A host of South Jersey alums will be at Randall’s Island in Manhattan later this month to compete in the USATF Championships.
The meet is scheduled for July 23-26 at Icahn Stadium. This will be the first time the meet has been outside Eugene since 2019, when it was in Des Moines, Iowa, and the first time it will be in New York since 1991, when it was the TAC Championships and held at Downing Stadium. When Downing Stadium was demolished in 2002, it was replaced by Icahn Stadium.
So far, six South Jersey athletes have registered with several others eligible after having met either the A standard – the auto qualifying standard – or the B standard, which is used when there aren’t enough A qualifiers to fill the field.
Already registered are Lumberton’s Greg Foster in both the 110-meter hurdles, Florence’s Curtis Thompson in the javelin, Paul VI’s Aliya Garozzo in the 400-meter hurdles, Delsea’s Josh Awotunde and Highland’s Floyd Whitaker in the triple jump. Also registered is Rowan javelin specialist Damitrius Hester.
Here’s a look at that group. Am I forgetting anyone? It’s possible becauseUSATF’s web site is so clunky. Let me know who’s missing!
Josh Awotunde: Awotunde, the 2022 World Championships bronze medalist, ranks 7th among American men at 69-1, just short of the A standard of 69-2 ½, which only six U.S. throwers have hit this year.
Greg Foster: Ranked 4th among American men and 19th in the world at 27-0 ¼ at the Armory in February, Foster is well above the A standard of 26-6 ¾. Foster is also entered in the 110-meter hurdles, where he has a 13.78 on his home track in Princeton, a B standard.
Aliya Garozzo: Sicklerville’s Garozzo is 8th among U.S. women in the 400-meter intermediates with her PR 54.90 Des Moines in April. That’s well under the A standard of 55.80. She also has the B in the 400 with 52.43 but isn’t registered.
Curtis Thompson: Thompson, the 2025 World Championships bronze medalist, is ranked 1st among U.S. men and 4th in the world at 282-1 from last month in Doha, Qatar. Thompson shoots for his 6th national javelin title and 5th in a row.
Floyd Whitaker: Former NCAA All-America at Oklahoma is 7th among Americans with his PR 53-11 ¼ from indoors in College Station, Texas. That’s not quite an A Standard, but only four American men have the A standard and 16 will qualify, so he’s in good shape.
Damitrius Hester: Mahwah’s Hester won the NCAA D-3 title with a 245-10 in La Crosse, Wisc., No. 2 in D-3 history behind Deptford’s Tim Van Liew, who threw 247-10 to win the 2013 national title for Rutgers-Camden.
The qualifying window closes on Sunday. Here’s a look at other South Jersey athletes who have met either the A or B standard but as of Tuesday morning had not registered. Remember, the closer a competitor’s B standard performance is to the A standard the better their chances of qualifying.
Men
Ajani Dwyer, Washington Township: Dwyer snagged the A standard with his wind-legal 9.98, which is 10th-fastest among U.S. men and No. 33 in the world. Dwyer has the B standard in the 200 at 20.51.
Alexander Osayemi, Clayton: Osayemi has the B standard in the 400 with his PR 45.46 last month in Eugene.
Jayden Poteat, Winslow Twp.: Poteat is also under the B standard with his 45.97 in Elon, N.C.
Jamir Brown, Riverside: Brown is No. 15 in the U.S. with his 13.25 PR in Louisville in May. That’s well under the A standard of 13.40.
Kwaku Nkrumah and Jason Agyemang, Rowan: Nkrumah and Agyemang, Brown’s former teammate at Rowan, both ran 13.72 this year in a home meet in Glassboro in April. They’re both under the B standard. Nkrumah is from Teaneck and Agyemang from North Plainfield.
Bryce Tucker, Pennsauken: Tucker’s 50.54 from Lincoln, Neb., is under the B standard of 50.75.
David Brown, Rowan: Another Rowan star, Brown’s 7-2 ¼ in Charlottesville in April nailed the B tandard of 7-2 ¼.
Women
Sianni Wynn, Pennsauken: Wynn ran 11.27 at Franklin Field last month, a B standard of 11.30.
Amirah and Arianna Sharpe, Clayton: The Sharpe twins are both under the 400 B stnadard of 52.50, Amirah with a 51.95 and Arianna with 52.07, both in Fayetteville in April.
Natalie Dumas, Eastern: U.S. Under-20 champ in the intermediates has the B standard in the intermediates with her 56.13, not far off the A standard of 55.80. She has also the B in the 400 with 52.20.
Arianna Smith, Pennsville: Smith ran 56.29 in Durham, N.C.,
Jasmine Jackson, Winslow: Jackson’s historic 13.04 – 7th-fastest in U.S. history – to win West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field last month puts her well under the B standard of 13.25.
Jailya Ash, Eastern: Ash PR’d at 13.08 in Fayetteville in June, also well under the hurdles B standard of 13.25.
Tionna Tobias, Winslow Twp.: Tobias, one of the leading U.S. long jumpers, has the B standard of 21-10 ½ from a meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in April, but she is 9th-best American and only seven U.S. women have the A standard of 22-1 ¾.
Jessica Woodard, Cherokee: Woodard has the B standard with her 59-10 ¾ in Charlottesville in April. She’s ranked 11th among Americans and only five U.S. women have the A standard. Woodard has placed among the top eight at U.S. nationals 12 meets in a row, including three podium finishes.
Elisia Lancaster, Delsea: Lancaster’s PR of 227-0 puts her 16th among U.S. women and well over the B standard of 206-8.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 