Lenape graduate Shelby Whetstone ran the 3rd-fastest 600 in Rutgers history Friday at the Scarlet Knights Open at the Armory.

Whetstone ran 1:32.17 and finished 3rd behind two post-graduate runners – Jordan Shead, who ran 1:29.18, and Reanda Richards, who ran 1:32.02.

On the all-time Rutgers list, the only faster women at 600 meters are school record holder Denise Peynado, who ran 1:29.53 at the AIAW Championships in Columbia, Md., in 1980, and Richards, who ran 1:30.23, in 2020 at the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind.

Whetstone’s previous PR over 600 meters was 1:35.03 at the same meet at the Armory last February.

Whetstone’s indoor 800 PR of 2:09.77 is No. on the all-time Rutgers list.

Seniors Dahlia Beasley and Dylan Giloley and juniors Dakota Jones and Ella Karp each recorded individual wins Friday at the Bubble to lead the Washington Township girls to their second indoor sectional title and first since 2011.

The Minutemaids doubled 2nd-place Eastern 84 5/6-42 in Group 4, with Toms River North 3rd with 41 ½ points. Washington Township won the 2011 team title 69-67 over Lenape.

Washington Township’s 84 5/6 points are 2nd-most in Group 4 since indoor sectionals began in 2008. Southern Regional scored 91 in 2012.

Jones won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.47, Beasley the high jump at 5-4, Giloley the 55 in 7.26 and Karp the shot put with a 36-7 on her final throw.

The 55 was a huge event for Washington Township, with Giloley and senior Kayla D’Ottaviano going 1-2 for 18 points. D’Ottaviano placed second with a PR of 7.33, lowering her lifetime best from 7.42 at Ocean Breeze in December.

In addition to her high jump win, Beasley placed 2nd in the 400 with a 58.64 and led off Township’s 3rd-place 4-by-4, which ran 4:15.13. Giloley added a point in the 400 with a 6th-place finish in 1:00.05.

Sophomore Cali Lacovara matched her PR with a 10-0 clearance in the pole vault for 2nd place. Lacovra passed through 8-6 and cleared 9-0, 9-6 an 10-0 without a miss. Another sophomore pole vaulter, Gabrielle Chelnik, tied for 6th with an 8-0 clearance, matching her personal best.

Senior Lauren Stanger placed 3rd in the shot put with a 33-9 ¾ throw and junior Gianna Shippy was 5th with a 32-2 ½, senior Zarria Oliphant took 4th in the hurdles in 8.70 and junior Ashley Loprez cleared 4-10 for 5th in the high jump.

Also, freshman Layla Beasley ran 2:19.88 – a 5 ½-second PR – and placed 4th in the 800. That’s the fastest time by a Gloucester County freshman since Gabbi Kirsch of Williamstown ran 2:16.60 at 2015 Group 4 states.

The correct order for the 3rd-place 4-by-4 team was Layla Beasley to sophomore Hailey Kennedy to D’Ottaviano to Dahlia Beasley.

Senior Cartrell Moore won the hurdles, led off the winning relay team and placed in two other events, senior Damere Lassiter led a 1-2-3 shot put sweep and Glassboro won its third South Jersey Group 1 indoor sectional title and second in a row Friday at the Bubble.

Glassboro outscored Gloucester Counrty rival Woodbury 90-72. Audubon was 3rd with 39 points.

The Bulldogs also won Group 1 indoor sectional titles in 2010 and 2022.

Moore ran a PR 7.82 to win the 55-meter high hurdles. That’s 3rd-fastest in the state this year by a Group 1 hurdler and fastest by a South Jersey Group 1 hurdler since Sam Aviles of Palmyra ran 7.49 in 2019. He also placed 4th in the 400 in 51.46 and 5th in the 55-meter dash in 6.71.

Senior Lassiter threw 55-11 to win the shot, with senior Jeremiah Jones [46-3 ¼] and junior Kyle Williams [45-6] completing the 24-point sweep.

Junior Dayshaun Day, in only his third lifetime pole vault competition, cleared 11-0 to give Glassboro another win as the No. 3 seed. His previous PR was 9-6.

Seniors Brysheen Ferguson, Caron Wright, Joseph Hadrick and Moore ran 3:36.45 to win the 1,600-meter relay by 8-100ths of a second over Audubon.

Junior Ty Blackman ran 4:36.88 and 10:14.97 and placed 2nd to Woodbury’s Peyton Shute in both the 1,600 and 3,200.

Senior Desmond Vassell PR’d in the 55-meter hurdles with a 7.91 for 2nd place. His previous PR was a 7.98 this past weekend.

