Quite an auspicious high school track debut for Delsea freshman Adelyn McDonnell, who won the long jump at the Delsea Crusader Field Meet with a 17-5 ½ in her first high school meet.
McDonnell, who didn’t compete indoors, appears to be the Gloucester County freshman record holder after just one meet. Delsea’s Talyah Cox jumped 17-0 ¼ in 2014. She’s also Delsea’s first 17-footer since 2015, when Cox and Cecelia Gerstenbacher [17-5] both surpassed 17 feet.
She’s also the third South Jersey freshman over 17 feet this year. Indoors, Pleasantville’s jumped 18-4 at the Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze and was the 7th-ranked freshman in the country, according to the MileSplit database. And Janiyah Gayle of Atlantic County Tech jumped 17-2 ½ at Ocean Breeze in January.
The South Jersey freshman record is 20-5 ½ set by Willingboro’s Carol Lewis at 1978 AAU Junior Nationals in Bloomington, Ind.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 