Highland’s Floyd Whitaker, a sophomore at Oklahoma, recorded the best indoor triple jump ever by a South Jersey native Saturday and placed 3rd in the Big 12 Conference Championships in Lubbock, Texas.

Whitaker soared 52-3 ¼ on his 3rd jump, the best indoor jump ever by a South Jersey athlete. The previous South Jersey alumni best indoors was Whitaker’s 51-5 ½ in January of 2022 in a meet in Minneapolis competing unattatched because his previous college – the Univeristy of Minnesota – doesn’t have an indoor track program.

Whitaker has an outdoor PR of 52-6 ¼ from World Juniors in Cali, Columbia, in August of 2022. That’s the No. 2 jump ever by a South Jersey alum, behind a 53-6 ½ by Greg Foster of Shawnee in Flagstaff in May 1988. Foster’s son Greg currently competes for Princeton and won the Ivy League long jump in Cambridge, Mass., while Whitaker was triple jumping in Texas.

After opening with a 49-10 ½ and a foul, Whitaker had three straight jumps over 50 feet – 52-3 ¼, 50-11 ½ and 51-7. This was only his fourth meet for Oklahoma. He jumped 51-3 ½ last month in another meet in Lubbock, so he recorded his two-best jumps as a Sooner Saturday.

Whitaker jumped 50-2 ½ at Highland when he won the 2019 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.

https://cornellbigred.com/sports/2009/7/27/MTRACK_0727094036.aspx?id=324

Maya Drayton won her 3rd conference title Saturday with a season-best time in the 200 at the Big East Championships in Chicago.

Drayton, a Georgetown grad student, ran 24.18 to win the 200 over freshman teammate Abbie Huey, who placed 2nd in 24.32. She also placed 2nd in the 400 in 55.06 at the Worrill Track and Field Center

Drayton, a Cherry Hill East graduate, won the Big East 400 title last winter in Chicago in 54.44 and was on Georgetown’s winning 4-by-4 outdoors last spring at Villanova.

On the all-time Georgetown list, Drayton is No. 4 in the 200 with her PR of 24.11 as well as No. 2 in the 300 [38.34], No. 7 in the 400 [54.55] and No. 5 in the 60 [7.60].

Egg Harbor Township graduate Isabella Leak, a junior at Monmouth, ran her second mile PR this month Friday and placed 5th at the Coastal Athletic Assocation Championships at the Armory.

Leak ran 4:53.23, No. 6 in Monmouth history, trimming her mile PR from 4:53.52 at a meet two weeks ago in Boston.

Leak easily advanced to the final with a 5:00.10 in Thursday’s qualifying round. In the final, she closed in 69.33 for her final 400 meters.

Here’s a look at the 10-fastest milers I could find from South Jersey:

4:26.48 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], Sept. 7, 2008, Rieti, Italy
4:32.77 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], April 29, 2017, Philadelphia
4:34.39 … Renee Tomlin [Ocean City], July 25, 2012, Dublin, Ireland
4:41.57 … Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1987
4:41.62i … Greta Feldman [Haddonfield], Feb. 24, 2013, Cambridge, Mass.
4:47.19 … Jenna Darcy [Shawnee], Jan. 28, 2006, Boston
4:49.86i … Amanda Goetschius [Delsea], Feb. 20, 2010, Kingston, R.I.
4:51.44 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], June 21, 2015, Greensboro, N.C.
4:53.23 … Isabella Leak [Egg Harbor Township], Feb. 23, New York

Nylah Perry ran the 7th-fastest 400 time in Iowa history Friday morning at the Big Ten Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

Perry won the 6th of seven heats in the 400 trials at SPIRE Institute in 53.89, finishing more than 1 ½ seconds ahead of 2nd place in her race. Despite racing solo, she posted the 6th-fastest qualifying time for Saturday’s final.

Perry’s 53.89 is fastest by an Iowa quarter-miler indoors in six years, since Briana Guillory ran 51.68 when she placed 6th at the 2018 NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas.

Click to access 2830ea6a-top-10-performers-womens.pdf

The women’s 400 final is schceduled for 1:40 p.m. Saturday.

Perry had just PR’d two weeks ago with a 54.26 at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. Since her specialty is the 400 hurdles, she hasn’t run an outdoor flat 400 as a collegian. At Winslow, Perry ran 55.97 outdoors at the 2017 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington and 56.19 indoors when she won the 2018 Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze.

