Down to his final attempt at U.S. Nationals and sitting in 4^th place, Josh Awotunde bombed the best shot put throw of his life to win his first U.S. title.

Awotunde, a 2013 Delsea graduate, had a best throw of 70-7 ¾ through five rounds before unleashing the throw of his life, 73-8 ¾ to move into first at Heyward Field in Eugene, Ore.

That’s No. 17 in world history and No. 10 in U.S. history. It’s No. 3 in the world this year and No. 2 among U.S. throwers.

Awotunde is the first U.S. shot put champion from New Jersey in 83 years, since Dickinson High graduate and war hero Al Blozis won his 3^rd in a row in 1942.

Awotunde’s previous best throw was a 73-1 ½ at the same facility when he placed 3^rd at the 2022 World Championships.

Awotunde previously placed 7^th in 2018, 5^th in 2019 and 2021, 3^rd in 2022 and 2^nd in 2023.

Only six-time champion Ryan Crouser and two-time champ Joe Kovacs have ever thrown farther in a meet that began in 1876. His 73-1 ½ is the 8^th-best throw in meet history.

With Curtis Thompson of Florence winning the javelin, South Jersey athletes won two of the four men’s throwing events. Both will represent the U.S. at the World Championships in Tokyo in September, as will Rancocas Valley’s Erika Kemp in the marathon.

This will be Thompson’s second trip to the World Champions. He competed in Budapest in 2023. He also made the U.S. teams that competed in the Olympis in 2021  in Tokyo and 2024 in Paris. Awotunde placed 3^rdat Worlds in 2022.

Thompson and Awotunde are the 48th and 49th U.S. champions from South Jersey since Almonesson’s Mel Sheppard started it all in 1906.

Awotunde opened with a 69-2 ½ and two fouls and was sitting in 4^th going into the finals. He threw 69-8 ¾ on his 4^th attempt and dropped to 5^th place. A 70-7 ¾ on his 5^th attempt moved him back into 4^th before his monster 73-8 ¾, which moved him 4 ¾ inches ahead of leader Payton Otterdahl and into the lead. Moments later, he was a national champion.

Otterdahl finished 2^nd with a season-best 73-4, and Tripp Piperi was third with a lifetime-best 73-1 ¾ after taking the lead earlier in the final round.

All three are well over the World Championships standard of 70-6 ¼ and will represent the U.S. in Tokyo. The shot put is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 13, with qualifying at 9:55 p.m. and the final the next morning at 8:10 a.m.

The only athletes in the world who have thrown farther this year than Awotunde are Leonardo Fabbri of Italy, who hit  74-10 1/2 Sunday in the Italian Championships in Caorle, Italy, and Kovacs, who threw 73-9 at the Prefontaine Invitational at Heyward Field last month. Kovacs was 4th in Eugene Sunday at 72-5.

Here’s a look at all the 73-foot throws in U.S. Championships history:
76-8 ¼ … Ryan Crouser, 2021 [1^st]
75-10 ¼ …….. Crouser, 2022 [1^st]
75-0 ½ … Joe Kovacs, 2022 [2^nd]
75-0 …….. Crouser, 2023 [1^st]
74-11 …….. Crouser, 2024 [1^st]
74-3 ¾ …….. Crouser, 2017 [1^st]
74-2 ½ …….. Crouser, 2019 [1^st]
73-8 ¾ … Josh Awotunde, 2025 [1^st]
73-7 …….. Kovacs, 2024 [2^nd]
73-4 … Payton Otterdahl, 2025 [2^nd]
73-4 …….. Kovacs, 2017 [2^nd]
73-3 ½ …….. Kovacs, 2021 [2^nd]
73-2 ½ …….. Kovacs, 2019 [2^nd]
73-1 ¾ … Tripp Piperi, 2025 [3^rd]
73-0 …..… Otterdahl, 2024 [3^rd]

