Timber Creek senior Ryan Jennings made the long journey to Southern California a worthwhile one when she won the invitational 100- and 200-meter dashes at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., with the fastest times this year by a New Jersey sprinter in both races.
Jennings won the 100 in 11.51 with a legal 1.0 meters-per-second wind, then won the 200 with a lifetime-best 23.46, the 5th-fastest legal-wind 200 ever run in New Jersey.
Jennings has run faster in the 100 – her 11.33 at Group 3 sectionals last spring at Delsea is the former state record and still No. 2 in state history – but her 23.46 lowers her PR from 23.86 from last May, also at Delsea.
Jennings’ former teammate, Naylah Jones, broke Jennings’ state record when she ran 11.23 a week later at the state Group 3 meet at Delsea. Jones set the South Jersey record in the 200 at 23.29 the same weekend.
So Jones and Jennings are No. 1 and 2 in state history in the 100, and No. 3 and 5 in the 200. Jones is now a freshman at Rutgers. They’re 1-2 in South Jersey history in both sprints.
Jennings’ 23.46 moves her up to 7th-fastest ever by a South Jersey high school alum. Jones and Jennings are 4th- and 8th-fastest all-time on the South Jersey alumni list in the 100.
Timber Creek will run the 400-meter relay at 11:50 a.m. Friday and the South Jersey Large-School 1,600-meter relay at 12:20 p.m. Saturday.
Billie Frazier, Samiyah Puckett and Taylor Gaines will join Jennings on both relay teams. Timber Creek set a meet record in the South Jersey Large-School 4-by-4 race last year with Jones, Frazier, Gaines and Jennings running 3:46.04.
All-Time South Jersey 200-Meter Dash Alumni List
22.39 … Dennisha Page [Wilson], May 11, 2024, Gainesville, Fla.[+0.6]
22.62 … English Gardner [Eastern], May 12, 2013, Los Angeles
23.07 … Gabrielle Farquharson [Williamstown], May 15, 2016, Lincoln, Neb.
23.24 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], June 10, 2004, Austin, Texas
23.29 … Naylah Jones [Timber Creek], June 8, 2024, Franklinville
23.34 … Michelle Glover [Willingboro], May 12, 1984, Austin
23.46 … Ryan Jennings [Timber Creek], April 19, Walnut, Calif. [+1.5]
23.53 … Torie Robinson [Winslow Twp.], May 14, 2017, Atlanta
23.53 … Shakira Dancy [Winslow Twp.], May 12, 2023, Bloomington, Ind.
23.67 … Aisha Morgan [Schalick], May 10, 2002, Louisville, Ky. [+0.9]
All-Time New Jersey 200-Meter Dash List
22.96 … Sydney McLaughlin [Union Catholic], 2017
22.99 … Wendy Vereen [Trenton], 1983
23.29 … Naylah Jones [Timber Creek], 2024
23.42 … Aleah Williams [Montclair], 1999
23.46 … Ryan Jennings [Timber Creek], 2025 [+1.5]
23.66 … Dennisha Page [Wilson], 2019
23.69 … Michele Glover [Willingboro], 1981
23.69 … Shavon Greaves [Lakewood], 2007
23.73 … Myasia Jacobs [Paramus Catholic], 2010
23.76 … Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], 2024
23.85 … Shakira Dancy [Winslow Twp.], 2017
23.85 … Sofia Swindell [Lawrenceville], 2024
23.86 … Taylor Aska [Union Catholic], 2024
23.86 … Ryan Jennings [Timber Creek], 2024
23.87 … Jenna Harris [Franklin], 2003
23.90 … Denise Liles [Kingsway], 1984
23.90 … Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2018
23.91 … Sydney Hawkins [Phillipsburg], 2018
23.92 … Mikele Barber [Montclair], 1997
23.94 … M’elisa Barber [Montclair], 1998
23.95 … Olivia Baker [Columbia], 2013
23.96 … Regina Trotter [Weequahic], 1991
23.96 … Ogechi Nwaneri [Columbia], 2006
23.98 … Cynthia Boakye [Elizabeth], 2023
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 