After sitting out nearly a year, Highland graduate Floyd Whitaker has resurfaced at Oklahoma and came within two inches of his lifetime-best in the triple jump in his first meet ever for the Sooners.

Whitaker, in his first meet since March of 2023, jumped 51-3 ½ at the Corky Classic at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center in Lubbock. He had an outstanding series, with 50-7 ¾, 50-8 ½, 50-5, 51-3 ½ and 49-10 ¾ with a foul on his 5th attempt. Whitaker averaged 50-7 on his five legal jumps.

The 51-3 ½ – the 2nd-best jump of his life – puts Whitaker at No. 22 in NCAA Division 1. Teammate Brandon Green Jr. is No. 2 with a 54-6 ½ this past weekend.

Incredibly, Oklahoma does not have any historical info on its web site. No top-10 lists, only a dead link under program history.

Whitaker is No. 10 among U.S. jumpers – it seems a high percentage of NCAA triple jumpers represent other countries.

Whitaker spent the 2021-2022 indoor season, 2022 outdoor season and 2022-2023 indoor season at Minnesota, where he hit 51-5 ½ indoors in a meet in Minneapolis in January 2022 and 51-2 ¼ outdoors in May 2022. Minnesota doesn’t have an indoor track team so he competed unattatched during the two indoor seasons.

Whitaker’s 51-5 ½ two years ago ranks No. 2 in South Jersey alumni history, behind only Shawnee graduate Greg Foster, who hit 53-6 ½ in Flagstaff, Ariz., in May 1988. Foster’s son, also Greg, currently jumps for Princeton and reached 50-4 ¾ last spring.

At Highland, Whitaker hit 23-6 ½ in the long jump at the 2021 state Group 3 meet at Pennsauken and 50-2 ½ to win the 2019 Meet of Champions, the first of his three Meet of Champions titles and No. 6 in New Jersey history. He was unbeaten in the triple jump as a senior, capping his career with a win at the Eugene Nationals. He also ran 54.85 in the intermediates and high jumped 6-4 in high school.

Eastern grad Jailya Ash shattered the UConn hurdles record in New York over the weekend.

Ash lowered her PR in the 60-meter highs from 8.27 at a meet in Storrs in December to 8.19 at the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge at the Armory.

She broke the school record of 8.24 set by Phylicia George at the NCAA Division 1 Championships at Randall Tyson Track at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in March 2010. George placed 11th in the trials, missing the final by 2-100ths of a second.

Ash’s time is No. 15 in NCAA Division 1, tied with several others, including Winslow graduate Tionna Tobias of Iowa. It’s No. 1 in the Big East.

On the U.S. women’s list, Ash is now No. 24. Her time is No. 77 in the world this year.

https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/60-metres-hurdles/all/women/senior/2024?regionType=countries&region=usa&timing=electronic&page=1&bestResultsOnly=true&maxResultsByCountry=all&eventId=10230177&ageCategory=senior

https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/60-metres-hurdles/all/women/senior/2024?regionType=world&timing=electronic&page=1&bestResultsOnly=true&maxResultsByCountry=all&eventId=10230177&ageCategory=senior

Ash’s PR coming into this season was 8.31 from a meet in Boston in December of 2022, so early last season. She went on to win the Big East indoor title in 8.35 as well as outdoor with a 13.58.

She lowered her PR to 8.27 in her 2023-24 season opener in December in Storrs and then followed with an 8.28 in Boston last month before he breakthrough 8.19.

UConn’s web site is an abomination – one of the few Division 1 web sites with no top-10 lists – but last winter we went through years of results and came up with an all-time UConn 60-meter hurdles top-10. Here’s the updated version:

8.18 … Jailya Ash, 2022
8.24 … Phylicia George, 2010
8.33 … April Garner, 2005
8.34 … A’liyah Thomas, 2024
8.45 … Madalayne Smith, 2012
8.55 … Chantal Scott, 2014
8.59 … Emily Lavarnway, 2023
8.61 … Shavon Briscoe, 2012
8.61 … Tia Strackman, 2018
8.62 … Ashley Wiggins, 2017

Speaking of UConn’s web site … they’re under the impression Ash PR’d by eight seconds in a race that takes about eight seconds to complete. If she had PR’d by eight seconds, she would have run 0.27.

