Mainland Regional senior Mawali Osunniyi had a tremendous state Group 3 meet at Delsea Saturday, winning the high jump with a PR-tying 6-8 and taking 2nd in the triple jump with a PR 47-0 ½.

Both marks are No. 2 in Atlantic County history.

Osunniyi goes into the Meet of Champions Wednesday tied for the No. 1 seed in the high jump with junior Brian Butler of Piscataway, who won Group 4 at 6-8, and Pleasantville senior Isaiah Davenport, who cleared 6-8 for the first time to win Group 2. He’s the No. 2 seed in the triple jump behind Matawan senior Branden Satterwhite, who won Group 2 at 47-9.

Osunniyi has been consistent at 6-8 all year, clearning it in five of his last six major meets. Osunniyi and Davenport – and several others – are tied at No. 2 all-time in Atlantic County history at 6-8 behind Mainland’s Paul Klemic, who cleared a state-record 7-4 ½ at the 2000 Foot Locker Championships in Raleigh, N.C.

The state leader is South Brunswick’s Damarion Potts, who cleared 6-10 ¼ at Central Jersey Group 4 at Hillsborough. He was 2nd to Butler in Group 4 Saturday.

Osunniy’s previous triple jump PR was a 46-6 ¾ to win the Cape-Atlantic League meet at Bridgeton last month. He’s No. 2 in Atlantic County and Cape-Atlantic history in the triple jump behind Egg Harbor’s Mubeen Momodu, who hit 48-1 ½ at the 2019 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.

Osunniyi is Mainland’s first state champion since 2018, when Kobe Roberts won the javelin with a 190-2 and first state high jump champ since Klemic cleared 7-0 to win Group 3 at Egg Harbor in 2000.

Also for the Mustangs, sophomore Josiah Williams placed 3rd in the triple jump with a 45-4 3/4 on his final attempt and added a point in the 110 hurdles with a 6th-place finish in 15.37. And senior William Murray hit 21-9 for 3rd in the long jump.

Mainland placed 4th in Group 3 with 31 points, just 12 behind co-champions Deptford and Chatham.

Sophia Curtis has been making history all year and Saturday was certainly no exception.

Curtis became Ocean City’s first triple winner, ran the 7th-fastest intermediate hurdles in the U.S. this year and helped the Red Raiders place 2nd in the state Group 3 meet at Delsea.

It was a monumental one-day performance for Curtis, who won the 400-meter dash in 56.61, ran a PR 1:00.42 to win the intermediates by almost two seconds and used a last-jump 39-5 ¾ to win the triple jump.

The 400-400IH double is hard enough at a two-day meet. For Curtis to pull it off with about two hours between events is truly impressive. She’s the first South Jersey girl to win both the 400 and intermediates at states in 18 years, since Winslow’s Krystal Cantey won both as part of a quad win in Group 3 in 2005 [24.35, 55.52, 14.40, 1:02.93].

Curtis is the first Ocean City girl ever to win three events at states and the first to win two since Renee Tomlin won the 800 [2:11.83] and 1,600 [4:57.55] at Egg Harbor in 2005.

She’s actually the first Ocean City girl to win any individual event at states since Tomlin in the 1,600 [4:56.34] in 2006 in South Plainfield, although the Raiders have won the 4-by-8 twice since then [Cierra Granger, Devon Grisbaum, Rachel Stremme and Bridget Flynn ran 9:15.61 in 2014, and Grisbaum, Emma Bergman, Michaela Baker and Stremme ran 9:23.84 in 2015].

Let’s take a look at Curtis’s afternoon:

400-meter dash: In only her 3rd flat 400 of the spring, Curtis held off Timber Creek junior Naylah Jones, who had edged her at sectionals on the same track a week earlier. Jones won last week by 21-100ths of a second with a PR 55.83, but this time Curtis held Jones off by 3-100ths of a second. It was likely the final 400 of the year for Curtis, who will presumably contest the triple jump and intermediates Wednesday at the Meet of Champions at Franklin High. She would be the 6th seed in the 400 if she did choose to run it. She already holds the Cape May County record of 56.04 from sectionals.