50.66 … Nadia Davey [Bridgeton], 2003, Sacramento
51.70 … Michelle Brown [Seneca], June 13, 2014, Eugene, Ore.
51.72 … Denise Mitchell [Edgewood], June 27, 1987, San Jose, Calif.
52.24 … Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], March 16, 1996, Westwood, Calif.
52.42i … Arianna Sharpe [Clayton], Feb. 10, 2023, Clemson, S.C.
52.77 … Eusheka Bartley [Highland], March 23, 1996, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
52.80 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], May 12, 2007, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
52.86 … Tina Johnson [Burlington Twp.], May 20, 2001, Bloomington, Ind.
53.20 … Gabrielle Farquharson [Williamstown], April 23, 2016, Atlanta
53.28 …….. Sharpe, March 24, 2023, Tallahassee, Fla.
53.37 … Amirah Sharpe [Clayton], March 24, 2023, Tallahassee, Fla.
53.45 … Okechi Ogbuokiri [Willingboro], Atlanta May 14, 2005
53.51 … Dana Burnett [Williamstown], June 15, 1996, Raleigh, N.C.
53.64 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], June 21, 2008, Greensboro, N.C.
53.73 … English Gardner [Eastern], March 24, 2012, Los Angeles
53.78i … Kiara Lester [Deptford], Feb. 23, 2019, Ann Arbor, Mich.
53.79 … Kiara Lester [Deptford], May 1, 2021, Lubbock, Texas
53.89 … Nylah Perry [Winslow Twp.], 2024, Geneva, Ohio
53.97 … Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], June 10, 2023, Franklin Twp., N.J.

Eastern’s Kadence Dumas, a freshman at Delaware, demolished her 800 PR and ran the 3rd-fastest time in school history Thursday at the CAA Championships

Dumas, seeded 19th in the Coastal Athletic Association coming into the meet, ran the 4th-fastest time in the qualifying rounds and advanced to the final on Friday at the Armory.

The final is scheduled for 1:25 p.m. on Friday.

Dumas lowered her PR from 2:14.54 – which she just ran last weekend at Ocean Breeze – to 2:11.03 in what was only her 2nd collegiate 800.

The only faster times in school history belong to Michaela Meyer, who ran 2:03.40 in 2020, and Jeanette Bendolph, who ran 2:09.61 in 2018. Dumas bumped Lenape graduate Carly Pettipaw [2:11.34 in 2019] out of the No. 3 spot on the all-time Blue Hens performance list.

At Eastern, Dumas ran 2:10.44 outdoors from her Meet of Champions win this past June and had an indoor PR of 2:17.12, so that’s come down more than six seconds.

North Carolina State junior Kevin Antczak from Mainland Regional ran one of the fastest 5,000s ever by a South Jersey runner Thursday afternoon at the ACC Championships in Boston.

Antczak ran 14:08.24, lowering his PR from 14:21.54 from the 2022 Raleigh (N.C.) Relays outdoors on his home track. That’s on the heels of a big PR 8:04.87 last weekend on a different track in Boston that’s No. 6 ever by a South Jersey runner.

That’s No. 6 on the all-time South Jersey alumni list.

Unless his TFRRS page is wrong, this was Antczak’s first indoor 5,000 ever as a collegian and it looks like his first indoor 5,000 anywhere since his junior year at Mainland, when he ran 15:43.45 at Armory Nationals.

Splits in the live results for the Atlantic Coast Conference meet are messed up, but if they ever fix them they’ll be here.

In the same race, Cherokee’s Ethan Wechsler, a Syracuse junior, ran 14:20.38, his fastest time this year and just off his PR of 14:18.28 from last year’s ACC meet in Louisville.

Antzcak and Cinnaminson’s Austin Gabay of Duke are both entered in the 3,000, which is scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Here’s my best attempt at an all-time South Jersey alumni 5,000 list going down to 14:20. If you see anyone missing, let me know in the comment section!

13:44.57 … Jack Shea [Cherokee], April 29, 2022, Palo Alto, Calif.
13:48.61 …Karl Savage [Eastern], April 17, 2003, Walnut, Calif.
13:58.23 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], April 23, 2009, Philadelphia
14:03.52 … Kevin McDonnell [Camden Catholic], April 5, 2013, Williamsburg
14:06.23 … Sam Gerstenbacher [Schalick], April 29, 2022, Philadelphia
14:08.24 … Kevin Antczak [Mainland Regional], Feb. 21, 2024, Boston
14:09.10 … Andy Arnold [Bishop Eustace], April 4, 2014, San Francisco
14:09.37 … Jon Vitez [Haddonfield], March 30, 2012, Raleigh, N.C.
14:12.0h … Mike Elder [Haddon Twp.], 1977
14:13.72 … Miles Schoedler [Ocean City], April 5, 2013, Williamsburg, Va.
14:15.73 … Conor Melko [Bishop Eustace], May 15, 2021, Springfield, Mass.
14:15.94 … Sebastien Reed [Pitman], April 29, 2022, Philadelphia
14:16.10 … John Richardson [Ocean City], April, 2008, Palo Alto, Calif.
14:17.77 … Keith Krieger [Cherokee], April 6, 2007, Durham, N.C.
14:17.98 … Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], April 14, 2023, Azusa, Calif.
14:17.99 … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], May 7, 2006, Storrs, Ct.
14:18.28 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], Feb. 23, 2023, Louisville, Ky.
14:20.26 … Eric Lorenz [Holy Cross], 1992

