Samuel Gerstenbacher reclaimed the South Jersey steeplechase alumni record Friday night, seven days after losing it.

Gerstenbacher, a graduate of Schalick and Elizabethtown, ran 8:38.94 for the 3,000-meter steeplechase Friday night at Track Night NYC at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in Manhattan.

That’s No. 29 among American men this year and only eight seconds off the qualifying standard for the USATF National Championships next month in Eugene.

Former Shawnee and Michigan runner Connor Herr set the South Jersey steeplechase alumni record of 8:53.66 at the 2015 Penn Relays.

It stood until last month, when Gerstenbacher ran 8:51.03 at Princeton. But Cinnaminson graduate and Duke grad student Mike Ungvarsky then shattered Gerstenbacher’s record when he ran 8:46.16 at the ACC Championships in Durham, N.C., a week ago.

Ungvarsky held the record for seven days, until Gerstenbacher ran 8:38.94 Friday night.

So the record has been held by three different runners and changed hands three times since April 15.

Gerstenbacher mixed it up with some some of the best steeplechasers in the world Friday night. Canadian Jean-Simon Desgagnes won the race in 8:22.95, the No. 9 time in the world this year; Old Bridge and Temple graduate Travis Mahoney was second with a near PR 8:24.89; U.S. No. 2 Isaac Updike was 3rd at 8:27.88; and U.S. No. 9 Brody Smith placed 4th in 8:28.60. Gerstenbacher placed 8th with the No. 29 time this year among U.S. men.

Gerstenbacher ran all seven of his full laps between 68.55 and 69.54, which is about as evenly paced a race as you can imagine. The fact that it’s over barriers and a water jump makes that sort of even pace even more impressive.

My project for today was a list of the 10-fastest steeplechasers in New Jersey history. Here’s what I came up with. Anybody missing?

8:15.69 … Steve Slattery [Mt. Olive], Sept. 14, 2007 [Van Damme Memorial,
Boudewijnstadion, Brussels, Belgium]
8;24.05 … Travis Mahoney [Old Bridge], June 21, 2021 [U.S. Olympic Trials [trials], Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore.]
8:24.09 … Craig Forys [Colts Neck], July 15, 2014 [Spitzen Leichtathletik, Stadion Allmend, Lucern, Switzerland]
8:38.53 … Ray Puglsey [Mendham, Dartmouth], April 23, 1992 [Penn Relays, Franklin Field, Philadelphia]
8:38.94 … Samuel Gerstenbacher [Schalick], May 20, 2022 [Track Night NYC, Icahn Stadium, Randall’s Island, New York]
8:42.64 … Colin Daly [River Dell, Penn], May 14, 2021 [ACC Championships, Paul Derr Track and Field Facility, Raleigh, N.C.]
8:43.09 … William Daly [River Dell, Penn], May 14, 2021 [ACC Championships, Paul Derr Track and Field Facility, Raleigh, N.C.]
8:46.16 … Mike Ungbarsky [Cinnaminson, Duke], May 13, 2022 [ACC Championships, Morris Williams Track and Field Stadium, Durham, N.C.]
8:47.93 … Matt Forys [Howell], June 6, 2007 [NCAA Championships, Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, Calif.]
8:49.63 … Mike Soroko [Kinnelon, Rider], May 14, 2011 [IC4A, Weaver Stadium, Princeton]

Massive breakthrough race Friday night for Haddon Township graduate Luke Petela, now racing for Moody Park Track Club.

Petela placed 3rd in the 1,500 “B race” at Track Night NYC at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in Manhattan in 3:46.51.

That’s a drop of nearly 10 seconds from his 1,500 PR of 3:56.30 from 2015 New Balance Nationals at the Armory. It’s the equivalent of a 4:04.63 full mile, which is also well below his PR of 4:08.63 from a meet at the Tatnal School in Wilmington, Del., last month.

Petela finished behind only Benjamin Ross [3:44.87] and former Princeton runner Sebastian Fisher [3:46.38].

Petela came through 300 meters in 46.45 and then ripped off his quarters in 60.08, 60.24 and 59.76, so he was very close to sub-4 pace over the last 1,200 [4:00.11 to be precise].

