Williamstown senior Ciara Demarest moved into the No. 10 spot in South Jersey history in the shot put with a massive PR Wednesday night at the Tri-County Conference Championships.

Demarest threw 44-8 to win the shot at Delsea, and her throw is No. 3 in New Jersey this year and No. 2 in Gloucester County history, behind only Delsea’s Janiece Rose, who threw 46-4 at the 2011 Rowan Open in Glassboro.

Demarest toppled a very good school record of 44-2 ½ set by Typhanie Bates, who threw 44-2 ½ to win the 1995 state Group 3 meet in South Plainfield and help Williamstown win its first state title since 1982.

Demarest’s 44-8 is the best throw by a South Jersey girl since Schalick’s Zyra Thomas hit 46-0 ¼ at 2018 New Balance Nationals in Greensboro.

State-wide, she trails only Livingston sophomore Jessica Oji [46-1] and Old Tappan junior Layla Giordano [45-6].

Going into Wednesday night, Demarest had an outdoor PR of 42-2 from last weekend’s Gloucester County Championships at Deptford. She threw 42-11 ¼ at Ocean Breeze in January.

Demarest opened with a 39-9 and followed with a 41-1 before hitting her 44-8 on her 3rd and final throw.

Clayton junior Maylisa Bluford PR’d at 38-5 1/2 for 2nd place. Her previous best was 35-8 3/4 at Fast Times at Cherokee last month.

Demarest has won every meet she’s entered this year with the exception of the South Jersey Open, where she finished seven inches behind Willingboro sophomore Chanel Swain.

Demarest also won the discus Wednesday night with a throw of 126-5. She has a PR of 138-3 from a meet at Delsea last spring. She ranks 5th in New Jersey with her season-best 127-8 from Woodbury this year.

All-Time South Jersey Shot Put List
47-1 ¼ … Jessica Woodard [Cherokee], 2013
46-4 ……… Janiece Rose [Delsea], 2011
46-1 ½ … Nacole Moore [Bridgeton], 2000
46-0 ¼ … Zyra Thomas [Schalick], 2018
45-7 ½ … Ronetta Hunter [Burlington Twp.], 2015
45-5 ……… Sylvia Galarza [Millville], 2004
44-9 ¾ … Najeaya Singleton [Vineland], 2016
44-9 ……… Kim Warren [Atlantic City], 2006
44-9 ……… Lola Agabalogun [Egg Harbor], 2013
44-8 ……… Ciara Demarest [Williamstown], 2023
44-5 ¼ …. Melinda Boykin [Bridgeton], 1998
44-5 ……… Jamine Moton [Delsea], 1997
44-4 ¼ …. Dana White [Camden], 2000
44-3 …. Jocelyn White [Delsea], 2004
44-2 ½ …. Typhanie Bates [Williamstown], 1995
44-0 ¾ …. Mercedes Hicks [Atlantic City], 2006
43-11 … Donovan Bennett [Vineland], 2015
43-11 … Cydney Thomas [Haddon Heights], 2019
43-8 ¾…. Janet Morris [Kingsway], 1991
43-7 …..… Shamire Rothmiller [Glassboro], 2008
43-6 ¾ … Angela Solomon [Overbook], 1989
43-6 ¾ … Talita Silva [Bridgeton], 2003
43-4 ½ … Rose Perry [Riveride], 2003
43-2 ½ … Lacole Fields [Camden], 1996

Woodbury junior Peyton Shute moved up to 5th on the all-time Gloucester County 1,600 list and into the all-time South Jersey top-20 and won a fast race with Haddon Heights’ Jack Bolling and Haddonfield’s George Andrus Wednesday night at Haddonfield.

Shute ran 4:12.06 at the Haddonfield Invitational at Haddonfield, fastest in New Jersey this year and fastest by any New Jersey Group 1 runner since Drew Maher of Shore Regional ran 4:08.80 to win the 2018 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.

It’s 2nd-fastest all-time by a South Jersey Group 1 miler, behind Luke Petela’s 4:11.78 for Haddon Township at the 2015 Camden County Championships on his home track. Bolling PR’d at 4:14.52 and Andrus was 3rd in 4:15.48.

Shute’s previous PR was a 4:13.77 from the South Jersey Elite at Delsea earlier this month.

Shute, Bolling and Andrus now rank No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 in New Jersey this year. Andrus ran 4:15.31 earlier this month at South Jersey Elite.

Two more Haddonfield runners – senior Robert DiMedio [4:23.68] and sophomore Bennett Wright [4:25.77] – PR’d in 4th and 5th.

