Sixteen South Jersey high school athletes have been accepted into the individual events at the 127th running of the Penn Relays later this month at Franklin Field.

Eight boys and eight girls are among the leading performers among all entrants at the cutoff on Sunday. The relay fields will be announced next week.

Athletes must qualify this year indoors or outdoors except in events that aren’t contested indoors – the javelin and the discus. Marks from last spring can be used for those throws.

And, sadly, for the second straight year there are no 400-meter hurdles for high school athletes.

Five South Jersey athletes – all girls – will be competing at Penn for a second straight year: Williamstown’s Ciara Demarest, Northern Burlington’s Liliah Gordon, Millville’s Leah Howard, Hammonton’s Emma Peretti and Clayton’s Alanna Woolfolk,

The Penn Relays is always held the final Saturday of April and the two days preceding it. That’s April 27-29 this year.

The boys discus, shot put, long jump, high jump and javelin are scheduled for Thursday morning, the boys pole vault and triple jump Thursday afternoon, with the girls discus, shot put, high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump and javelin Friday morning.

Here’s a look at South Jersey’s 16 individuals:

BOYS
Devon Brooks, Senior, Rancocas Valley, Discus: Brooks PR’d with a school-record 167-11 at the Spartan Relays at Deptford Saturday after surpassing 160 feet for the first time a few days earlier at CBA with a 163-5.

Isaiah Davenport, Senior, Pleasantville, High Jump: Davenport cleared 6-6 twice indoors, both times at the Bubble. He cleared 6-4 in poor conditions Saturday at Deptford in his outdoor opener.

Malicah Etienne, Senior, Cinnaminson, Discus: Etienne bombed a 174-5 at his season-opener in Lincroft, the No. 2 throw in Burlington County history behind another Cinnaminson thrower, Kamron Kobolak, who threw 185-6 when he won the 2018 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.

Jashad Kersey, Senior, Eastern, Triple Jump: Kersey hit 45-11 twice indoors – at the Bubble in February and then when he won Easterns in March at the Armory. That’s No. 10 in South Jersey indoor history.

Greg Masso, Junior, Delsea, Shot Put: Masso PR’d with a 54-8 at Cherokee back in January, and he threw an outdoor PR of 53-10 ½ this past Saturday at Deptford.

Ryan Merlino, Junior, Oakcrest, Pole Vault: Merlino PR’d with a 14-9 at Boston Nationals indoors. That broke a 32-year-old Atlantic County record and moved him up to No. 11 in South Jersey history.

Derrick Robinson, Junior, Cinnaminson, High Jump: The versatile Robinson cleared a PR 6-6 at one of the SJTCA meets at the Bubble over the winter.

Peyton Shute, Junior, Woodbury, 3,000: Shute qualified with a solo 9:14.51 at the state Group 1 meet, No. 3 in Gloucester County history and No. 16 on the all-time South Jersey list.

GIRLS
Sophia Curtis, Junior, Ocean City, Triple Jump: In her first season after transferring from Padua Academy in Wilmington, Del., Curtis set Atlantic County indoor records in the 400 (57.99), 55 hurdles (8.33) and triple jump (41-3 ¼). That 41-3 ¼ is a South Jersey record and No. 2 in state history.

Ciara Demarest, Senior, Williamstown, Discus: Demarest threw 42-11 ¼ in the shot indoors, but elected to throw the discus at Penn after a 138-3 last May in a meet at Delsea. That’s No. 8 in Gloucester County history. Demarest qualified for the shot last year and placed 16th with a 34-8.

Zoe Goldberg, Junior, Eastern, Javelin: Goldberg bombed a 136-7 at last year’s West Deptford Relays, No. 3 in Camden County history.

Liliah Gordon, Sophomore, Northern Burlington, 3,000: Gordon ran 10:38.20 for 5th at the indoor Meet of Champions, No. 6 in South Jersey history indoors (and No. 18 in state history). She went on to run 17:26.55 for 5,000 meters at New York Nationals, 14th-fastest in state history.

Leah Howard, Senior, Millville, Javelin: Howard threw 148-2 to win states last year – that’s No. 15 in state history and No. 6 in South Jersey history – and opened this season with a 146-2 at Deptford. Howard was 8th at Penn last year with a 126-7.