Ferguson ran 6.51 for 3rd in a fast 55-meter dash that saw four runners under 6.60. Ferguson ran just 3-100ths of a second off his PR of 6.48 from this past weekend.

He came close last time. This time, Yashahya Brown wasn’t going to be denied.

Brown, a senior at Washington Township, shattered the state 55-meter hurdles record Friday at the South Jersey Group 4 meet at the Bubble in Toms River.

Brown won the race in 7.06, breaking the state record of 7.07 by 1-100th of a second. Cory Poole set the record on March 11, 2017 in the prelims of Armory Nationals in New York. He ran 7.07 en route to a 7.63 for 60 meters. He false started in the semis and didn’t advance to the the final.

He broke the South Jersey record of 7.10 set by St. Augustine’s Sincere Rhea set on March 10 in the prelims of 2019 Armory Nationals. He wound up winning the final in 7.16.

Brown’s time is 7th-fastest in U.S. scholastic track history.

Brown had a PR of 7.22 coming into this season from his win at last year’s Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze. He lowered it to 7.21 in the prelims of his season opener at the Armory and then to 7.13 in the final. He dropped his time to 7.11 last week at the Bubble.

Outdoor, the FAT state record for the 110-meter highs is 13.40, by Scotch Plains-Fanwood’s Nathaniel Rayan at the USATF Under-20 Championships this past July in Eugene, Ore. Former world record holder Renaldo Nehemiah of Scotch Plains-Fanwood ran a hand-timed 12.9 at 1977 Easterns at St. John’s University in Queens, N.Y.

The South Jersey record is 13.43 by Camden’s Danyne Brown at the 1999 state Group 3 meet in South Plainfield.

Although the official meet program inexplicably doesn’t list meet records, the previous meet record was Brown’s 7.36 last year.

ALL-TIME UNITED STATES 55-METER HURDLES LIST
6.87 … Trey Cunningham [Winfield City, Ala.], 2017
7.04 … Kurt Powdar [Oscar Smith, Va.], 2019
7.04 … Ayden Owens [North Allegheny, Pa.], 2018
7.05 … Grant Holloway [Grassfield, Va.], 2015
7.05 … Wayne Davis [Southeast Raleigh, N.C.], 2009
7.05 … Chad Zallow [Kennedy, Warren, Ohio], 2015
7.06 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2024
7.07 … Johnny Dutch [Clayton, N.C.], 2007
7.08 … Deworski Odom [Overbrook, Philadelphia], 1995
7.07 … Cory Poole [East Orange Campus], 2017
7.10 … Eric Perry [Menchville, Va.], 1979
7.10 … Patrick Mann [Gar-Field, Va.], 1984
7.10 … Michael Hancock [George Washington, Denver], 2008
7.10 … Damion Thomas [Northeast, Oakland Park, Fla.], 2017
7.10 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
7.12 … Rod Wilson [Bartram, Philadelphia], 1979
7.14 … Nathaniel Rayan [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 2023
6.9h … Dan Lavitt [Raytown, Mo.], 1976
6.9h … Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 1977
6.9h … Jeff Martin [Indianapolis], 1995
7.15 … Terrance Trammell [Decatur, Ga.], 1997
7.15 … Jermaine Cooper [Giddings, Texas], 1999
7.15 … Josh Hembrough [Forest Hills, Northern, Mich.], 2007
7.15 … Donovan Robertson [Midpark, Berea, Ohio], 2012

Williamstown graduate Anna Sasse, who never broke 5:30 for 1,600 meters in high school, continued her outstanding winter season for Rowan with a big PR of 5:01.51 Friday at the Metropolitan College Championships at Ocean Breeze.

Sasse, a junior, placed 3rd behind two Division 1 runners and lowered her PR from 5:06.64, which she just ran last month on the same track. Before January, her mile PR was 5:10.39 from last winter at the Armory.

Sasse now ranks No. 3 in the NJAC in the 800 behind Ramapo’s Dale Leonard [2:15.01] and Stockton’s Kayla Kass [2:16.01] and No. 2 in the mile behind Leonard [4:56.62].

Her 5:01.51 is fastest by a Rowan woman since 2017, when Christin Bettis of Hammonton ran 5:01.02 at Ocean Breeze. The last Rowan woman under 5:00 is Haddonfield graduate Vanessa Wright, who set the school record of 4:53.38 when she placed 6th at the 2013 NCAA Division 3 Championships in Naperville, Ill.