400-meter hurdles: Racing unpressed, Curtis lowered her PR from 1:00.51 from sectionals to 1:00.42, which is 10th-fastest in South Jersey history. She won by nearly two seconds over Kylie Jacoutot of Colts Neck, who was 2nd in 1:02.30. Curtis’s time is No. 7 in the U.S. this year, just behind Morristown’s Aaliyah Murphy, who won the state Group 4 title at Franklin in 1:00.39, so that should be quite a hot Meet of Champions race Wednesday.

Triple Jump: Winslow’s remarkable Ma’Syiah Brawner set the state freshman record of 39-5 ½ at sectionals, finishing just 2 ½ inches behind Curtis. It was just as close this time as the two best triple jumpers in New Jersey squared off again. Brawner opened with a 39-2 to take the lead, and Curtis answered with a 39-0 ½. Neither matched those marks on their 2nd attempts – 37-4 for Brawner, 38-11 for Curtis. Brawner hit 36-6 ½ on her third and final attempt in the curtailed three-jump event, but on her final jump Curtis sailed 39-5 ½ to snag the win by 3 ¾ inches.

Even with a challenging one-day meet, it was a remarkable day for South Jersey Saturday, with 68 runners or relay teams winning state titles at Delsea and Franklin Township.

Incredibly, 32 different high schools went home with 1st-place medals and six – Audubon, Haddonfield, Ocean City, Pennsauken, Willingboro and Winslow –  each won at least one event in both the boys and girls meets.

We only have a few days before the Meet of Champions, and I won’t have time to write about all these athletes – plus the numerous non-winners who put up remarkable performances – so here’s a glance at every South Jersey state champion from this weekend.

Boys
Group 1
*Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 800-Meter Run [1:55.90]
*Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 3,200-Meter Run [9:25.91]
Karl Wayne Rodgers [Maple Shade], 110-Meter Hurdles [15.00]
*Abdulazeez Iyiola [Palmyra], 400-Meter Hurdles [54.53]
Woodbury [**Marquis Taylor, Quincy Harvey, Jayden Johnson, Charlie Floyd], 400-Meter Relay [42.56]
Woodbury [Jayden Johnson, *Dante Vicharelli, Quincy Harvey, **Marquis Taylor,], 1,600-Meter Relay [3:25.29]
Woodbury [Michael Torelli, Charlie Floyd, Jayden Johnson Peyton Shute], 3,200-Meter Relay [8:13.09]
Jamile Gantt [Paulsboro], High Jump [6-4]
**Davi’Yonn Jackson [Salem], Triple Jump [45-9]
**Leo Davis [Audubon], Pole Vault [13-8]
*Damere Lassiter [Glassboro], Discus [177-0]
Janier Armstead [Penns Grove], Shot Put [55-1]

Group 2
*Eric Foster [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash [10.94]
*Eric Foster [Willingboro], 110-Meter Hurdles 14.04]
Pleasantville [Isaiah Davenport, *Yusuf Golden, **Jermain Nelson, Xander Roberts-Bogin], 1,600-Meter Relay [3:18.70]
Haddon Heights [Matthew Iuvara, Colin Patterson, Jonathan Hastings, Jack Bolling], 3,200-Meter Relay [8:00.10]
Isaiah Davenport [Pleasantville], High Jump [6-8]
Alexander Hurley [Haddonfield], Pole Vault [14-0]
Malicah Etienne [Cinnaminson], Shot Put [54-11 ¼]

