Delsea’s sprinters, throwers, hurdlers, jumpers, vaulters and distance runners all contributed to the Crusaders’ 7th consecutive sectional title this weekend at their home facility in Franklinville.
Delsea scored 49 points in the sprints, 26 in the throws, 16 in the jumps, 14 in distance and four in the hurdles on its way to the South Jersey Group 3 Championship.
Talk about a true team effort!
Delsea topped a talented and young Winslow Township team, 109-88. More on Winslow below.
Delsea’s remarkable streak of seven straight sectional titles is 3rd-longest in South Jersey sectional history and longest in nearly four decades.
Penns Grove won 10 straight titles from 1977 through 1986 (seven in Group 2, three in Group 1) and Woodbury won nine straight from 1969 through 1977 (all in Group 1). State-wide, the only longer streaks belong to Metuchen, who won 16 straight from 1993 through 2008, all in Central Jersey Group 1, and Somerville, who won eight straight in Central Jersey Group 2 from 2001 through 2008, although the final one was a tie with Ewing. So Delsea has the 4th-longest streak in state history of consecutive outright titles. And they almost certainly would have won in 2020 if the season hadn’t been cancelled.
Overall, Delsea has won 10 sectional championships, Group 3 in 2006 and 2007, Group 2 in 2010, Group 3 in 2017 and 2018, Group 2 in 2019 and 2021 and now Group 3 in 2022 and 2023.
For Delsea, senior sprinters Christian Langston and Julian Conigliaro both had big weekends for Delsea. Langston ran 21.73 for 2nd in the 200, placed 2nd in the long jump at 21-8 and ran on Delsea’s winning 4-by-1 relay [42.23] and 2nd-place 4-by-4 [3:19.89]. And Conigliaro ran 10.74 and 21.76 for 2nd in the 100 and 3rd in the 200. (He also may have been on the 4-by-1 but the listed runners are senior Xavier Wyatt, senior Dante McGrenehan, Langston and junior Eric Grant). Wyatt also placed 6th in the 200 in 22.64.
Junior Jonathan Harris bombed a a lifetime-best 63-0 ½ to win the shot. That’s No. 7 in South Jersey history and was the best throw at any of this weekend’s sectional meets. It was the best throw by any South Jersey thrower at any sectional meet since Bridgeton’s Braheme Days Jr. won South Jersey Group 2 with a 64-5 ¾ throw at Buena in 2012. It’s also the best throw by a South Jersey underclassman since Days threw 68-8 ½ at Penn that spring.
Harris also placed 2nd in the discus at 148-10 and senior Greg Masso took 2nd in the shot at 58-4.
All-Time South Jersey Shot Put List
68-8 ½ … Braheme Days Jr. [Bridgeton] 2012
64-10 ½ … Jon Kalnas [Paulsboro], 1997
64-6 ¼ … Ron Dayne [Overbook], 1996
64-5 … Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], 1995
64-4 ¼ … Chris Robinson [Penns Grove], 1990
63-2 ½ … Jason Nwosu [Delsea], 2022
63-0 ½ … Jonathan Harris [Delsea], 2024
63-0 … Lou Gordon [Bridgeton], 1995
62-10 ¼ … Nick Pulli [West Deptford], 2014
62-10 … Anthony Liakhnovich [Hammonton], 2024
61-11 ¾ … Kamron Kobolak [Cinnaminson], 2018
Delsea’s 2nd-place 4-by-4 included Wyatt, McGrenehan, Langston [49.43] and sophomore Matthew Littlehales [49.09].
Littlehales also ran a huge PR in the 800, placing 2nd in 1:54.93, fastest in New Jersey this year by a 10th-grader and 4th-fastest in all of Group 3. It’s also fastest by any South Jersey soph since 2016, when R.V.’s Jacob Tyndale ran 1:54.33 at the state Group 4 meet at Egg Harbor. Littlehales also ran 4:26.54 for 3rd in the 1,600.
McGrenehan ran a PR 48.57 for 2nd place in the 400. That’s No. 12 in Gloucester County history – with three of the top 12 coming this weekend [Alexander Osayemi 47.98, Marquis Taylor 48.33].
Junior Henry Cifaloglio cleared 13-0 and tied for 3rd in the pole vault, and senior Carlos Reyes cleared 12-6 for 6th place.
Sophomore Quincy Matthews placed 4th in the 110-meter hurdles with a big PR of 15.18. His previous best was a 15.42 two weeks ago.
Junior Bonds hit a PR 43-6 on his first attempt in the triple jump and finished in 5th place.
Winslow was led by juniors Jayden Poteat and Dominic Bassey, who ran five races and PR’d in all five.
Poteat recorded a monster triple, winning the 100 in 10.69, the 200 in 21.67 and the 400 in 48.44. He’s the No. 2 seed at states in the 100 and No. 1 in the 200 and 400. More on Poteat later this week.