Pleasantville’s Nia Ali ran her fastest indoor hurdles race in four years Saturday in Kazakhstan.

In her 2024 indoor debut, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist and three-time world champion ran 7.89 at Astana Indoor Meet for Amin Tuyakov Prizes (yeah, that looks like the name of the meet, who knows?) at the Qazaqstan Track and Field Complex in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Ali ran within 1-10th of a second off her lifetime best in the 60-meter highs. Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, the world record holder in the 100-meter highs, won the race in 7.77.

It was Ali’s first indoor race since the Millrose Games a year ago at the Armory, where she placed 4th in 7.97.

Ali’s time was her fastest in four years, since she ran 7.88 in February 2020 in a meet in Madrid.

Her PR is 7.80, which she ran twice in 2014 – in Albuquerque in February and in Sopot, Poland, in March. That’s No. 30 in world history and No. 10 in U.S. history. Outdoors, Ali has run 12.30, No. 9 in world history and No. 3 on the all-time U.S. list. So far this year, Ali is No. 6 in the world and No. 3 American.

Presumably, Ali will race at this year’s Millrose Games, which is scheduled for a week from Saturday at the Armory. But nine days before the meet, there are no entry lists on the meet’s web site.

Rowan’s Marquise Young, Nana Agyemang, Nicholas Razze and Amari Conte ran the 3rd-fastest 1,600-meter relay in NCAA Division 3 this weekend at a meet at the Armory.

Young is a senior from Sterling, Agyemang a junior from Parsippany, Razze a senior transfer from Pitman and Conte a junior from Ferris High in Jersey City.

They ran 3:15.87 and placed 3rd on the 200-meter banked track behind Division 1 schools North Carolina A&T and UConn. (One set of results shows UConn in the results, another doesn’t.)

Young led off with a 48.93 split, Agyemang ran 49.07, Razze 49.58 and Conte 48.29.

Ranked ahead of Rowan on the Division 3 performance list are John Carroll in suburban Cleveland [3:12.91 last month in Youngstown] and Wisconsin-La Crosse [3:15.25 earlier this month on its home track]. La Crosse also ran 3:15.35 in the same race with a B team.

Rowan set the NCAA Division 3 record of 3:10.09 last February at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston. Agyemang, Jah’mere Beasley, Young and Conte ran on that team. Beasley is now a junior at Rutgers.

The Profs’ time is No. 85 on the all-time NCAA Division 3 list and Rowan’s 9th-fastest all-time.

The new guy on the team is an interesting story.

Although you won’t learn anything about Razze from his bio on Rowan’s web site – ! Nice work, Rowan sports information office! – he spent the 2019 indoor season through this past spring season at McDaniel College, an NCAA Division 3 school in Westminster, Md. (formerly Western Maryland).

Razze set the McDaniel school record of 52.84 in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles last May in a meet at Widener and he also ranks 3rd in McDaniel history in the 110-meter high hurdles [14.86] and 10th in McDaniel history in the 400 [50.11]. He also ran on the school-record 800-meter relay team [1:29.13 in 2022 at the Penn Relays] and the 1,600-meter relay [3:18.67 in May, also at Widener]. Anthony Razze, Nicholas’s brother, also ran on that 4-by-4 team.

Indoors, Razze is the McDaniel school record holder at 600 meters [1:25.66 last January] and also ranks 3rd in the 200 [23.30], 7th in the 300 [37.51], 5th in the 400 [50.83], 3rd in the 500 [1:07.76], 2nd in the 60 hurdles [8.67] and ran on school-record 4-by-2 [1:30.14], 4-by-4 [3:20.54] and sprint medley [3:39.88] teams. He’s also 10th in the high jump [5-8].

Razze raced in the 400 intermediates twice at NCAA Division 3 Nationals, placing 11th in 2022 in 53.11 at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, and 11th in 53.13 last spring at At. John Fisher in Rochester, N.Y. He actually raced at nationals against Young, who placed 6th in 52.64. He was a three-time Centennial Conference intermediates champ.

