Jersey’s history at the Under-20 Championships, so I started looking around for all-time results or all-time winners on the USATF web site. Really, looking for another on the USATF web site is an exercise in futility. It might be the worst web site on the internet. There’s literally no content on there. Not only is it incredibly clunky and difficult to navigate and looks like it was designed in 1996 by a middle schooler who just got his first “Internet in a Box,” there’s really nothing on there to navigate to.
So I went to work. Thanks to Newspapers.com and the once-great practice of newspapers running detailed track results on their agate pages, I was able to find results from almost every year. It took a few days, especially with the early years, when the men’s and women’s meets were at different sites. The best bet finding results was with the hometown paper in the host city. But some results I just couldn’t find – 1976 women, 1992 men and women. Someone at USATF told me they don’t have any old results archived. Imagine running a track organization and not keeping track results? It’s like the same people that run the NJSIAA run USATF. What is it about track? We have the greatest sport and the worst organizations running it.
Anyway, here’s what I came up with. These are all the Junior National / Under 20 winners I found from New Jersey, with South Jersey winners bold-faced. If you notice anybody missing, please let me know in the comments section.
1972
None
1973
Randy Mimm [Willingboro], 10,000-meter walk [55:45.1]
1974
None
1975
Manny Silverio [North Bergen], Hammer Throw [180-0]
Doreen Ennis [Metuchen], 1,500-Meter Run [4:23.1
1976
Boys – None
Girls – Haven’t found results yet …
1977
Vince Reilly [Metuchen], Decathlon [7,070]
Sam Summerville [Holy Spirit], 800-Meter Run [1:47.62]
Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 110-Meter Hurdles [13.89]
Helene Connell [Jackson], Discus [159-4]
1978
Chris Person [Plainfield], 400-Meter Hurdles [51.0]
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [20-5 ½]
1979
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [20-7 ¼ ]
Michelle Glover [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash [11.6]
1980
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash [10.16]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 200-Meter Dash [20.66]
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], 100-Meter Hurdles [14.20]
Michelle Glover [Willingboro], 200-Meter Dash [23.93]
Joetta Clark [Columbia], 800-Meter Run [2:04.52]
Tracy Nelson [Plainfield], 400-Meter Hurdles [59.46]
1981
John Marshall [Plainfield], 800-Meter Run [1:48.65]
Tracy Nelson [Plainfield], 400-Meter Hurdles [58.56]
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], 100-Meter Hurdles [13.89]
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [20-11 ¾]
Michelle Glover [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash [11.42]
Rena Antanelis [Randolph], Javelin [156-9]
*Willingboro Track Club [Kim Gallagher, Pam Young, Carol Lewis, Michelle Glover], 800 Medley Relay [1:42.91]
1982
John Marshall [Plainfield], 800-Meter Run [1:49.80]
1983
Wendy Vereen [Trenton], 100-Meter Dash [11.57]
Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1,500-Meter Run [4:20.05]
Willingboro Track Club [names not available], 800-Meter Relay [1:44.12]
1984
Denise Liles [Kingsway], 100-Meter Dash [11.81]
1985
Andrew Valmon [Manchester Twp.], 400-Meter Dash [45.96]
Bob Amabile [Wall Township], Javelin [231-7]
Claire Connor [Rahway], 19-9 ½
*Willingboro Track Club [Artrelia Turner, Lynn Pike, Andrea Conaway, Timi Crawford], 800 Sprint Medley Relay [1:45.50]
1986
None
1987
Jasmin Jones [Hackensack], 800-Meter Run [2:09.01]
Dawn Bowles [Neptune], 100-Meter Hurdles [13.48]
1988
Jasmin Jones [Hackensack], 800-Meter Run [2:07.62]
Jasmin Jones [Hackensack], 1,500-Meter Run [4:28.16]
1989
None
1990
None
1991
None
1992
Haven’t found results yet …
1993
None
1994
Dudley Dorival [Ewing], 110-Meter Hurdles [13.79]
Darius Pemberton [Hackensack], Long Jump [25-8 ¼]
1995
Hazel Clark [Columbia], 800-Meter Run [2:06.18]
1996
None
1997
Charmaine Walker [Plainfield], 100-Meter Hurdles [13.35]
1998
Todd Matthews [Notre Dame], 110-Meter Hurdles [13.75]
1999
Robert Jordan [Millville], High Jump [7-4 ¼]
2000
None
2001
Dwight Ruff [Camden], 400-Meter Hurdles [50.37]
Bobby Smith [Hopatcong], Javelin [222-10]
2002
None
2003
Steve Slattery [Mount Olive], 3,000-Meter Steeplechase [8:23.58]
Tawana Watkins [Kennedy-Paterson], 400-Meter Hurdles [58.38]
2004
Zach Pollinger [Mahwah], 10,000-Meter Walk [48:22.40]
2005
Reuben McCoy [Winslow Twp.], 400-Meter Hurdles [50.69]
Zach Pollinger [Mahwah], 10,000-Meter Walk [45:29.10]
2006
Danielle Tauro [Southern Reg.], 1,500-Meter Run [4:24.53]
2007
None
2008
Eric Plummer [St. Joe’s-Metuchen], Shot Put [62-6 ½]
2009
None
2010
Nick Vena [Morristown], Shot Put [66-1]
Ajee Wilson [Neptune], 800-Meter Run [2:05.75]
2011
None
2012
Ajee Wilson [Neptune], 800-Meter Run [2:04.86]
2013
Stephen Mozia [Hackensack], Shot Put [66-3 ¼]
2014
Keturah Orji [Mount Olive], Triple Jump [44-1 ½]
Braheme Days Jr. [Bridgeton], Shot Put [65-5 ½]
Curtis Thompson [Florence], Javelin [216-0]
2015
Curtis Thompson [Florence], Javelin [237-4]
2016
Sydney McLaughlin [Union Catholic], 400-Meter Hurdles [54.54]
Alyssa Wilson [Donovan Catholic], Shot Put [52-7 ¼]
2017
Alyssa Wilson [Donovan Catholic], Hammer Throw [185-11]
2018
Cory Poole [East Orange], 110-Meter Hurdles [13.34]
Cory Poole [East Orange], 400-Meter Hurdles [49.71]
Alyssa Wilson [Donovan Catholic], Shot Put [55-1 ½]
Alyssa Wilson [Donovan Catholic], Hammer Throw [217-7 ½]
2019
Athing Mu [Trenton], 800-Meter Run [2:05.59]
2020
Not held
2021
Not held
2022
Ryan Allen [Kingsway], 10,000-Meter Racewalk [49:53.14]
2023
Nathaniel Rayan [Metuchen], 110-Meter Hurdles [13.40]
Ryan Allen [Kingsway], 10,000-Meter Racewalk [46:17.65]
* – Not from same high school
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 