Brady Shute finished a historic triple Saturday, running a lifetime-best and winning the 800 after also winning the 1,600 and 3,200 at the state Group 1 meet.

He’s the first to triple the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 in Group 1 in 22 years.

Shute ran a PR 1:54.58 to out-race top-seeded Nathan Armstrong of Pompton Lakes in at Pennsauken to finish off the triple. Armstrong was second in 1:55.95.

http://milesplit.live/meets/423136/events/32/F/M

Shute and Armstrong came through the 400 together, but Shute closed in 56.70 to Armstrong’s 58.00 to win by seven meters.

On Friday, Shute won the 1,600 in 4:22.24 and on Saturday morning he won the 3,200 in a personal-best 9:20.99.

The last to triple the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 in Group 1 was Brad Becker of Spotswood, who ran 1:58.10, 4:22.72 and 9:39.70 for the sweep in 1999 at South Plainfield.

Shute is also the first South Jersey boy to triple at states in any events since Maple Shade’s Kenneth Karcher won the 200, 400 and intermediate hurdles in Group 1 in 2017.

Shute’s previous 800 PR was 1:55.26 at Haddonfield Distance Night and his previous 3,200 PR was 9:21.93 at Cherokee Distance Night. His 1,600 PR is 4:18.07 from the Haddonfield Invitational.

Jaila Ash ran away from top-seeded Andree Celestin of West Orange and won the state Group 4 high hurdles title Saturday morning at Franklin Township High School.

Ash ran a lifetime-best 14.10 and Celestin, the state leader at 13.89, was second in 14.26. The field ran into a 1.0 meters-per-second wind.

Ash lowered her PR from 14.11, which she ran in the trials of the 2019 Olympic Conference Championships at Washington Township.

Her time is No. 15 in South Jersey history and No. 8 in Camden County history.

Ash won the 55-meter dash indoors in 2019 at the state Group 4 meet and at the Meet of Champions, but this is her first state title in the hurdles and also her first outdoor individual state championship.

Here’s a look at the all-time Camden County top-10. For the full all-time South Jersey top-50, click here.

13.79 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow], 2012
13.84 … Lenaami Morton [Camden], 2017
13.88 … Zonya Cross [Edgewood], 1983
13.98 … Cidae’a Woods [Winslow], 2014
13.99 … Imani Gilliam [Pennsauken], 2004
13.99 … Tionna Tobias [Winslow Twp.], 2018
14.09 … Nichole Belcher [Wilson], 1992
14.10 … Jailya Ash [Eastern], 2021
14.15 … Aliya Rae Garozzo [Paul VI], 2019
14.17 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
14.17 … Samantha Sharper [Wilson], 2008

Before she was an Olympic silver medalist, Nia Ali was a record-setter at Pleasantville! Here’s the all-time S.J. girls 100-meter hurdles top-50 list!!!

On Friday, Ash ran 12.08 for second in the 100-meter dash, finishing second to Egg Harbor’s Lauren Princz.

Alanna Woolfolk hasn’t lost a high jump competition in her brief high school career, and she didn’t let it happen at her first state meet.

Woolfolk, a Delsea freshman, was one of three girls in Group 2 to clear 5-6 at Franklin but she won a state title because she cleared 5-6 on her first attempt.

Senior Carly Tarentino of A.L. Johnson cleared 5-6 on her second attempt and sophomore Jenovia Logan of Sterling cleared on her third attempt. Tarentino is the state leader this spring with a 5-6 1/4 last month at the Union County Championships in Plainfield.

In fact,Woolfolk didn’t have a miss until she won the competition and had the bar raised to 5-8.

This is the fourth meet this spring Woolfolk has cleared 5-6.

Woolfolk is the first South Jersey girl to win the state Group 2 high jump since West Deptford’s Megan Kirschling in 2012 and the first Delsea girl to win a state high jump title since Brianna Hunt cleared 5-6 to win the state Group 3 title in 2011 at South Plainfield.

