Here’s one I missed last month: Timber Creek graduate Alyssa Condell ran a hot 5,000 PR at Boston University, recording the 8th-fastest time ever by a South Jersey woman.
Easy to miss someone in a meet as massive as B.U.’s annual David Hemery Valentine Invitational. (Now that I’m looking back, Alyssa is actually not listed in the live results, although she is in the *.pdf results that are linked on the main site. So not totally my fault on this one!)
But Condell, who ran collegiately for Penn, graduating in 2021, ran 16:11.60 at B.U. in her only indoor race this year, lowering her PR from 16:29.45, which she ran outdoors at Princeton at the 2024 Larry Ellis Invitational. Her previous indoor PR was 16:31.47 at the Armory this past December.
Condell’s fastest 5,000 at Penn was a 16:56.36 at the 2019 Ivy League Championships, also at Princeton’s Weaver Stadium.
Condell’s 16:11.60 ranked 59th among U.S. women indoors in 2026. She’s fastest 5,000 runner from South Jersey since Olympian Marielle Hall ran 15:31.47 at Icahn Stadium in May 2023, the last time she raced on the track.
All-Time South Jersey Alumni 5,000-Meter Run List
15:02.27 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], July 9, 2019, Azusa, Calif.
15:10.10 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], May 29, 2021, Attleboro, Mass.
15:41.78 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], May 1, 2011, Palo Alto, Calif.
15:53.74… Megan McGlinchey [West Deptford], Dec. 7, 2013, Haverford, Pa.
15:56.73 … Mindy Rowand [Sterling], March 9, 1990, Indianapolis
16:03.71 … Laura Mason [Northern Burlington], April 28, 1994, Philadelphia
16:06.92 … Amanda Goetschius [Delsea], March 12, 2020, Fayetteville, Ark.
16:11.60… Alyssa Condell [Timber Creek], Feb. 14, 2026, Boston
16:12.62 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], April 7, 2012, Williamsburg, Va.
16:14.07 … Kylie Anicic [Kingsway], April 12, 2024, Azusa, Calif.
16:16.52 … Melody Sye [Ocean City], April 28, 1994, Philadelphia
16:17.67 … Lori Townsend [Kingsway], April 27, 1995, Philadelphia
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 