From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

When Curtis Thompson locked up his 2nd straight Olympic Trials javelin title and 4th U.S. title in six years, I started wondering how many other New Jersey athletes won four national track titles since the inception of a U.S. track championship meet in 1876.

I enlisted the help of New Jersey track historian Jim Lambert, and between the two of us – and also drawing on the posthumous assistance of New Jersey track legend Ed Grant – we came up with what we believe is a complete list of every New Jersey native that’s won at least four national titles.

This isn’t as easy task because it’s very difficult to get information on some of the multiple winners from the 19th Century and early 20th Century. Some of these guys grew up in New Jersey and went to high school in New Jersey but never competed for their high school because HS track wasn’t a thing yet.

For instance, I had never heard of Platt Adams before, but he grew up in Newark and attended Newark High – which became Barringr – around the turn of the century. He won an incredible 11 U.S. titles in various events, including the “pole vault for distance.”

There’s a guy named Elmore Harris who won four U.S. titles in the 220, 440 and 200 hurdles in the 1940s and is listed in various published accounts as hailing from Long Beach, N.J., although after about an hour on the case I discovered that while he did live in New Jersey he actually went to high school at Dover State in Normal, Ala.

What’s amazing about all this is that Thompson is one of only five New Jersey men to win the same event four times – and one of only three since 1950. The others are Carl Lewis in both the 100 and long jump, Dennis Mitchell in the 100, Almonesson’s Mel Sheppard in the 880, Eulace Peacock in the pentathlon and Adams in the pole vault for distance.

Pretty good company!

And Thompson is only 28 and at the top of his game, and he’s not going away.

So here’s our working list of four-time U.S. champions from New Jersey. If you notice any names missing please let us know in the comment section.

And thanks to Lambo for his help with this!

Men
13 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro]
100-Meter Dash: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1990
200-Meter Dash: 1983, 1987
Long Jump: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1991

11 … Platt Adams [Newark High / Barringer]
Long Jump: 1908, 1911, 1912, 1914
Triple Jump: 1907, 1908, 1912
Pole Vault for Distance: 1910, 1913, 1914, 1915

8 … Eulace Peacock [Union]
100-Meter Dash: 1935
Long Jump: 1935
Pentathlon: 1933, 1934, 1937, 1943, 1944, 1945

5 … Marty Liquori [Cedar Grove / Essex Catholic]
Mile: 1969, 1971
5,000-Meter Run: 1975, 1977, 1978

5 … Mel Sheppard [Almonesson, Brown Prep (Philadelphia)]
880-Yard Run: 1906, 1907, 1908, 1911, 1912

4 … Dennis Mitchell [Winslow Township, Edgewood High School]
100-Meter Dash: 1992, 1994, 1996, 1999

4 … Curtis Thompson [Florence]
Javelin: 2018, 2021, 2023, 2024

4 … Andy Stanfield [Jersey City, Lincoln High]
100-Meter Dash: 1949
200-Meter Dash: 1949, 1952, 1953

3 … Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains, Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School]
110-Meter Hurdles; 1978, 1979, 1980

3 … Al Blozis [Garfield, Dickinson]
Shot Put: 1940, 1941, 1942

3 … Charlie Pratt [Palmyra]
Decathlon: 1957
200-Meter Hurdles: 1955, 1956

Women
6 … Keturah Orji [Mount Olive]
Triple Jump: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022

4 … Carol Lewis [Willingboro]
Long Jump: 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986

5 … Joetta Clark [South Orange, Columbia]
800-Meter Run: 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994

5 … Hazel Clark [South Orange, Columbia]
800-Meter Run: 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009

4 … Ajee Wilson [Neptune]
800-Meter Run: 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019