Bassey won the 800 in a PR 1:54.08 and the 400-meter hurdles in 54.22, also a lifetime best. He’ll be top-seeded in the intermediates and No. 2 in the 800. He also ran on two winning relay teams for four total gold medals.
Winslow also piled up 26 points in the three relays. Freshman Jabril Hammond, senior Kenneth Everett Jr., sophomore Nyqir Helton and senior Darrell Jackson Jr. ran 42.88 in the 4-by-1, junior Chukwuemeka Ajaegbulemh [48.50 split], Bassey, senior Semaj Anderson and Jackson [48.63] ran 3:19.56 to win the 4-by-4, and Ajaegbulemh, Bassey [1:54.19 split], Anderson and junior David Duran ran 8:03.13 to win the 4-by-8. Winslow is top-seeded at states in the two longer relays and 3rd-seeded in the 4-by-1.
Other winners:
☑️ Deptford junior Marcus Hood earned the No. 1 pole vault seed with a lifetime-best 15-3 clearance, the best vault in South Jersey Group 3 in 33 years, since Absegami’s Brandon Kurtz cleared 15-7 in 1991. He’s now No. 11 in South Jersey history and No. 4 in Gloucester County history, behind Delsea’s Nico Morales [15-7 in 2019], Kingsway’x Dylan Altland [15-6 in 2014] and Delsea’s Marco Morales [15-6 in 2019]. Deptford vaulters have won the PV at sectionals five times since 2018: James Lynch in 2018 and 2019, Julian Rodriguez in 2021, Gursharan Singh in 2022 and now Hood.
☑️ Moorestown senior Rece Englehart recorded a big horizontal jump double, winning the long jump at 23-6 and the triple jump with a 47-4 ½. Both are the top marks in Group 3 going into states. Englehart matched the No. 2 triple jump mark in Burlington County history behind Marcos Edgehill of Pemberton, who jumped 47-9 at the 1981 Penn Relays. Rancocas Valley’s Zakiyy Williams also jumped 47-4 ½.
All-Time South Jersey Triple Jump List
50-9 ¼ … Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], 2018
50-6 ¾ …. Dominique Irons [Haddon Heights], 2013
50-2 ½ … Floyd Whitaker [Highland], 2019
48-10 ½ … Larry Russell [Timber Creek], 2015
48-3 ¼ … Ryan Chance [Glassboro], 2009
48-1 ½ … Mubeen Momodu [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2019
48-1 ¼ … Orion Joyner [Kingsway], 2019
48-0 ……. Josh Butler [Delsea], 2006
47-9 ¼ … Marcus Edghilll [Pemberton], 1981
47-7 ½ … Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2014
47-7 ½ … Jaden Johnson [Timber Creek], 2022
47-6 ½ … Chris Roundtree [Haddon Hts.], 2009
47-5 ¼ … Kevin Kevelier [Collingswood], 2019
47-5 ………Steven Brown [Penns Grove], 2009
47-4 ¾ … Cheo King [Woodbury], 2017
47-4 ½ … Zakiyy Williams [Rancocas Valley], 2017
47-4 ½ … Rece Englehart [Moorestown], 2024
47-4 …….. Tristan Wilson [Delsea], 2014
47-3 ¼ … Antwan Dickerson [Pennsauken], 2013
47-3 …….. Mike Baker [Cherry Hill West], 1976
47-0 ½ … Mawali Osunniyi [Mainland Reg.], 2023
47-0 ¼ … Earnest Daniel [Kingsway], 2017
☑️ Ocean City’s Matt Hoffman doubled the 1,600 in 4:24.39 and the 3,200 in 9:27.58. He’s the 5th Ocean City runner to record that 1,600-3,200 double: John Richardson in 2001, Brett Johnson in 2007 and 2008, Miles Schoedler in 2010 and Nick Scarangelli last year.
☑️ Cherry Hill West senior Noah Casa won the high hurdles in 14.57 and is the 3rd seed at states. Casa had a PR of 15.24 before sectionals. Casa is Cherry Hill West’s 1st sectional champion in 14 years, since Jon Smith won the long jump in 2010 at 2-10. Casa also placed 3rd in the 400IH in a PR 55.55 and is the No. 5 seed in the long hurdles at states.
☑️ Highland junior Jayden DeLeon won the high jump with a PR 6-8. He’s the first Highland jumper to clear 6-8 since Reggie Williams hit 7-0 at the 1997 Meet of Champions.
☑️ Hammonton junior Anthony Liakhnovich won the discus with a 172-6 to earn the top seed at states. He also threw 56-10 ¼ for 3rd in the shot, where he’ll be the No. 4 seed in Group 3.
☑️ Camden Eastside junior Elijah Thompson threw a lifetime-best 171-0 to win the javelin. That was a nearly 11-foot PR for the first-year thrower.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 