Group 3
Lathan Brown [Deptford], 400-Meter Dash [48.80]
Nick Scarangelli [Ocean City], 3,200-Meter Run [9:20.89]
Jaylen Wall [Winslow Twp.],. 110-Meter Hurdles [14.82]
Lathan Brown [Deptford], 400-Meter Hurdles [52.72]
Deptford [Kevin Mosley, *Darryl Wayman, **Kamari Brown and Lathan Brown ], 400-Meter Relay [42.73]
Deptford [Christian Berry, Robert Long, Lathan Brown, *Darryl Wayman], 1,600-Meter Relay [3:20.44]
Mawali Osunniyi [Mainland Reg.], High Jump [6-8]
*Daniel Couse [Clearview], Pole Vault [15-0]
Luke Maxwell [Delsea], Discus [166-6]

Group 4
Premier Wynn [Pennsauken], 200-Meter Dash [21.55]
Premier Wynn [Pennsauken], 400-Meter Dash [47.68]
Bryce Tucker [Pennsauken], 400-Meter Hurdles [52.69]
Pennsauken [*Elijah Jennings, *Bronze Whitmore, Premier Wynn, Robert Bayard], 400-Meter Relay [42.15]
Pennsauken [*Elijah Jennings, ***Ka’Ron Ali, Premier Wynn, Bryce Tucker], 1,600-Meter Relay [3:14.78]
Ahmad Fogg [Egg Harbor Twp.], Long Jump [24-2 ¾]
Kevin Burr Jr. [Rancocas Valley], Javelin [190-7]

Parochial A
None

Parochial B
Blake Wadley [Holy Cross], 200-Meter Dash [22.26]
John Flammer [Holy Spirit], 800-Meter Run [1:59.83]
Jonathan Forrest [Bishop Eustace], 110-Meter Hurdles [16.32]
Bishop Eustace [*Matt Colden, ***Alexander Dietz, **Desmond Carey, *Ryan Gaulrapp], 3,200-Meter Relay [8:55.16]
*Shawn Brady [Bishop Eustace], Discus [163-4]

Girls
Group 1
Ny’era Hand-Brooks [Burlington City], 100-Meter Hurdles [14.87]
Clayton [**Miyana Johnson, ***Deondria Simon, Erica Thomas, Kelsey Thomas], 400-Meter Relay [49.43]
Audubon [**Makenna Ammon, *Madelin Carter, Ava Rizzo, ***Charlie Owens], 3,200-Meter Relay []
Alanna Woolfolk [Clayton], High Jump [5-8]
*Maylisa Bluford [Clayton], Discus [129-3]

Group 2
**Nester Wea [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash [11.96]
**Nester Wea [Willingboro], 200-Meter Dash [24.63]
**Nester Wea [Willingboro], 400-Meter Dash [56.05]
Willingboro [***Kaila Speight, ***Aaliyah Robinson, ***Jaden Murry, **Nester Wea], 400-Meter Relay [48.36]
Willingboro [**Sunny Oyibo, ***Aaliyah Robinson, ***Kaila Speight, ***Jaden Murry], 1,600-Meter Relay [3:56.18]
Haddonfield [Sabrina Miller, *Anna Stolarick, Thea Spellmeyer, *Riley Slootsky], 3,200-Meter Relay [9:38.49]
**Nicolette Pinkerton [Haddonfield], Long Jump [17-8]
*Chanel Swain [Willingboro], Shot Put [39-1 ½]

Group 3
*Naylah Jones [Timber Creek], 100-Meter Dash [11.75]
*Naylah Jones [Timber Creek], 200-Meter Dash [24.22]
*Sophia Curtis [Ocean City], 400-Meter Dash [56.61]
**Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 3,200-Meter Run [10:41.81]
*Sophia Curtis [Ocean City], 400-Meter Hurdles [1:00.42]
Timber Creek [***Samiyah Puckett, **Ryan Jennings, *Nyla Jones, **Naylah Jones], 400-Meter Relay [47.70]
Timber Creek [**Billie Frazier, *Chloe Jones, **Adiat Olaogun-Dickson, *Nyla Jones], 1,600-Meter Relay [3:56.16]
***Ma’Syiah Brawner [Winslow Twp.], Long Jump [18-8]
*Sophia Curtis [Ocean City], Triple Jump [39-5 ¾]
Emma Peretti [Hammonton], Shot Put [39-0]

