Deptford’s Lathan Brown ran a personal-best 48.72 Saturday in the Under-20 400 at the USATF New York City Grand Prix at Ichan Stadium on Randall’s Island.

Brown placed 3rd behind Meet of Champions runner-up Jaden Marchan of Leonia, who won the race in 48.00, and Jaylin Santiago of Fordham Prep of the Bronx, who was 2nd in 48.22.

Brown had a high school PR of 48.76 from his win at the South Jersey Group 3 sectionals at Delsea. He went on to win the state Group 3 title also at Delsea. He picked the intermediates for the Meet of Champions and placed 3rd in a PR 52.65 – 5th-fastest in Gloucester County history – and also took 5th at West Philly Nationals in 53.44, earning All-America honors.

He’s not yet listed on the entries, but Brown has qualified for the 400IH at the USATF Under-20 Championships in Eugene, Ore., next month. The 400IH qualifying standard is 53.54.

Brown will join Pennsauken’s Bryce Tucker as part of Rutgers’ incoming track class this fall. Tucker was U.S. No. 1 in the 400-meter hurdles this spring with his 50.96 to win his 3rd straight Meet of Champions.

With track season finally over, we’ll catch our breath and spend the next couple weeks taking a look at some top South Jersey athletes who fell through the cracks this year that we didn’t have a chance to write about.

Today: Julian Coppage-Seepersaud, Thomas Howard Jr., Xavier Bancroft, Jameer Bellamy, Caleb White

Julian Coppage-Seepersaud ran 11.11, 22.91 and 49.18 this year. Thomas Howard Jr. ran 22.34 and 50.77. Xavier Bancroft ran 11.34, 22.60 and 51.27. Jameer Bellamy clocked a 11.34 and Caleb White 54.49.

Some pretty fast sprinters for Rancocas Valley this spring.

What’s crazy is that all of them are freshmen.

R.V. assembled the greatest collection of freshman sprinters on record, which means since MileSplit began putting together its New Jersey performance lists in 2006. Before that, it’s impossible to determine what year many runners were since most results didn’t list grades and New Jersey Track Annuals, which did list grades, didn’t have particularly deep lists.

But since 2006, no other New Jersey school had three freshmen run 51.27 or faster the same year or three freshmen at sub-23.00.

Coppage-Seepersaud was the No. 2 freshman at 100 meters in New Jersey, 2-100ths of a second behind Piscataway’s Donald Nwaigwe, who ran 11.09. Howard Jr. and Bancroft were both among the top 10 freshmen in the 100.

In the 200, Howard Jr. and Bancroft were two-fastest freshmen in the state this year, and Coppage-Seepersaud – we’ll shorten it to JCS – was No. 4, with Pennsauken’s KaRon Ali breaking up the Red Devil group with a 22.69.

In the 400, JCS and Ali were the top two freshmen in the state – Ali ran 49.39 at sectionals. Howard was 5th and Bancroft 8th.

JCS is the fastest South Jersey freshman since Haddonfield’s Luke Colehower ran 48.31 in 2016. He also split 48.29 anchoring R.V.’s 1,000-meter sprint medley at West Philly Nationals. The Red Devils earned All-America honors with a 3rd-place finish in 1:57.33. Howard Jr. also ran on that team, as did senior Jadon Kendrick and sophomore David Smith.

He’s also closing in on the R.V. school record of 48.88 set by Brian Merriman at the 2017 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.

R.V.’s school records in the two short sprints are 10.72 and 21.66 by Sterling Pierce in 2015.

White also ran 54.49, which means R.V.’s four-fastest freshmen went 49.18, 50.77, 51.27 and 54.49, which adds up to 3:25.71 – without accounting for running starts in a relay.

Over the last 18 years, JCS, Howard Jr. and Bancroft are the three-fastest freshman in the 400 in Burlington County.

Let’s add up R.V.’s four-fastest freshmen in the 200: 22.34, 22.60, 22.91, 23.93 for a composite total of 1:31.78.

You never know how freshmen are going to progress. Some find other interests or other sports. Some just don’t improve. Some transfer out. But this group has a ton of potential, and it’s going to be fun following their progress over the coming years.

With track season finally over, we’ll catch our breath and spend the next couple weeks taking a look at some top South Jersey athletes who fell through the cracks this year that we didn’t have a chance to write about.

Today: Sunsarai Moore, Glassboro

Sunsarai Moore started out her freshman year placing 28th in the discus at the Deptford Spartan Relays the first week of the season.

She improved so much over the next couple months that she was the top freshman discus thrower in the state by the end of the year.

