Three South Jersey women – junior Molly Lodge from Woodstown, junior Jasmine Pope from Pennsauken and junior Nevaeh Lorjuste from Triton – were part of Rowan’s school-record 1,600-meter relay team that posted the 2nd-fastest qualifying time for the final at the NCAA Division 3 Championships Friday.

Rowan ran 3:50.08 at the Virginia Beach Sports Center, second only to Colby College’s 4-by-4, which ran a season-best 3:49.47. Rowan had run 3:49.78 last week at the AARTFC Championships in Rochester, N.Y.

Their time Friday is No. 20 on the all-time NCAA Division 3 performance list.

Lodge led off with a 57.55 split, and Pope ran a 57.79 second leg. Kathleen Pedersen, a senior from Hillsborough, ran third and split 57.86, and Lorjuste anchored in 56.88.

Rowan’s previous school record was 3:50.39 in the final of last year’s NCAA Division 3 meet in Birmingham, Ala. Lodge, Burlington Township’s Jasmine Broadway, Lorjuste and Pedersen ran on that team.

The final is scheduled for 6:20 p.m. on Saturday.

Willingboro’s Maya Bolden placed 3rd in the freshman 60-meter dash Friday at the Boston Nationals.

Bolden ran 7.86 in the trials earlier in the day and was the 5th-fastest qualifier, but in the final she finished in a virtual tie for 2nd place with Caitlyn Ly of Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. Both were timed in 7.79, but Ly officially placed 2nd when their times were broken down by 1,000ths of a second – Ly in 7.784 and Bolden in 7.790.

That’s the fastest time by a New Jersey freshman this year, and although the meet’s timekeepers did not post en route times for 55 meters, the standard conversion for 7.79 is 7.26 for 55 meters, which is also fastest this year by a New Jersey freshman. Bolden’s 55 PR is 7.34 from the state Group 2 meet at the Bubble.

 

Cherry Hill East ran the fastest distance medley by a South Jersey school this year Friday afternoon at Boston Nationals, placing 9th overall in 10:32.09.

This is insane because last I checked it’s 2024 and live results have provided names and splits for at least a decade, but the official results do not list splits or relay members. But here we are. Shame on whoever is doing the timing for this meet. That’s just embarrassing.

Anyway, the heat sheets show senior Raine Guidarelli on the 1,200, junior Ashraf Maklache on the 400, junior Brandon Lyons running the 800 and junior Brody Bogos anchoring.

If anybody out there knows whether that’s correct or has splits, please let me know in the comment section and I’ll update this.

Junior Brandon Lyons led off with a 3:15-ish for the 1,200, junior Ashraf Maklache ran 51-ish in the 400, soph Alvin Lin split 2:01.92 and junior Brody Bogos anchored in 4:22.96

The  time is Cherry Hill East’s fastest indoors in 48 years, since the 1975 team ran a 2 ½-mile DMR in 10:33.5 at the Group state relays at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym with the team of Terry Morgan, Bill Galbraith, Jack Kruse and Marty Ludwikowski. That converts to 10:29.9 for the current 4,000-meter race.

Cherry Hill East’s time is No. 12 on the all-time Camden County indoor DMR list and fastest since 2016, when Haddonfield ran 10:12.42 at 2016 Armory Nationals (which is the current Boston Nationals and not the current Armory Nationals) and Eastern ran 10:22.85 at Easterns at the Armory.

All-Time Camden County Indoor DMR List
10:09.78 … Haddonfield, 2010
10:12.42 … Haddonfield, 2016
10:16.60 … Haddonfield, 2002
10:19.24 … Haddonfield, 2009
10:21.11 … Haddonfield, 2011
10:21.38 … Haddon Township, 2015
10:22.85 … Eastern, 2016
10:23.52 … Haddonfield, 2015
10:23.54 … Haddonfield, 2003
10:29.39 … Bishop Eustace, 2013
10:29.9y … Cherry Hill East, 1975
10:32.09 … Cherry Hill East, 2024
10:32.79 … Eastern, 2002
10:33.0h … Eastern, 2003
10:34.11 … Camden Catholic, 2019

Kingsway’s Ryan Duffy won the freshman 800 Friday at Boston Indoor Nationals at the Reggie Lewis Center.