All-Time Josh Awotunde 70-Foot Throws
73-8 ¾ … U.S. Championships, Eugene, Ore., Aug. 3, 2025 [6^th throw] [1^st]
73-1 ½ … World Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 17, 2022 [5th throw] [3rd]
72-11 ½ … World Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 17, 2022 [1st throw] [—]
72-10 ¾ … World Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 17, 2022 [6th throw] [—]
72-6 ¼ … U.S. Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 9, 2023 [4th throw] [2nd]
71-3 ½ … Memorial Borisa Hanžekovića, Fountains, Zagreb [N/A/] [3rd]
71-2 ¼ … World Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 17, 2022 [2nd throw] [—]
72-2 … Meeting Città di Padova, Stadio Colbachini, Padovad, Poland, Sept. 5, 2021 [N/A] [place]
71-8 … U.S. Olympic Trials, Eugene, Ore., June 18, 2021 [6th throw] (5th place]
71-5  ¼ … U.S. Olympic Trials, Eugene, Ore., June 22, 2024 [[5th place]
71-2 ¼ … World Athletics Indoors, Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022 [3rd throw] (5th)
71-2 ¼ … Gyulai István Memorial, Székesfehérvár, Hungary, July 6, 2021 [4th throw] (3rd)
71-1 ½ … Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., May 9, 2021 [6th throw] [2nd place]
70-11 ¾ … World Athletics Indoors, Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022 [5th throw] [2nd]
70-11 ½ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [5th throw) [2nd]
70-10 ¾ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [4th throw) [—]
70-10 ¾ … Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, Stadion Śląski, Chorzów, Poland, July 16, 2023 [5th]
70-7 ¾ … U.S. Championships, Eugene, Ore., Aug. 3, 2025 [6^th throw] [1^st]
70-7 ½ … Prefontaine Classic, Eugene, Ore., May 25, 2024 [3rd throw] [4th ]
70-7 … U.S. Championships, Eugene, Ore., June 27, 2022 [3rd throw] [3rd]
70-6 ½ … Gyulai István Memorial, Székesfehérvár, Hungary, July 6, 2021 [6th throw] [—]
70-6 ¼ … American Track League, Louisville, Ky., Feb. 12, 2022 [3rd throw] [1st]
70-3 ¾ … Ed Murphey Classic, Memphis, Tenn., July 12, 2025 [3^rd throw] [3^rd]
70-3 ½ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [3rd throw] [—]
70-2 ½ … American Track League, Louisville, Ky., Feb. 12, 2022 [1st throw] [—]
70-2 ½ … Prefontaine Classic, Eugene, Ore., May 25, 2024 [5th throw] [—]
70-2 ½ … USATF Throws Fest, Tucson, Ariz., May 24, 2025 [1st throw] [1st]
70-2 ¼ … USATF L.A. Grand Prix, Los Angeles, May 18, 2024 [1st throw] [4th]
70-1 ¾ … USATF L.A. Grand Prix, Los Angeles, May 18, 2024 [2nd throw] [-]
70-0 ½ … Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, Stadion Śląski, Chorzów [N/A] [3rd]
70-0 ¼ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [2nd throw] [—]
70-0 ¼ … World Athletics Indoors, Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022 [2nd throw] [—]