Emma Peretti, Senior, Hammonton, Discus: Peretti returns to Franklin Field – or more accurately the fields across the railroad tracks – where she had the meet of her life last year. Peretti placed 8th at Penn last year. She had throws of 122-6, 123-11, 124-3 and 128-11, moving into the No. 5 spot on the all-time Atlantic County list.

Chanel Swain, sophomore, Willingboro, Shot Put: Swain was the No. 2 sophomore in the state indoors with her 40-2 at the Bubble in February. That made her Willingboro’s first 40-footer in 26 years, since Nicole Scott threw 41-0 in 1997.

Alanna Woolfolk, Junior, Clayton, High Jump: Woolfolk cleared 5-8 to win Easterns at the Armory in March, equalling the No. 2 mark in South Jersey history. This will be Woolfolk’s second straight trip to Penn. She placed 4th last year with a 5-3 ¼ clearance.

With four runners from South Jersey, Rowan’s 400-meter relay team is one of the fastest in NCAA Division 3 and is closing in on a 20-year-old school record.

Sophomore Shamar Love of Bridgeton, freshman Evan Corcoran of Kingsway, sophomore Jah’mere Beasley of Sterling and freshman Masai Byrd of Rancocas Valley ran 41.14 at the recent Danny Curren Invitational at Widener University in Chester, finishing 2nd to a post-graduate club team that ran 41.04.

Rowan backed that up with a 41.35 at its own Oscar Moore Invitational in Glassboro this past weekend with the same lineup in cold, windy conditions. Princeton won that race in 40.56, with Lumberton’s Greg Foster leading off.

Rowan’s 41.14 is No. 6 in NCAA Division 3 so far this year but only 23-100ths of a second off No. 1 University of Redlands (Calif.), which ran 40.91 this past weekend at a meet in Claremont, Calif.

Also in the top 5 are Greenville (Ill.) with 41.01; Ohio Northern of Ada, Ohio (41.05); and Claremont-Mudds-Scripps of Claremont, Calif. (41.08).

Rowan’s school record of 40.82 was set in 2003 by a team including Ed Fortune from Queens, N.Y., Millville’s Matt Davis, Highland’s Jorge Santiago and Camden’s Tyree Jackson, when the Profs placed 3rd at the NCAA Division 3 meet at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.

Interestingly, Love has run on a faster 4-by-1 than Rowan’s school record. He anchored Westminster College’s 40.80 in the prelims at NCAA Division 3 nationals last spring in Geneva, Ohio. Westminster, from New Wilmington, Pa., just across the Ohio border from Youngstown. Westminster went on to place 7th in the final, earning Love All-America honors.

The Profs are scheduled to race this weekend at the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton

Sterling graduate Nia Holloway smashed New Jersey Institute of Technology school record in the 100-meter dash at the Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Va.

Holloway ran 12.26 with a legal tailwind of 0.5 to break her own school record of 12.28, which she set with a 5th-place finish at last year’s America East Championships in Burlington, Vt.

Holloway’s high school PR was 12.46 at the 2019 South Jersey Group 2 sectionals at Delsea.

Holloway shares the school record in the long jump with a 17-9 ½ in a meet last April at Rider. Freshman Maria Owens tied it this past weekend at the Metropolitan Outdoor Championships at Icahn Stadium in New York. Holloway jumped 17-3 ½ on Saturday. Holloway is also the school record holder indoors at 60 meters with a 7.88 from a meet this past December at Ocean Breeze.

Holloway’s father, Jamal, ran for Delran and was the BCSL Liberty Division champ at 100 meters in 1992 and 1993.

Another South Jersey woman at NJIT also broke a school record over the weekend. Rancocas Valley’s freshman Sanai Jenkins of Rancocas Valley ran 1:05.33 to break her own school record in the 400-meter hurdles. She had run 1:05.91 last weekend. Before that, the school record was 1:05.99, set by Patricia Roche in 2017.

Holloway was joined Saturday by Rancocas Valley’s Sydne Nance, a grad student, junior Lillian Williams of Columbia and freshman Amiyah Stephens of Atlantic County Tech on NJIT’s 400-meter relay team, which set a school record of 48.40. The previous mark was a 48.87 from a meet last year at Princeton (with Holloway, Nance, Williams and Jadyn Otto in the lineup).

