Over the next few weeks, we’ll spotlight 30 athletes who excelled during the outdoor track season that we didn’t have a chance to write about extensively. We’d love to write about every athlete in South Jersey, but that’s not practical. But we will try to spotlight some who may have gotten overlooked over the past few months. We apologize in advance if we don’t get to you or your son or daughter or an athlete you coach.
Today: Leeya Joseph, Sterling
Between the 100, 200, 400 and long jump, Sterling sophomore Leeya Joseph sure kept busy this spring. What was her best event? Depends what day it is.
Joseph only ran the 100 a couple times but got her time as low as 12.66 at the Camden County Meet, she ran 24.81 in the 200, which made her the No. 3 sophomore in South Jersey, behind Sianni Wynn and Olivia Okaro (and No. 6 in New Jersey), and she only ran the 400 twice but got under 60 at the Nick Baker Invitational with a 59.10, which made her the 8th-fastest soph in South Jersey, even though she never ran it after May 16.
In the long jump, Joseph was the No. 2 soph in South Jersey behind Winslow All-America Ma’Syiah Brawner. Joseph PR’d with a 17-7 ¼ for 2nd place at South Jersey Group 2 sectionals behind only Haddonfield junior Nicolette Pinkerton.
Joseph’s 24.81 is only 9-100ths of a second off the school record of 24.72 set in 2016 by Aliya Harrison, and she’s not far from the school record in the long jump – 18-0 ½ by Janell Rowe in 2017.
At sectionals, Joseph focused on the 200 and long jump and took 6th in the 200 and 2nd in the long jump, and at states she was 4th at 200 and 8th in the long jump. She also ran on Sterling’s 3rd-place 4-by-1 and 4-by-4 teams at sectionals, joined by senior Aisha Garcia, sophomore Jordan Frazier and sophomore Jessiah Gamble on the 4-by-1 and Frazier, junior Elyse Simpson and senior Ayanna Brown on the 4-by-4.
At the Penn Relays, Joseph split 58.75 on Sterling’s 4:05.36 2nd-place 4-by-4 in the South Jersey Small School race. And at the Woodbury Relays she ran on the winning DMR and 4-by-2 and 2nd-place 4-by-4 as Sterling won the Group 2 team title.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 