Kevin McDonnell, a former Camden Catholic runner from Moorestown, won the Philly 10K Sunday in 30:40.

McDonnell, who ran at St. Joe’s, finished about 100 meters ahead of 2nd-place Ethan Hermann, who ran 30:56.

At St. Joe’s, McDonnell set a school record that still stands with a 29:16.01 at 10,000 meters in a meet at Bucknell in 2013. He was runner-up in the Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championships in 2009, when St. Joe’s won its first team title since 2000. He was a two-time NCAA XC qualifier for the Hawks.

McDonnell has a 5,000 PR on the track of 14:03.52 from 2013 in Williamsburg, Va.

Runner-up Hermann attends Drexel, which does not have a track team. He’s a journalism major at Drexel and currently a music and entertainment writer for the school’s student newspaper, The Triangle.

Pleasantville’s Nia Ali cruised into the 100-meter hurdles final Wednesday at the World Track Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Ali ran 12.49 – the 9th-fastest time of her life and 3rd-fastest ever in a qualifying race – and earned a large-Q qualifier as the second finisher in the third of three semifinal races at the National Athletics Center along the eastern banks of the Danube River.

Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, the 2020 Olympic gold medalist, won the third semi in 12.41. The top two finishers in each of three semifinal races and the next two-fastest times advanced to the final at 9:25 p.m. Thursday.

On Wednesday, both small-Q qualifiers – Ditaji Kambundji of Switzerland and Danielle Williams of Jamaica – ran 12.50, Kambundji in the first semi and Williams just behind Ali in the third race.

World No. 1 Kendra Harrison, the U.S. record holder at 12.20 from 2016 in London, had the fastest time in the semis with a 12.33 in the first race.

Ali’s 12.49 was tied for 3rd-fastest behind Harrison and Camacho-Quinn. Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas ran 12.49 in the first heat.

Harrison and Charlton were aided by a 0.5 assisting wind. Ali ran into a 0.4 wind.

Ali, 34 and with three kids, was the 2019 World Champion with her 12.34 in Doha. On Thursday, she’ll attempt to become only the third U.S. woman to win multiple World Championships. Gail Devers won in 1993 in Stuttgart, 1995 in Gothenburg and 1997 in Athens, and Michelle Perry in 2005 in Helsinki and 2007 in Osaka.

The only other double winner is Austrailian Sally Pearson, who won in Daegu, South Korea, in 2011 and London in 2017.

Here’s a look at Ali’s 10-fastest lifetime times, with six of 10 coming since June 8:

12.30 … Herculis Diamond League [f], Fontvielle, Monaco, July 21, 2023
12.34 … World Championships [f], Doha, Qatar, Oct. 6, 2019 [1st]
12.37 … U.S. Championships, [f], Eugene, Ore., July 8, 2023 [1st]
12.38 … Memorial Kamila Skolimowska Diamond League, Stadion Śląski [f], Chorzów, Poland, July 16, 2023 [3rd]
12.41 … Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix [f], Székesfehérvár, Hungary, July 18, 2023 [2nd]
12.43 … U.S. Championships, Eugene [sf], Ore., July 8, 2023 [—]
12.44 … World Championships [sf], Doha, Qatar, Oct. 6, 2019 [—]
12.48 … U.S. Championships [f], Des Moines, Iowa, June 22, 2013 [3rd]
12.49 … U.S. Championships [sf], Eugene, Ore., June 25, 2022 [—]
12.49 … World Championships [sf], Budapest, Hungary, Aug. 23, 2023 [—]

Pleasantville’s Nia Ali coasted to a win in her 100 hurdles heat at the World Championships Tuesday at the National Sports Center in Budapest, Hungary.

Ali was first across the line in the second of five qualifying races for the semifinals. The first four in each heat and the next four-fastest hurdlers qualified for the second round, which is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. Wednesday.

Ali, who won her first U.S. championship in June at 34 years old, ran 12.55 and won her race by 1-10th of a second over Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska, who ran 12.65.

Ali will be in Lane 6 in the 3rd of three semifinal races.

The first two finishers in each of the three races plus the next two-fastest runners advance to the final, which is scheduled for 3:22 p.m. on Thursday.

Ali is No. 2 in the world this year with her 12.30 in Monaco last month. U.S. record holder Kendra Harrison took over the No. 1 world ranking from Ali on Tuesday, when she won her qualifying race in 12.24. Harrison set the American record of 12.20 in London in 2016.

Ali’s 12.30 is No. 9 in world history and No. 3 all-time in the U.S., behind Harrison and Brianna McNeal, who ran 12.26 in Des Moines in 2013.

Ali won the 100-meter highs at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

A disappointing opening day at the World Championships for Delsea’s Josh Awotunde, who didn’t qualify for the shot put finals in the qualifying rounds early Saturday morning in Budapest, Hungary.

Awotunde threw 65-6 ½ and missed the cutoff of 68-0 ½ by 2 ½ feet. The top 12 throwers in the qualifying round or anyone who threw 70-2 ½ advanced to the final, which begins at 6:37 p.m. Saturday at the National Sports Center on the Danube River.

A tweet by Throwers Universe showed Awotunde committing a sector foul of a couple inches on what would have been an automatic qualifier.