Petela was the Meet of Champions 3,200 champion in the spring of 2015 with an 8:58.32 at South Plainfield and then ran for Vermont up through the 2020 indoor season.

Ryan Merlino moved into the No. 1 spot among New Jersey sophomore pole vaulters Friday with a huge breakthrough performance at the Atlantic County Championships.

Merlino, a sophomore at Oakcrest, cleared 13-6 at Buena, which at least according to his MileSplit bio page is a two-foot PR.

Merlino is listed with an 11-6 clearance at a SJTCA indoor meet at the Bubble in February and an outdoor PR of 11-0 before Friday from the Jim Camburn Relays, also at Buena. He appears to be a first-year varsity track competitor.

A two-foot PR in the pole vault, where PRs are often measured in fractions of an inch, is virtually unheard of.

But Merlino vaulted into the No. 11 spot in the state this year and No. 3 in South Jersey, behind Cherry Hill East senior Noah Kressman, who hit 14-6 at the Woodbury Relays, and Deptford senior Gursharan Singh, who cleared 13-6 at the Gloucester County Championships at Deptford.

The top sophomore before Merlino cleared 13-6 was Willingboro’s Jackson Murry, who has cleared 13-0 three times this spring, most recently when he won the Burlington County Open last weekend.

Over the last 15 years, the only South Jersey sophomore to clear a higher height was Delsea’s Nico Morales, who went 14-10 at the 2018 Tri-County Championships at Delsea.

Merlino’s 13-6 is tied for No. 2 in Oakcrest history, behind only Tony Defeo, who cleared 14-6 as a senior at the state Group 3 meet at Egg Harbor. Simon Vuong also cleared 13-6 in 2011.

Merlino jumps next at the Cape Atlantic Conference Championships on Wednesday at Bridgeton.

Cherokee senior Nicole Clifford ran the 5th-fastest mile in South Jersey history Friday night at Icahn Stadium in Manhattan.

Clifford placed 4th in the mile at the Track Night NYC 2022 on Randall’s Island in 4:50.50.

She broke the Burlington County record of 4:52.95, set at the 2009 Meet of Champions in South Plainfield by Lenape’s Caitlin Orr by nearly 2 ½ seconds, and she lowered the Cherokee school record of 4:55.66, set by Megan Lacy at the 2012 South Jersey Group 4 meet at Egg Harbor.

Clifford’s previous PR was 4:53.85 for 1,600 meters when she won the indoor state Group 4 title at the Bubble in February. That’s the equivalent of a 4:55.55 full mile, so this was just over a five-second PR.

https://ny.milesplit.com/meets/484443-tom-track-night-nyc-2022/results#.YohhhC-B1hA

Unfortunately – and this is purely my fault – my all-time list is in meters, so until I can convert all the 1,600 times to full miles it’s going to have to do. And Clifford’s time converts to 4:48.82, which trails only four girls in South Jersey history: Olympian Erin Donohue ran 4:41.16 in 2000, Michelle Rowen of Washington Township ran 4:41.5 in 1982, Briana Gess of Haddonfield ran 4:45.97 in 2014 and another Olympian, Haddonfield’s Marielle Hall, ran 4:48.73 in 2010.

Mia Cochrane of Moon Area High School in Moon Township, Pa., won the race in 4:42.43, a nearly five-second PR from her 4:47.17 at the Penn Relays. Zariel Macchia, a freshman at William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach, N.Y., was second in 4:47.47, about a second faster than her PR from Armory Nationals this past winter. Union Catholic sophomore Peyton Hollis ran 4:49.88 and finished just in front of Clifford. Her previous PR was 4:55.26 indoors back in December at the Armory.

Hollis and Clifford rank No. 1 and No. 2 in New Jersey this year. Cate DeSousa of Red Bank Catholic ran 4:49.06 for 1,600 meters on Thursday at Holmdel, and Molly Malague of Metuchen ran 4:49.98 earlier this month at Ridge. So that’s four girls under 4:50 for 1,600 or its equivalent so far this spring. Four more are under 4:53.

Clifford went out in 70.79, 2:22.63 and 3:37.05 and moved up from 6th to 4th with a 73.45 final lap.