Group 4
***Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], 100-Meter Dash [11.82]
***Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], 400-Meter Dash [53.97]
Kadence Dumas [Eastern], 800-Meter Run [2:13.02]
Ciara Demarest [Williamstown], Discus [134-11]
Leah Howard [Millville], Javelin [151-10]

Parochial A
None

Parochial B
None

Ahmad Fogg had half as many attempts to pop a huge long jump Saturday, but it didn’t matter.

Fogg, a senior at Egg Harbor Township, sailed 24-2 ¾ to win the state Group 4 long jump championship at Franklin and move into a very strong all-time South Jersey top-10.

Fogg, limited to three jumps because of the one-day meet structure, went 22-7 on his first jump and fouled on his 2nd, but he came up huge on his final jump, breaking the Atlantic County record and recording the best jump by a South Jersey athlete in a decade.

Fogg was sitting in 2nd place going into his final jump but passed Hunterdon Central’s Damian Scouloukas [23-1 ¼] to become Egg Harbor’s 1st state long jump champion.

His jump is No. 10 in South Jersey history and best by a South Jersey jumper since Anthony Averett of Woodbury [25-2 ½] and Mikhail Micheaux of Eastern [24-3 ¾] in 2013.

He broke the Atlantic County record of 23-10 set by Atlantic City’s Steve Harper at the 1993 Group 4 sectionals in Bridgeton, and he moved into the No. 21 spot in state history.

It’s been a steady build for Fogg, who jumped 21-8 ½ as a sophomore and then 22-3 ½ as a junior. He improved to 22-8 at the South Jersey Elite at Delsea early last month, then surpassed 23 feet for the first time last weekend to win the Group 4 sectionals at Pennsauken.

Fogg will be the No. 1 seed in Wednesday’s Meet of Champions at Frankin.

Fogg also took 5th in the triple jump at states with a 44-11, just behind senior teammate Jamil Wilkins, who jumped 44-11 ½.

With the horizontal jump points, Mike Simeon’s 4th place in the shot put and senior Chris Griffin’s 5th place in the javelin, Egg Harbor placed 7th in Group 4 with 22 points.

All-Time South Jersey 24-Foot List
26-8 1/4 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1979
25-2 ½ … Anthony Averett [Woodbury], 2013
25-0 … William Spearmon [Woodrow Wilson], 1996
24-11 ½ … Anthony Miles [Winslow Twp.], 2002
24-8 ½ … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 1989
24-8 … Isaac Samuels [Willingboro-Kennedy], 1983
24-6 ½ … Anthony Miles [Winslow Twp.], 2003
24-5 … Mike Morrison [Willingboro], 2003
24-3 ¾ … Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2013
24-2 ¾ … Ahmad Fogg [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2023
24-1 … William Spearman [Woodrow Wilson], 1996
24-1 … Zach Bazile [St. Joe’s Montvale], 2014
24-0 ½ … Kerry Vivett [Edgewood], 1984
24-0 … Sherman Gramby [Elizabeth], 1986
24-0 … Donavan Anderson [Bergenfield], 2021