Razze has only run one open race so far for Rowan – a PR 1:06.91 for 500 meters in a meet at Ocean Breeze last month.

If Razze competes for Rowan this spring – and it looks like he should have a year of outdoor eligibility remaining – he’ll be the 8^th-fastest returning intermediate hurdler in Division 3 with his 52.84. Young will be 9^th-fastest with his 52.88. Rowan had the 3^rd-fastest freshman intermediate hurdler in the spring of 2022 with Treshan Stevenson from Millville, who ran 53.24. But he doesn’t appear on the current Rowan roster.

At Pitman, Razze’s 400IH PR was 57.67 and he ran 15.27 over the 39-inch hurdles and placed 6th at the 2019 state Group 1 meet at Franklin.

Camden Catholic’s Kevin McDonnell and Rancocas Valley’s Erika Kemp will race in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials this weekend in Florida.

McDonnell, who’s from Moorestown and now lives in Cherry Hill, ran 2:17.22 in October at the Chicago Marathon to record his qualifier. The qualifying standard was 2:18.00 for a full marathon or 63:00 for a half and the cutoff date was Dec. 5.

The 2:17:22 was a more than 10-minute PR for McDonnell, who had run 2:28.43 in Houston in January 2022.

McDonnell’s time in Chicago was 36 seconds off the South Jersey alumni record of 2:16.46 set at the 1980 Boston Marathon by another Moorestown native, Moorestown High graduate Paul Friedman.

Kemp qualified with a 2:33:57 at the Boston Marathon last April, safely under the 2:38 women’s standard. That was her marathon debut and it broke the all-time South Jersey marathon best of 2:39.12 set by Megan Lacy of Cherokee in Duluth, Minn., in June, 2019.

McDonnell is one of 214 entrants in the men’s race, and Kemp is among 165 runners entered in the women’s race.

USATF makes it virtually impossible to know who’s in the race because USATF’s web site is a complete joke. But LetsRun.com somehow found entry lists and posted them here.

It’s a closely guarded secret but apparently the men’s race is scheduled to start at 10:10 a.m. and the women’s race at 10:20 a.m. The course starts and finishes near Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando.

The top three men and women will race in the Olympic Marathon scheduled for Aug. 10 in Paris.

I couldn’t find a course map anywhere, but there is a virtual course tour on YouTube, which you can watch here.

 

Delsea junior Jonathan Harris popped an indoor shot put PR Tuesday night with a 56-9 throw at the Al Zulewski Field Invitational at the Bubble.

Field event series is never available in any Bubble results – welcome to 2009!!! – but Harris placed 2nd to Middletown North senior Aidan Mauro, who threw 57-3¾.

Mauro is listed on MileSplit with a previous PR of 50-4 ¾, which would make this a nearly seven-foot PR.

Harris’s previous indoor PR was a 56-2 ¾ this past weekend at the Olympic-Tri-County Meet at the Bubble.

Mauro is now No. 3 in the state this year behind Joshua Huisman of St. Rose of Belmar [63-10] and Glassboro’s Damere Lassiter [58-3]. Hammonton junior Anthony Liakhnovich is 3rd at 56-10 ¼ from last week, and Harris is 4th. South Jersey currently has six of the top-nine throwers in the state. Liakhnovich and Harris are the top two underclassmen this winter.

Harris moved up to No. 11 on the all-time Gloucester County indoor list, passing Woodbury’s Chris Pressley, who threw 56-5 ¼ at the 2003 state Group 1 meet at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym. Pressley went on to play for the Bengals, Browns and Buccaneers from 2009 through 2014.

Of the 10 throwers ahead of Harris on the all-time Gloucester County indoor list, four are from Delsea.

