A week after an indoor PR 52.96, Paul VI graduate Aliya Garozzo ran a lifetime-best 52.43 Friday at the Tiger Paw Invitational Clemson.
Garozzo, a Penn undergraduate grad and Duke grad school graduate now competing unattached, shattered her PR 52.54 from Raleigh, N.C., last March.
Her time is 8th-fastest ever by a South Jersey quarter-miler. It’s also only 23-100ths off the A standard for USATF Indoor Champions at Ocean Breeze on Feb. 28 and March 1.
Garozzo finished 4-100ths of a second behind former Duke teammate Julia Jackson from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, who ran an indoor 52.40, breaking the Duke record of 52.57 set by Megan McGinnis in Louisville in 2023.
Garozzo ran 55.77 for the 400 hurdles in Durham, N.C., this past April, which ranked 16th among U.S. women.
South Jersey All-Time 400 Alumni List
50.66 … Nadia Davy [Bridgeton], 2003, Sacramento
51.14 … Natalie Dumas [Eastern], June 21, Philadelphia
51.70 … Michelle Brown [Seneca], June 13, 2014, Eugene, Ore.
51.72 … Denise Mitchell [Edgewood], June 27, 1987, San Jose, Calif.
51.91 … Arianna Sharpe [Clayton], May 9, 2025, Fayetteville, Ark.
52.20 … Amirah Sharpe [Clayton], April 25, 2025, Fayetteville, Ark.
52.24 … Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], March 16, 1996, Westwood, Calif.
52.43 … Aliya Garozzo [Paul VI], Feb. 13, 2026, Clemson, S.C.
52.77 … Eusheka Bartley [Highland], March 23, 1996, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
52.80 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], May 12, 2007, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
52.80 … Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], May 3, 2025, Pennsauken
52.86 … Tina Johnson [Burlington Twp.], May 20, 2001, Bloomington, Ind.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 