Rebecca Hoover became the first South Jersey girl to win an Easterns pole vault title in 20 years Tuesday night.

Hoover, a junior at Haddonfield, cleared 11-6 on her 1st attempt at the 88th annual Easterns at the Armory and has now won the vault at eight consecutive meets going back to a a 4th place at a Philly Jumps Club meet in Conshohocken in December.

Along the way, she’s picked up wins at the state relays (with teammate Mia Bompensa), the Ocean Breeze Invitational, the South Jersey Group 2 sectionals, the state Group 2 meet with a PR-tying 12-0 and now Easterns.

Hoover is still a newcomer to the pole vault. She didn’t compete indoors last year, didn’t clear 10 feet until outdoor sectionals last spring and had a PR of 10-6 from a 3rd-place finish at states and again at Meet of Champions.

But she opened this winter at 11-6 and has cleared 11-3 or better in all 12 meets she’s contested, including two 12-foot clearances – both at the Bubble.

At Easterns, she opened at 10-6 and cleared on her 1st attempt, then made 11-0 on her 2nd before a 1st-attempt clearance at 11-6.

The only other South Jersey girls pole vault winner in Easterns history is O’Reilly, the former national indoor record holder with a 13-5 at the 2004 Varsity Classic at the Armory. She won the 2002 meet at 11-6 and in 2004 at 12-0. The vault was added to the Easterns schedule in 2001.

Previous Haddonfield winners at Eastern were Olympian Erin Donohue in the mile in 2001 [4:54.73], Emily Carson in the 55 in 2013 [7.09] and Briana Gess in the mile in 2015 [4:59.25]. Haddonfield’s 4-by-8 won in 2017 [9:31.92], most likely with Kaitlyn Bonnet, Casey Clarke, Lilly Minor and Gess … but possibly Lilly Sirover or Alexa Gostovich in there somewhere (but the names are literally not listed in any results or stories).

Hoover is one of three girls – all juniors – who share the No. 1 seed for the Meet of Champions on March 3 at Ocean Breeze with 12-0 clearances at states. Moorestown’s Hannah Byrd-Leitner won Group 3, Hoover won Group 2 and Shreya Sathiyan was 2nd in Group 3.

Byrd-Leitner cleared 12-6 in December, matching the No. 9 mark in state history and No. 3 in South Jersey history behind O’Reilly and Delsea’s Ashley Preston [12-7 in 2018], a 4-time Big East champ at Villanova.

Rancocas Valley senior Lauren Fadairo won the triple jump Tuesday night at the 88th annual Easterns at the Armory and smashed the Burlington County indoor record along the way.

Fadairo, sitting in 5th place going into her final attempt, soared 38-1 ½ to become the first South Jersey girl to win the Easterns triple jump title since the event was added in 1990.

Her mark is No. 5 in South Jersey history indoors.

Fadairo went into the meet with an lifetime-best of 37-4 ½ from Ocean Breeze earlier this month. Her outdoor PR is 37-0 ½ from Delsea last spring.

The previous Burlington County record was 38-0 ½ by Shaya Wilkerson of Lenape at 2012 Easterns at the Armory. That was the only indoor triple jump of Wilkerson’s high school career. She jumped 39-7 ¼ at the outdoor 2012 Meet of Champions at Old Bridge.

Fadairo’s mark is No. 4 in New Jersey this year and No. 3 in South Jersey, behind Ocean City’s Sophia Curtis [39-11 at the Armory in December] and Winslow’s Ma’syiah Brawner [39-3 at the Armory in January].

Fadairo fouled on her first attempt and then hit 36-6 ¾ or better on her next five jumps, averaging 37-0 ½ on those five jumps.

She’s the 4th R.V. girl to win an Easterns title. Tonya Lee won the long jump in 1988 at 18-4 ¾, Aliyah Taylor won the 400 in 55.21 in 2017, Bethany Biggi won the high jump in 2019 and Annabella Chin won the hurdles in 2022.