Here’s the all-time South Jersey sub-5 list!

4:41.16 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2000
4:41.5y … Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1982
4:45.97 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2014
4:48.73 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2010
4:48.82 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
4:49.11 … Renee Tomlin [Ocean City], 2005
4:49.26 … Rachel Vick [Kingsway], 2017
4:51.43 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2017
4:52.95 … Caitlin Orr [Lenape], 2009
4:54.25 … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2021
4:54.71 … Megan Hartman [Ocean City], 1994
4:54.76 … Allison Colflesh [Haddonfield], 2021
4:54.88 … Bridget Flynn [Holy Spirit], 2012
4:55.41 … Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2004
4:55.45 … Julianna Catania [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2016
4:55.66 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012
4:55.70 … Dina Iacone [Washington Twp.], 2012
4:55.90 … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2019
4:55.9h … Dawn Cody [Paul VI], 1982
4:56.01 … Natalia Ocasio [Lenape], 2012
4:56.08 … Megan Quimby [Lenape], 2016
4:56.43 … Liz Locke [Kingsway], 2010
4:56.55 … Maria Ruiz [Williamstown], 2009
4:56.68 … Claudine Evangelista [Triton], 2000
4:56.81 … Julia DeSpirito [Shawnee], 2014
4:56.84 … Holly Bischof [Bishop Eustace], 2011
4:56.23 … Celine Mazzi [Delsea], 2014
4:57.39 … Alyssa Condell [Timber Creek], 2016
4:57.48 … Felicia O’Donnell [Delsea], 2011
4:57.63 … Nicole Lipieta [Kingsway], 2021
4:57.96 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], 2013
4:58.86 … Madison Coppolino [Sterling], 2017
4:59.38 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2009
4:59.27 … Theresa Cattuna [Cherry Hill East], 2005
4:59.54 … Amanda Goetschius [Delsea], 2007
4:59.60 … Brittnee Bynoe [Willingboro], 2004
4:59.72 … Katie Van Horn [Triton], 2005
4:59.6h … Ruth Lockbaum [Glassboro], 1985
4:59.80 … Sydny Warner [Seneca], 2018
4:59.89 … Destiny Stanford [Kingsway], 2017

Crazy quad win Friday for Ocean City junior Elaina Styer at the Cape May County Championships on her home track at Ocean City.

Styer won the high jump at 4-10, long jump at 16-9, triple jump with a 36-1 and would you believe the shot put with a 30-1 ½.

That’s 32 points for Ocean City, which won the team title 196-103 over Middle Township.

Although none of those marks is a PR, all are close to PRs, which is impressive considering she competed in four events. She was two inches shy of her PR in the high jump, 1 ¼ inches off her long jump PR, 5 ½ inches shy in the triple jump and just under a foot off her shot put PR.

Other Ocean City winners were freshman Chloe Care [2:30.48 in 800, 5:28.05 in 1,600], freshman Naomi Nnewihe [13.17 in 100], senior Maggie Halbruner [28.42 in 200], senior Abby Inserra [13:22.44 in 3,200], senior Marissa Sampson [89-6 javelin] and the 4-by-4 team of Care, junior Natalie Hope, senior Aimee Altieri and Halbruner.

Other winners were Middle Township senior Keira Phillips [1:00.68 in 400 and 1:08.88 in 400IH], Lower Cape May senior MaryKatelyn West [17.41 in 100HH, 9-0 in pole vault] and Middle Township sophomore Daniella Oliver [99-8 in discus]

For the first time in 11 years, Willingboro is atop the Burlington County track world.

The Chimeras won their 26th Burlington County Open title, outscoring six-time defending champion Rancocas Valley, 107-97.

The meet was held Saturday and completed Wednesday with the triple jump and discus.

From 1976 through 2005, the Chimeras won 24 of a possible 30 team titles. But they won just one of the next 14 meets while R.V. dominated. The Red Devils’ streak of six straight titles was the longest since Willingboro won seven in a row from 1999 through 2005. The Boro won 16 in a row from 1976 through 1991.

Rancocas won titles in 2014 through 2017, plus 2019 and 2021. The meet wasn’t completed in 2018 and the 2020 meet was cancelled. So this is the first time since 2013 RV hasn’t won.

