Senior Mason Henry was Deptford’s only winner, with a meet record in the pole vault, but the Spartans piled up the 2nds and 3rds and rolled to a 73-58 win over Winslow Township at the South Jersey Group 3 Sectional Championships Saturday at the Bubble in Toms River.
The sectional title is Deptford’s third indoors. They won Group 2 in 2019 and 2021.
Ocean City was 3rd with 35 points, Tom River East 4th with 32 and Delsea [28], Cherry Hill West [20], Timber Creek [19], Highland [17] and Mainland Regional [14] also reached double figures.
Henry cleared 15-2, breaking the meet record of 15-1 set in 2014 by Kingsway’s Dylan Altland. That’s also No. 6 in South Jersey history indoors and No. 5 in Gloucester County.
Henry, who had cleared 15-0 twice this year, didn’t have a miss at 13-0, 13-6, 14-0, 14-6, 15-0 or 15-2. He took three tries at 15-7, one inch higher than Marcus Hood’s year-old school record of 15-6.
Henry also tied for 2nd in the high jump with a 6-0 clearance, giving him 17 of Deptford’s 73 total points.
Deptford went 2-4-5 in the hurdles, with senior Larry Norman 2nd in 7.70, senior Kareem Brown 4th in 7.83 and junior Xavion Holmes 5th in 7.85. Norman was also 4th in the high jump at 5-10.
The Spartans also had three medalists in the 800, with sophomore John Collier 2nd in 2:00.67, senior Zach Harrison 3rd in 2:01.29 and senior Anthony Schilling 5th in 2:01.40.
Deptford’s 1,600-meter relay team placed 2nd in 3:30.34 with Brown, senior Kyle Jackson, Holmes and Norman.
Also, senior Johann Hernandez ran 6.59 for 3rd in the 55, senior Kamaldeep Singh cleared 12-0 for 3rd in the pole vault, senior Dominic DiPietro cleared 11-0 for 6th in the vault and senior Michael Smith threw 45-4 for 6th in the shot put.
Winslow got wins from senior KaRon Ali, who ran 49.66 in the 400, and senior Elijah Deanley, who ran 7.68 in the hurdles, along with the 4-by-4 of Ali, freshman Keyon Ali, senior Prince Owusu-Twum and Deanley, which ran 3:29.74. Ali also placed 6th in the 55 in 6.64.
Keyon Ali, racing his first high school 55, tied the South Jersey freshman record of 6.59 for 3rd place. It was his first meet in over a month. Damiere Byrd of Timber Creek, an NFL receiver from 2016 through 2023, also ran 6.59 at the 2008 Meet of Champions at the Bubble.
Senior Vincent Perri placed 3rd in both the 1,600 and 3,200, running 4:27.63 and 9:55.09. Junior Jaylon Moss placed 4th in the 55 in 6.62, senior Prince Osusu-Twum took 5th in the 400 in 51.53, junior Jibril Hammond was 6th in the hurdles in 7.96 and , 4th, 55 [6.62]
Ocean City senior Erik Priesner won the 3,200 in 9:43.55 and placed 2nd in the 1,600 in 4:24.19. Junior Nathan Aschmann ran 2nd behind Priesner in the 3,200 with a 9:51.40.
For Delsea, senior Matthew Littlehales won the 1,600 in 4:22.09, senior Mason Murray was 2nd in the pole vault at 14-6 and junior Sheldon Goldsborough thrw 47-10 ½ for 3rd in the shot.
Cherry Hill East got a 1-2 finish from high jumpers Supreme Stadford, a sophomore who won at 6-6, and junior Elijah Triche, who cleared 6-0.
Senior Chris Keena of Mainland won the 55-meter dash at 6.58, Timber Creek got a 2nd from junior Timothy Whitaker in the 400 [51.16] and a 3rd from senior Jayden Lyons [.7.74] and Highland had senior Zion Josia Brockenbaugh 2nd in the shot [50-1 ½] and sophomore Elijah Capra 3rd in the 400 [51.29]
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 