Junior Riley Fayer won the 800 and placed 2nd in the 1,600 and 3,200, and the Audubon girls won their 3rd indoor sectional championship and 2nd in a row Saturday in Toms River.
Fayer won the 800 in 2:23.12 and placed 2nd to Schalick senior Jordan Hadfield in the 1,600 and 3,200, single-handedly scoring nearly half of Audubon’s points – 26 of 53 – as the Green Wave came out on top of a wild seven-team race.
Woodbury placed 2nd with 42 points, followed by Schalick [38], Woodstown [37], Haddon Township [35], Glassboro [30] and Clayton [28].
Audubon also won the 2020 and 2024 South Jersey Group 1 titles. They’re the first to repeat in SJ-1 since Collingswood in 2018 and 2019.
Senior Elizabeth Butrica won the pole vault at 10-0 for Audubon, and sophomore Isabella Legatie ran 2:26.95 for 2nd place in the 800 and also ran on Audubon’s 2nd-place 4-by-4 team, with junior Kylie Tocco, Micayla Cary and Sophia Rizzo. They ran 4:19.84 and placed 2nd to Woodbury. Tocco also placed 6th in the 400 with a 1:04.11.
Woodbury got wins from junior Zaryn Cooper with a 8.71 in the 55-meter hurdles and senior Demirah Jones with a PR 7.37 in the 55 and from the 4-by-4 with junior KaChar Woods, junior Ayanna Miller, Jones and Cooper running 4:15.91. Sophomore De’Naysha Coleman cleared 5-0 for 3rd place in the high jump.
Schalick senior Jordan Hadfield doubled the 1,600 in 5:08.12 and the 3,200 in 11:17.83 and anchored the 3rd-place relay team. Senior Gia Martellacci, sophomore Brooke Valentine, senior Allyson Green and Hadfield ran 4:23.09. Also Martellacci ran 1:02.56 for 3rd in the 400.
Glassboro junior Sunsarai Moore won the shot put at 36-11 ½, the best throw this year by a New Jersey Group 1 girl, and senior Ashley Armstrong won the high jump at 5-2, a lifetime best. Junior Heaven Franklin also placed in the shot put, taking 3rd with a 31-4 ½.
Woodstown got big points from senior Jaime Deal, junior Kami Casiano and freshman Abby Marino. Deal was 2nd in the 400 in 1:00.61, a lifetime best (she doesn’t run outdoors), Casiano placed 2nd in the high jump with a 5-0 clearance tying her PR and Marino ran 3rd in the 3,200 in 12:41.77, also a PR.
Haddon Township senior Emersen Levins tied her PR with a 10-0 clearance for 2nd place in the pole vault and junior Casey Birdwell PR’d at 9.29 for 2nd in the hurdles.
Clayton senior Leila Ortiz won the 400 in 1:00.17 and was 2nd in the 55 in 7.52. Also for the Clippers, senior Miyana Johnson ran 7.59 for 3rd in the 55.
Salem junior Ava Rodgers threw 31-10 ¼ for 2nd in the shot put and Lower Cape May junior Jenna Hill [5:41.79, 1,600], Camden senior Brooklyn Brown [9.36, hurdles], West Deptford junior Kayla Romanowski ]2:28.50, 800] and Pennsville senior Megan Morris [9-6, pole vault] also registered 3rd-place finishes.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 