For Boro, the pole vaulters led the way, with sophomore Jackson Murry and senior Bryon Gary placing 1-2 for 18 big points. Murry cleared 13-0 on his second attempt, tying his PR, and Gary cleared 11-6. Murry is the No. 2 sophomore vaulter in New Jersey.

Sophomore Malachi James won his second straight 100-200 double running 11.00 in his first race since last year’s Meet of Champions in June, then coming back to win the 200 in 22.16. He’s the first to double the 100 and 200 in back-to-back years since Robert Jones of Maple Shade in 2012 and 2013.

Senior Jaylen Young won the 400 in a personal-best 50.55 and also took fifth in the 200. Senior Georgdan Collins took fifth in the 400.

C.J. Johnson threw 53-6 ¼ on his final attempt to win the shot put. He’s Willingboro’s first county shot put champ in 21 years, since Dzigbodi Ababio threw 52-6 in 2001. He also placed 4th in the discus at 128-3.

Senior Anais Hughes won the high jump with a PR 6-2, and Hughes and junior Kedaar Wilson scored in the high hurdles, Hughes taking 3rd in 15.45 and Wilson 5th in 15.93, and Wilson also placed 2nd in the intermediates in 60.22, with senior Chris Johnson 6th in 62.60.

In the field, sophomore Derrick Bryant jumped 20-0 for 5th place, senior Bryson Wright threw 124-5 for 5th in the javelin

Young, Jackson Murry, Rae-Juan Gayle and James placed 2nd to R.V. in the 400-meter relay in 44.26. And Christian Bryant, Collin Dixon, Johnson and Karim Nasser combined to run 8:57.46 for 5th in the 3,200-meter relay. Also, Young, Murry, Collins and Johnson ran 3:30.37 for second in the 1,600-meter relay but were DQd.

Other winners were Cherokee junior Patrick Ditmars in the 800 [1:55.93], Cherokee senior Conor Jacob in the 1,600 [PR 4:25.84], Cinnaminson senior Alex Boyko in the 3,200 [9:24.68], Pemberton senior Zach DeBose in the 110 highs [15.10, second in a row], Delran sophomore Jamir Brown in the 400 intermediates [58.39, first from Delran to win the 400IH since Meet of Champions winner Harran Williams in 1999] and long jump [22-0 ½, first from Delran since Dennis Fields in 2011] , Cherokee sophomore Zach Ott in the javelin [138-6], Moorestown soph Rece Englehart in the triple jump [44-6 ½] and R.V. junior Devon Brooks in the discus [137-3].

If five South Jersey miles under 4:17 at Haddonfield Thursday night wasn’t enough, a sixth ran well under 4:17 a few hours later at Holmdel.

Cherokee junior Patrick Ditmars ran 4:15.26 and placed 3rd out of more than 600 runners in 27 sections of 1,600 meters at the Holmdel Twilight Series Royal Rumble at Bob Roggy Stadium.

Ditmars’ previous PR was 4:19.61 at last year’s state Group 4 meet at Franklin High School.

Marco Langan from Bridgewater-Raritan won the race in 4:07.93. His PR was 4:11.40 indoors at the North 2 Group 4 sectionals at the Bubble in February – which was the last competitive 1,600 or mile he ran.

Colin Riley of Jonathan Dayton was 2nd in 4:13.92, dropping his PR from 4:16.51 also indoors at the Bubble in the Meet of Champions in March.

Ditmars’ time is No. 3 in Cherokee history, behind only Shawn Wilson [4:11.69 in 2013] and Marc Pelerin [4:11.86 converted from full mile in 2002] and just ahead of Steve Burkholder [4:15.49 in 2010] and Ethan Wechsler [4:15.52 in 2019].

It’s also No. 7 in Burlington County history and fastest since 2013, when Wilson ran 4:11.69 on the same track.

It’s also a Burlington County junior class record, breaking the mark of 4:15.52 set by Wechsler at the 2019 state Group 4 meet at Franklin.

Another Cherokee junior, Conor Jacob, PR’d in 9th place overall with a 4:18.45, a more than seven-second PR from his 4:25.84 when he won the Burlington County Open last weekend at Rancocas Valley.