Here’s a look at every U.S. champion from South Jersey:
2025
Curtis Thompson [Florence], 1st, Javelin [275-2]
Josh Awotunde [Delsea], Shot Put [73-8 ¾]
2024
Curtis Thompson [Florence], 1st, Javelin [272-5]
2023
Curtis Thompson [Florence], 1st, Javelin [265-5]
Nia Ali [Pleasantville], 1st, 100-Meter Hurdles [12.37]
2021
Curtis Thompson [Florence], 1st, Javelin [271-7]
2018
Curtis Thompson [Florence], 1st, Javelin [249-3]
2016
English Gardner [Eastern], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [10.74]
2013
English Gardner [Eastern], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [10.85]
1999
Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [9.97w]
1996
Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [9.92]
1994
Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [10.13]
1993
Jack Pierce [Woodbury], 1st, 110-Meter Hurdles [13.19]
1992
Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [10.09]
1991
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, Long Jump [28-4]
1990
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [10.05]
Mike Labosky [Holy Cross], 1st, Javelin [261-3]
1989
Mindy Rowand [Sterling], 1st, 5,000-Meter Run [16:12.36]
1988
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [9.78w]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, Long Jump [28-9]
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], 3rd, Long Jump [22-7]
1987
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [20.12]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, Long Jump [28-4 ½]
1986
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [9.91w]
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, Long Jump [28-5 ¼]
1985
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, Long Jump [22-8 ½w]
1984
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [10.08tmr]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, 200-Meter Dash [19.86]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, Long Jump [28-6 ¾]
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, Long Jump [22-7 ¼]
1983
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [10.27]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, 200-Meter Dash [19.75]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, Long Jump [28-10]
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, Long Jump [22-8]
1982
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [10.11]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, Long Jump [27-9 ¾]
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, Long Jump [22-4]
1981
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, 100-Meter Dash [10.13]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1st, Long Jump [28-3 ¼]
1959
Don Bragg [Penns Grove], 1st, Pole Vault [15-3]
1957
Charles Pratt [Palmyra], 3rd, 120-Yard Hurdles [14.3]
Charles Pratt [Palmyra], 1st, Decathlon [7,164]
1924
Frances Ruppert [Palmyra], 1st, 100-Yard Dash [12.0]
1923
Frances Ruppert [Palmyra], 1st, 100-Yard Dash [12.0]
1912
Mel Sherppard [Almonesson], 1st, 880-Yard Run [1:57.4]
1911
Men
Mel Sherppard [Almonesson], 1st, 880-Yard Run [1:54.2mr]
1908
Mel Sherppard [Almonesson], 1st, 880-Yard Run [1:55.6]
1907
Mel Sherppard [Almonesson], 1st, 880-Yard Run [1:55.2mr]
1906
Mel Sherppard [Almonesson], 1st, 880-Yard Run [1:55.4mr]

Jessica Woodard uncorked the 2^nd-best shot put throw of her life and the best 5^th-place throw in the meet’s 103-year history at U.S. Nationals Saturday.

Woodard threw a season-best 62-8 on her 3^rd throw of a monster series. Her only superior throw was a 63-7 ¾ when she placed 3^rd at 2022 U.S. Nationals at the same facility.

Incredibly, this was Woodard’s 13^th consecutive top-10 finish at U.S. Nationals. This was her 6^th top-5 finish.

She averaged 60-8 ½ on her five legal throws and finished just 18 ¼ inches from the podium.

Woodard, who only had one 60-foot throw all year before today, had three throws over 60 feet and fell a quarter of an inch shy of her 1^st series ever with four 60-footers.

She opened with a foul before a 59-11 ¾. She then popped three 60-footers in a row, finishing the first round at 62-8 before opening the finals with a 61-0 ¼, a 60-10 and a 59-1 ¼.

The previous-best 5^th-place throw in meet history was a 61-8 ½ by Jessica Ramsey last year.

Jessica Woodard U.S. Championships History
2025 Outdoors [Eugene], 5^th, 62-8
2025 Indoors, Did not compete
2024 Outdoors [Eugene], 7th, 60-3
2024 Indoors [Albuquerque], 4th, 60-11 ¼
2023 Outdoors [Eugene], 5th 60-3 ¼
2023 Indoors [Albuquerque], 3rd, 57-11 ½
2022 Outdoors [Eugene], 3rd, 63-7 ¾
2022 Indoors [Spokane], 3rd, 61-4 ¼
2021 Outdoors [Eugene], 7th, 57-11 ¾
2021 Indoors [cancelled]
2020 Outdoors [cancelled]
2020 Indoors [Albuquerque], 6th, 57-10 ¾
2019 Outdoors [Des Moines], 6th, 57-10 ¾
2019 Indoors [New York], 7th, 57-11 ½
2018 Outdoors [Des Moines], 9th, 58-0 ¾
2018 Indoors: Did not compete
2017 Outdoors [Sacramento], 8th, 57-5 ½