All-Time South Jersey 1,600 List
4:07.07y … Brett Johnson [Ocean City], 2009
4:08.58 … Kyle Rakitis [Kingsway], 2021
4:08.67y … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 2022
4:08.7y ….. Mike Elder [Haddon Twp.], 1973
4:09.19 … John Richardson [Ocean City], 2003
4:09.30 … Colin Baker [Haddonfield], 2009
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
4:12.06 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 2023
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
4:13.4y … 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
4:14.3y … Jim Smith [Haddonfield], 1980
4:14.50 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2003
4:14.52 … Jack Bolling [Haddon Heights], 2023
4:14.60 … Matt Poskus [Cinnaminson], 2007
4:14.8y … Ed McGowan [Highland], 1972
4:14.8y … Vance Watson [Willingboro], 1982
4:14.8y … Greg Hughes [Mainland Reg.], 2004
4:14.9h … Jeff Boyer [Camden], 1983
4:15.0y … Bob Marino [Williamstown], 1975
4:15.0y … Bradley Pomeroy [Cherry Hill East], 1977
4:15.0y … Dan Gough [Haddonfield], 1987
4:15.12 … Owen Long [Haddon Twp.], 2015
4:15.14 … Fred Sharpe [Paulsboro], 1997
4:15.19 … Mark Sivieri [St. Augustine], 1990
4:15.26 … Patrick Ditmars [Cherokee], 2022
4:15.28 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 2004
4:15.35 … Steve Mazur [Highland], 1992
4:15.44 … Jeff Davis [Cumberland Reg.], 1985
4:15.44 … Brian Tetreault [Cinnaminson], 2007
4:15.49 … Steve Burkholder [Cherokee], 2010
4:15.51 … Robert Edwards [Bridgeton], 2002
4:15.52 … Derek Gess [Haddonfield], 2018
4:15.52 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2019

Bridgeton’s Shamar Love, Sterling’s Jah’mere Beasley, Parsippany’s Nana Agyemang and Kingsway’s Evan Corcoran destroyed the school record and meet record and moved Rowan into the all-time NCAA Division 3 top-10 in the 400-meter relay Wednesday.

Love, Beasley, Agyemang and Corcoran won the 400-meter relay at the AARTFC Championships at Doug Arthur Stadium at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., in 40.37.

Their time is No. 2 in NCAA Division 3 this year, behind Wisconsin-LaCrosse, which ran 40.07 last month at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.

The only NCAA Division 3 schools that have run faster than Rowan are New Jersey City (2005, 2006), Wesley (2016), LaCrosse (2002, 2015, 2021, 2023), Benedictine (2022), Wisconsin Oshkosh (2022), Lincoln (2000, 2002), East Texas Baptist (2022), Mount Union (2006) and McMurry (2012).

Including multiple performances by those schools, Rowan’s time is 20^th-fastest ever record by an NCAA Division 3 school.

Rowan shattered the school record of 40.71 set last weekend by the same quartet in a meet at Widener. Before that, the record was 40.82 run by Ed Fortune from Queens, N.Y., Millville’s Matt Davis, Highland’s Jorge Santiago and Camden’s Tyree Jackson at the 2003 NCAA Division 3 Championships in Canton, N.Y.

So both school-record teams were 75 percent South Jersey.

Rowan broke the meet record of 41.24 set by the Profs at the 2018 meet in Brockport, N.Y., with Julian Pratt of Camden, Kingsway’s Steven Jones, West Deptford’s Shai Mumford and Jonathan Ramirez of Memorial of West New York (N.J.), and broke the stadium record of 41.74 set by a Bucknell team that included Egg Harbor Township’s Alex Dessoye at the 2018 Jim Taylor Invitational.

The performance locks Rowan into a spot at the NCAA Division 3 National Championships, scheduled for May 25-27 at Polisseni Track and Field Complex on the St. John Fisher campus in Rochester, N.Y.

In the same race, Stockton – with Bordentown graduate Carson Latham, Barnegat’s Ryan Fisher, Oakcrest’s Dontay Turner and Lower Cape May’s Anthony Gentile – placed 5th with a school-record 41.85. The previous school record was 41.99 set last year by Latham, Pennsauken’s Devante Greene, Clearview’s Aidan Burns and Fisher.

Corcoran (10.63), Beasley (10.75), Latham (10.78) and Love (10.83) all came back a few minutes later and qualified for tomorrow’s 100 final

Ursinus junior Isabelle Deal from Washington Township recorded the 2nd-best javelin throw in NCAA Division 3 this year Wednesday and one of the top 20 in D-3 history.

