Paul VI senior Christian Napoli and Winslow senior Dominic Bassey both raced their way into the all-time South Jersey top-10 at 800 meters at the 57th annual Meet of Champions Sunday at Ocean Breeze in Staten Island.
Napoli ran ran 1:53.59 and placed 5th, and Bassey ran 1:54.05 and placed 7th. They now rank 7th and 9th on the all-time South Jersey indoor 800-meter performance list.
Napoli broke the Camden County record of 1:54.54 set last month at Ocean Breeze by Bassey. And Bassey lowered his own PR but lost his county record. Napoli and Bassey are now No. 1 and 2 in Camden County indoor history.
Napoli only ran 1:59.00 last spring and had a PR of 1:57.25 from his win at Parochial A states last weekend. He’s lowered his PR from 1:59.00 to 1:53.59 – about 5 ½ seconds – since Jan. 22.
Bassey ran 1:52.15 last year when he placed 2nd at Group 3 states, fastest by a Camden County half-miler in 46 years. But he opted for the intermediate hurdles at the Meet of Champions and placed 4th with a 53.35.
Napoli’s time is 6th-fastest ever run by a South Jersey half-miler at the Meet of Champions, and Bassey’s is 8th-fastest.
The race the fastest times for 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th place in meet history.
Pleasantville’s Melvin Lewis ran a big indoor PR 1:57.25 in the first of three 800 heats and finished 12th overall. WOodstown junior Joshua Crawford, the state Group 1 champ, lowered his PR about 1 1/2 seconds to 1:57.65 in the 2nd heat and lowered his own Salem County record and finished 14th overall.Ocean City senior Kal Heyman, who didn’t break 2:03 until last month, ran 1:58.28 in the first heat and finished 18th overall. And Haddonfield junior Aaron Keith also ran sub-1:59, placing 21st in 1:58.64. Heyman doesn’t appear in the results at states, so not sure what happened to advance him to the Meet of Champs or whether there was a mistake in the results, but he took advantage of the opportunity with a big PR.
1:51.52 … Jacob Clark [Pleasantville], 2013
1:51.72 … Isaac Clark [Pleasantville], 2013
1:51.80 … Derrell Manhertz [Kingsway], 2013
1:52.46 … Gabriel Moronta [Pleasantville], 2020
1:52.74 … Bobby Poplau [Cherokee], 2024
1:53.51 … Alan Laws [Pleasantville], 2007
1:53.59 … Christian Napoli [Paul VI], 2025
1:53.68 … Ishmael Muhammad [Oakcrest], 2013
1:54.05 … Dominic Bassey [Winslow Twp.], 2025
1:54.53 … Stone Caraccio [Kingsway], 2020
1:54.73 … Chris Manzo [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2024
1:54.80 … Marvin Lewis [Willingboro], 2001
1:54.81 … Bill Dolan [Clearview], 2013
1:54.82 … Xavier Fraction [Washington Twp.], 2009
1:55.00 … Steve Butenewicz [Delsea], 2011
All-Time Meet of Champions 800 Performance List
[South Jersey runners in bold]
1:50.90 … Colin Boler [Delbarton], 2023 [1]
1:51.62 … Ryan Daly [Westfield], 2025 [1]
1:51.72 … Isaac Clark [Pleasantville], 2013 [1]
1:51.80 … Derrell Manhertz [Kingsway], 2013 [2]
1:51.93 … Luke Schagelin [Morris Knolls], 2024 [1]
1:52.09 … Taysaun Wilson [Toms River North], 2025 [2]
1:52.89 … Luke Schagelin [Morris Knolls], 2023 [2]
1:52.15 … Jacob Clark [Pleasantville], 2013 [3]
1:52.18 … Rey Rivera [Old Bridge], 2017 [1]
1:52.24 … Allen Eke [Union Catholic], 2012 [1]
1:52.46 … Gabriel Moronta [Pleasantville], 2020 [1]
1:52.66 … Brody Watt [Bernards], 2025 [3]
1:52.67 … A.J. Chavez [West Windsor-Plainsboro-South], 2012 [2]
1:52.70….Charlie Stock [Westfield], 2022 [1]
1:52.76 … Nicholas Medeiros [Old Bridge], 2020 [2]
1:52.81 … Kyle Reers [Delaware Valley], 2020 [3]
1:52.93 … Adam Petitjean [Chatham], 2025 [4]
1:53.19 … Raynier Galvez [Pasaic County Tech], 2024 [2]
1:53.26 … Elijah Brown [Union Catholic], 2020 [4]
1:53.33 … Jared Mason [West Orange], 2012 [3]
1:53.45 … Bobby Poplau [Cherokee], 2024 [3]
1:53.59 … Christian Napoli [Paul VI], 2025 [5]
1:53.68 … Ishmael Muhammad [Oakcrest], 2013 [4]
1:53.70 … Michael Card [Howell], 2025 [6]
1:53.72 … Jalen Ridgeway [Toms River North], 2020 [5]
1:53.77 … Dylan Decambre [Bergen County Vo-Tech], 2023 [3]
1:53.83 … Patrick Coyle [Red Bank Catholic], 2024 [4]
1:53.7h … Jean Destine [Elizabeth], 1991 [1]
1:53.90 … James Buser [Mahwah], 2013 [5]
1:53.95 … Joe White [DePaul], 2014 [1]
1:53.95 … Blaik Slavinski [Point Pleasant Boro], 2023 [4[
1:53.98 … Elijah Brown [Union Catholic], 2019 [1]
1:54.05 … Dominic Bassey [Winslow Twp.], 2025 [7]
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 