Jessica Woodard All-Time 60-Foot Throws
63-7 ¾ … U.S. Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 26, 2022
62-8 … U.S. Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., Aug. 2, 2025
62-7 … World Championships [qualifying], Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., July 15, 2022
62-3 ¾ … Tucson Elite Classic, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 20, 2021
61-10 ¼ … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021
61-8 ¾ … NACAC Championships, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Aug. 21, 2022
61-8 ¾ … Memorial van Damme, Boudewijnstadion, Brussels, Belgium, Sept. 7, 2023
61-7 ¾ … U.S. Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 26, 2022
61-7 ¾ … U.S. Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 26, 2022
61-7 … USATF Golden Games, Hilmer Lodge Stadium, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022
61-6 ½ … Ed Murphey Classic, Memphis, Tenn., July 30, 2022
61-5 ¼ … NACAC Championships, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Aug. 21, 2022
61-5 ¼ … Diamond League Meeting de Paris, Stade Charléty, Paris, June 9, 2023
61-4 ¼ … Tucson Elite Classic, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 19, 2023
61-4¼i … U.S. Indoor Championships, Spokane, Wash., Feb. 26, 2022
61-3 ¾ … Ed Murphey Classic, Wolfe Track Complex, Memphis, Aug. 4, 2023
61-3 ½ … NCAA Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 7, 2018
61-3 … World Championships [final], Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., July 16, 2022
61-2 ¼ … Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athletisme de Rabat, Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah, Rabat, Morocco, May 28, 2023
61-1 ¾ … Diamond League Meeting de Paris, Stade Charléty, Paris, June 9, 2023
61-1 ¼ … World Championships [final], Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., July 16, 2022
61-0 ¼ … U.S. Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., Aug. 2, 2025
60-11 ¼ … U.S. Championships, Albuquerque Convention Center, Feb. 16, 2024
60-11 ½ … Iron Wood Classic, Iron Wood Throwers Center, Rathdrum, Idaho, June 28, 2025
60-11 ½ … U.S. Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., Aug. 2, 2025
60-10 ¾ … Tucson Elite Classic, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 19, 2023
60-10i … U.S. Indoor Championships, Spokane, Wash., Feb. 26, 2022
60-10 … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2022
60-9 ½ … USATF Golden Games, Hilmer Lodge Stadium, Walnut, Calif., May 9, 2021
60-7 ¼ … USATF Golden Games, Hilmer Lodge Stadium, Walnut, Calif., May 9, 2021
60-7 ½i … Don Kirby Elite, Albuquerque (N.M.) Convention Center, Feb. 12, 2022
60-6 ¾ … Tucson Elite Classic, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 19, 2023
60-6 ½ … USATF Throws Fest, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 20, 2023
60-5 ¾ … Tucson Elite Classic, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 20, 2021
60-4 ¾ … USATF Throws Fest, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021
60-4 ½ … USATF Throws Fest, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 20, 2023
60-4 ½ … USATF Golden Games, Hilmer Lodge Stadium, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022
60-4 … Goteborg Grand Prix, Goteborg, Sweden, Aug. 16, 2019
60-3 ¼ … U.S. Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 24, 2021
60-3 ¼ … U.S. National Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., July 8, 2023
60-3 ¼ … U.S. Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 29, 2024
60-3 … Big 12 Championships, Lawrence, Kans., May 13, 2017
60-3 … Ed Murphey Classic, Memphis, Tenn., July 30, 2022
60-3 … U.S. Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 29, 2024
60-3 … NACAC Championships, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Aug. 21, 2022
60-2 ½ … U.S. Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 29, 2024
60-1 ¼ … Chula Vista High Performance #3, Elite Training Stadium, Chula Vista, Calif., May 2, 2021
60-0 ½ … Chula Vista High Performance #1, Elite Training Stadium, Chula Vista, Calif., April 3, 2021
60-0 ½ … Tucson Elite Classic, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 19, 2022

65-4 ¼ … Maggie Ewen, 2023

In her first U.S. Championships, Pennsville’s Arianna Smith ran her 2^nd-fastest time ever and advanced to the final of the 400-meter hurdles Saturday at the U.S. Championships.

