Winslow senior Leeya Joseph, seeded only 10th, jumped a season-best by nearly a foot and won the long jump at the Meet of Champions with a PR and a meet record at Ocean Breeze.
Joseph beat New Jersey No.1 and three-time Meet of Champions long jump winner Morgan Holley of Union Catholic by half an inch with a 19-1 ½ on her final jump. She broke Holley’s meet-record 18-10 ¼ from last year. Holley and Randolph senior Seannah Parsons both surpassed the previous meet record, Holley with a 19-1 on her final jump and Parsons with a 19-0 on her 3rd jump that had her in the lead until the final round.
Joseph’s 19-1 ½ is No. 16 in state history and No. 7 on the all-time South Jersey indoor list. Joseph is Winslow’s 1stindividual indoor Meet of Champions winner since 2020, when Nylah Perry won the 400 in 56.19.
Joseph’s best previous jump this year was an 18-2 at the Ott Center last month. She jumped a wind-legal 19-0 last year at the outdoor Meet of Champions at Pennsauken, where she placed 6th.
The long jump was just added to the Meet of Champions in 2019. There was no meet in 2021,so this was the 7th time it was contested. Joseph is the first South Jersey girl to win it.
Joseph had four legal jumps and they were all over 18 feet – 18-5, 18-4, 18-4 ½ and then the 19-1 ½. Her previous indoor PR was 18-8 last year at Easterns at the Armory, where she was 2nd to Nya Tbomas of North Rockland High in Thiells, Rockland County, N.Y.
Rancocas Valley senior Angelina Brown jumped 18-0 on her 1st attempt and finished 6th.
All-Time Meet of Champions Long Jump List
19-1 ½ … Leeya Joeph [Winslow Twp., 2026 [1]
19-1 … Morgan Holley [Union Catholic], 2026 [2]
19-0 … Seannah Parsons [Randolph], 2026 [3]
18-10 ¼ … Morgan Holley [Union Catholic], 2025 [1]
18-7 ½ … Nakaja Weaver [North Brunswick], 2019 [1]
18-7 ½ … Jordan Bowers-Strickland [West Side], 2025 [2]
18-7 ¼ … A’Liyah Thomas [Union Catholic], 2020 [1]
18-6 ½ … Tionna Tobias [Winslow Twp.], 2019 [2]
18-5 … Kathryn Brown [Kinnelon], 2019 [3]
18-4 ¼ … Jaidah Garrett [Absegami], 2025 [3]
18-4 … Isabella Alvarez [Pleasantville], 2025 [4]
18-2 ¾ … Bridget McNally [Pope Paul XXIII], 2020 [2]
18-2 ½ … Gabrielle Gorman [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2020 [3]
18-2 ¼ … Karissa Watson [Williamstown], 2020 [4]
18-1 ½ … Lia Malave [Toms River North], 2023 [1]
18-1 ½ … Erin Finley [Randolph], 2022 [1]
18-0 ½ … Emma Cunningham [Ramsey], 2020 [5]
18-0 ½ … Ma’Syiah Brawner [Winslow Twp.], 2025 [5]
18-0 … Alexandra Bonn [Union Catholic], 2023 [2]
18-0 … Leah Ellis [Millville], 2022 [2]
18-0 … Chloe Montgomery [Hillsborough], 2025 [6]
All-Time New Jersey Indoor Long Jump List
21-7 ½ … Carol Lewis [Willingboro], 1981
20-8 ¾ … Keturah Orji [Mount Olive], 2014
20-7 ¾ … Sydney McLaughlin [Union Catholic], 2017
19-11 ¾ … Claire Connor [Rahway], 1984
19-8 ¼ … Tionna Tobias [Winslow], 2016
19-8 ……. Celeste Holder [Parsippany], 2006
19-8 ……. Cidae’a Woods [Winslow], 2014
19-7 ½ … Helen Wilks [Bridgeton], 1993
19-6 …….. Iana Amsterdam [Newark Tech], 2013
19-6 … …..Morgan Holley [Union Catholic], 2026
19-5 ¾ … Kayla Richardson [Columbia], 2014
19-4 ¾ … Celine-Jada Brown [Plainfield], 2022
19-3 ½ … Ma’syiah Brawner [Winslow Twp.], 2024
19-3 …….. Leah Ellis [Millville], 2019
19-2 ¾ … Kaitlin Salisbury [Hawthorne], 2016
19-1 ½ … Carlene Cummings [Englewood], 1998
19-1 ½ … Leeya Joseph [Winslow Twp.], 2026
19-1 ¼ … Kelsey Vieira [Hillsborough], 2016
19-1 ¼ … Kayla Richardson [Columbia], 2014
19-0 ½ … Natalia Hinton [Newark Tech], 2013
19-0 ¼ … Saniyah Evans [Rahway], 2024
19-0 …….. Tatiana Sanders [Paramus Catholic], 2013
19-0 … Saniyah Evans [Rahway], 2024
19-0 … Seannah Parsons [Randolph], 2026
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 