All-Time New Jersey Long Jump List
26-8 1/4 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 1979
25-6 ¼ … Greg Foster [Lawrenceville School], 2022
25-2 ½ … Anthony Averett [Woodbury], 2013
25-0 ½ … Corey Crawford [Indian Hills], 2010
25-0 … Justes Nance [Blair Academy], 2015
25-0 … William Spearmon [Woodrow Wilson], 1996
24-11 ½ … Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains], 1977
24-11 ½ … Anthony Miles [Winslow Twp.], 2002
24-11 … Darius Pemberton [Hackensack], 1993
24-8 ½ … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 1989
24-8 … Isaac Samuels [Willingboro-Kennedy], 1983
24-6 ½ … Anthony Miles [Winslow Twp.], 2003
24-5 … Todd Baskerville [Rahway], 1984
24-5 … Brad Mayo [West Orange], 1984
24-5 … Mike Morrison [Willingboro], 2003
24-4 ½ … Eulace Peacock [Union], 1933
24-3 ¾ … Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2013
24-3 ½ … Kaelen Mitchell [Piscataway], 2021
24-3 ¼ …Marcus Hickerson [Delbarton], 1987
24-3 ¼ … Nils Wildberg [Princeton], 2019
24-2 ¾ … Ahmad Fogg [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2023
24-2 ¼ … Ed Ryan [Barringer], 1938
24-1 ¾ … Mark Henry [Plainfield], 1980
24-1 ¾ … Evans Tobler [Trenton], 1984
24-1 ¾ … Ron Lewis [Asbury Park], 1994
24-1 ½ … Richie Cirner [Paramus], 1965
24-1 ½ … Derrick Horner [Don Bosco], 1989
24-1 … Bob Calhoun [Scotch Plains], 1974
24-1 … William Spearman [Woodrow Wilson], 1996
24-1 … Zach Bazile [St. Joe’s Montvale], 2014
24-0 ½ … Kerry Vivett [Edgewood], 1984
24-0 … Sherman Gramby [Elizabeth], 1986
24-0 … Donavan Anderson [Bergenfield], 2021

Deptford senior Lathan Brown took on the challenge of the 400-meter hurdles and flat 400 about 90 minutes apart in a one-day meet and came up huge.

With only the 400-meter relays in between in the revised one-day meet schedule, Brown won both the intermediate hurdles and 400-meter dash to lead Deptford to a share of the state Group 3 championship. He also ran on two winning relay teams for a rare state championship quad win.

Deptford finished in a tie with Chatham with 43 points apiece. The state title is Deptford’s second the last four years the meet has been contested. Deptford also won in 2019. The meet wasn’t held in 2020.

Going into the 4-by-400 – the final event – Chatham led Deptford 37-33 and was the top seed with a 3:23.77 from sectionals. Deptford was seeded 9th and Timber Creek 16th, so they were relegated to an unseeded race.

Deptford won that section in 3:20.44 on Brown’s 47.41 anchor, and Timber Creek (importantly) was 2nd in 3:21.26, with junior Nasir Ali splitting 47.77 chasing Brown.

Chatham did win the seeded race but wasn’t as fast as Deptford or – pivotally – Timber Creek. So Deptford got 10 points for a total of 43 and Chatham – bumped by Timber Creek for 2nd – settled for 3rd despite winning the “fast” race. Had Chatham run 33-100ths of a second faster, they finish ahead of Timber Creek’s time from the previous race and win the state championship outright.

But they didn’t, and Deptford won itself a state title in remarkable fashion.

Brown was phenomenal.

He became the first boy in Deptford history to win two individual events or four (or three) total events at a state championship meet, and he did it in a meet condensed from two days to one.

Brown ran a PR 52.72 to win the intermediates, the 5th-fastest time in Gloucester County history and fastest in 14 years, since Tim Carey of Washington Township ran 52.10 at the 2009 state Group 4 meet at Egg Harbor Township. It’s No. 21 in South Jersey history.

Brown also won the 400 in 48.80 – not far off his PR of 48.76 from sectionals – with Timber Creek junior Nasir Ali 2nd in 49.61.

He also anchored Deptford’s winning 400-meter relay team, with senior Kevin Mosley, junior Darryl Wayman, sophomore Kamari Brown and Lathan Brown running 42.73, and he ran the third leg on that 4-by-4, which also included junior Christian Berry, senior Robert Long and Wayman and ran 3:20.44.