Fadairo has also high jumped 5-0 and long jumped 17-2 ¾ this winter.

All-Time South Jersey 37-Foot Indoor Triple Jump List
41-3 ¼ … Sophia Curtis [Ocean City], 2023
40-1 ½ … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2019
39-3 … Ma’syiah Brawner [Winslow Twp.], 2024
38-4 … She’quell Higgs [Winslow Twp.], 2013
38-1 ½ … Lauren Fadairo [Rancocas Valley], 2024
38-0 ½ … Shaya Wilkerson [Lenape], 2012
37-10 … Cidae’a Woods [Winslow Twp.], 2013
37-7 … Elizabeth Montague [Cherokee], 2014
37-4 ¾ … I’mara Ford [Moorestown], 2024
37-4 … Olivia Wright [Winslow Twp.], 2020
37-2 ½ … Kristina Tossas [Rancocas Valley], 2020
37-1 … Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2015
37-0 ¼ … Ayanna Brown [Sterling], 2024

All-Time Burlington County Top 10
38-1 ½ … Lauren Fadairo [Rancocas Valley], 2024
38-0 ½ … Shaya Wilkerson [Lenape], 2012
37-7 … Elizabeth Montague [Cherokee], 2014
37-4 ¾ … I’mara Ford [Moorestown], 2024
37-2 ½ … Kristina Tossas [Rancocas Valley], 2020
37-1 … Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2015
36-4 … Rachel Montague [Cherokee], 2008
36-2 ¾ … Kiah Walton [Burlington Twp.], 2014
36-0 ½ … Taliya Rogers [Rancocas Valley], 2016
36-0 ½ … Keyanna Meade [Burlington Twp.]. 2018

Rutgers sophomore Noah Kriesman, a 2022 Cherry Hill East graduate, continues his spectacular sophomore season with another PR at a meet last weekend in Chicago.

After being unfairly bypassed for the “invitational” pole vault competition at the Badger’s Windy City Invite at the Dr. Conrad Worrill Indoor Track Facility, Kriesman cleared 16-7 ¼ to place 2nd in the other pole vault division, a clearance that would have placed him 5th in the invitational event.

Kriesman has now PR’d three times since Jan. 14 – 16-2 ¾ in Boston, 16-3 ½ in Boston a few days later and now 16-7 ¼.

That’s No. 6 in Rutgers history (their performance list hasn’t been updated this year) and No. 9 currently in the Big Ten Conference. Current Rutgers freshmen Brian and Kevin Sullivan from Hillsborough High in Somerset Couty have both cleared over 17 feet this winter, 17-3 ½ for Brian and 17-0 ¾ for Kevin, and junior Nico Morales from Rutgers cleared 16-6 earlier this season.

It’s also the 3rd-best vault ever by a South Jersey alum, behind Seneca graduate Mike Maira, who cleared 16-10 indoors in College Station, Texas, in 2014, and Morales, who cleared 16-9 ½ last April at the Penn Relays.

At Cherry Hill East, Kriesman had a lifetime best of 15-0, which he cleared indoors as a senior at the Bubble and outdoors when he placed 3rd at Group 4 states at Franklin Township.

Kriesman spent his freshman year at Rider and only competed indoors and improved to 15-7 with a 2nd-place at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships a year ago this week at the Armory. That’s 3rd in Rider history.

So he’s improved more than a foot and a half since the start of last year’s indoor season. Kriesman has yet to compete in an outdoor meet as a collegian.

Next for Rutgers and their large South Jersey contingent is the Big Ten Championships Friday and Saturday at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, about 60 miles northeast of Cleveland.

All-Time South Jersey Alumni Pole Vault List
16-10i … Mike Maira [Seneca], March 1, 2014, College Station, Texas
16-9 ½ … Nico Morales [Delsea], April 28, 2023, Philadephia
16-7 ¼ … Noah Kreisman [Cherry Hill East], Feb. 9, 2024, Chicago
16-0 ¾ …….. Maira, April 26, 2014, Philadelphia
16-0 … Bob Green [Haddon Heights], May 1, 1992, Voorhees, N.J.
16-0 … Marco Morales [Delsea], Feb. 11, 2020, Staten Island, N.Y.
15-9 … Nick Gilanelli [], April 15, 2006, Charlottesville, Va.
15-7 … Brandon Kurtz [Absegami], May 25, 1991, Bridgeton, N.J.
15-6 … Matt Mancini [Cinnaminson], April 10, 2020, Princeton, N.J.
15-6i … Dan Batdorf [West Deptford], Feb. 23, 2008, Toms River, N.J.