Duffy ran 1:59.72 , winning by three meters over Isaiah Davis of Homewood (Ala.) High. Davis was 2nd in 2:00.15.

Duffy ran slightly faster at Group 4 sectionals – 1:59.63 – which is the 2nd-fastest indoor 800 ever by a South Jersey freshman, behind Bryce Tucker’s 1:56.75 in 2020 at the Meet of Champions.

In his first year of indoor track, Duffy also ran a 4:33.67 full mile and 9:55.03 in the 3,200. He was No. 3 among New Jersey freshman in the mile/1,600 and No. 4 in the 3,200.

Cherokee’s Benjamin Realley was No. 2 among New Jersey freshman this year in the 800 at 1:59.75, No. 2 in the 1,600 with a 4:28.75 and No. 2 in the 3,200 at 9:49.67.

Realley placed 9th in the 800 Friday in Boston in 2:02.40.

Pennsauken sophomore Sianni Wynn, New Jersey’s fastest quarter-miler, advanced to the finals of the 400 at Armory Nationals Friday morning.

Wynn ran 55.87, the 6th-fastest qualifying time and advanced to the final, which is scheduled for 5:34 p.m. Saturday.

Wynn raced in the sixth and final semifinal and only five girls were under 56 in the first five races and eight advance to the final, so Wynn knew going into the race exactly what she needed to get through to the final.

Wynn is New Jersey No. 1 this season with a 55.51 from a meet back in December at Ocean Breeze. That’s 6th-fastest in South Jersey history. She ran 53.97 last spring, No. 14 in state history. She hasn’t lost a 400 since last year’s nationals.

Wynn is also entered in the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. The 200 prelims are scheduled for 2:59 p.m. Saturday with the final at 2:44 p.m. Sunday, and the 60 trials are scheduled for 10:31 a.m. Sunday with the final at 12:33 p.m.

Wynn is coming off a Meet of Champions where she set meet records of 6.81 and 24.00 for 55 and 200 meters.

The Cherokee boys ran the 3rd-fastest indoor 4-mile relay in South Jersey history and fastest in 13 years Thursday night on Day 1 of Boston Nationals at the TRACK.

Senior Robert Poplau, junior Liam Tindall, freshman Benjamin Realley and senior Nick Kuenkel, ran 17:54.59, becoming the first South Jersey school other than Haddonfield to run sub-18.

Because of an officiating error, the third legs all ran seven laps and the anchors all ran nine. And, no, this was not an NJSIAA meet. Apparently there are officials in other states as well that don’t know how to count.

Haddonfield set the South Jersey record at 17:22.12 in 2010 at New York Nationals and then ran 17:45.90 also at the Armory a year later. The Bulldogs also ran 17:55.70 in 2018.

Also on Day 1 in Boston, Winslow’s Cinniya Robinson placed 4th in the freshman 400 in 57.20, just off her PR of 57.05 that she ran at the Armory when she placed 2nd at Easterns.

Here’s a look at the all-time New Jersey 4-by-mile list:

17:07.17 … Christian Brothers Academy, 2014
17:20.33 … Christian Brothers Academy, 2019
17:21.58 … West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 2009
17:22.12 … Haddonfield, 2010
17:22.67 … Christian Brothers Academy, 2013
17:25.47 … Christian Brothers Academy, 2017
17:28.70 … Colts Neck, 2017
17:28.88 … Red Bank, 2004
17:30.73 … Hopewell Valley, 2018
17:34.17 … Union Catholic, 2023
17:34.87 … Christian Brothers Academy, 2012
17:36.05 … West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 2018
17:37.01 … Christian Brothers Academy, 2011
17:42.71 … Don Bosco, 2007
17:45.20 … Ridgewood, 2004
17:45.27 … West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 2011
17:45.90 … Haddonfield, 2011
17:51.21 … Christian Brothers Academy, 2001
17:52.12 … Don Bosco, 2010
17:52.72 … Westfield, 2023
17:53.69 … Christian Brothers Academy, 2010
17:54.59 … Cherokee, 2024
17:54.70 … Christian Brothers Academy, 2009
17:54.93 … Jackson, 2007
17:55.70 … Haddonfield, 2018
17:56.52 … Westfield, 2022
17:57.66 … Don Bosco, 2015
17:57.82 … Union Catholic, 2024
17:59.36 … Bergen Catholic, 2017