A key event for the Spartans was the high jump, where senior Sammy Sanford tied for 4th at 6-2 with Freehold Borough’s Malakai Pressey. Sanford and Pressey both cleared 5-10, 6-0 and 6-2 without a miss before going out at 6-4. Had Sanford had one miss at any of those earlier heights, Pressey would have placed 4th and Sanford 5th, and Sanford would have scored two points instead of three … and Chatham would have won the meet outright.

South Jersey has dominated the state Group 3 meet. Since 1982, a South Jersey school has either won Group 3 outright or tied for the title 34 times in 41 years.

That curious dominance began when Kennedy won the title in 1982 and 1983. Wilson and Williamstown tied in 1984, then Willingboro won in 1986, 1988 and 1989. Edgewood won in 1990, then Bridgeton won five straight before Wilson won outright in 1996. Camden tied for the 1998 title, then won three straight outright. Willingboro won the next two and Camden won the two after that. Timber Creek won six of seven between 2008 and 2014, with Oakcrest breaking up the streak with a win in 2012. Since 2016, Pennsauken [2016, 2021] and Delsea [2018, 2022] have won twice apiece. Deptford also won in 2019.

The only non-South Jersey schools to win Group 3 since 1982: Rahway in 1985, Lakewood in 1987, Franklin in 1997, Monmouth Regional in 2006 and 2007, River Dell in 2015 and West Windsor-Plainsboro North in 2017.

Junior Peyton Shute, sophomore Marquis Taylor and senior Jabron Solomon – and a bunch of terrific relay legs – led Woodbury to its 12th state championship Saturday and first since 2011.

Woodbury clinched the team title before the 1,600-meter relay began, then won it anyway, finishing with a 71-60 margin of victory over Walkill Valley, with South Jersey Group 1 champ Glassboro 3rd with 58 points.

Shute – going for a rare one-day distance quad win – dropped out of the 1,600 after one lap as a precautionary measure because of some hamstring soreness, but he told Jim Lambert of MileSplit he should be fine for the 3,200 at the Meet of Champions Wednesday.

Shute won the 800 in 1:55.90 and the 3,200 in 9:25.91 and split 1:59.04 on the 4-by-8, which won in 8:13.09.

Taylor ran a huge PR 22.07 for 2nd in the 200 and 50.67 for 4th in the 400 and also led off the winning 4-by-1, which ran 42.56. His previous 200 PR was 22.56.

And Solomon placed 2nd in the long jump with a 22-0 ¼ and anchored the 4-by-1.

Woodbury’s other individual scorer was junior Jaylen Bailey, who placed 6th in the high jump, clearing 6-2. That’s an outdoor PR, although he did clear 6-2 indoors at Ocean Breeze back in February.

But the key to everything for the Thundering Herd was 30 out of 30 points in the three relays. Woodbury became the first South Jersey school since the 4-by-1 was added to the state series in 2013 to win all three relays at a state championship meet.

Woodbury set a school record with the 42.56, with junior Dante Vicharelli and senior Dorian Dunbar joining Taylor and Solomon.

Taylor, seniors Quincy Harvey and Jayden Johnson and Taylor made up the 4-by-4, with Taylor anchoring in 50.17.

And senior Michael Torelli, Floyd and Johnson set up Shute’s anchor on the 4-by-8.

Woodbury won its first eight state titles between 1969 and 1978. The Herd won in 1969, then won seven straight from 1972 through 1978, tied for 2nd-longest streak in state history (behind Glen Ridge’s nine straight from 1959 through 1967 and tied with Camden’s seven straight from 1995 through 2001).

Woodbury’s 12 total state titles are 5th-most in state history, behind Christian Brothers (27), Montclair (21), Glen Ridge (15) and Willingboro (14).

Remarkable sophomore Nester Wea pulled off a rare state championship quad win at the state Group 2 meet Saturday at Delsea, leading the Willingboro girls to their first state title in more than two decades.

Wea became the first girl in the peerless history of Willingboro track to win three individual events or four total events at a state championship.