Nance has an amazing and impressive backstory, which you can read about here:

Eastern graduate Jewel Ash, a junior at Charleston Southern, recorded a fast early performance in the 400-meter hurdles Saturday in a meet in Knoxville, Tenn.

Ash won the hurdles at the Tennessee Invitational in 57.72. She edged Tennessee senior Kyla Robinson-Hubbard, who PR’d at 57.87 for 2nd place.

Ash PR’d with 57.16 last May in High Point, N.C., and also ran 57.43 in Columbia, S.C., and 57.92 in High Point. She made it to the NCAA East Preliminary Round last May in Bloomington, Ind., but fell short of reaching the NCAA Championships.

Ash ranks No. 18 among U.S. women and No. 33 in the world. She finished last year ranked No. 28 among American women.

Ash is No. 1 in the Big South Conference in both the 400IH and the flat 400 with a 55.58 from a meet last month on her home track.

Oddly, Charleston Southern’s web site ran a story this weekend saying Ash had broken the school record in the intermediate Saturdays, although she’s run faster twice, as you can clearly see on her TFRRS page or her World Athletics page.

Even more confusingly, the record book on the school’s own web site lists lists Ash’s 59.50 from two years ago as the school record, although she broke that record more than a year ago, and she’s run faster six separate times now.

 

Devon Brooks broke Rancocas Valley’s discus record for the second time in two meets so far this spring.

Brooks, a senior, threw 163-5 last week in Lincroft and backed that up with a 167-11 Saturday at the Spartan Relays in Deptford.

The previous school record was 161-9, set at the 2018 state Group 4 meet at Franklin by Meet of Champions javelin champ Nick Mirabelli.

Brooks didn’t throw as a freshman and had a PR of just 116-9 as a sophomore. But he surpassed 150 feet five times last spring, including a best of 159-9 when he placed 5th at the state Group 4 meet at Franklin before hitting 163-5 and then 167-11 this year.

Brooks is No. 5 in the state so far and No. 2 in South Jersey. Cinnaminson’s Malicah Etienne leads South Jersey with his 174-5 from CBA’s throws meet last week, No. 2 in the state.

(By the way, on Brooks’ Twitter profile, he lists a 4.4 grade-point average, which is cause for congratulations as much as that 167-11 throw. OK, almost as much!)

Glassboro junior Damere Lassiter had a huge PR 158-6 at Deptford to place 2nd behind Brooks. Lassiter’s previous PR was a 149-5 last June at South Jersey Group 1 sectionals at Buena. That makes him the No. 2 junior in the state and looks like a Glassboro school record.

Also surpassing the 150-foot barrier for the first time Saturday was Bishop Eustace junior Shawn Brady, who threw 152-0 at the Don Danser Relays at Lenape. His previous PR was a 140-9 last June in the Meet of Champions at Franklin High. That puts him within 5 ½ feet of the school-record 157-5 by Montel Johnson at the 2017 state Parochial A meet at Egg Harbor.

Etienne, Brooks, Lassiter and Brady rank No. 2, 5, 7 and 10 in the state so far this spring. Lassiter and Brady are No. 2 and 4 among juniors.

Jasmine Broadway, who had a 200 PR of 25.60 in high school, is now one of the leading 200-meter dash sprinters in NCAA Division 3.

Bradberry, a Rowan sophomore from Burlington Township, ran 24.85 at a meet in Widener with a legal wind – actually racing into a 1.1-meters-per-second wind.

That’s No. 7 in NCAA Division 3 three weeks into the outdoor season and No. 1 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. Nobody else in the NJAC is under 25.16.

Broadway’s previous 200 PR was a 25.16 earlier this spring in a meet in Lexington, Va. She ran 25.19 indoors at the Armory. Her outdoor PR coming into this season was 25.84 last April in a meet in Ewing, so she’s lowered that nearly a full second.

Broadway’s time is fastest by a Rowan woman since Pemberton’s Shailah Williams set the Rowan school record 12.36 with a legal 0.1 wind at the 2015 NJAC meet at Ramapo in Mahwah. Williams was the Division 3 national champ indoors with a 24.41 in 2014 and is also the Rowan 400 record holder with her 54.74 for 3rd at the 2016 outdoor D-3 nationals.

