What an astonishing performance Friday night by Gabriel Moronta!
About an hour after getting DQ’d following a 2nd-place finish in the 400, Pleasantville’s Gabriel Moronta anchored South Florida’s winning 4-by-4 team at the NCAA Championships.
Moronta placed 2nd in the 400 in 45.47 but was disqualified after officials ruled that he took two steps outside his lane.
He made up for the disappointment with a mind-blowing 44.23 anchor leg to move USF past Texas A&M on the hallowed track at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Click here to watch the race!
South Florida won the race in 3:00.42, breaking the school record of 3:01.52 set two weeks ago at NCAA East Prelims in Jacksonville.
Their time is No. 9 in the world this year and since all four runners are U.S. citizens it becomes the 2nd-fastest time in the U.S. this year. It’s No. 26 in U.S. history.
It’s the first national title for South Florida since Jon Dennis won the 5,000 in 1992 and 1993.
Unbelievably, the NCAA results do not list lineups, but I’m pretty sure USF used senior Devontie Archie leading off, senior Alexavier Monfries on the 2nd leg and junior Corey Ottey 3rd to set up Moronta.
South Florida was in 8th place in the 9-team race after one lap, but Monfries’ 44.11 carry moved them up to 3rd. Ottey split 45.19 and going into the anchor legs, Texas A&M held a slight lead over the Bulls.
But Moronta wasn’t going to be denied and brought South Florida home three meters ahead of A&M.
Moronta is the first South Jersey athlete to win an NCAA gold medal since Florence’s Curtis Thompson of Mississippi State won the javelin in 2014. The only other South Jersey athlete to win a relay gold medal in the men’s meet was high jump star Mike Morrison, who ran a leg on Florida’s winning 400-meter relay team that ran 39.11 in 2004. Denise Mitchell for Florida in 1990 and Nadia Davy in 2004 for LSU ran legs on winning 4-by-4 in the women’s meet.
He’s the 2nd NCAA champion from Pleasantville. Nia Ali, the 2016 high hurdles Olympic silver medalist and 2019 World Champion, won the hurdles in 2011 for USC.
All-Time South Jersey NCAA Champions
1940
Archie Harris, Indiana [Ocean City], Discus [162-4]
1948
Browning Ross, Villanova [Woodbury], 3,000-Meter Steeplechase [9:25.7h]
1955
Don Bragg, Villanova [Penns Grove], Pole Vault [15-1]
Charley Pratt, Manhattan [Palmyra], 220-Yard Hurdles [23.1]
1980
Carl Lewis, Houston [Willingboro], Long Jump 27-4 3/4 [held indoors]
1981
Carl Lewis, Houston [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash [9.99]
Carl Lewis, Houston [Willingboro], Long Jump 27-0 3/4 [held indoors]
1989
Dennis Mitchell, Florida [Edgewood], 200-Meter Dash [20.09A]
2004
Mike Morrison, Florida [Willingboro], 400-Meter Relay 2nd Leg [39.11]
2014
Curtis Thompson, Mississippi State [Florence], Javelin [254-9]
2025
Gabriel Moronta [Pleasantville], 1,600-Meter Relay 4th Leg [44.23]
WOMEN
1983
Carol Lewis, Houston [Willingboro], Long Jump [21-11 3/4]
1985
Carol Lewis, Houston [Willingboro], Long Jump [22-1]
1990
Denise Mitchell, Florida [Edgewood], 1,600-Meter Relay 1st Leg [53.8, 3:27.53]
2002
Jamine Moton, Clemson [Delsea], Hammer Throw [220-6]
2004
Nadia Davy, LSU [Bridgeton], 1,600-Meter Relay 4th Leg [50.3, 3:25.26]
2011
Nia Ali, USC [Pleasantville], 100-Meter Hurdles [12.63w]
2012
English Gardner, Oregon [Eastern], 100-Meter Dash [11.10]
2013
English Gardner, Oregon [Eastern], 100-Meter Dash [10.96]
2025
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 