Senior Dakota Jones won the hurdles, placed 4th in the 55-meter dash and ran on the 3rd-place relay, and the Washington Township girls won their second consecutive South Jersey Group 4 title Friday in Toms River.
Jones won the hurdles in a lifetime-best 8.16, which broke her own Gloucester County record of 8.27 set last month at Ocean Breeze. Before that, the mark was shared by Kingsway’s Delicia Sample in 2004 and Washington Township’s Lexie Fraction in 2014. Jones also came within 7-100ths of a second off the South Jersey Group 4 meet record of 8.09 set in 2019 by Atlantic City’s Claudine Smith.
Jones ran 7.54 for 4th in the 55 after a lifetime-best 7.53 in the trials. She joined senior Meciah Howell, sophomore Layla Beasley and freshman Nia’Leila Cuascut on the 4-by-4, which clinched the team title with its 4:07.99 for 3rd place.
Washington Township won sectionals last year 84.83-42 over Eastern. It was a lot closer this year, the Minutemen edging Eastern 51-49. Going into the 4-by-4, Washington Township had 45 points and Eastern had 39. Eastern won the relay in 4;00.98 to get to 49 points, but the Minutemen needed a 3rd place or better to win the team title outright, and that’s exactly where they finished, nearly four seconds ahead of 4th-place Southern Regional.
Vineland finished 3rd with 35 ½ points, Williamstown and Cherokee tied for 4th with 32, and Kingsway scored 27.
Washington Township picked up two huge wins in the field, with junior Cali Lacovara winning the pole vault at 10-0, tying her indoor PR, and Ella Karp won her 3rd straight shot put sectional title (indoor, outdoor, indoor) with a 41-7.
Beasley also placed 5th in the 800 with a 2:25.12 and Howell was 6th in the hurdles in 8.81.
For Eastern, junior Natalie Dumas picked up three 1sts and a 2nd. She won the 400 in 1:00.62, with senior Samantha Osei-Kyei 2nd in 1:00.94, won the 800 in 2:17.15, placed 2nd in the 1,600 in 5:10.91 and ran on the winning 4-by-4 with junior Adriana Marella, Osei-Kyei and senior Jasmine Davies.
Vineland scored 34 of its 35 ½ points in the three distance races. Senior Ashlynn Newton ran an indoor PR 11:32.05 to win the 3,200 and an indoor-outdoor 8900 PR 2:19.97 for 2nd in the 800, and senior Georgina Chalow ran a lifetime-best 5:06.36 to win the 1,600 (and break her own Cumberland County indoor record of 5:07.54 set last month at the Ott Center) and an indoor PR 2:22.23 for 3rd in the 800. Also for Vineland, senior Mackenzie Chalow-Moore cleared 9-0 for 5th in the pole vault.
Kingsway senior Jonnelle Lewis won the 55, lowering her PR from 7.30 to 7.24, and freshman Noemi Haller was 3rd in the 400 in 1:01.09. Lewis and Heller were joined by senior Camryn Stanard and sophomore Norah Brown on the 2nd-place 4-by-4, which ran 4:02.92.
Williamstown got 2nds from sophomore sophomorte Timia Waters with a PR 8.46 in the hurdles and junior Brynn Greenwood with 10-0 for 2nd in the pole vault and 3rds from junior Talia Dicristofaro with an 11:40.53 for 3rd in the 3,200 and senior Addison Inge with a 5-10 clearance in the high jump.
Cherokee junior Madeline Meder ran 11:37.50 and 5:11.73 and for 2nd in the 3,200 and 3rd in the 1,600.
Atlantic County Tech sophomore Brianna Growalt recorded 3rd-place finishes in both the 55 in 7.39 and the hurdles in 8.50.
Rancocas Valley senior Kendra Green threw 38-2 for 2nd in the shot put, and senior Milena Otoo cleared 10-0 for 3rd in the pole vault.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 