Some of the usual names are missing – all-timers like Marielle Hall, English Gardner, Nia Ali, Erika Kemp and Jessica Woodard – but South Jersey nonetheless will have a strong presence at the USATF Championships this weekend at Ocean Breeze.
Seven South Jersey high school alums are listed in heat sheets for the annual U.S. Championships, which runs from 11 a.m. until about 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. until about 3 p.m. Sunday in Staten Island.
Let’s take a look!
Ryan Allen, 3,000 Walk: Kingsway’s Allen returns to the track for the first time in quite a while to compete at 3,.000 meters. According to World Athletics, his last race was Pan-Am Under 20’s over 10,000 meters in August of 2023, and I’m not totally up on walk qualifying but I would think he would have needed a more recent performance to qualify for nationals. In any case, his World Athletics page also doesn’t show any previous race at 3K. He’s listed with a 5,000 PR of 22:38.48 at the 2023 Penn Relays.
Final: 1:45 p.m. Satuday.
Josh Awotunde, Shot Put: Awotunde, a graduate of Delsea and South Carolina and the 2022 World Championship bronze medalist, returns to competition after a seven-month layoff. He last threw on July 11 at a meet in Memphis. Awotunde placed 5th at U.S. Nationals in 2019 and 2021, 3rd in 2022, 2nd in 2023 and 5th last year in an Olympic Trials year. Awotunde is No. 22 in world history and 12th U.S. all-time with his 73-1 ½ when he placed 3rd at Worlds in Eugene in 2022.
Final: 1:45 p.m. Sunday
Ajani Dwyer, 60-Meter Dash: Dwyer, a Penn State freshman from Washington Township, is ranked 34th in the world and 13th in the U.S. with a 6.57 at the Ott Center in West Philly in his second collegiate meet. Dwyer, who doesn’t turn 19 until May, will be one of the youngest competitors at U.S. Nationals.
Semifinal: 1:19 p.m. Saturday
Final: 2:54 p.m. Sunday
Kaitlyn Dermen, Pole Vault: Derman, a graduate of Millville and All-America at Stockton, will be competing in her first national championship. She’s cleared an indoor-PR 14-1 ¼ this year at the Millrose Games at the Armory and has a lifetime best of 14-4 from a meet in Basking Ridge this past July. She’s one of 11 women in the pole vault field.
Final: 1 p.m. Saturday.
Greg Foster, Long Jump, 60-Meter Hurdles: After an 11-month layoff after foot surgery, Foster is back for his junior year at Princeton, Foster, who grew up in Lumberton and attended Lawrenceville School, has jumped 25-8 ¼ and hurdled a PR 7.89 so far this indoor season. He has PRs of 26-1 ¾ in the long jump and 50-7 ½ in the triple (although he hasn’t triple jumped since since last year’s indoor Heps). Foster is able to compete at nationals since Heps aren’t until next weekend in Ithaca, and he’s able to compete in both the hurdles and long jump because they’re on different days.
Hurdles semifinal: 4:25 p.m. Saturday
Hurdles final: 6:38 p.m. Saturday
Long jump final: 1:36 p.m. Sunday
Elisia Lancaster, Weight Throw: Another thrower from the Delsea throws factory, Lancaster is back at nationals after competing in the weight throw last indoor season and the hammer last spring. She has PRs of 220-11 ½ in the hammer from a meet in Idaho last May and 78-2 ¼ in the weight, which she hit last January in a meet in Bloomington, Ind. Lancaster won the Millrose Games weight throw earlier this month at the Armory with a 72-0 ¾.
Final: 11 a.m. Sunday
Tionna Tobias, Long Jump: Winslow and Iowa graduate popped a wild PR 22-9 last July in Gainesville, about a 1 ½-foot PR. Tobias finished No. 5 in the world for 2024 and No. 3 in the U.S., and she’s now No. 20 oin the all-time U.S. list. She’s jumped 20-8 this indoor season and just got her first taste of international competition, competing in meets earlier this month in Paris and Berlin. Her indoor PR is 21-0 ¼ from the New Mexico Collegiate Classic in Albuquerque last February. Tobias was the Big Ten heptathlon champion in 2023 with 5,640 points.
Final: 4:30 p.m. Saturday
Meet schedule: Click here.
Full entry list: Click here.
Ticket information: Click here.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 