Moore threw 95-9 in her 2nd meet, Fast Times at Cherokee, and then hit 100 feet for the first time at Delsea Crusader Field Event Meet in late May with a 107-9.

At Group 1 sectionals, she PR’d at 118-2 and placed 3rd behind Clayton junior Maylisa Bluford [129-5] and Schalick junior Grace O’Neill [125-11] and then PR’d again at states with 118-8 behind only Bluford’s 129-3.

So she went from 28th at Deptford on April 8 to 2nd in the entire state Group 1 on June 10.

She was the only freshman to even reach the Meet of Champions – she placed 17th overall – and finished the year 11th overall in South Jersey and is the No. 6 returning thrower for the 2024 season.

In the last 20 years, the only freshman in South Jersey to throw farther was Rancocas Valley’s Ravin Hood, who hit 130-6 at the 2019 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington. Moore is the top Group 1 freshman in at least 20 years.

With three years to go, Moore is already within 11 feet of the Glassboro school record of 129-3 set by Stacie Belzer at the 2002 Tri-County Conference All-Star Meet at Delsea.

It was a heck of a rookie year for Karon Brookins, a 1st-year sophomore sprinter and jumper at Timber Creek.

In his first season of high school track, Brookins had success in a number of events this spring and wound up tied as the No. 1 sophomore high jumper in New Jersey, No. 3 long jumper, No. 12 triple jumper and No. 15 in the 100-meter dash.

On the South Jersey lists, he’s No. 1 sophomore in the high jump, No. 1 in the long jump, No. 4 in the 100 and No. 7 in the triple jump.

Brookins cleared 6-6 in the high jump at the Woodbury Relays, hit 22-2 in the long jump to place 2nd in the state Group 4 meet – just 4 ½ inches from a state title – triple jumped 43-0 ½ to win the Camden County meet and PR’d in the 100 with his 11.11 at states after medaling at sectionals.

Not many athletes even attempt those diverse events. Brookins was the only athlete in the state this year just to jump as high as 6-6 and run as fast as 11.11. So you can can imagine how rare 6-6 / 22-2 / 43-0 1/2 / 11.11 is.

Brookins caught 15 passes for 250 yards and two TDs for Timber Creek’s football team this past fall. He’s listed at 6-foot-4, 180 pounds.

Delsea graduate Elisia Lancaster won the hammer throw at the Elliott Denman New Jersey International Track Meet at Holmdel High School on Saturday.

Lancaster threw 205-1 in her first meet in her home state since the Lions Invitational on April 26, 2019, when she was attending Rowan College Gloucester County. She then competed for Towson before settling at Southern Illinois, where she blossomed into one of the top throwers in the country.

Lancaster threw a PR 220-4 last spring in a meet in Des Moines and went on to compete in the NCAA Division 1 Championships.

Lancaster is the No. 22-ranked American woman this year with her near-PR 220-3 at the Gary Wieneke Memorial Invitational at Demirjian Park in Champaign, Ill., in April.

Audubon freshman Riley Fayer burst onto the South Jersey track scene just about five weeks ago with a 3rd-place finish in the 3,200 in the Camden County Championships, where she finished behind only Haddonfield’s Ava Thomas and Helene Usher and ran 11:14.40.

Fayer didn’t run indoors, so that was the first time her name showed up in any results. Talk about an auspicious debut.

Fayer ran 5:18.93 a few days later at the Haddonfield Invitational and then 2:21.43 at Haddonfield Distance Night.

Ten days into her high school track career, she had already shown great range and the ability to race at a high level against some of the best distance runners South Jersey had to offer.

Audubon raced Fayer sparingly, like you should with a freshman. She didn’t double at all until sectionals, where she won the 800 in a PR 2:19.44, placed a close 2nd to Haddon Township senior Meghan Lex in the 1,600 with a PR 5:13.29 and took 2nd in the 3,200 behind Schalick soph Jordan Hadfield.

She scored 26 of Audubon’s 53 points as the Green Wave placed 4th at the Group 1 South Jersey sectionals.

Fayer focused on the 3,200 at states and dropped her PR to 11:03.78, finishing a fraction of a second behind Walkill Valley soph Delana Einreinhofer.

Then it was off to the Meet of Champions, where Fayer was the No. 17 seed. Relegated to an unseeded heat, she was able to run with leaders Olivia Murray of Pingry School and Emma Luo of Marlboro for much of the race before taking off with three laps to go, closing in 82.16 and 75.78 to win the unseeded race by 90 meters with a 10:58.45.

