Ocean City senior Sophia Curtis and Winslow sophomore Ma’Syiah Brawner – two of the most talented and versatile athletes in the state – locked up in a historic triple jump battle Saturday, with both elite horizontal jumpers PR’ing on their final attempt and Curtis winning it with the 4th-best jump in state history.
Going into their 6th and final jumps at the State Group 3 meet at Delsea, Curtis led the competition with a 39-11 ¼ on her 1st attempt. She added two more 39-11’s on her 2nd and 3rd attempts and after a foul, she jumped 39-4 ½ on her 5th.
Brawner also had a monster series, with jumps of 38-1, 39-7 ¾, 39-7 ¾, 39-6 ½ and 38-8 leading up to her final attempt.
Brawner then took the lead with her PR 40-2 ½ with a legal 1.7 tailwind. Then Curtis, facing the final jump of the competition, soared 41-9 ½, only 4 ½ inches shy of the South Jersey record of 42-2 set by Atlantic City’s Claudine Smith at the 2019 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.
Curtis’s previous outdoor PR was a 40-10 ¼ at the Penn Relays in April. She has an indoor PR of 41-3 ¼ from her 3rd-place finish at Boston Nationals in March.
Brawner’s previous PR was a 39-10 ¼ last June when she won the freshman triple jump at West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field.
On Friday, Curtis placed 2nd in the 400 hurdles with a lifetime-best 59.80, 5th-fastest in South Jersey history and placed 4th in the long jump with a 17-5 ¼.
Brawner won the long jump Friday with a monster PR 19-3 ½ and placed 2nd on fewer misses at 5-5 in the high jump and placed 6th in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.01 on Saturday.
All-Time New Jersey Triple Jump List
44-11 … Keturah Orji [Mount Olive], 2013
42-2 ¾ … Charlene Cummings [Englewood], 1998
42-2 ….… Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2019
41-9 ½ … Sophia Curtis [Ocean City], 2024
41-7 ½ … Mahogany Jenkins [Watchung Hills], 2019
40-10 ¼ … Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2014
40-9 ½ … Iana Amsterdam [Essex Tech], 2013
40-7 ¾ … Kayla Richardson [Columbia], 2013
40-7 … Shenaie Herber [JFK Paterson], 2008
40-7 … Faith Bethea [Snyder], 2022
40-6 ¾ … Tiffany Bautista [Paramus Catholic], 2018
40-6 ¼ … Essence Mayers [Lakewood], 2011
40-6 … Jordan Fields [Columbia], 2016
40-5 ….. Nnenna Ibe [North Brunswick], 2015
40-4 ½ … Adefunke Sonaike [Montgomery], 2011
40-3 ¼ … Ebony Young [Hillsborough], 2009
40-2 ½ … Ma’Syiah Brawner [Winslow Twp.], 2024
40-1 ¼ … Kaitlin Salisbury [Hawthorne], 2016
40-1 …… Domonique Pantin [Freehold Twp.], 2015
40-0 ¼ … Stephanie McIntyre [South Brunswick], 2007
40-0 ……….Bonvie Fosam [Robbinsville], 2017
40-0 ………. Ada Unachukwu [Marlboro], 2009
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 