At Burlington Township, Broadway PR’d in the 200 at 2021 Group 3 sectionals at Jackson Liberty, which she won in 25.60.

Nice start for Mainland Regional senior Mawali Osunniyi, who PR’d in the high jump at 6-6 this weekend, the top mark in New Jersey opening weekend of track season.

Osunniyi’s PR was 6-4 from last year’s Group 3 sectionals at Delsea. He also had a 6-2 at the Cape Atlantic Championships, but those were his only clearances of 6-2 or better last year. Osunniyi, who plays basketball and football for Mainland, was a first-year jumper last year.

That 6-6 places Osunniyi at No. 4 on the all-time Mainland Regional performance list.

Paul Klemic set the state record of 7-4 ½ at the 2000 Foot Locker Championships in Raleigh, N.C. His younger brother Matt cleared 6-8 at the 2002 Atlantic County Championships at Buena.

Ryan O’Connell was Mainland’s first great high jumper. He cleared 6-8 at the 1994 state Group 3 meet, also at South Plainfield.

Osunniyi also triple jumped Saturday for the first time in his track career and hit 42-3, the No. 6 mark in the state after the first weekend of the season.

In his first crack at the 42-inch hurdles over 110 meters, Lumberton’s Greg Foster moved into the No. 6 spot in Princeton history.

Foster, a Princeton freshman who prepped at Lawrenceville, ran 14.30 to win the 110 highs at the Oscar Moore Invitational in Glassboro in cold, blustery conditions not condusive to fast times.

In his first lifetime race over the 42s at 110 meters, Foster ran 14.36 in the prelims to lead all qualifiers into the finals. Boys high school hurdles are set at 39 inches. In all open and collegiate competition, the hurdles go up to 42 inches.

Because Foster chose not to compete at U.S. Juniors last summer, he hadn’t raced the 110 hurdles over 42 inches yet, although he did run 7.89 over the 42s for 60 meters indoors at a meet at Harvard in January. That’s No. 3 in school history. Foster remains eligible for U.S. Juniors this summer.

As for the 14.30, Foster is now one of two Princeton freshmen to add his name to the all-time Princeton hurdles list already this spring. Easton Tan ran 14.29 a meet at Navy two weeks ago, so he’s No. 5 in Princeton history and Foster is No. 6 1-100th of a second behind. Tan, from Winchester, Mass., was 2nd Saturday in 14.30.

Foster also won the long jump Saturday with a 24-4 ¼ on his only legal attempt. He fouled five times. He jumped 24-5 ½ at a meet in Austin last month in his only other outdoor long jump competition so far as a collegian. That’s No. 2 in the Ivy League this spring and No. 11 in NCAA Division 1 so far among freshmen.

Indoors, Foster PR’d at 25-9 to break the Ivy League Championships record and post the No. 2 mark in Princeton history (and best in 33 years). His outdoor PR is 25-6 ¼ from his final high school meet, at Franklin Field last June. That’s No. 2 in state history behind Carl Lewis’s 26-8 ¼ in 1979.

Foster also ran on Princeton’s 400-meter relay team Saturday, the first time he’s run on any relay team as a collegiate athlete. The Tigers won the 4-by-1 in 40.56, No. 2 this year in the Ivy League.

Foster hasn’t triple jumped yet this spring. Indoors, he went 50-7 ½ to place 2nd at Heps at Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H. That’s No. 8 in Princeton history indoors. Foster’s outdoor triple jump PR is his state-record 51-0 ¾, also from Franklin Field last June.

World Athletics doesn’t seem to have Foster’s correct age in its database, but he should be in the top 10 in the world in the Under-20 age group in the hurdles and long jump.

Millville’s Leah Howard, one of the top javelin throwers in the country, opened her senior year with a monster throw at the Spartan Relays at Deptford.

Howard threw 146-2, two feet shy of her PR of 148-2 from last year’s state Group 4 meet at Franklin High. That’s No. 6 in South Jersey history and No. 16 in state history.