When only seven girls in the seeded heat broke 11 minutes, Fayer had herself eighth place in a Meet of Champions 3,200 five weeks into her high school track career. She placed 3rd among South Jersey runners, behind only Thomas, who won the race in 10:44.34, and Northern soph Liliah Gordon, who was 5th in 10:53.68.

Fayer finished the season with a 2:20.14 in the 800 at West Philly Nationals.

She’ll be the No. 13 returning 3,200 runner in the state and finished as the No. 3 freshman. She was also No. 7 freshman in New Jersey in the 1,600.

Fayer is the first South Jersey freshman to run both sub-2:20 for 800 meters and sub-11 for 3,200 meters since Haddonfield’s Briana Gess in 2014 [2:11.80, 10:45.12]. Before that, Erin Donohue in 2001 [2:13.41, 10:43.14].

Fayer already has the school record in the 3,200 and is closing in on the 800 [2:18.51] and 1,60 [5:09.77], both set in 2014 by Molly Furlong.

Olympian Curtis Thompson from Florence popped a season-best javelin throw at a meet in Finland.

Thompson threw 261-3 at the Kuortane Games at Kuortaneen Keskusurheilukenttä in Kuortane, Finland, in the South Ostrobothnia region.

That’s Thompson’s best throw since September, when he threw 269-4 at the Weltklasse Diamond League meet at Letzigrund Stadium in Zürich.

Thompson, 27, won U.S. championships in 2018 in Des Moines and 2021 at the Olympic Trials in Hayward Field in Eugene.

So far this spring, Thompson ranks 5th among American men. He’s No. 3 in U.S. history with his 287-7 at the American JavFest last July in East Stroudsburg, Pa.

Thompson is scheduled to throw Saturday at the USATF Grand Prix at Ichan Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York. Results will be posted here. As of now, there is still no order of events available. Maybe the NJSIAA is running the meet.

 

With track season finally over, we’ll catch our breath and spend the next couple weeks taking a look at some top South Jersey athletes who fell through the cracks this year that we didn’t have a chance to write about .Today: Justice Gamble.

Sterling junior Justice Gamble picked the right time to pop a few PRs. His triple jump before sectionals was 43-8 ½ from the Haddonfield Invitational in mid-May. But he hit 44-10 ¾ to win South Jersey Group 2 sectionals, then 45-7 to place 2nd at Group 2 states and 46-9 to take 5th place at the Meet of Champions.

In the span of 13 days, he improved more than three feet – from 43-8 ½ to 46-9 – and became the first Sterling boy to place in a Meet of Champions field event since Glenn Murray was 6th in the long jump with a 21-9 ½ in 1993.

Gamble’s 46-9 broke the school record of 45-9 set at the 2021 state Group 2 meet at Franklin by Jaden Johnson.

Gamble also high jumped 6-3 and long jumped 21-4 ½ this year, but he did his best work in the triple and goes into 2024 as the No. 3 returning triple jumper in the state, behind Don Bosco junior and Meet of Champions winner Bobby Mays [48-3 ¼] and Demarest sophomore Liam Paneque [46-11 ½].

Mays was the only underclassman to finish ahead of him at the Meet of Champions, and Egg Harbor senior Ahmad Fogg [46-11 for 4th] was the only South Jersey jumper to finish ahead of him

Overall, Gamble was the No. 3 jumper in South Jersey this year behind Mainland’s Mawali Osunnyi [47-0 ½] and Fogg [46-11]. He was the top underclassman in South Jersey by a foot.

What’s really impressive is how far Gamble came this spring.

He high jumped 6-2 last spring but his long jump PR as a sophomore was 18-9 ¾ and triple jump was 42-9. He didn’t compete indoors, so he added 2 ½ feet in the long jump and four feet in the triple jump in the span of two months.

Gamble is No. 28 in South Jersey history with one year to go. He’s No. 12 on the all-time Camden County list but only 1 ¼ inch out of the top 10.

