Junior Isaiah Shockley became Pemberton’s first sectional 800 champ in 48 years this weekend at Delsea.
Shockley ran a PR 1:55.85 to win the 800 at the South Jersey Group 2 meet.
He’s Pemberton’s first half-miler to win a sectional title since 1977, when Tavo Rivera won the Group 4 880 in 1:55.1. Rivera also won as a junior in 1976 in 1:56.5 for the full 880. Both meets were at Pennsauken.
Shockley’s time is fastest by a Pemberton runner since Bryant Walker ran 1:53.4 for 800 meters to place 5th at the 1983 Meet of Champions at South Plainfield. That was the famed John Carlotti-Vance Watson race.
Shockley came into sectionals with a 1:56.82 PR from his win at the BCSL meet at Pennsauken earlier this month.
Pleasantville’s Melvin Lewis led the field through 400 meters in 58.57, with Shockley coming through in 58.67, Manchester Township’s James Torres in 58.85 and Haddonfield’s Bennett Wright in 58.90.
But Shockley closed fastest, running his 2nd 400 in 57.18, with Wright closing in 57.24 for 2nd in 1:56.14. Lewis was 3rd in 1:57.84 and Simpson 4th in 1:57.88.
Shockley also PR’d in the 400 with a 49.50 for 4th place. It was his 1st time under 50 seconds. His previous PR was 50.71 indoors in March at Boston Nationals. So that’s about a 1.2-second PR, which is huge.
That 49.50 looks like a school record. I don’t see any record of Rivera ever running a 400, and the only other possible faster quarter-miler is Napolean Suarez, who was a 53.8 intermediate hurdler in 1999 but doesn’t seem to have run any open 400s outdoors.
Shockley is the No. 5 seed in the 800 at Group 2 states at South Plainfield May 30-31 and No. 9 in the 400.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 