And Cherokee sophs Nick Kuenkel and Robert Poplau ran 4:24.93 and 4:27.33, lowered their PRs from 4:26.13 at R.V. Saturday for Kuenkel and something north of 4:40 for Poplau, who hadn’t run a competitive 1,600 since freshman year.

Junior Thomas Bromley made it five Chiefs under 4:30. Bromley ran 4:27.89, dropping his PR nearly nine seconds.

Here’s the updated Burlington County sub-4:16 list:

4:11.15 … Ryan Garvin [Lenape], 2009
4:11.69 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 2013
4:11.86y … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
4:13.1y … Ricky Jacques [Burlington Twp.], 1968
4:14.60 … Matt Poskus [Cinnaminson], 2007
4:14.8y … Vance Watson [Willingboro], 1982
4:15.26 … Patrick Ditmars [Cherokee], 2022
4:15.28 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 2004
4:15.44 … Brian Tetreault [Cinnaminson], 2007
4:15.49 … Steve Burkholder [Cherokee], 2010
4:15.52 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2019

Absolutely insane 1,600 at Haddonfield Thursday night, with five Colonial Conference milers under 4:17, including Seth Clevenger and George Andrus with two all-time South Jersey top-10 ties.

Wow!

Clevenger, a Haddonfield senior, won the race at the Haddonfield Invitational in 4:09.34, with Andrus, a Haddonfield junior, second in 4:10.97.

Those times rank No. 6 and No. 8 in South Jersey history and No. 2 and 4 in New Jersey this year.

Clevenger missed the Haddonfield school record of 4:09.30, set at the 2009 Meet of Champions by Colin Baker, by only 4-100ths of a second. Ocean City and Haddonfield now claim five of the eight-fastest times in South Jersey history.

Clevenger’s previous PR was 4:12.92 earlier this month at the South Jersey Elite at Delsea. Andrus’s previous PR was 4:15.93 for a full mile last month at Westfield, which converts to 4:14.45 for 1,600 meters.

Incredible race by Woodbury sophomore Peyton Shute in 3rd place. Shute ran 4:14.89, just off the South Jersey sophomore class record of 4:14.14 set by Haddonfield’s Ben Potts at the 2011 Meet of Champions.

Shute’s previous PR was a 4:17.46 earlier this month at South Jersey Elite. His time is No. 8 among U.S. sophomores, according to the MileSplit national rankings, and it’s the fastest by a New Jersey sophomore in five years.

He’s only about 2 ½ seconds off the Woodbury school record of 4:12.5 – converted from a 4:13.9 full mile – by legendary Rich Caton in when he won the 1978 Penn Relays Scholastic Mile.

West Deptford senior Jacob Cobb was next across the line with a 4:16.20, another PR. Cobb had run 4:16.52 at the South Jersey Elite.

Shute and Cobb are now No. 11 and No. 15 all-time on a very fast Gloucester County list. Gloucester County, which accounts for 16 percent of South Jersey’s population, is responsible for 37 percent of the 35-fastest times in South Jersey history.

Cobb came back to win the 800 with a PR 1:57.25, with Paulsboro junior Jamile Gantt also under two minutes in 1:59.30 – a three-second PR.

Crossing the line just behind Cobb was Haddon Heights junior Colin Patterson with a school-record 4:16.84. He dropped nearly three seconds from his PR of 4:19.82 from South Jersey Elite.

The fast running didn’t stop there!

Audubon senior Scott Hubbard placed 6th in 4:21.20, dropping his lifetime best from 4:24.26 (converted from a full mile) at Ridge earlier this month.

Before we get to the all-time South Jersey list, check out the all-time Haddonfield top-10. It’s insane!

4:09.30 … Colin Baker [Haddonfield], 2009
4:09.34 … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 2022
4:10.97 … George Andrus [Haddonfield], 2022
4:13.26y … Greg Pelose [Haddonfield], 2015
4:14.14 … Ben Potts [Haddonfield], 2009
4:14.25 … Matt Nussbaum [Haddonfield], 2010
4:14.3h … Jim Smith [Haddonfield], 1980
4:14.50 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2003
4:15.0h … Dan Gough [Haddonfield], 1987
4:15.52 … Derek Gess [Haddonfield], 2018

And here’s the all-time South Jersey top-50!