All-Time South Jersey Triple Jump List
50- 9 1/4 … Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], 2018
50- 6 3/4 …. Dominique Irons [Haddon Heights], 2013
50- 2 1/2 … Floyd Whitaker [Highland], 2019
48-10 1/2 … Larry Russell [Timber Creek], 2015
48- 3 1/4 … Ryan Chance [Glassboro], 2009
48- 1 1/2 … Mubeen Momodu [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2019
48- 1 1/4 ……Orion Joyner [Kingsway], 2019
48- 0 ………. Josh Butler [Delsea], 2006
47- 9 1/4 … Marcus Edghilll [Pemberton], 1981
47- 7 1/2 … Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2014
47-7 ½ … Jaden Johnson [Timber Creek], 2022
47- 6 1/2 … Chris Roundtree [Haddon Hts.], 2009
47- 5 1/2 … Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], 2017
47- 5 1/4 … Kevin Kevelier [Collingswood], 2019
47- 5 ……… Steven Brown [Penns Grove], 2009
47- 4 3/4 … Cheo King [Woodbury], 2017
47- 4 1/2 … Zakiyy Williams [Rancocas Valley], 2017
47- 4 ……… Tristan Wilson [Delsea], 2014
47- 3 1/4 … Antwan Dickerson [Pennsauken], 2013
47- 3 ……… Mike Baker [Cherry Hill West], 1976
47-0 ½ … Mawali Osunniyi [Mainland Reg.], 2023
47- 0 1/4 … Earnest Daniel [Kingsway], 2017
46-11 … Tarik Robinson [Penns Grove], 2016
46-11 … Ahmad Brock [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2021
46-11 … Ahmad Fogg [Eg Harbor Twp.], 2023
46-10 ¼ … Malachi Whitfield [Overbrook], 2018
46-10 … Rhodeni Spence [Wilson], 2007
46-9 … Justice Gamble [Sterling], 2023
46-7 ¾ … Ameer Banks [Delsea Reg.], 2015
46-6 ½ … Allen Killiebrew [Penns Grove], 2015
46-6 … Brian Williams [Pemberton], 1980

All-Time Camden County Triple Jump List
50- 6 3/4 …. Dominique Irons [Haddon Heights], 2013
50- 2 1/2 … Floyd Whitaker [Highland], 2019
48-10 1/2 … Larry Russell [Timber Creek], 2015
47- 7 1/2 … Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2014
47-7 ½ … Jaden Johnson [Timber Creek], 2022
47- 6 1/2 … Chris Roundtree [Haddon Hts.], 2009
47- 5 1/4 … Kevin Kevelier [Collingswood], 2019
47- 3 1/4 … Antwan Dickerson [Pennsauken], 2013
47- 3 ……… Mike Baker [Cherry Hill West], 1976
46-10 ¼ … Malachi Whitfield [Overbrook], 2018
46-10 … Rhodeni Spence [Wilson], 2007
46-9 … Justice Gamble [Sterling], 2023

Timber Creek, which destroyed the South Jersey 400-Meter Relay record Saturday, ran well under the previous record again Sunday and placed 4th in the Championship race at West Philly Nationals.

Chloe Jones, Ryan Jennings, Nyla Jones and Naylah Jones ran 46.43 in Saturday’s semifinals, breaking a 20-year-old South Jersey record of 46.87 set by Eastern’s Brittany Wright, Jennifer Jackson, Kaliyma Barkley and Jenelle Wilson in the trials of the 2003 adidas Outdoor Nationals in Raleigh, N.C. That 46.43 is 6th-fastest in state history.

The Chargers didn’t run quite as fast in Sunday’s final, but they ran fast enough to place 4th and earn All-America honors with a 46.64.

Timber Creek finished behind track factory Bullis School of Potomac, Md. [45.63], Scotlandville High of Baton Rouge, La. [46.46] and Union Catholic [46.56].

√  Mainland senior Mawali Osunniyi cleared 6-6 ¼ on his 2nd attempt and tied for 5th in the Championship high jump to earn All-America honors. Three jumpers had identical ledgers, cleareing 6-2 ¾ and 6-4 ¾ on their first attempt and 6-6 ¼ on their 2nd and missing three attempts at 6-8. They all tied for 5th. Paulsboro senior Jamile Gantt cleared 6-4 ¾.

√  Glassboro junior Cartrell Moore placed 10th in the Rising Stars triple jump with a 45-5 ¼. Moore’s PR going in was 45-1 ½ at the Gloucester County Championships at Deptford last month. The 45-5 ¼ was wind-aided at 2.9, but he also had a wind-legal PR 45-3 ¾ in his series. Moore was the No. 2 junior in South Jersey this year behind Sterling’s Justice Gamble, who hit 46-9 when he placed 5th at the Meet of Champions.

√  Ocean City senior Nick Scarangelli finished his season with a PR mile in the Rising Stars race. Scarangelli ran a full-mile 4:20.19, which converts to 4:18.68 for 1,600 meters. Scarangelli’s previous PR was 4:20.44 at Haddonfield Distance Night. That’s No. 4 in Cape May County history behind a few Ocean City legends – Brett Johnson [4:07.06y in 2008], John Richardson [4:09.20 in 2003] and Miles Schoedler [4:11.46 in 2010].