Kingsway’s Stone Caraccio, a Monmouth junior, ran an 800 PR at the IC4A Championships over the weekend in Boston, placing 5th in 1:50.37.

Caraccio’s previous indoor PR was a 1:51.62 one day earlier in the IC4A trials. His indoor PR before the weekend was 1:52.01 from a meet in February 2022 at Boston University. He’s run 1:50.83 outdoors – at a meet at Princeton in May 2022. That’s No. 6 in Monmouth history outdoors.

Caraccio’s 1:50.37 is 4th-fastest in Monmouth history and fastest since Chris Marco of Toms River North ran 1:50.07 at a meet in Boston in 2018.

Caraccio’s PR at Kingsway was 1:54.53 indoors at Ocean Breeze in the winter of 2020, a couple weeks before the shutdown. His time is fastest by a Gloucester County alum since Fred Sharpe of Paulsboro ran 1:48.26 in Santry, Ireland, in 2003.

Ten South Jersey half-milers have run sub-1:50, most recently Pleasantville grad Gabriel Moronta, who ran 1:49.33 outdoors in College Station, Texas, in 2021, and before that Jaymes Dennison of Penns Grove, who ran 1:47.63 outdoors in Tempe, Ariz., in 2017.

If you’re confused, don’t worry about it. I’m confused, too.

But that’s what happens when you’re dealing with two different national high school championship meets that used to be one meet and one of the meets is being held this year where the other one was held last year.

It’s hard to untangle the history of indoor national meets. Neither current meet has any sort of history on its web site and as sponsors and venues change, the whole thing just becomes a jumbled mess. If you’re trying to trace the lineage of each meet, it’s impossible.

As far as I can tell, the first national indoor high school meet was the Pathmark National Scholastic Indoors held at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym in 1984. It moved to Yale in 1986 and remained at Yale in 1987 but with a different name – National Scholastic Indoor Championships without a title sponsor.

After three years at Yale, the meet move to Navy in Annapolis, Md., for one year, and then Syracuse for six years – the first five with Day 1 at Manley Fieldhouse and Day 2 at the Carrier Dome.

In 1996, the meet moved to Boston for the first time and remained there for three years  before moving to Ohio State in 1999 and for the first time being known as the Nike Indoor Classic.

After a year in Columbus, it seems to have resurfaced in 2000 with a new name and a new home – the New Balance Scholastic Championships at the Armory in New York.

In 2001, it was once again known as Nike Indoor Classic, now at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, Md., outside Washington, D.C.

After three years with one meet in Landover, it seems that 2004 was the first year nationals split into two meets.  Nike was at Prince George’s and National Scholastic was at the Armory. That setup remained until 2009, when Nike moved to the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

As far as I can tell there was only one meet in 2011, and it was called New Balance Nationals and was at the Armory. The one-meet setup appears to have continued through 2019 and then there were no meets in 2020 thanks to COVID and it appears the only meet in 2021 was something called adidas Indoor Nationals in Virginia Beach.

In 2022, all three meets were held – adidas in Virginia Beach, New Balance at the Armory and Nike a few miles away at Ocean Breeze. That created a comical situation where top athletes would shuttle between the two venues, racking up multiple All-America honors in the same event (and multiple backpacks!).