All-Time Gloucester County Indoor Shot Put List
63-1 ¾ … Nick Pulli [West Deptford], 2014
62-0 ½ … Jason Nwosu [Delsea], 2022
60-3 … Harry Dilks [Pitman], 1971
58-9 … Greg Ross [Deptford], 1976
58-8 ¾ … Bill Goldsborough [Delsea], 2018
58-3 … Damere Lassiter [Glassboro], 2024
57-11 … Kwabena Keene [Washington Twp], 2008
57-9 ½ … Rich Lewis [Williamstown], 1985
57-8 1/4 … Josh Awotunde [Delsea], 2013
57-5 … Joe Metzger [Delsea], 2021
56-8 … Jonathan Harris [Delsea], 2024
56-3 ¼ … Chris Pressley [Woodbury], 2003

Washington Township junior Dakota Jones just missed the Gloucester County 55-meter hurdles record Monday at the Bubble.

Jones won the hurdles at the South Jersey Track Coaches Association meet in 8.39, leading a 1-2 finish with senior teammate Zarria Oliphant, who ran 8.65.

Jones never ran faster than 8.86 as a sophomore, but lowered her PR to 8.57 in her first meet this year, the Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational at the Armory last month. She dropped to 8.46 three weeks ago at another Armory meet, the Hispanic Games before her breakthrough on Monday.

Her time is fastest by a Gloucester County hurdler in 10 years, since another Minutemaid hurdler, Lexie Fraction, ran 8.37 at 2014 Easterns at the Armory. That tied the county mark initially set by Kingsway’s Delicia Sample when she won the 2004 state Group 3 meet at Jadwin Gym.

Jones is No. 7 on the 2024 New Jersey list and No. 2 in South Jersey, just 3-100ths of a second behind Timber Creek senior Guerlande Pierre, who ran 8.34 earlier this month at Ocean Breeze. Jones is No. 3 underclassman in New Jersey. It’s also fastest ever by a Gloucester County underclassman. Fraction ran 8.45 at the Bubble in 2013.

With sectionals coming up this weekend at the Bubble, Jones is the No. 1 seed in the Group 4 hurdles and No. 2 in New Jersey Group 4, behind only Morristown senior Aaliyah Murphy, who ran 8.24 at the Morris County Championships this past weekend at Ocean Breeze.

Glassboro senior Damere Lassiter popped the No. 2 shot put in the state this year Monday night at the Bubble.

No series information again – thanks again, Bubble! – but Lassiter threw 58-3 at the South Jersey Track Association meet.

Lassiter had a PR of 54-11 last spring at Group 1 states at Franklin but has now thrown 56 or better in four of his last five meets – a PR 56-2 ½ at state relays two weeks ago, 56-11 at both the Cherokee Throwdown and Olympic and Tri-County meet last week and now a 58-3.

That’s the No. 1 performance by a South Jersey thrower this year and No. 1 among public school throwers. Joshua Huisman of St. Rose High in Belmar threw 63-10 at the Monmouth County Championships last week, also at the Bubble.

Lassiter’s throw is No. 19 in South Jersey history and No. 6 on the all-time Gloucester County list. It’s best by any New Jersey Group 1 thrower since Guivanni Gutierrez threw 59-8 ½ at the 2017 Meet of Champions at the Bubble. And it’s the best by a South Jersey Group 1 thrower in 54 years, since Pitman junior Harry Dilks threw 60-3 in 1970 at a Philadelphia Department of Recreation meet at the Civic Center.

Lassiter is now No. 24 nationally, according to the MileSplit U.S. database.

Lassiter threw 184-8 in the discus last year, which made him the No. 12 junior in the country and No. 8 in South Jersey history. He’s now the 11th South Jersey thrower in history to hit 58 feet in the shot and 180 feet in the disc:

Russ Willett [Penns Grove], 59-7, 185-10 [1985]
Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], 64-5, 189-7 [1995]
Ron Dayne, [Overbrook], 64-6 ¼ 198-0 [1995-96]
Howard Clark [Pennsauken], 58-11 ½, 180-3 [1998]
Matt Huckabee [Timber Creek], 61-2 ½, 185-7 [2010]
Braheme Days Jr., [Bridgeton], 68-8 ½, 199-6 [2012-13]
James Plummer [Egg Harbor Township], 58-10, 197-0 ¼ [2013]
Josh Awotunde [Delsea], 61-6, 192-5 [2013]
Kamron Kobolak [Cinnaminson], 61-11 ¾, 185-6 [2018]
Jason Nwosu [Delsea], 63-2 ½, 183-9 [2022]
Damere Lassiter [Glassboro], 58-3, 184-8 [2023-24]