Wea ran PRs of 11.96 to win the 100, 24.63 to win the 200 and 56.05 to win the 400 and anchored the winning 400-meter relay team, which ran 48.36.

Willingboro, which lost to Haddonfield by 52 points at sectionals last weekend, outscored Haddonfield 72-61 to win its first state championship since the 2002 team – led by Okechi Ogbuokiri, Halimah Bashir and Kim Allen – edged Red Bank 58-57 to win the state Group 3 title at Egg Harbor.

Wea is the first sophomore from South Jersey to win three individual events at a state meet in 24 years, since Olympian Erin Donohue of Haddonfield won four in 1999 – the 800 [2:16.27], 1,600 [5:00.04], 3,200 [10:54.11] and javelin [132-0].

Wea’s improvement this spring has been unprecedented. She didn’t even place at sectionals in any of her events this indoor season and five weeks ago had PRs of 26.39 in the 200 and 62.26 in the 400 and had never run a 100.

Before sectionals last weekend, she hadn’t run faster than 12.34, 24.99 or 58.83.

Wea is the first South Jersey girl to win a state Group quad – or an individual triple – since Deptford’s Kiera Lester did it at South Plainfield as a junior, winning the 100 [12.41, 12.27 in trials], 200 [24.32] and 400 [55.72] and anchoring the 4-by-1 [48.14].

It had been 13 years since a Willingboro girl even doubled at states. The last to do it was Vanessa Arientyl in the 100 highs [14.38] and intermediates [1:02.54]

But she’s now one of the greatest athletes in Willingboro’s proud history and has two years remaining to add to her burgeoning legacy.

But Wea had plenty of help in Saturday’s condensed one-day meet.

Sophomore Chanel Swain threw 39-1 ½ to become Willingboro’s first state shot put champion in 40 years – since Cheryl Muse won Group 4 with a 39-5 ½ at Rutgers in Piscataway in 1982. Swain also placed 5th in the discus with a 103-3.

And freshman Kaila Speight ran PRs of 24.83 for 2nd place in the 200 and 12.30 for 5th in the 100 to contribute 10 points and also led off the winning 4-by-1 and ran the 3rd leg on the winning 4-by-4, which ran 3:56.18.

Wea, Swain and Speight combined for 52 of Willingboro’s 72 points, and the 20 others came on the two relay wins.

Freshmen Aaliyah Robinson and Jaden Murry joined Speight and Wea on the 4-by-1, and freshman Sunny Oyibo, Robinson and freshman Jaden Murry joined Speight on the 4-by-4.

Willingboro won Group 4 in 1980 and 1981 with legendary Michelle Glover and Carol Lewis, then won Group 3 in 1999 and 2002.

With five total championships, Willingboro now trails only Winslow [8], Haddonfield [8] and Bridgeton [6] for most outdoor state team championships among South Jersey schools. Bishop Eustace, Camden, Paul VI, Williamstown and Woodbury each have four.

This is Willingboro’s first year back in Group 2 after several years in Group 1. Boro is one of the smallest Group 2 schools in the state.

Seniors Bryce Tucker and Premier Wynn, unable to contest all their events because of the revised one-day meet structure, still powered Pennsauken to its 3rd state championship in the last seven years.

With the meet curtailed from two days to one because of air quality concerns on Friday, Tucker had to give up the 400 and Wynn had to give up the 400 hurdles.

But even losing potential huge points, Pennsauken still rode the two brilliant seniors to a 56-53 win over 2nd-place Westfield and the state Group 4 title at Franklin Township.

Pennsauken asserted itself as the best public school team in the state, winning the toughest, deepest and most competitive group by 13 points.

Westfield elbowed its way back into the meet with a 1-2-4 finish in the 1,600, the 22 points pulling the Blue Devils within three points of Pennsauken at 56-53 going into the 4-by-4.