Sasse had PRs of 2:20.84 and 5:30.70 at Williamstown (and 77-9 in the javelin) in 2021, her only year of outdoor track in high school.

After sitting out nearly a year, Highland graduate Floyd Whitaker has resurfaced at Oklahoma and came within two inches of his lifetime-best in the triple jump in his first meet ever for the Sooners.

Whitaker, in his first meet since March of 2023, jumped 51-3 ½ at the Corky Classic at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center in Lubbock. He had an outstanding series, with 50-7 ¾, 50-8 ½, 50-5, 51-3 ½ and 49-10 ¾ with a foul on his 5th attempt. Whitaker averaged 50-7 on his five legal jumps.

The 51-3 ½ – the 2nd-best jump of his life – puts Whitaker at No. 22 in NCAA Division 1. Teammate Brandon Green Jr. is No. 2 with a 54-6 ½ this past weekend.

Incredibly, Oklahoma does not have any historical info on its web site. No top-10 lists, only a dead link under program history.

Whitaker is No. 10 among U.S. jumpers – it seems a high percentage of NCAA triple jumpers represent other countries.

Whitaker spent the 2021-2022 indoor season, 2022 outdoor season and 2022-2023 indoor season at Minnesota, where he hit 51-5 ½ indoors in a meet in Minneapolis in January 2022 and 51-2 ¼ outdoors in May 2022. Minnesota doesn’t have an indoor track team so he competed unattatched during the two indoor seasons.

Whitaker’s 51-5 ½ two years ago ranks No. 2 in South Jersey alumni history, behind only Shawnee graduate Greg Foster, who hit 53-6 ½ in Flagstaff, Ariz., in May 1988. Foster’s son, also Greg, currently jumps for Princeton and reached 50-4 ¾ last spring.

At Highland, Whitaker hit 23-6 ½ in the long jump at the 2021 state Group 3 meet at Pennsauken and 50-2 ½ to win the 2019 Meet of Champions, the first of his three Meet of Champions titles and No. 6 in New Jersey history. He was unbeaten in the triple jump as a senior, capping his career with a win at the Eugene Nationals. He also ran 54.85 in the intermediates and high jumped 6-4 in high school.

Eastern grad Jailya Ash shattered the UConn hurdles record in New York over the weekend.

Ash lowered her PR in the 60-meter highs from 8.27 at a meet in Storrs in December to 8.19 at the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge at the Armory.

She broke the school record of 8.24 set by Phylicia George at the NCAA Division 1 Championships at Randall Tyson Track at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in March 2010. George placed 11th in the trials, missing the final by 2-100ths of a second.

Ash’s time is No. 15 in NCAA Division 1, tied with several others, including Winslow graduate Tionna Tobias of Iowa. It’s No. 1 in the Big East.

On the U.S. women’s list, Ash is now No. 24. Her time is No. 77 in the world this year.

https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/60-metres-hurdles/all/women/senior/2024?regionType=countries&region=usa&timing=electronic&page=1&bestResultsOnly=true&maxResultsByCountry=all&eventId=10230177&ageCategory=senior

https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/60-metres-hurdles/all/women/senior/2024?regionType=world&timing=electronic&page=1&bestResultsOnly=true&maxResultsByCountry=all&eventId=10230177&ageCategory=senior

Ash’s PR coming into this season was 8.31 from a meet in Boston in December of 2022, so early last season. She went on to win the Big East indoor title in 8.35 as well as outdoor with a 13.58.

She lowered her PR to 8.27 in her 2023-24 season opener in December in Storrs and then followed with an 8.28 in Boston last month before he breakthrough 8.19.

UConn’s web site is an abomination – one of the few Division 1 web sites with no top-10 lists – but last winter we went through years of results and came up with an all-time UConn 60-meter hurdles top-10. Here’s the updated version:

8.18 … Jailya Ash, 2022
8.24 … Phylicia George, 2010
8.33 … April Garner, 2005
8.34 … A’liyah Thomas, 2024
8.45 … Madalayne Smith, 2012
8.55 … Chantal Scott, 2014
8.59 … Emily Lavarnway, 2023
8.61 … Shavon Briscoe, 2012
8.61 … Tia Strackman, 2018
8.62 … Ashley Wiggins, 2017

Speaking of UConn’s web site … they’re under the impression Ash PR’d by eight seconds in a race that takes about eight seconds to complete. If she had PR’d by eight seconds, she would have run 0.27.

Pleasantville’s Nia Ali ran her fastest indoor hurdles race in four years Saturday in Kazakhstan.