On Day 1 of the AARTFC Championships at Doug Arthur Stadium at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., Deal threw a meet-record 155-0 on her first attempt.

Deal also moved onto the all-time NCAA Division 3 performance list at No. 17. The only D-3 woman ahead of her this year is Avery Decker of Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln, Neb., who threw 158-11 at the American Rivers Conference Championships this past weekend at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Her throw puts her at No. 54 among all U.S. women. She broke the meet record of 147-0 set in 1992 by Carrie Gorton of SUNY Brockport (N.Y.) at Ithaca. The AARTFC Championships – All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Championships – carries over records from the New York State Collegiate Track Conference Championships, held through 2017.

Deal’s previous PR was a 148-6 from last month at the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton. She won the Centennial Conference title earlier this month with a 140-5 in Collegeville.

There is a former South Jersey athlete still ahead of Deal on the all-time NCAA Division 3 list. Mercedes Glover of Rutgers-Newark, who ranks No. 13 all-time at 156-5 from the 2015 ECAC Championships in Springfield, Mass., graduated from Burlington Township.

With her No. 6 ranking coming into the meet, Deal was already locked into a spot at the NCAA Division 3 National Championships, scheduled for May 25-27 at Polisseni Track and Field Complex on the St. John Fisher campus in Rochester, N.Y.

Deal is already a 2-time NCAA Division 3 All-America with an 8th-place finish in 2021 in Greensboro and a 6th-place last year in Geneva, Ohio.

After her record-setting opening throw, Deal hit 129-5 and then popped three straight 140-footers – 142-11, 144-8 and 140-7 – before fouling on her final attempt. Her average throw went 142-6 – just six feet shy of her previous PR.

Deal won by over 12 feet over Erin Miller of Elizabethtown, who threw 142-5 on her 6th and final attempt.

Tireless Rancocas Valley junior Lauren Fadairo swept the three jumps Saturday at the Burlington County Open, becoming the first girl to record that unique triple at a County Open.

Fadairo won the long jump with a 16-9 ¾ jump – just 2 ½ inches off her PR from last weekend’s South Jersey Open at Delsea – and won the triple jump at 35-11. She tied her high jump PR of 5-0, which she cleared this winter at the Bubble.

Moorestown sophomore I’Mara Ford placed 2nd in all three jumps.

Fadairo won the high jump on fewer misses. Fadairo clear 5-0 on her first attempt, Ford on her 2nd. Ford placed 2nd in the long jump with a 16-7 1/4 on her final jump and hit 35-4 1/4 for 2nd in the triple. Ford is the No. 2 soph in New Jersey in the triple jump with her 38-1 1/4 at the Lenape Invitational

Fadairo isn’t the first athlete to win the jumps triple. Seneca’s Drew Kanz did it in the 2009 boys meet with 20-10 ¾, 43-3 and a meet-record 7-1. He also won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.64 for the only quad win in meet history and one of the greatest single-day performances in South Jersey hsitory.

Fadairo joins two New Jersey track all-timers as only the third Rancocas Valley girl to triple at a County Open.

Tonya Lee, who competed in the intermediate hurdles in the 1996 Olympic Trials, recorded quad wins as a sophomore (1:03.4 intermediates, 15.8 highs, 5-4 high jump, 18-4 long jump) and junior (1:02.2, 15.3, 5-4, 17-7 ¼) and future WNBA star Demya Walker tripled the long jump, high jump and 100 (17-10 ½, 5-0, 12.2) in 1995.

Other R.V. girls who’ve doubled at the County Open: Sydnee Pierce in 2010 (100, long jump), Sheriyah Nutt in 2019 (100, 200) and Cecilia King this year (100 hurdles, 400 hurdles).

Rancocas Valley won its fifth consecutive County Open title. The meet wasn’t completed in 2018 and wasn’t held in 2020, so R.V. hasn’t lost a County Open since 2016, when they were 2nd to Lenape.

Winslow Township’s John Purvis, a junior at Morgan State, won his third MEAC conference title this weekend.

Purvis threw the shot 55-2 – only five inches shy of his PR – to win evenet at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference at Norfolk (Va.) State.

Purvis also won the shot at the 2021 outdoor conference meet in Greensboro with a 54-2 ¾ and the indoor shot this past winter with a 54-2 ½ in Virginia Beach.

Purvis set his shot put PR of 55-7 indoors at last year’s MEAC meet in Virginia Beach, when he placed 2nd to teammate Zackery Dillon’s 56-0.