Looks like there are three meets again this year – although New Balance is now at the Reggie Lewis Center Friday and Saturday and then at THE TRACK in Boston on Sunday, and Nike – which was at Ocean Breeze last year – is now at the Armory. So the Armory will have hosted a national meet in each of the last two years … but not the same meet.

Anyway, it all seems absurd but at least high school athletes are getting another chance to compete against elite competition before outdoors starts next month.

It looks like South Jersey athletes are split between Boston and New York, so we’ll be keeping an eye on both meets all weekend.

Heat sheets for THE TRACK Nationals are here.

Heat sheets for Armory Nationals are here.

 

 

 

Widener junior Maria Muzzarelli from Buena is on her way to NCAA Division 3 nationals to compete in the 60-meter dash.

Muzzarelli is the No. 8 seed in the 60 thanks to her school-record and personal-best 7.63 to win the Middle Atlantic Conference Championship final at Alvernia-Flynn PLEX in Reading, Pa., two weeks ago. Her previous PR was a 7.69 in January at a meet at the Armory.In addition to the school record at 60 meters, Muzzarelli is No. 2 in the 200 [25.67]. Outdoors, she’s No. 2 in the 100 [12.09] and 200 [25.17] and No. 4 in the long jump [17-6 ¾] and also ran on the school record 4-by-100, which ran 47.95 in May.

The NCAA Indoor Championships are scheduled to begin Friday at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. Qualifying in the women’s 60 meters is scheduled for 2 p.n. Friday with the final at 3:25 p.m. Saturday.

At Buena, Muzzarelli placed 4th in the 55 at Group 2 states at the Bubble in February 2020 before losing her outdoor season to the COVID shutdown. She was 7th in the 100 as a senior at outdoor states at Pennsauken.

For Rowan, junior Nevaeh Lorjuste from Triton qualified in the 400 [56.82]. Also, the Profs’ 1,600-meter relay team qualified with its 3:49,78 with an expected lineup of sophomore Molly Lodge of Woodstown, junior Jasmine Pope from Pennsauken, senior Kathleen Pederson of Hillsborough and Lorjuste.

Stockton sophomore Kayla Kass from Bayonne is the No. 7 seed in the 800 with her 2:12.32 at the AARTFC meet in Rochester last weekend.

In the men’s meet, Rowan – ranked 8th nationally in NCAA Division 3 – qualified four hurdlers – sophomore Nwaku Nkrumah from Teaneck is the No. 2 seed at 7.93, junior Marquise Young from Sterling is No. 4 seed at 7.96 and freshman Jacob Kiyler from North Plainfield and sophomore Jason Agyemang from Parsippany also qualified with top-20 times across NCAA Division 3.

Freshman Damarion Potts from South Brunswick qualified in both the high jump and long jump, and Amara Conte from Ferris High in Jersey City is seeded 12th in the 400 at 47.80. Junior Nana Agyemang will join Potts in the long jump. And Rowan’s 4-by-4 is No. 2 seed at 3:12.39 with a likely lineup of Jason Agyemang, Young, Nana Agyemang and Conte.

Full men’s field is here.

Full women’s field is here.

Mainland junior Sofia Day ran the 4th-fastest 800 in South Jersey history Sunday at the Meet of Champions, placing 4th in 2:12.05 at Ocean Breeze.

She lowered her own Atlantic County record of 2:13.96 from Ocean Breeze in December and moved into the No. 23 spot on the U.S. scholastic list, one spot behind Paul VI senior Shaelan McNally, who ran 2:11.85 at Ocean Breeze last month.

The race produced six of the 21-fastest times in meet history and the fastest times for every place from 1st through 8th. Day’s time is 13th-fastest in the meet’s 45-year history. The previous-fastest 4th-place time was just last year, when Cherokee’s Kelsey Niglio ran 2:14.27 for 4th place.

Clemmie Lilly of Rumson-Fair Haven won the race in 2:08.30, breaking the meet record of 2:08.81 set in 2018 by Victoria Vanriele of Governor Livingston.