Smith – racing out of challenging Lane 8 – ran 56.50 and placed 4^th in the 2^nd of three semifinal races. The top two finishes in each race and the next three-fastest advanced to the final. Smith’s race produced two of the three-fastest “Small q” performances, and she advanced by 2-100ths of a second.

Smith ran her PR of 56.11 in Norfolk in May when she won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title as a senior at Howard. She is ranked 21^st in the U.S. but one of nine finalists at the national championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Three South Jersey women are among the top-21 intermediate hurdles in the U.S. Paul VI graduate Aliya Garozzo is 15^th with her 55.77 in Durham, N.C., in April, and Natalie Dumas, a rising senior at Eastern, is 19^th at 55.99. Garozzo ran 57.49 and did not qualify. She finished strong, moving up from 6^thto 3^rd after the final hurdle but fell just short. Dumas only ran the 800 at Nationals.

Smith is the first South Jersey woman to make the 400-meter hurdles final at U.S. Nationals since Rancocas Valley’s Tonya Lee placed 8^th in 1991 and 7^th in both 1995 and 1996.

The final is scheduled for 4:34 p.m. Sunday, and Smith will be in difficult far-inside Lane 1 as the final qualifier.

In his first U.S. Championships, Lumberton’s Greg Foster placed 8^th in the long jump Friday evening at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

He’s the first South Jersey jumper to place in the top eight at U.S. Nationals since Carl Lewis in 1996.

Foster, seeded 17^th, jumped 25-10 ¼, his 4^th-best performance ever and only 3 ½ inches off his PR of 26-1 ¾ set at the 2023 Ivy League Championships at Franklin Field. It was his 2^nd-best jump since undergoing foot surgery last year. The wind reading on his jump was a legal 2.0 meters per second.

Foster hit 25-10 ¼ on his 1^st attempt and then fouled on his next five but that mark still held up for 8^th overall. He finished just 9 ½ inches from 3^rd place and a podium finish.

Foster, a rising senior at Princeton, was competing for the first time since earning All-America honors with a 7^th-place finish at the NCAA Championships at the same facility. He jumped at least 25 feet in every meet he entered this spring and also PR’d in the 110-meter hurdles at 13.78, No. 2 in school history. He’s now a six-time Ivy League / Heps champion.

Foster is the 3^rd South Jersey long jumper to place in the top eight at U.S. Nationals. Carl Lewis won it eight times [1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1991], was 2^nd four times and 3^rdonce. Matt Rose of Bordentown was 7^th in 1988 and 8^th in 1990.

Greg Foster’s best jumps [wind legal]
26-1 ¾, Philadelphia, May 7, 2023
26-0 ¼, West Long Branch, June 22, 2025
25-10 ¾i, Annapolis, Jan. 21, 2023
25-10 ¼, Eugene, Ore., Aug. 1, 2025
25-9 ½i, Hanover, N.H., Feb. 26, 2023
25-8 ½, Princeton, April 4, 2025
25-8 ¼i, Annapolis, Md., Jan. 11, 2025
25-7 ¼i, Fayetteville, Feb. 15, 2025
25-7 ¼, Eugene, June 11, 2025

English Gardner raecd into the 100-meter dash final at USATF Nationals Friday with her fastest time at nationals in eight years.

Gardner, 33, ran 11.10 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., with a legal 0.7 wind and placed 3^rd in the 1^st of three semifinal heats. The top two in each heat and the next three-fastest times advanced to the final later Friday night. Gardner had the 2^nd-fastest time outside the top two in each heat.

The 11.10 is Gardner’s fastest at nationals since she ran a wind-aided 10.96 in the semifinals in Eugene in 2021 but her fastest with legal wind since an 11.04 in the first round in Sacramento in 2017.

Earlier this year, Gardner ran a wind-legal 11.04 in Winter Garden, Fla., her fastest time in seven years. Gardner graduated from Eastern in 2010.

The final is scheduled for 10:27 p.m. EST, and Gardner will be in Lane 2.

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English finished 9th in the final in 11.17. Disappointing race but a heck of a couple days in Eugene for English. It was her first time reaching the finals since 2021, when she placed 5th.