From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

South Jersey Group 1 is traditionally strong compared to Group 1 in the rest of the state, but this year Group 1 has outdone itself.

This is the strongest South Jersey Group 1 in history, and it’s not close.

I took at look at the overall New Jersey Group 1 rankings in all 18 events that will be contested at states to see exactly how strong South Jersey Group 1 is compared to the rest of the state, and the results are amazing.

I scored South Jersey Group 1 vs. Central, North 1 and North 2 combined using the traditional 10-8-6-4-2-1 scoring system, and South Jersey wins 349.33-208.67 over the field.

In other words, South Jersey scored 63 percent of the available points in a mock state Group 1 meet based on current state rankings listed on MileSplit. Based simply on enrollment figures, each section should be at 25 percent. South Jersey is 2 ½ times that.

Several events are almost completely dominated by SJ-1. The top three seeds in the 100, 200, discus and 400-meter hurdles are all from South Jersey. In fact, SJ-1 has all six of the top seeds in the intermediates.

South Jersey has three of the top four seeds in five other events – the 400, 1,600, 400-meter relay, 1,600-meter relay and shot put.

The only events South Jersey doesn’t have the top performer in Group 1 are the 4-by-8, high jump and javelin. The only events South Jersey doesn’t score at least 14 points in a mock Group 1 meet are the high jump and javelin. The only event South Jersey doesn’t have at least three of the top six performers is the javelin. Come on, SJ-1 javelin throwers, let’s get after it!

(Remember, these stats aren’t an exact representation of the South Jersey Group 1 sectional, since Florence is in Central Jersey Group 1. But they do represent how South Jersey Group 1 athletes compare to Group 1 from the rest of the state.)

Let’s take a look event-by-event at how dominating South Jersey Group 1 is compared to the rest of the state:

100-meter dash [24 ½ of 31 points]: : Malachi James of Burlington, Barone VanKline of Florence and Brysheen Ferguson are the three-fastest Group 1 sprinters at 100 meters, with Gateway’s Lloyd Shambry, Glassboro freshman Xavier Sabb and Woodbury’s Marquis Taylor also in the top 10.

200-meter dash [30 of 31 points]: : South Jersey goes 1-2-3-4-5 in the 200, with James, Taylor, Jamir Brown of Riverside, VanKline and Clayton’s Alexander Osayemi in the top five spots.

400-meter dash [24 of 31 points]: : Osayemi and Taylor are in the top two spots in the 400, with Glassboro’s Cartrell Moore and Woodbury’s Jayden Johnson 4th and 5th.

800-meter run [16 of 31 points]: : Peyton Shute of Woodbury and Cole Lucas of Woodstown are the No. 1 and 3 half-milers in Group 1

1,600-meter run [20 of 31 points]: : Shute, Glassboro’s Elijah Whitaker and Haddon Township’s Jackson Sennhenn are the No. 1, 3 and 4 seeds in the 1,600.

3,200-meter run [21 of 31 points]: : Shute and Whitaker are again No .1 and 2 with Glassboro’s Ty Blackman and Audubon’s Aiden Williams 5th and 6th.

110-meter hurdles [20 of 31 points]: : Brown and Parker are the two-fastest hurdlers in Group 1 with Gloucester’s Jaden Garris 5th.

400-meter hurdles [31 of 31 points]: : This is nuts, but the top six Group 1 hurdlers (and eight of the top 10) are from South Jersey: Brown, Moore, Palmyra’s Abdulazeez Iyiola, Garris, Osayemi and Parker.

400-meter relay [25 of 31 points]: : More South Jersey dominance in the 4-by-1 with Glassboro and Woodbury in the top two spots, then Riverside, Penns Grove and Clayton 4th through 6th.

1,600-meter relay [22 of 31 points]: : Glassboro, Woodbury, Gloucester and Audubon are No. 1, 3, 4 and 5 in the 4-by-4.

3,200-meter relay [14 of 31 points]: : One of the few events South Jersey doesn’t dominate. But still Woodstown is No. 2, Woobury No. 4 and Schalick No. 5 for a projected 14 points.

High jump [6 of 31 points]: : A lot of tiebreakers at work here, but Amari and Xavier Sabb of Glassboro, Reggie Allen Jr. of Schalick, Gloucester’s Ryan James, Woodstown’s Tyler Dolby and Riveside’s Carmine Smith have all cleared 6-2 and are part of a seven-way tie for 4th place. That means seven jumpers split a total of seven points, and the South Jersey contingent gets six of them.

Long jump [17 of 31 points]: : Riverside’s Brown is No. 1 seed in the long jump as well as both hurdles, Glassboro’s Moore is No. 3 and Darien Woodbury of Florence is 6th.

Triple Jump [17 of 31 points]: : Moore is the top seed in the triple jump, Penns Grove’s Khalim Smith is 4th and two Salem jumpers are 5th and 6th – Davi’Yonn Jackson and Davonte Jackson.

Pole Vault [17 of 31 points]: : Audubon’s Leo Davis is the No. 1 seed, Jacob George of Haddon Township is 4th and Gloucester’s James is 5th. Jack Mazzoni of Buena and Audubon’s Dylan Gallagher share the No. 6 seed.

Shot put [20 of 31 points]: : Glassboro’s Damere Lassiter, Paulsboro’s Javion Payne and Glassboro’s Jeremiah Jones are No. 1, 3 and 4 in Group 1

Discus [24 of 31 points]: : Lassiter, Payne and Audubon’s Jacob Holland are the top three seeds.

Javelin [1 of 31 points]: In South Jersey Group 1’s weakest event, Gloucester’s Justice Dolson is the No. 6 seed in the javelin.