From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

I wish I could do a story on every South Jersey athlete who medaled or PR’d Friday in the three state meets, but it’s humanly impossible.

So here’s a glance at some of the South Jersey highlights at the Group 1 and 4 meets in Somerset, the Group 2 and 3 meets at Delsea and the Parochial A & B meets in Galloway Township.

If I didn’t mention you or your athlete, I’m sorry. I had to cut each event off somewhere!

Day 2 is scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

Boys
Group 1
Glassboro has already piled up 37 points and leads Woodbury 37-30 , with Manville [22] and Riverside [18] sitting in 3rd and 4th. Ten of the top 14 teams in NJ-1 are from South Jersey. Woodbury won the 4-by-1 in 42.35 with Shiwoe Varpilah, Dante Viccharelli, Darien Dunbar and Marquis Taylor, with Glassboro 2nd in 42.59, Riverside 3rd at 43.05, Clayton 4th in 43.37 and Paulsboro 5th in 43.41 in a 1-2-3-4-5 South Jersey sweep. Pitman senior Peyton Shute won the 800 in 1:52.05 and the 3,200 in 9:26.98. Burlington City’s Malachi James cruised to a 100 win in 10.47 after setting a meet record of 10.45 in the trials – with legal wind! Florence junior Barone VanKline made it a 1-2 BCSL finish with a PR 10.89, with Gateway’s Lloyd Shambry 3rd at 11.92. A fast 1-2-3-4 400IH finish for South Jersey, with Riverside’s Jamir Brown winning in 53.52, Palmyra’s Abdulazeez Iyiola 2nd in 53.92, Glassboro’s Cartrell Moore 3rd in 54.17 and Gloucester’s Jaden Garis 4th in 55.45. Glassboro’s Damere Lassiter won the discus by more than 12 feet with a 169-6 and also had a 168-8 in his series. Salem’s Davi’Yonn Jackson won the triple jump at 46-4.

Group 2
Camden, seeking its first state title in 19 years, got off to a hot start with a win in the 400-meter relay and also got wins from soph Jaiden Steele in the 100 [10.68] and high jumper Teron Murray [6-6], and the Panthers have a 13-point lead over Demarest, 34-21. Bordentown’s Brock Schenck won the discus at 171-3 and averaged 168-11 on four legal throws.

Group 3
Robbinsville and Morris Knolls lead the way with 26 and 24 points, with Winslow [18] and Delsea [16] sitting in 3rd and 4th. Winslow junior Dominic Bassey ran a huge PR 1:52.15 for 2nd in the 800. Hammonton junior Anthony Liakhnovich hit 172-0 for 2nd in the discus.

Group 4
Washington Township [19], Rancocas Valley [11] and Cherokee [10] are all in double figures and in 3rd, 6th and 7th place. Westfield leads the group with 36 points, followed by Toms River North with 28. Washington Township won the 400-meter relay with Yashahya Brown, Jack Schuck, Aidan Ellis and John Santos in 41.94. Cherry Hill East’s Ashraf Maklache PR’d with a 53.48 for 2nd in the 400IH. Cherokee’s Nick Kuenkel ran a PR 9:05.87 for 2nd in the 3,200. Rancocas Valley’s David Goldbolt won the high jump at 6-6 on fewer misses at 6-4.

Parochial
Bishop Eustace senior Shawn Brady bombed a 179-1 to win the Parochial B discus over Josh Huisman of St. Rose, who had not lost a discus competition this year.

Girls
Group 1
Five of the top six teams going into Day 2 are from South Jersey, although Hasbrouck Heights leads with 32 points. Audubon has 30, Salem 19, Clayton 18, Schalick 17 and Woodbury 16. Salem got a win in the 4-by-1 with Sairis Jiminez, Karima Davenport-White, Morgan VanDover and Rhionna Timmons. Woodbury [49.68] and Glassboro [49.90] took 2nd and 3rd. Audubon got 14 points from sophomore Riley Fayer, who was 2nd in the 800 [2:17.93] and 3rd in the 3,200 [11;13.65], and a win from senior Arianna Bittner in the 400 hurdles. Riverside junior Sydney Greenidge took 2nd in the 100 with a 12.37, and Schallick junior Jordan Hadfield won the 3,200 in 11:03.29. Pennsville junior Megan Morris cleared 10-0 to win the pole vault.

Group 2
Haddonfield and Willingboro are sitting in 2nd and 3rd with 27 points and 22 points. Rumson-Fair Haven leads Group 2 with 31 points after one day. Willingboro picked up 14 poin ts in the 100 with freshman Maya Bolden 2nd in 12.07 and junior Nester Wea 3rd in 12.14. Haddonfield’s Ava Thomas ran 11:00.56 for 2nd in the 3,200.

Group 3
Behind its sprint strength, Timber Creek has built a 14-point lead over 2nd-place Old Tappan in Group 3. A 1-2 finish in the 100 from Naylah Jones and Ryan Jennings and a win by the 400-meter relay team account for 28 of their 32 points. Old Tappan has 19 and Winslow 18. Mainland’s Sofia Day won the 800 with a PR 2:12.55. Ocean City senior Sophia Curtis PR’d with a 59.80 in the 400 hurdlers (more on that race soon). Winslow soph Ma’Syiah Brawner had a wind-legal 19-3 ½ win in the long jump., with Absegami junior Jaidah Garrett also over 19 feet at 19-0 ½. Moorestown junior Hannah Byrd-Leitner cleared 12-7 to win the pole vault and break the Group 3 meet record of 12-6 set in 2018 by Delsea’s Ashley Preston. She also tied the overall meet record set by Emma Keating of Pompton Lakes in 2023.

Group 4
Eastern and Toms River North are tied with 24 points, with Hillsborough , Pennsauken, Washington Township and Cherokee all within range, Hillsborough with 23 points, Pennsauken 20, Washington Township 19 and Cherokee 16. For Pennsauken, Sianni Wynn won the 100 in 11.52 and anchored the winning 4-by-1 with Abigayle John, Sanaya Dupree and Amina Dyer. Cherokee took 2nd in 48.38. Eastern soph Natalie Dumas won the intermediates in 1:01.83 and teammate Zoe Goldberg won the javelin at 140-9.

Parochial
Hammonton senior Jalia Cooper threw 104-4 to win the Parochial B javelin. She’s Hammonton’s 3rd state javelin champ in the last eight years. In 2018, Alexa Gardner threw 142-1 to win Parochial B in 2017 and 135-7 to win in 2018. As we wrote earlier, Paul VI’s Shaelan McNally broke the Parochial A meet record with a 10:24.00 win in the 3,200.