√  Paul VI junior Shaelan McNally ran 5:06.74 full mile in the Rising Stars race, equivalent of a 5:04.96. McNally PR’d last month with a 5:01.44 and is the No. 2 returning miler in South Jersey behind Northern’s Liliah Gordon, who ran 4:58.91 at the Holmdel Twilight Royal Rumble last month.

√  Audubon’s Riley Fayer ran 2:20.14 in the freshman girls 800, just off her PR of 2:19.44 from sectionals. Cherokee’s Madeline Meder finished one place behind Fayer with a PR 2:20.19.

√  Winslow placed 7th in the Rising Stars 400-Meter Relay final in 43.04 with Jamil Peterson, Jaylen Wall, James Wilson and Cameron Miller.

√  Millville senior Leah Howard wasn’t at her best but still threw 135-4 and placed 10th in the javelin, finishing her brilliant career as the No. 2 javelin thrower in state history with her 163-1 from Woodbury Relays. Howard will compete for Texas Tech starting next year.

Timber Creek, Pennsauken and Eastern finished the season with some fast 4-by-4’s Sunday as the West Philly Nationals came to a close at Franklin Field.

Timber Creek ran 3:50.13 for 7th place, Pennsauken a school-record 3:51.11 for 9th place and Eastern 3:53.75, just off their 3:52.40 from Meet of Champions and placed 17th overall.

Timber Creek, which won the Meet of Champions in 3:46.38, placed 7th with sophomores Ryan Jennings and Billie Frazier and juniors Chloe Jones and Naylah Jones, Chloe splitting 56.54 and Naylah 56.05.

Pennsauken lowered its school record from its 3:52.69 at the state Group 4 meet with sophomore Amina Dyer leading off, Meet of Champs winner Sianni Wynn running 2nd leg in 54-low-ish, freshman Ameenah Rodriguez running 59.76 and freshman Sanaya Dupree anchoring in 57.09.

And Eastern got 56.65 and 56.67 splits from freshman Natalie Dumas and senior Kadence Dumas after legs by sophomore Samantha Osei-Kyei and senior Makenzie James ran the first two legs.

[Splits for first two legs aren’t available because they’re running in lanes in a three-turn stagger and you can’t have a separate camera for each lane.]

Here’s a look at the updated all-time South Jersey list:
3:43.94 … Willingboro, 2001
3:44.64 … Willingboro, 2002
3:44.67 … Clayton, 2022
3:45.41 … Camden, 1995
3:45.67 … Willingboro, 1999
3:46.13 … Willingboro, 2000
3:46.38 … Timber Creek, 2023
3:46.67 … Winslow Twp., 2018
3:47.16 … Eastern, 2003
3:47.30 … Willingboro, 2003
3:47.41 … Winslow Twp., 2017
3:47.4h … Camden, 1978
3:47.55 … Camden, 2006
3:48.00 … Wilson, 2001
3:48.17 … Wilson, 2006
3:48.6y … Camden,, 1978
3:48.78 … Lenape, 2014
3:48.7h … Washington Twp., 1999
3:48.87 … Rancocas Valley, 2019
3:48.91 … Penns Grove, 2013
3:49.25 … Lenape, 2015
3:49.2y … Camden, 1979
3:49.30 … Winslow Twp., 2004
3:49.43 … Willingboro, 1997
3:49.53 … Willingboro, 1998
3:49.63 … Winslow Twp., 2016
3:49.93 … Willingboro, 2009
3:50.10 … Millville, 2008
3:50.13 … Timber Creek, 2023
3:50.21 … Winslow Twp., 2003
3:50.24 … Willingboro, 2009
3:50.27 … Lenape, 2017
3:50.31 … Eastern, 2002
3:50.36 … Rancocas Valley, 2018
3:50.46 … Woodrow Wilson, 2005
3:50.49 … Willingboro, 2010
3:50.56 … Winslow Twp., 2019
3:51.0h … Willingboro, 1982
3:51.11 … Pennsauken, 2023
3:51.18 … Eastern, 2003
3:51.22 … Camden, 2008
3:51.32 … Willingboro, 2000
3:51.43 … Lenape, 2012
3:51.44 … Willingboro, 1994
3:51.51 … Woodrow Wilson, 2007
3:51.68 … Millville, 2007
3:51.70 … Camden, 2010
3:51.6h … Highland, 1992
3:51.85 … Woodrow Wilson, 2000
3:51.91 … Camden, 2005
3:51.8h … Camden, 1979