4:07.07y … Brett Johnson [Ocean City], 2009
4:08.58 … Kyle Rakitis [Kingsway], 2021
4:08.7y ….. Mike Elder [Haddon Twp.], 1973
4:09.19 … John Richardson [Ocean City], 2003
4:09.30 … Colin Baker [Haddonfield], 2009
4:09.34 … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 2022
4:10.24y ….. Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1979
4:10.97 … George Andrus [Haddonfield], 2022
4:11.07 … Xavier Fraction [Washington Twp.], 2009
4:11.15 … Ryan Garvin [Lenape], 2009
4:11.46 … Miles Schoedler [Ocean City], 2010
4:11.49 … Jim Wyner [Mainland Reg.], 2004
4:11.69 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 2013
4:11.78 … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2015
4:11.84 … Tom Cooke [Kingsway], 2012
4:11.86y … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
4:12.05y … Murad Campbell [Overbrook], 1999
4:12.08 … Bill Dolan [Clearview], 2014
4:12.1y ….. Al Harden [Millville], 1978
4:12.3y ….. Ed Blakeley [Haddon Twp.], 1975
4:12.5y ….. Dick Caton [Woodbury], 1978
4:13.23 … Justin Branco [Delsea], 2015
4:13.1y … Ricky Jacques [Burlington Twp.], 1968
4:13.26y … Greg Pelose [Haddonfield], 2015
4:13.46 … Stone Caraccio [Kingsway], 2019
4:13.4y … Greg Stremmel [Gateway[, 1973
4:13.64h … Jason DiJoseph [Paul VI], 1988
4:13.71 … Dominick Munson [Timber Creek], 2015
4:13.83 … Carmen Cavella [Washington Twp.], 2003
4:13.85 … Jacob Clark [Pleasantville], 2013
4:14.1y … Charles McCarthy [Paul VI], 1972
4:14.14 … Ben Potts [Haddonfield], 2009
4:14.25 … Matt Nussbaum [Haddonfield], 2010
4:14.3h … Jim Smith [Haddonfield], 1980
4:14.50 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2003
4:14.60 … Matt Poskus [Cinnaminson], 2007
4:14.84h … Greg Hughes [Mainland Reg.], 2004
4:14.89 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 2022
4:14.8y … Ed McGowan [Highland], 1972
4:14.8y … Vance Watson [Willingboro], 1982
4:14.9h … Jeff Boyer [Camden], 1983
4:15.12 … Owen Long [Haddon Twp.], 2015
4:15.0y … Bob Marino [Williamstown], 1975
4:15.0y … Bradley Pomeroy [Cherry Hill East], 1977
4:15.0h … Dan Gough [Haddonfield], 1987
4:15.0h … Fred Sharpe [Paulsboro], 1997
4:15.19 … Mark Sivieri [St. Augustine], 1990
4:15.28 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 2004
4:15.35 … Steve Mazur [Highland], 1992
4:15.44h … Jeff Davis [Cumberland Reg.], 1985
4:15.44 … Brian Tetreault [Cinnaminson], 2007
4:15.52 … Derek Gess [Haddonfield], 2018

Big race today for Sterling grad Marquise Young, who won the 110 highs with a personal-best time at the AARTFC Championships.

Young, a sophomore at Rowan, ran 14.37 Thursday and edged Brett Morse of SUNY Cortland by 1-100th of a second to win the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference meet at Moravian University in Bethlehem.

Young had just set a PR of 14.55 in the trials on Wednesday. Before this week, his PR was 14.57 from his win at the NJAC meet in Ewing last week. He had a PR of 14.98 as recently as late March.

That 14.37 was wind-legal with a 1.2-meters per second tailwind and moves Young up from No. 25 to No. 10 this year in NCAA Division 3.

Young and Morse were separated by only 1-100th of a second in Wednesdayt’s  trials also, Young leading all qualifiers at 14.55 and Morse running 14.56.