Westfield then ran 3:23.62 in an unseeded heat to put a little pressure on Pennsauken. But the Indians responded with a commanding win in the final section, with Jennings, freshman KaRon Ali, Wynn and Tucker running 3:14.78, Wynn splitting 47.14 and Tucker 47.90.

Tucker easily won his specialty, the 400-meter hurdles, in 52.69, and Wynn easily won his specialty, the flat 400, in 47.68.

Wynn came back to win the 200 in a big PR 21.55, and Tucker ran a high hurdles PR of 13.87 to finish behind New Jersey No. 1 Nathaniel Ryan of Scotch Plains, who won in a state-best 13.45.

So even without Tucker in the 400 or Wynn in the intermediates, Wynn scored 20 points in his two individual races and Tucker added 18.

Tucker or Wynn had a hand in every point Pennsauken scored – other than Jennings’ 4th-place in the 200.

Junior Elijah Jennings also chipped in with four huge points in the 200 with a PR 22.15 out of an unseeded heat.

Jennings, junior Bronze Whitmore, Wynn and senior Robert Bayard ran a season-best 42.15 to give Pennsauken a close win in the 4-by-1 – Livingston finished 7-100ths of a second back – and then Pennsauken wrapped things up by running 3:1

The Indians also won state titles in Group 3 in 2016 and 2021. Pennsauken is the first South Jersey school to win Group 4 since Rancocas Valley in 2015.

Pennsauken won sectionals and states indoors and out this year as well as state relays indoors, an impressive year-long sweep.

Junior Naylah Jones won two events and placed 2nd in another and got plenty of help from a clutch supporting cast Saturday, and the Timber Creek girls raced to the first state championship in school history at Delsea.

Timber Creek fell six points short of Winslow Township last weekend at sectionals, but with big points at the top of several races the Chargers rolled to a 76-42 win over Sophia Curtis and Ocean City in the one-day state Group 4 meet, with Winslow in 3rd with 39 points making it a 1-2-3 South Jersey finish.

Jones won the 100 with a personal-best 11.75 – 9th-fastest in South Jersey history (you can read about that race here) – placed 2nd with a PR 24.22 and took 2nd in the 400 in 56.64 in a historic performance. She no doubt ran on one of the winning relay teams as well.

Sophomore Ryan Jennings PRd in both dashes, taking 2nd in the 100 in 11.92 behind Jones and 3rd in the 200 with 24.63. And Chloe Jones added six points in the 400 with a 3rd place in 57.29.

That’s 48 points in the 100, 200 and 400.

Timber Creek also won the 400-meter relay in 47.70. Unfortunately, the names of the four runners are not available. Timber Creek appears to have won the 4-by-4 also – there are no results of the event, but Timber Creek’s point total increased from 66 to 76 about when the race would have been run.

And the Chargers got a huge lift from junior Guerlande Pierre, the No. 12 seed in the shot put. She threw 38-5 and placed 2nd for eight more huge points. Pierre has unique versatility – she was a medalist at sectionals in the high hurdles and shot put, and she’s also long jumped 17 feet and triple jumped 35 feet this spring.

We’ll add more info on the relays when it comes available.

Audubon’s Leo Davis on Saturday became the first South Jersey sophomore in over 35 years to win an outdoor state pole vaut championship.

State results before the late 1980s did not include class information, so there’s no way to tell exactly when – or if – a South Jersey sophomore won a state title in the vault at any point, but it hasn’t happened since 1988.

The last South Jersey underclassman to win a state pole vault title was Matthew McMahon of Sacred Heart, who won the 2010 Parochial B title at 12-0 at Egg Harbor.

Davis won the competition Saturday at Franklin Township at 13-6, which tied his PR, then had the bar moved up to a PR 13-8 – presumably a school record – which he also cleared. Davis won the indoor state Group 1 title at 13-0.

The official results don’t show height progression, so don’t know where Davis entered the competition, how many misses he had (if any) at earlier heights and whether or not he continued on after clearing 13-8 or called it a day.