The Willingboro girls made history Tuesday night by winning both the 800- and 1,600-meter relays at the 88th annual Easterns States Championships at the Armory.

After winning the 800-meter relay in 1:41.70 – we wrote about that race here – the Chimeras came back a couple hours later and won the 4-by-4 in 4:05.50.

We know the 4-by-200 runners were sophomore Kaila Speight, freshman Maya Bolden, senior Jaden Murray and junior Nester Wea. Incredibly, the Armory doesn’t list relay names in its results, but we’re going to assume until we learn otherwise that the same four girls ran the 4-by-4. When Willingboro ran their season-best 4:01.95 at states to wrap up the state Group 2 team title, it was listed as Murry to Wea to Speight to Bolden in the results.

Willingboro became the first New Jersey school in the meet’s 43-year history of the girls meet to sweep the 4-by-2 and 4-by-4 and only the third school overall to record that remarkable double.

In 1998, Simon Gratz of Philadelphia won the 4-by-2 in 1:42.34 and the 4-by-4 in 3:52.31, and in 2005, Hempstead, N.Y., ran 1:40.51 and 3:53.94 to win both relays.

Wilingboro is actually only the second South Jersey school to ever win both relays. Camden won the 4-by-2 in 2008 and 2009 and the 4-by-4 in 1993 and 1995.

The Chimeras had never won the 4-by-2 at Easterns. This was their 4th 4-by-4 win after finishing first in 2000, 2002 and 2003.

Here’s a look at South Jersey 4-by-2 and 4-by-4 winners at Easterns.

800-Meter Relay
2000 … Moorestown, N.J. 1:40.77
2008 … Camden, N.J. 1:41.19
2009 … Camden, N.J. 1:41.98
2018 … Winslow Twp., N.J. 1:39.75
2022 … Winslow Twp., N.J. 1:43.58
2024 … Willingboro, N.J. 1:41.70

1,600-Meter Relay
1993 … Camden, N.J. 4:00.68y
1995 … Camden, N.J. 3:50.17y
2000 … Willingboro,N.J. 3:56.62
2002 … Willingboro,N.J. 3:52.76
2003 … Willingboro,N.J. 3:49.27
2006 … Woodrow Wilson, N.J. 3:52.55
2008 … Millville, N.J. 3:54.82
2009 … Millville, N.J. 3:57.67
2010 … Washington Township 3:58.85
2024 … Willingboro, N.J. 4:05.50

And here’s a look at the South Jersey-record 23 Easterns titles Willingboro has won:

BOYS
55-Meter Dash
1981 … George McKey [Willingboro]6.44y
300-Yard Dash
1991 … Lamont Smith [Willingboro] 31.34
55-Meter Hurdles
1989 … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro] 7.44y
1990 … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro] 7.35y
High Jump
2002 … Mike Morrison [Willingboro] 7- 0
2003 … Mike Morrison [Willingboro] 7- 2
Long Jump
1978 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro] 23-11 ¼
1979 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro] 25- 5 ½
1990 … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro] 24- 6 ¼
2003 … Mike Morrison [Willingboro] 23- 2
Shot Put
2004 … Ell Ash [Willingboro] 60- 0 ½
800-Meter Relay
1988 … Willingboro [Doug Newman, Malik Crawford, Sean Scott, Chris Donaldson] 1:31.33y
3,200-Meter Relay
2002 … Willingboro [Edmund Dixon, Rashad Lee, Shareef Muhammad, Ahmad Rutherford] 7:53.64
2003 … Willingboro [Ahmad Rutherford, Shareef Muhammad, Edmund Dixon, Rashad Lee] 7:52.95

GIRLS
55-Meter Dash
1980 … Michelle Glover [Willingboro] 6.5y
400-Meter Dash
2003 … Okechi Ogbuokiri [Willingboro] 55.14
Long Jump
1980 … Carol Lewis [Willingboro] 20- 6 ¼
1995 … Selina Burton [Willingboro] 17- 3
800-Meter Relay
2024 … Willingboro [Kaila Speight, Maya Bolden, Jaden Murry, Nester Wea], 1:41.70
1,600-Meter Relay
2000 … Willingboro [Simone Thomas, Shakirah Rutherford, Halimah Bashir, Danielle Myricks] 3:56.62
2002 … Willingboro [Channel Hamilton, Halimah Bashir, Rhea Mann, Okechi Ogubokiri] 3:52.76
2003 … Willingboro [Rhea Mann, Halimah Bashir, Channel Hamilton, Okechi Oguokiri] 3:49.27
2024 … Willingboro [Kaila Speight, Maya Bolden, Jaden Murry, Nester Wea] 4:05.50