In her 2024 indoor debut, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist and three-time world champion ran 7.89 at Astana Indoor Meet for Amin Tuyakov Prizes (yeah, that looks like the name of the meet, who knows?) at the Qazaqstan Track and Field Complex in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Ali ran within 1-10th of a second off her lifetime best in the 60-meter highs. Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, the world record holder in the 100-meter highs, won the race in 7.77.

It was Ali’s first indoor race since the Millrose Games a year ago at the Armory, where she placed 4th in 7.97.

Ali’s time was her fastest in four years, since she ran 7.88 in February 2020 in a meet in Madrid.

Her PR is 7.80, which she ran twice in 2014 – in Albuquerque in February and in Sopot, Poland, in March. That’s No. 30 in world history and No. 10 in U.S. history. Outdoors, Ali has run 12.30, No. 9 in world history and No. 3 on the all-time U.S. list. So far this year, Ali is No. 6 in the world and No. 3 American.

Presumably, Ali will race at this year’s Millrose Games, which is scheduled for a week from Saturday at the Armory. But nine days before the meet, there are no entry lists on the meet’s web site.

Rowan’s Marquise Young, Nana Agyemang, Nicholas Razze and Amari Conte ran the 3rd-fastest 1,600-meter relay in NCAA Division 3 this weekend at a meet at the Armory.

Young is a senior from Sterling, Agyemang a junior from Parsippany, Razze a senior transfer from Pitman and Conte a junior from Ferris High in Jersey City.

They ran 3:15.87 and placed 3rd on the 200-meter banked track behind Division 1 schools North Carolina A&T and UConn. (One set of results shows UConn in the results, another doesn’t.)

Young led off with a 48.93 split, Agyemang ran 49.07, Razze 49.58 and Conte 48.29.

Ranked ahead of Rowan on the Division 3 performance list are John Carroll in suburban Cleveland [3:12.91 last month in Youngstown] and Wisconsin-La Crosse [3:15.25 earlier this month on its home track]. La Crosse also ran 3:15.35 in the same race with a B team.

Rowan set the NCAA Division 3 record of 3:10.09 last February at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston. Agyemang, Jah’mere Beasley, Young and Conte ran on that team. Beasley is now a junior at Rutgers.

The Profs’ time is No. 85 on the all-time NCAA Division 3 list and Rowan’s 9th-fastest all-time.

The new guy on the team is an interesting story.

Although you won’t learn anything about Razze from his bio on Rowan’s web site – ! Nice work, Rowan sports information office! – he spent the 2019 indoor season through this past spring season at McDaniel College, an NCAA Division 3 school in Westminster, Md. (formerly Western Maryland).

Razze set the McDaniel school record of 52.84 in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles last May in a meet at Widener and he also ranks 3rd in McDaniel history in the 110-meter high hurdles [14.86] and 10th in McDaniel history in the 400 [50.11]. He also ran on the school-record 800-meter relay team [1:29.13 in 2022 at the Penn Relays] and the 1,600-meter relay [3:18.67 in May, also at Widener]. Anthony Razze, Nicholas’s brother, also ran on that 4-by-4 team.

Indoors, Razze is the McDaniel school record holder at 600 meters [1:25.66 last January] and also ranks 3rd in the 200 [23.30], 7th in the 300 [37.51], 5th in the 400 [50.83], 3rd in the 500 [1:07.76], 2nd in the 60 hurdles [8.67] and ran on school-record 4-by-2 [1:30.14], 4-by-4 [3:20.54] and sprint medley [3:39.88] teams. He’s also 10th in the high jump [5-8].

Razze raced in the 400 intermediates twice at NCAA Division 3 Nationals, placing 11th in 2022 in 53.11 at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, and 11th in 53.13 last spring at At. John Fisher in Rochester, N.Y. He actually raced at nationals against Young, who placed 6th in 52.64. He was a three-time Centennial Conference intermediates champ.

Razze has only run one open race so far for Rowan – a PR 1:06.91 for 500 meters in a meet at Ocean Breeze last month.

If Razze competes for Rowan this spring – and it looks like he should have a year of outdoor eligibility remaining – he’ll be the 8^th-fastest returning intermediate hurdler in Division 3 with his 52.84. Young will be 9^th-fastest with his 52.88. Rowan had the 3^rd-fastest freshman intermediate hurdler in the spring of 2022 with Treshan Stevenson from Millville, who ran 53.24. But he doesn’t appear on the current Rowan roster.

At Pitman, Razze’s 400IH PR was 57.67 and he ran 15.27 over the 39-inch hurdles and placed 6th at the 2019 state Group 1 meet at Franklin.