70-8 … Braheme Days Jr. [Bridgeton], 2012
63-11 … Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], 1995
63-1 ¾ … Nick Pulli [West Deptford], 2014
61-9 … Lou Gordon [Bridgeton], 1995
62-7 ¾ … Kamron Kobolak [Cinnaminson], 2018
62-0 ½ … Jason Nwosu [Delsea], 2022
60-3 … Harry Dilks [Pitman], 1971
60-10 ¾ … John Purvis [Winslow Twp.], 2020
60-0 ½ … Ell Ash [Willingboro], 2004
59-9 … Kofi Yamoah [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013
59-8 … Chris Robinson [Penns Grove], 1990
59-0 … Chris Bolden [Edgewood], 1990
58-10 … James Plummer [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013
58-9 ½ … Dave Dixon [Mainland Reg.], 1987
58-9 … Greg Ross [Deptford], 1976
58-8 ¾ … Bill Goldsborough [Delsea], 2018
58-5 … Kareem McKenzie [Willingboro], 1997
58-4 ½ .. .Curtis Fitzpatrick [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013
58-3 … Damere Lassiter [Glassboro], 2024
57-11 … Tavaris Wright [Bridgeton], 2004
57-11 … Kwabena Keene [Washington Twp], 2008
57-10 ½ … Gerald Williams [Rancocas Valley], 2000
57-10-½ … Matthew Huckabee [Timber Creek], 2010
57-9 ½ … Rich Lewis [Williamstown], 1985
57-9 ½ … Dontaye Rivera [Pleasantville], 2011
57-9 … Cade Antonucci [Holy Spirit], 2016
57-8 ½ … John Purvis [Winslow Twp.], 2020
57-8 1/4 … Josh Awotunde [Delsea], 2013
57-5 … Joe Metzger [Delsea], 2021
57-3 ½ … Ron Dayne [Overbrook], 1996
57-2 ¾ … Tati White [Willingboro], 1994
57-2 ½ … Gil Winters [Willingboro], 1990
57-0 … Terrin Walker [Bridgeton], 1996
56-11 … Nate Karl [Hammonton], 2020
56-10 ¼ … Anthony Liakhnovich [Hammonton], 2024
56-5 ¼ … Chris Pressley [Woodbury], 2003
56-2 ¾ … Jonathan Harris [Delsea], 2024
56-1 … Shawn Brady [Bishop Eustace], 2024
55-11 … Russ Willett [Penns Grove], 1985
55-9 ½ … Warren DeShields [Bridgeton], 1991
55-8 … Gabriel Wilkins [Absegami], 2024
55-7 ½ … Phil Hatfield [Bishop Eustace], 1995
55-6 … Charles Anderson [Edgewood], 1984
55-6 … Keith Geiger [Middle Twp.], 1998
55-6 … Greg Masso [Delsea], 2024
55-4 ¾ … Ryan Knight [Delsea], 1996
55-3 ½ … Steve Hansen [Holy Spirit], 1982
55-1 … Nigel Walker [Willingboro], 1996

Pennsauken’s Premier Wynn, a Norfolk State freshman, ran the fastest 400 split of the meet at the Penn State National Invitational Saturday in State College.

Wynn ran the 3rd leg on Norfolk State’s 4-by-400 in 46.59, helping the Spartans place 2nd in 3:11.54.

Princeton won the race in 3:09.90. The only other runners in the race who split sub-47 were Princeton’s 3rd runner, Princeton High grad Zachary Della Rocca, and Hampton anchor Dugion Blackman. Hampton was 3rd in 3:14.95.

Norfolk doesn’t have an all-time top-10 performance list on its web site. Norfolk’s time is No. 2 in the MEAC this year. Coppin State of Baltimore ran 3:11.47 in a meet in Columbia, S.C.