Next up for Young is the NCAA Division 3 Championships next week at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

This will be Young’s second trip to NCAA Division 3 nationals. He’s already an NCAA Division 3 national champ and All-America as a member of Rowan’s 1,600-meter relay team at indoor nationals in March in Winston-Salem, N.C., but he missed the high hurdles final indoors by 2-100ths of a second.

The 110-meter highs qualifying round is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. a week from Friday at SPIRE and the final is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.

Delsea senior Jason Nwosu unloaded the 12th-best discus throw in South Jersey history Wednesday.

Nwosu threw 182-7 at the Tri-County Championships at Kingsway, surpassing his previous PR of 177-10 in late April in a meet at East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University.

His mark is No. 3 in Gloucester County history behind Delsea’s Josh Awotunde and Deptford’s Ken Manahan.

Awotunde threw 192-5 at the 2013 state Group 3 meet at South Plainfield and placed 5th in the shot put in March at the IAAF World Indoor Championships at Štark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia. He ranks No. 15 in U.S. history at 72-10.

Manahan threw a then-South Jersey record 185-5 at the 1976 Gloucester County Championships at Woodbury, breaking the S.J. mark of 178-0 set in 1970 by Millville’s Jim Stites at the 1970 Meet of Champions at Highland Park.

Nwosu’s mark is No. 3 in New Jersey this year, behind only Bergen Catholic’s Benjamin Shue, who set a national freshman record of 193-0 at the Penn Relays, and Southern Regional junior Fabian Gonzalez, who threw 184-8 at Penn.

Nwosu also won the shot put at 59-6 ¼, leading a 1-2-3 Delsea sweep. Senior Josh Caudill was 2nd with a PR 55-6 ½ and sophomore Greg Masso 3rd with an outdoor PR of 51-1 ½.

Penns Grove junior Janier Armstead placed second with a monster PR of 165-10, which is No. 9 in New Jersey this year and No. 3 in South Jersey, behind only Nwosu and his Delsea teammate Cade Berardelli, who threw 174-11 at the South Jersey Elite at Delsea earlier this month.

Armstead’s previous PR was 143-11 at the Woodbury Relays, so this was a nearly 22-foot PR. His best throw last year was 105-4, and as recently as April 22 he hadn’t thrown beyond 123-1. Wow!

His throw is No. 3 in Salem County history and best by a Salem County thrower in eight years, since Penns Grove’s Anthony Robertson threw 170-0 at the 2014 Tri-County Conference Championships at Delsea.

Nwosu is the 7th thrower in South Jersey history to hit 60 feet in the shot and 180 feet in the discus:

Ron Dayne [Overbrook]
SHOT: 64-6 ¼, 1996
DISCUS: 216-11, 1996

Braheme Days Jr. [Bridgeton]
SHOT: 68-8 ½, 2012
DISCUS: 199- 6, 2013

Josh Awotunde [Delsea]
SHOT: 61-6, 2013
DISCUS: 192- 5, 2013

Ray Wilks [Bridgeton]
SHOT: 64-5, 1995
DISCUS: 189- 7, 1995

Matt Huckabee [Timber Creek]
SHOT: 61-2 ½, 2010
DISCUS:185-7, 2010

Kamron Kobolak [Cinnaminson]
SHOT: 61-11 ¾, 2018
DISCUS: 185- 6, 2018

Jason Nwosu [Delsea]
SHOT:60-11 ½, 2022
DISCUS:182-7, 2022

South Jersey 180-Foot Club
216-11 … Ron Dayne [Overbrook], 1996
199- 6 … Braheme Days Jr. [Bridgeton], 2013
197- 0 … James Plummer [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013
192- 5 … Josh Awotunde [Delsea], 2013
189- 7 … Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], 1995
185-11 … John Mooers [Middle Twp.], 2015
185-10 … Russ Willett [Penns Grove], 1985
185- 7 … Matt Huckabee [Timber Creek], 2010
185- 6 … Kamron Kobolak [Cinnaminson], 2018
<u>185- 5 … Ken Manahan [Deptford], 1976</u>
184- 4 … Adam Hunt [Collingswood], 2017
182- 7 … Jason Nwosu [Delsea], 2022
181-10 … Jason Winrow [Cumberland Reg.], 1989
180- 3 … Howard Clark [Pennsauken], 1998