The 65-6 ½ is an uncharacteristic performance for Awotunde, who placed 3rd at Worlds last year with a PR 73-1 ½ throw in Eugene. The last time he didn’t throw 20 meters (65-7 ¼) was at the Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru, on Aug. 7, 2019, when his best throw was 62-5 ½.

Awotunde threw 72-6 ¼ to place second at U.S. Nationals last month. He’s surpassed 70 feet 22 times since May of 2021, including three throws of 72-10 or better at Worlds last year. Awotunde entered Worlds ranked 9th in the world with that 72-6 ¼.

Full series info for the qualifying rounds is not available in the official results.

Three South Jersey athletes will be in action at the World Athletics Championships, which begins this week in Budapest, Hungary.

Pleasantville graduate Nia Ali, Florence’s Curtis Thompson and Delsea’s Josh Awotunde will be competing in their specialties at the brand-new National Athletics Centre, located along the eastern bank of the Danube River.

Here’s everything you’ll need to follow along as Ali competes in the 100-meter hurdles, Thompson in the javelin and Awotunde in the shot put.

NIA ALI: Ali is the top seed in the 100-meter hurdles, thanks to her lifetime-best 12.30 in Monaco last month. That’s No. 9 in world history (No. 6 not including performances by Bulgarian and Russian athletes in the late 1980s and early 1990s) and No. 3 ever by an American. Ali, who will be 35 in October, is the top seed, but American record holder Kendra (12.31) and Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (12.31) are both within 1-100th of a second.

Ali won Worlds in 2019 with a 12.34, which was her PR before last month. She’s bidding to become the first double winner since American Michelle Perry in 2005 and 2007.

The meet record is 12.28 in 2011 by Australia’s Sally Pearson, who also won World in 2017 and was 2nd in 2013.

There are three rounds in the high hurdles. Ali races in the trials at 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 22. The semifinals are scheduled for 8:40 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23, with the final at 9:25 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 24.

JOSH AWOTUNDE: With his 2nd-place 72-6 ¼ throw at U.S. Nationals, Awotunde qualified for his second straight World Championships. Awotunde has a lifetime best of 73-1 ½ from the last edition of Worlds, when he placed 3rd as part of a U.S. sweep in Eugene last year.

Awotunde is the No. 8 seed at Worlds based on 2023 throws. He’s No. 18 in world history and No. 11 on the all-time U.S. list.

There are two rounds of the men’s shot put and both will be held on Saturday, Aug. 19. The qualifying rounds are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. with the final following at 8:35 p.m.

CURTIS THOMPSON: Thompson, a 2021 Olympian, will also compete at Worlds for the second time. He won his 3rd U.S. title with a dramatic final-throw 265-5. He’s one of only three javelin throwers to win three U.S. titles since 1950.

Thompson placed 11th at 2022 Worlds, the best finish by an American since 2009. His PR 287-8 is No. 3 in U.S. history and is 11th-beset among the 37 competitors who qualified for this year’s Worlds.

Javelin qualifying rounds are scheduled for 10:10 and 11:45 a.m. Friday, Aug. 25. We don’t know yet whether Thompson will be in Group A or Group B. The final is scheduled for 8:20 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 27.

Time schedule: Click here.
Complete list of entries by event: Click here.
The complete 769-page World Athletics Championships media guide click here.
TV schedule: TBA
Live results: Click here (presumably)

Thanks to an electrifying finish, Pennsauken’s Bryce Tucker won his first international championship Friday evening at the XXI PanAmerican Under-20 Championships.

Tucker won the 400-meter hurdles in 51.36 at José Antonio Figueroa Freyre Stadium in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, finishing two meters ahead of Puerto Rico’s Yan Vazquez, who was 2nd in 51.57.

It was a very fast early race, and Tucker was cruising along in a distant fifth place going into the second turn. At one point, he was as much as 15 meters behind the leaders. But he began making up ground on the final straight. He moved into 4th by the 8th hurdle and was in 3rd going over No. 9.

But he took the lead over the 10th and final 36-inch barrier and exploded to the line to win going away.

“I was just patient the whole way,” he said after the race on the live feed. “I saw where everyone was. I got to the 120 (meters left), I knew where my body was, I felt fine and just ran right through it.”

The time is Tucker’s 2nd-fastest. He ran 50.96 at Franklin High School in June to win his 3rd consecutive Meet of Champions title.

Tucker, who’ll be a freshman at Rutgers, placed 3rd at the U.S. Under-20 Championships but earned a lane at the PanAm Under-20s because the winner, Gage Goose of Lander (Wy.) Valley High was unable to make the trip.

Damon Frabotta, who recently finished his freshman year at Boston College, placed 2nd at the U.S. Under-20 meet in 51.89 but was 3rd Friday in 52.19 after leading early.

Both intermediate hurdles winners are from the Philadelphia area. Sanaa Hebron, a graduate of Neshaminy High in , won the women’s race in 56.90. Hebron recently finished her freshman year at Miami and was the ACC champ in the 400IH in a PR 56.08. She’s the daughter of former Eagles running back and kick returner Vaughn Hebron.