Wynn ranks 3rd in the MEAC with his 21.43 and 5th with his 48.30, also this past weekend. The 200 time is a lifetime best and his 400 time is an indoor PR. He ran 47.39 outdoors this past spring as a Pennsauken senior at Group 4 sectionals on his home track.

Princeton’s leadoff was freshman Xavier Donaldson, who ran for Seton Hall Prep last year. At the indoor Meet of Champions, Pennsauken edged Seton Hall Prep, 3:15.83 to 3:16.72, with Donaldson and Wynn running the third legs.

Austin Gabay, Matt Coffey, Seth Clevenger, Kevin Antczak and Ethan Wechsler rewrote the all-time South Jersey 3,000-meter list over the weekend, all five running sub-8:15 in a variety of meets.

We wrote about Gabay over the weekend – you can read that story here but let’s take a look at what everybody else did in a remarkable weekend for South Jersey distance alums.

♦ Matt Coffey: The St. Joe’s senior from Pennauken and Camden Catholic improved his PR from 8:13.53 at last year’s IC4A meet at Boston University to 8:12.50 with a 6th-place finish at the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge at the Armory. That’s No. 5 in St. Joe’s history – Robbinsville’s Zach Michon set the school record of 8:05.62 in 2020 at Boston University. Coffee’s 8:12.50 is No. 5 on the Atlantic 10 performance list.

♦ Seth Clevenger: The Iowa State sophomore from Haddonfield dropped his 3,000 PR from 8:15.16 from last February in a meet in Seattle to 8:12.72 with a 5th-place finish in the Razorback Invitational at Randall Tyson Track in Fayetteville, Ark. That’s No. 13 in the Big Ten but 3rd-fastest among freshmen or sophomores. That’s Clevenger’s second PR in two weeks. He ran 4:07.14 last weekend in a home meet.

♦ Kevin Antczak: Mainland Regional’s Antczak, now a junior at North Carolina State, ran a lifetime-best 8:12.92 Saturday at the Camel City Invitational at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C. Antczak placed 2nd to junior teammate John Malach, who ran 8:12.46. Antczak’s previous 3,000 PR was 8:24.42 from a meet in February 2021 in Virginia Beach.

♦ Ethan Wechsler: The Syracuse junior from Cherokee ran 8:14.32 this weekend at the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University, lowering his PR from 8:15.06, which he ran last year at the same meet.

Ten of the 13-fastest South Jersey 3,000 times have been recorded in the last three years. We might still be missing some sub-20 times, but this is what we have so far:

7:57.65i … Ford Palmer [Absegami], New York, Jan. 28, 2017
8:01.24i … Samuel Gerstenbacher [Schalick], Feb. 26, 2023, Boston
8:01.79i … Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], Jan. 26, 2024, Boston
8:10.01i … Jon Vitez [Haddonfield], Feb. 9, 2013, Princeton
8:10.69i … Sebastien Reed [Pitman], March 6, 2022, Boston
8:10.99i … Connor Melko [Bishop Eustace], Feb. 4, 2023, New York
8:11.81 … Oliver Adler [Cherry Hill East], Feb. 12, 2022, Boston
8:12.50i … Matt Coffey [Paul VI], Jan. 26, 2024, New York
8:12.72i … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], Jan. 26, 2024, Fayetteville, Ark.
8:12.92i… Kevin Antczak [Mainland Regional], Jan. 26, 2024, Winston-Salem, N.C.
8:13.00i … Karl Savage [Eastern], Feb. 25, 2005, New York
8:13.37i … Jack Shea [Cherokee], March 18, 2022, Tempe, Ariz.
8:14.32i … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], Jan. 26, 2024, Boston
8:14.40i … Kevin O’Donnell, Jan. 26, 2013, State College, Pa.
8:17.82i … Nick / Cole Pschunder [Eastern], Feb. 8, 2019, Boston
8:18.75i … Connor Herr [Shawnee], Feb. 10, 2017, New York
8:19.68 … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], April 10, 2004, Philadelphia