For the first time in 19 years, Woodstown has a state champion. And Joshua Crawford has a county record.
Crawford, a Woodstown junior, ran a lifetime-best 1:59.01 and edged Shore Regional sophomore Brady McHugh by two meters to win the 800 at the state Group 1 championships Sunday at the Bubble in Toms River.
He’s Woodstown’s first indoor state champion since Brendan McDonough won the 800 in 2:00.42 at the 2006 state Group 1 meet at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym.
He broke the Salem County indoor record of 1:59.21 set at 2020 Group 1 states at the Bubble by Schalick’s Greg McGuire.
This is Crawford’s first time under two minutes indoors. His previous PR was 2:01.51 when he won sectionals last weekend. He ran 1:59.49 last spring at Group 1 states in Somerset.
Senior teammate Cole Lucas placed 4th in the same race in 2:02.59, giving the Wolverines 14 points in the 800.
Penns Grove’s Jaymes Dennison set the Salem County outdoor record of 1:52.97 at the 2013 Meet of Champions in South Plainfield. He went on to run 1:47.63 at a meet in Tempe, Ariz., in 2017 as an Iowa State junior. That’s 4th-fastest ever by a South Jersey high school graduate.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 