Aliya Garozzo on Saturday became the fastest intermediate hurdler ever from South Jersey and fastest other than Sydney McLaughlin from New Jersey with a historic race on her home track in Durham, N.C.
Garozzo, a Sicklerville resident and Paul VI graduate, ran 55.77 to win the Duke Invitational on her home track.
That’s 1-100th of a second faster than Rancocas Valley graduatee and Tennessee All-America Tonya Lee ran at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., on April 21, 1996.
The only faster intermediate hurdler New Jersey has produced is McLaughlin, the world record holder with her 50.37 to win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics this past August.
She’s now 2nd all-time on the Duke performance list behind Lauren Hoffman, who ran 55.47 in June 2022 at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.
Garozzo’s previous PR was 56.34 from her win at Heps this past May at Princeton while competing for Penn. Her previous-best time for Duke was 56.54 in Tucson last weekend.
Her 55.77 is 5th-fastest in NCAA Division 1 so far this year and No. 11 in the world, according to the World Athletics database. It’s No. 6 among U.S. women.
Garozzo, who began her collegiate track career at Penn, broke the meet record of 57.24 set in 2022 by Duke’s Lauren Hoffman and the facility record of 56.00 set by Hoffman at 2022 ACCs.
Runner-up in the race with a time of 57.14 was Pennsville’s Arianna Smith, a senior at Howard. That’s 3rd-fastest in Howard history and 14th-fastest in NCAA Division 1. She lowered her PR from 57.85, which she ran while at Princeton at Heps at Franklin Field in 2023. She finished one place ahead of Garozzo in that race.
Jewel Ash of Fresno State, an Eastern grad, ran 58.08 at Stanford last weekend, and she currently ranks 25th in Division 1. That means three of the top 25 intermediate hurdlers in college track are from South Jersey.
50.68 … Sydney McLaughlin [Union Catholic], July 22, 2022, Eugene, Ore.
55.77 … Aliya Garozzo [Paul VI], April 12, 2025, Durham, N.C.
55.78 … Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], April 21, 1996, Walnut, Calif.
56.21 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], May 26, 2007, Gainesville, Fla.
56.87 … Erin Crawford [Hillsborough], June 10, 2006, Sacramento, Calif.
56.87 … Evann Thompson [Lenape], May 30, 2014, Jacksonville, Fla.
56.91 … Angela Lee [Franklin Twp,.], May 24, 1998, Fairfax, Va.
57.14 … Leslie Njoku [McNair Academic], June 8, 2011, Des Moines, Iowa
57.16 … Jewel Ash [Eastern], May 9, 2022, High Point, N.C.
57.14 … Arianna Smith [Pennsville], April 12, 2025, Durham, N.C.
57.31 … Danielle Myricks [Willingboro], May 19, 2002, Columbia, Mo.
57.31 … Eusheka Bartley [Highland], May 29, 1996, Atlanta
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 