The only faster time Meet of Champions time by a South Jersey runner came 14 years ago, when Megan Tiernan of Washington Township won the 800 in 2:11.53. Tiernan went on to place 2nd at Armory Nationals but never ran outdoor track and never ran in college, opting instead to play lacrosse for Washington Township and then at Temple.

Day will race the 800 at Boston Nationals this weekend.

Haddonfield sophomore Riley Austin and Kingsway senior Kay Wiscount also ran well in the M-of-C 800, Austin in 11th place in 2:18.53 and Wiscount 13th in 2:18.79.

For Wiscount, it’s been quite a breakthrough season. Her 800 PR last winter was 2:33.53 in a meet at the Bubble and this past spring she ran 2:24.98 in a meet at Cherokee. But she’s now PR’d five times this winter  2:23.88 in Collegeville in late January, 2:22.01 at the Bubble two days later, 2:20.61 at sectionals, 2:20.26 at states and now 2:18.79 at Meet of Champs. So she’s dropped her PR more than six seconds in the last six weeks.

All-Time Meet of Champions Performance List
2:08.30 … Clemmie Lilly [Rumson-Fair Haven], 2024 [1]
2:08.81 … Victoria Vanriele [Governor Livingston], 2018 [1]
2:09.18 …….. Vanriele, 2019 [1]
2:09.73 …….. Vanriele, 2020 [1]
2:10.45 … Ajee’ Wilson [Neptune], 2009 [1]
2:10.52 … Corinne Myers [Westwood], 2014 [1]
2:11.08 … Jimmiea King [Union Catholic], 2024 [2]
2:11.13 … Olivia Nickelsen [Toms River North], 2024 3]
2:11.50 … Jasmin Jones [Hackensack], 1987 [1]
2:11.53 … Megan Tiernan [Washington Twp.], 2010 [1]
2:11.82 … Molly McNamara [Red Bank], 2010 [2]
2:11.89 … Catherine Pagano [Northern Highlands], 2015 [1]
2:11.92 … Peyton Hollis [Union Catholic], 2023 [1]
2:11.95 … Kaleigh Gunsiorowski [Union Catholic], 2023 [2]
2:12.05 … Sofia Day [Mainland Reg.], 2024 [4]
2:12.25 … Chelsea Cox [Monmouth], 2009 [2]
2:12.46 … Monica Olkowski [Cherokee], 1990 [1]
2:12.66 … Lilly Shapiro [Colts Neck], 2022 [1]
2:12.91 … Ryan Davi [Pingry School], 2018 [2]
2:12.93 … Katy Trotter [Red Bank], 2003 [1]

All-Time South Jersey Indoor 800 List
2:09.56 … Megan Tiernan [Washington Twp.], 2010
2:10.0h … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2001
2:11.85 … Shaelan McNally [Paul VI], 2024
2:12.05 … Sofia Day [Mainland Reg.], 2024
2:12.46 … Monica Olkowski [Cherokee], 1990
2:12.55 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2010
2:13.51 … Emily Duffey [Lenape], 2011
2:14.12 … Carly Pettipaw [Lenape], 2013
2:14.27 … Kelsey Niglio [Cherokee], 2023
2:14.64 … Bridget Flynn [Ocean City], 2014
2:14.5h … Ruth Lockbaum [Glassboro], 1985
2:14.6h … Michelle DiMuro [Shawnee], 1985
2:14.99 … Kami Joi Hickson [Washington Twp.], 2017
2:15.05 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2015
2:15.06 … Sydney Coppolino [Sterling], 2017
2:15.17 … Britney Kott [Millville], 2008
2:15.18 … Lindey Colflesh [Haddonfield], 2021
2:15.46 … Tara DeBrielle [Overbrook], 2000
2:15.86 … Greta Feldman [Haddonfield], 2009
2:15.89 … Kayla Martin [Seneca], 2016
2:15.90 … Felicia O’Donnell [Delsea], 2009
2:15.99 … Brooke Kott [Millville], 2008