On Saturday, Purvis was sitting in 5th place with a best throw of 51-8 ¼ before he hit 55-2 on his 5th attempt of the competition to pass four other throwers and move into the lead.

Purvis was also 6th in the discus with a throw of 151-4, just 15 inches shy of his PR of 152-7.

Fantastic meet for Haddonfield junior Chloe Kamp at the Camden County Championships Saturday at Haddon Township.

Kamp won three events and placed 2nd in another, PR’d in two events and helped Haddonfield out-race Sterling 157-138 to win the Small-School Championship.

In the 100, Kamp ran a PR 12.43 in the trials before winning the final in 12.54. Her previous PR was a 12.63 just a week earlier at South Jersey Elite at Delsea. Kamp edged Sterling freshman Leeya Joseph, who was 2nd in a personal-best 12.69.

Kamp’s other PR came in the long jump, which she won at 16-10, four inches beyond her previous PR of 16-6 from last year’s South Jersey Group 2 sectionals, also at Delsea. Sterling senior Jenovia Logan was 2nd just a couple inches behind at 16-7 ¾.

Kamp is new to the 400, but she’s broken 60 in both major meets she’s raced. She ran her first lifetime 400 last month at the Blue Devil Classic in Westfield and ran 59.42. She ran 59.63 Saturday, edging sophomore teammate Molly Minor in a 1-2 Bulldog finish. Minor ran 59.99 for 2nd in what was also only her 2nd 400 ever. She ran 63.85 last May in a meet at Haddonfield.

Joseph ran a PR 25.52 to win the 200, with Camp 2nd in 26.10 for eight more big points. The 26.10 is a big-meet PR for Camp, although she did run a fully-automatic 25.99 in a dual meet at West Deptford last month.

In South Jersey Group 2, Kamp now ranks 2nd in the 400, 3rd in the 100 and long jump and 7th in the 200.

Haddonfield junior Ava Thomas also recorded a fast distance double [5:15.22, PR 10:55.73], sophomore Audrey Adams won the high hurdles in 16.25 and junior Mia Bompensa cleared 10-0 for 1st in the pole vault.

In addition to Joseph’s win in the 200 and 2nd in the 100 and 60.01 relay anchor, Sterling got wins from junior Avanna Brown [34-8 triple jump], junior Laurel Conway [101-10 javelin] and senior Jordan Caul [33-11 ¾ shot].

Sterling also won the 4-by-4 team with a season-best 4:07.22 with Ayanna Brown, Nylah Coleman and Jordan Frazier setting up Joseph.

The top two freshman long jumpers in New Jersey are teammates at Winslow Township.

Ma’syiah Brawner and Chantina Walker went 1-2 in the long jump Saturday at the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township, Brawner with a 17-10 ½ as part of a monster quad performance and Walker with a PR of 17-5 ¼.

Brawner and Walker both went over 17 feet indoors, Brawner with a 17-3 at Ocean Breeze in February and Walker also at 17-3 but at the Armory at Easterns.

With their jumps Saturday, they trail only Mainland seniors Emma Crozier-Carole [18-2 ¼ at Woodbury] and McKenna Pontari [17-10 ¾] on the 2023 South Jersey list, and they’re the top two freshmen in New Jersey.

Brawner’s long jump win was one of only four PRs she established Saturday, helping Winslow win the team title.

She won the high jump at 5-2 and the triple jump at 38-2 ¾ and ran 15.49 in the hurdles, placing 2nd to senior teammate Janelle Marshall, who ran a South Jersey No. 1 14.78.

Brawner’s 38-2 ¾ is a South Jersey freshman class record. Samantha Hunger of Sterling jumped 36-9 ¾ at the 2006 state Group 2 meet at Egg Harbor. It’s also No. 11 nationally among freshmen, according to the MileSplit U.S. database.

Brawner is No. 1 freshman in New Jersey in both horizontal jumps, No. 2 in the hurdles [behind Tessa Hughes of Peddie School, who ran 15.09 in Lawrenceville this weekend] and No. 2 in the high jump [behind Egypt Bolan of Lindenwold, who cleared 5-4 Saturday in the Small-School Division of the Camden County meet].

She’s the No. 2 triple jumper overall in South Jersey, behind Ocean City junior Sophia Curtis, the South Jersey record holder at 40-10 ¼ and she’s No. 4 overall in South Jersey in the 100-meter highs.

Browner is also No. 17 on the all-time South Jersey list, and she’s already broken Cidae’a Woods’ school record of 38-1 from 2014 Group 3 states at South Plainfield.