Woolfolk also anchored Delsea’s 400-meter relay team, which edged Rumson-Fair Haven by 3-100ths of a second, winning in 49.12.

Seniors Olivia Carter and Aalliya Fox and junior Emily Hill ran the first three legs. It’s the second time in five years (four meets) Delsea has won a state title in the 4-by-1. Kaire Brackett, Daneesha Brown, Cecelia Gerstenbacher and Toni Glatz ran 47.36 to win Group 3 in 2017.

Josh Forrest finished off a monster distance double Saturday morning when he won the 3,200 at Group 2 states.

Forrest, who won the 1,600 Friday with a personal-best 4:15.61 at Franklin Township High School, came back and won the 3,200 in 9:20.49, once again kicking pass Madison’s Adam Angelone late in the race.

Angelone came through 2,800 meters in 8:17.37, Forrest at 8:17.59 and Jack Tavaglione of Voorhees a step back at 8:17.90.

But Forrest closed in 62.90 to hold off Angelone, who finished strong as well with a 63.83 final lap, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Forrest.

Adam Hunt won the discus for Collingswood in 2017 and 2018, but Forrest is the first Collingswood runner to win a state title since before 1980 and the first Collingswood boy to double at states since before 1980 as well (and probably ever).

Forrest, who will run next year for Buffalo, is the first South Jersey runner to double the 1,600 and 3,200 in any public school division in six years, since Luke Petela of Haddon Township won the Group 1 1,600 and 3,200 in 2015  and the first in Group 2 since Ben Potts of Haddonfield in 2011.

Angelone was second in 9:21.20 and Tavaglione ran 9:23.88 for third.

Delsea junior Andrew Littlehales ran a PR 9:27.05 for fourth, West Deptford junior Jacob Cobb clocked 9:30.72 for fifth and Haddonfield junior Tobias Janssen 9:32.07 for sixth.

What a double by Holy Spirit junior Elijah Steward!

Steward won both the long jump and 400 at the state Parochial B meet in Neptune, setting lifetime bests in both events.

Steward won the 400 in 49.62, lowering his PR from 49.97, and he jumped 22-4 1/2 to win the long jump, going over 22 feet for the first time.

Steward became the school’s first double winner at states since Cade Antonucci won the discus and javelin in 2015. Antonucci placed third in the javelin at this weekend’s NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.

In the 400, Steward won by 12 meters over Hudson Catholic sophomore Jacob Rodriguez, who ran 51.05.

The long jump was much closer. Another Hudson Catholic athlete, Kai’leel Jefferson jumped 22-3 3/4, so Steward won that event by three-quarters of an inch!

Holy Spirit also got Day 1 points from senior Markus Lewis [4th in discus], senior Devin Lee [3rd in 400] and freshman Luke Halburner [6th in 400].

Going into Day 2, Holy Spirit’s 31 points were only one behind Hudson Catholic for the Parochial B lead.

Terrific start to the state Parochial A meet for Paul VI junior Michael Mazero, who won his first state title in one event and PR’d in another.

Mazero ran 48.95 to edge top-seeded Joe Morrone of St. Peter’s Prep and win the 400 at Neptune High and ran 10.82 on his way to third place in the 100. He ran 10.82 in the trials and placed third in the final in 10.93.

He’s run slightly faster for 400 meters – 48.93 to win the Camden County title last month – but his previous 100 PR was 11.17 when he won the Olympic Conference race. 

Mazero will run the 200 and 400-meter relay on Saturday.

It was no contest Friday in Willingboro freshman Malachi James’s first state championship race .

James was only the No. 6 seed in the 100 after winning Central Jersey Group 1 in 10.95 seconds. But he ran away with the state Group 1 race at Pennsauken, winning in 10.98 into a 0.8 wind with nobody else in the field going under 11.16.