This time last year, Howard had never thrown farther than 123-3. But she hit 132-10 at Woodbury, 134-10 at the South Jersey Elite at Delsea, 134-7 at the Cape-Atlantic Championships at Bridgeton, 138-6 at Group 4 sectionals at Buena and that 148-2 at states before placing 2nd at the Meet of Champions with a 135-3 and then hitting 141-8 at the American JavFest in East Stroudsburg, Pa.

So her 146-2 is her 2nd-best throw ever. Unfortuantely, the timing company that worked the Spartan Relays did not include field event series in their results, which is ridiculous.

Last year, Howard ranked 16th nationally according to the MileSplit database. Her throw Saturday is No. 14 nationally according to MileSplit.

All-Time South Jersey 140-Foot Javelin List
168- 6 … Brielle Smith [Oakcrest], 2018
160- 8 … Maria Jimenez (Vineland), 2012
152- 9 … Katherine Johnston (Haddonfield), 2012
152- 4 … Jill Shaner (Egg Harbor Twp.), 2009
148- 8 … Caitlin Cielo (Eastern), 2002
148- 2 … Leah Howard [Millville], 2022
146- 7 … Victoria Imbesi (Our Lady of Mercy), 2008
145- 0 … Brielle Smith (Oakcrest), 2017
143-11 … Ayana Culhane (Absegami), 2016
142- 6 … Kaela Schrier (Cherokee), 2016
142- 1 … Alexa Gardner [Hammonton], 2018
141- 6 … Lindsay Minch (Pennsville), 2010
141- 5 … Kelly Yanucil (Bordentown), 2013
141- 1 … Tumelo Nwanma (Vineland), 2016
141- 0 … Jocelyn McRae (Millville), 2006
140- 8 … Julianne Foering (Rancocas Valley), 2016
140- 1 … Caitlin Ciello (Eastern), 2002
140- 0 … Melissa Lake (Cherokee), 2011

Great start for the Timber Creek girls sprint team, which set a school record of 1:41.90 in the 800-meter relay Saturday at the Spartan Relays at Deptford.

That’s the No. 1 time in the state after the first week of competition.

Sophomore Ryan Jennings led off for Timber Creek, followed by sophomore Billie Frazier, Chloe Jones and Naylah Jones.

Timber Creek’s previous school record was 1:42.98, which they ran at the 2015 Woodbury Relays.

The time is No. 29 in South Jersey history, and considering the early date and the cold, blustery conditions, that’s a heck of a performance.

Timber Creek ran unpressed, beating 2nd-place Winslow by about 3 ½ seconds. Winslow ran 1:45.26.

The Chargers also won the 400-meter relay in 48.96 with Jennings, junior Nyla Jones, Chloe Jones and Naylah Jones. That’s also No. 1 in the state.

All-Time South Jersey 800-Meter List

1:38.43 … Winslow Twp., 2018
1:39.21 … Eastern, 2003
1:39.59 … Winslow Twp., 2012
1:39.67 … Winslow Twp., 2019
1:40.25 … Rancocas Valley, 2019
1:40.30 … Winslow Twp., 2017
1:40.46 … Eastern, 2019
1:40.62 … Winslow Twp., 2003
1:40.72 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2018
1:40.5h … Woodrow Wilson, 2006
1:40.91 … Winslow Twp., 2004
1:41.10 … Washington Twp., 1999
1:41.1h …. Camden, 1995
1:41.33 … Camden, 2009
1:41.2h … Willingboro, 1994
1:41.40 … Winslow Twp., 2005
1:41.2h … Camden, 2006
1:41.54 … Willingboro, 1999
1:41.56 … Highland, 1998
1:41.59 … Eastern, 2002
1:41.70 … Paul VI, 2019
1:41.5h … Pleasantville, 1995
1:41.5h … Woodrow Wilson, 2005
1:41.81 … Willingboro, 1995
1:41.7 … Wilson, 2008
1:41.85 … Deptford, 2015
1:41.86 … Willingboro, 2000
1:41.87 … Camden, 2001
1:41.88 … Winslow, 2013
1:41.90 … Timber Creek, 2023
1:41.91 … Winslow, 2018
1:41.97 … Moorestown, 1999
1:41.9h … Willingboro, 2003