Walker was also 2nd in the triple jump Saturday with a 33-7 ¾, a personal-best of her own.

Winslow scored 147 ½ points to win the Large-School team title at Haddon Township, and Brawner [38] and Walker [16] scored more than a 3rd of them.

Here’s what we know:

Washington Township’s Jayden Greene and Timber Creek’s Joshua Thaler ran on the St. Joe’s 3,200-meter relay team that broke the school record while winning the IC4A championship.

From Chris Tarello, a 1992 Shawnee graduate and now assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at St. Joe’s under Mike Glavin, Thaler split 1:49.9 on the second leg for the Hawks, and Greene anchored in 1:49.6.

That’s some hot racing from two half-milers who didn’t break 1:55 in high school.

Here’s what we don’t know:

How fast they went.

St. Joe’s won IC4A’s in Fairfax, Va., on Sunday and their 9:24.86 broke a school record set in 2002.

The Hawks’ time is No. 17 in the world this year.

Unfortunately, neither the official results – which you can find here – nor a brief mention of the race on the school’s web site – which you can find here – lists splits.

The previous school record was 9:25.96 and was set in 2002 by “A. Craycraft, Ji. Smith, B. Rosetti and J. Puryear,” according to St. Joe’s web site. Because why include first names when you can just list initials? And why mention what meet that record was set? Pro tip to SIDs: The more information you include the better. Nobody is going to put initials in a story. Help us out a little here!

It didn’t take long for me to find the names of the four runners on the 2002 team: Andrew Craycraft, Jim Smith, Brian Rosetti and Jerry Puryear, and they set that record of 9:25.96 at 2002 IC4As in Princeton. I can even tell you Smith and Rosetti graduated from St. Joe’s the morning of the race and were shuttled to Princeton by assistant coach Bob Hamer, who ran for Council Rock and now coaches at Rider.

But if you want splits from yesterday? Good luck. You won’t find ‘em.

But congrats to Greene and Thaler, who are now part of a school record relay team. Even if nobody knows how fast they went.

The other St. Joe’s legs were handled by Owen Moelter, who led off in 1:52.0, and Gavin Campbell, who split 1:51.0 on the 3rd leg. Both ran in high school for Central Bucks South in Warrington.

Cherokee’s trio of half-milers did something at the Burlington County Open that hadn’t been done in nearly two decades.

Seniors Patrick Ditmars and Conor Jacob and junior Nick Kuenkel, Cherokee’s top three runners on the Chiefs’ state Group 4-champion XC team, swept the top three spots in the 800 Saturday at Northern Burlington, Ditmars winning in 1:55.23, Jacob 2nd in 1:56.32 and Kuenkel 3rd in 1:56.76.

Cinnaminson senior Derek Coceano [1:57.60] and Lenape junior Will Whalen [PR 1:58.77] also dipped under two minutes, but Cherokee became the first school to sweep any event at a County Open in 18 years.

Last time it happened was at the 2005 meet at Maple Shade, when Willingboro took the top three spots in the triple jump, with Bryan Potter [43-11 ¾], Travis Davis [42-10 ¾] and Antoine Rivera [40-10 ¼].

The last County Open sweep on the track also came in the 800 and it was also Willingboro. Back in 2003, Rashaad Lee of Willingboro won in 1:55.76, Ahmad Rutherford was 2nd in 1:55.90 and Edmund Dixon 3rd in 1:57.65. Those three, joined by Shareef Muhammad, ran 7:44.25 a few weeks later for 3rd place in the 4-by-8 at the adidas Outdoor Championships in Raleigh. That’s No. 5 in South Jersey history.

Ditmars has now won four Burlington County titles. He was the county XC champ in 2021 and took 2nd yo Kuenkel this past year. He won the 3,200 at the 2021 County Open as a soph and the 800 last year in 1:55.93. Ditmars’ 800 PR is 1:55.01 from last year’s South Jersey Elite at Delsea.

Jacob on Saturday also ran very close to his PR of 1:55.93 from Haddonfield Distance Night last year, and Kuenkel ran well under his PR of 1:58.38 from the South Jersey Elite earlier this month at Delsea.

The last time three half-milers from the same South Jersey school ran sub-1:57 in the same race was 2017 Group 4 sectionals , when Egg Harbor’s Aidin Hendriks ran 1:54.79, Eric Barnes 1:55.70 and Robert Dessoye 1:55.98 to place 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th on their home track.

The winner of that race was Malual Mu of Trenton, whose younger sister Athing is the Olympic 800 champion.