Kareem Brown and Xavion Holmes each ran on three 1st-place relay teams and Deptford won its sixth state relays title and fifth in a row Sunday at the Bubble.
Deptford outscored Winslow Township 54-34 to win the Group 3 title. That’s the 6th-most points ever in Group 3 and most since Kingsway scored 56 in 2015. Deptfore’s 20-point margin of victory is the largest in Group 3 since Willingboro topped Franklin by 32 points – 64-32 – in the 2003 meet at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym.
Brown and Holmes both ran on winning shuttle hurdles, 4-by-2 and 4-by-4 teams.
The state relays title is Deptford’s 6th. Only Willingboro (10) and Haddonfield (9) have won more among South Jersey schools. Deptford also won Group 2 in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024 and Group 3 last year.
Their streak of five straight team titles is tied for 5th-longest all-time, behind three streaks by CBA in Parohial A and a seven-year streak in Group 1 and Group 2 by Asbury Park from 1988 through 1995.
Since 2019, Gloucester County has won 12 of a possible 28 state relays titles – six for Deptford, two each for Delsea and Kingsway and one apiece for Glassboro and Washington Township.
Deptford won the shuttle hurdles with Brown, Holmes, Kamldeep Singh and Larry Norman in 30.13, 6th-fastest in South Jersey history. Story on that performance here. The Spartans also won the 800-meter relay with Damon Albertson, Holmes, Brown and Johann Hernandez running 1:32.54.
Deptford also piled up 10 points with a dominating win in the pole vault relay, where the Spartans had the top two performers – senior Mason Henry at 14-6 and senior Dominic DiPietro 11-6.
And Deptford, with the team title already clinched, won the 4-by-4 in 3:31.40 with Norman, Holmes, Brown and Kyle Jackson.
Brown, Hernandez, Albertson and Anthony Schilling ran 3:40.27 for 2nd place and eight big points in the sprint medley for Deptford.
Winslow won the sprint med in 3:38.29, with Noah Brown, KaRon Ali, Prince Owusu-Twum and Vincent Perri, placed 2nd in the shuttles in 31.66 with Mahjae Torres, Elijah Deanley, Jibril Hammond and Rel-wende Tapsoba and 3rd in the 4-by-2 with KaRon Ali, Keyon Ali, Deanley and Jacoby James running 1:33.99. Winslow also picked up six points in the high jump relay, where junior Cayden Hester cleared 6-2 and Torres 5-10.
Cherry Hill West got a big PR 6-8 from sophomore Supreme Stradford to win the high jump relay, with junior Elijah Triche clearing 6-0 for a combined 12-8. Stradford’s previous PR was 6-2, so that’s an unreal six-inch PR. More on Stradford later today.
Pennsauken ran 1:33.65 for 2nd in the 4-by-2 with the team of Jabari Sonnebeyatta, Zion Long, Michael Lawrence and Joseph Guilty,
Moorestown got a 2nd in the pole vault relay, seniors Nicholas Fierro and Connor Kortman both clearing 11-0.
Ocean City placed 3rd in the 4-by-8 in 8:11.84 with Keenan Neuman, Michael Romano, Nathan Aschmann and Erik Preisner.
Delsea got a 48-5 ¼ from junior Sheldon Goldsborough and 44-5 from sophomore Eneas Tavella to place 2nd in the shot put relay.
Deptford’s 4-by-4 win led a 1-2-3-4 South Jersey sweep, with all four schools finishing within 77-100ths of a second.
Burlington Township was 2nd in 3:31.87 with Solomon Wesley, Jaydin Macklin, Jaylen Porter and Robert Proctor, Moorestown 3rd with Shaymus Derer, Ethan Taylor, Lucas Horner and Sean Sobin in 3:32.05 and Winslow 4th in 3:32.17 with KaRon Ali, Keyon Ali, Deanley and Owusu-Twum.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 