James finished second to Rancocas Valley’s Herb Quarterman in the BCSL Liberty Division 100 and hasn’t lost a 100 since. Quarterman ran a lifetime-best 10.95 to place second to Egg Harbor’s Ahmad Brock (10.92) in the state Group 4 meet.

He’s the first Willingboro sprinter to win the 100 at states since Carl Lewis won the 100-yard dash at the 1979 state Group 4 meet in 9.9.

Clayton’s TerMeir Hill, the South Jersey Group 1 champ at 10.88, placed second in 11.16. 

James is the first Burlington County freshman to win a state title in an individual event since Brondon Jenkins of Burlington City won the Group 1 200 in 22.26 in 1993. Jenkins won the Meet of Champions 200 a year later for Delran in 21.46.

James will be the No. 1 seed in the 200 on Saturday. 

Woodstown senior Kara Knorr popped a 38-0 foot throw on her final attempt of the competition to pass the leader and win a state shot put title.

Knorr won the state Group 1 title at Pennsauken.

With one throw to go, Walkill Valley’s Oluwatomilayo Akintunde led the Group 1 shot with a throw of 37-9 1/4. Knorr was sitting in second with a best throw of 36-6 1/4 from her first attempt and was in danger of finishing second for a second year in a row. Last year, she finished second to Paulsboro’s Amaya Reed-Clark, who threw 40-4 1/2 to Knorr’s 36-1.

But she walked into the circle for her final throw and moved heaved it 3 3/4 inches farther than Akintunde to win the state title.

She appears to be the first Woodstown girl ever to win a state title.

Knorr PR’d at the Salem County Championships last month with a 38-5 1/2 and then won sectionals with a 37-4. 

The Clayton girls, led by the remarkable Sharpe triplets, piled up 42 points on Day 1 of the state Group 1 championships at Pennsauken.

Going into Day 2, Clayton leads Shore Regional 42-32 as the Clippers go after the first state championship in school history.

Clayton scored 22 points in the 400, with Amirah Sharpe winning at 55.99, Arianna second in a personal-best 56.58 (previous PR was 57.35) and Ariel fourth at 58.88.

Amirah won the 400-meter intermediates in 1:02.23, and Arianna won the 100 in 12.44 for 20 more points.

In 2019 – the last state meet contested – the Sharpes combined for 29 points in individual events while competing for Paulsboro, leading the Red Raiders to the state Group 1 title, 67-47, over Malcolm X Shabazz at Franklin Township. That year, Arianna won the intermediates and placed fifth in the 200, Amirah won the 800 and took third in the 400 and Ariel placed sixth in the 100.

On Saturday, Clayton has Amirah Sharpe as the No. 1 seed in the 800 and Amirah and Arianna are the No. 2 and 3 seeds in the 200, with Ariel also in the field.

And a non-Sharpe – sophomore Rayael Marshall – is the No. 3 seed in the 100-meter hurdles.

Additionally, the Clippers have a chance for big points in the two short relays. They’re the No. 1 seed in the 4-by-4 and No. 2 seed in the 4-by-100.

 

Incredible race this afternoon for Collingswood senior Josh Forrest, who lowered his PR by five seconds and won the 1,600-meter run at the state Group 2 meet at Franklin Township High School.

Forrest ran 4:15.61 and used his tremendous closing speed to overtake Madison’s Adam Angelone on the final lap.

Angelone came through 1,200 meters at 3:12.16, and Forrest was second, 15 meters back, at 3:13.96. 

But Forrest closed in 61.64 and won by 20 meters over Angelone, who ran a PR of his own at 4:17.68.

Forrest’s previous PR was 4:18.46 at the Haddonfield Invitational last month.

Three other South Jersey runners broke 4:20 in the race. Delsea senior Dawson Baptiste was third in 4:18.42 (previous PR 4:21.54), Lower Cape May Regional junior Zeb Hinker ran 4:19.37 for fifth (previous PR 4:22.43) and West Deptford junior Jacob Cobb was fifth in 4:19.62 (previous PR 4:21.64).