Kingsway graduate Stone Caraccio, a Monmouth sophomore, had a breakthrough performance Friday night in the 1,500 at Bucknell.

Caraccio ran 3:49.25 and placed 11th out of 69 runners at the Bucknell Bison Invitational in Lewisburg, Pa.

That’s more than five seconds faster than his previous 1,500 PR of 3:54.32, which he ran in West Long Branch last April, and it’s https://monmouthhawks.com/documents/2022/4/11/21_22Top10s.pdf.

After covering the first 300 in 47.58, Caraccio reeled off laps of 62.30, 61.53 and 57.85 for 3:01.68 for his final 1,200. He ran his final 800 in sub-2 – 1:59.38.

His time converts to 4:07.59 for a full mile. His mile PR is 4:11.49 from Ocean Breeze in January.

Caraccio now ranks No. 4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference behind three runners from Iona University in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Caraccio’s PR at Kingsway was 4:13.46 for 1,600 at the 2019 state Group 4 meet at Franklin. That’s equivalent of a 4:14.93, so he’s lowered his time the equivalent of nearly 7 ½ seconds for a full mile since arriving at Monmouth.

Last weekend, Caraccio PR’d at 800 meters with a 1:51.84 in a meet at Lehigh, No. 9 in school history.

Closing in 59.53, Camden Catholic graduate and Rider sophomore Richie Castañeda ran a 1,500 PR Friday at Bucknell.

Castañeda ran 3:53.30 at the Bucknell Bison Invitational in Lewisburg, Pa., closing in 2:01.75 for his final 800 meters.

His previous PR was a 3:53.41 last spring at the Penn Challenge at Franklin Field. Castañeda did not race indoors this year, and this was only his third open race since the end of cross country season in mid-November. He ran a 3:54.10 at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., earlier this month.

Castañeda’s time is fastest by a South Jersey miler for Rider in 26 years, since Riverside graduate Ron Brock ran 3:50.95 in 1996. It converts to a 4:11.96 mile.

Castañeda had PRs of 1:57.81, 4:21.75 and 9:41.73 at Camden Catholic.

Kingsway graduate Kylie Anicic placed 3rd at the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic Friday night in her first lifetime 10,000.

Anicic ran 34:37.31, falling just short of the 35-year-old school record of 34:27.75, set by Kerrie Yenchak at the 1987 Florida State Relays in Tallahassee. Yenchak had been an age-group running prodigy in Corry, Pa., just east of Edinboro in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

Her time is No. 2 in Edinboro history and well below the qualifying standard of 36:36.59 for the NCAA Division 2 Championships May 26-28 in Allendale, Mich. Anicic has now qualified in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000.

Anicic has shown tremendous range in her first year at Edinboro, running 4:30.52 for 1.500 meters, 9:43.39 for 3,000 meters and 16:47.87 for 5,000 meters.

Indoors, she won PSAC titles in the mile, 3000 and 5,000 and anchored the winning distance medley.

On Friday night, Anicic came through 1,600 meters in 5:33.75, 3.,200 meters in 11:10.79, 4,800 in 16:42.74, 6,400 in 22:13.81, 8,000 in 27:46.11 and 9,600 in 33:19.52, closing in 77.79 for her final 400.

She ran her first 5,000 in 17:23 and came back in 17:14.

Which is amazing considering her track 5,000 PR before February was 17:19.46.

Her time is No. 6 in NCAA Division 2 and No. 1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

Anicic, a one-time Temple soccer player, began her college track career at Towson, where she never ran anything over 3,000 meters.

Hammonton graduate Alexa Gardner, a Rutgers junior from Hammonton, hit a javelin PR Friday night at Princeton.

Gardner placed second at the Larry Ellis Invitational with a throw of 155-6 on her sixth and final attempt of the evening.

Her previous PR was 154-3 last May in Champaign, Ill.

Gardner, who threw 142-1 in high school, placed second to Brooke Stratman of Army West Point, who won the event with a 157-5 on her third attempt.

Gardner’s best throw through five attempts was a 146-7, and she was sitting in third place before hitting 155-6.

Her best previous throw this year was a 152-2 two weeks ago at the Florida Relays in Gainesville.

Gardner is currently sitting in the No. 4 spot in the Big Ten Conference rankings.

Schalick graduate and former Elizabethtown All-America Samuel Gerstenbacher shaved 10 big seconds off his steeplechase PR Friday night at Princeton.

Gerstenbacher placed 3rd at the Larry Ellis Invitational in 8:51.03, lowered his personal-best from 9:00.21, which he ran at Swarthmore in May of 2019.

Still trying to figure this out, but this may be an all-time South Jersey alumni record for the 3,000 steeplechase. Cinnaminson graduate and current Duke junior Mike Ungvarsky ran 8:53.10 in Raleigh, N.C., last month. If you know of any South Jersey natives who have run a steeplechase faster than 8:51.03 lemme know in the comment’s section!

Gerstenbacher finished only 2.53 seconds behind winner Michael Keenan, a sophomore at Penn from Wilmington, Del.

Gerstenbacher was out in 38.23 for his first 200, then reeled off steady laps of 71.21, 70.74, 70.27, 71.10, 71.67 and 71.13 before closing in 66.70.

EDIT:

I went back 20 years and these are the fastest times I found from South Jersey steeplechasers:

8:51.03 … Samuel Gerstenbacher [Schalick, F&M Track Club, April 15, 2022 [Princeton]
8:53.10 … Michael Ungvarsky [Cinnaminson, Duke], March 25, 2022 [Raleigh, N.C.]
8:53.66 … Connor Herr [Shawnee,Michigan], May 10, 2015 [Philadelphia]
9:04.63 … Greg Pelose [Haddonfield, Boston College], May 4, 2019 [Worcester, Mass.]
9:05.48 … Lou Corgliano [Hammonton, Maryland], March 30, 2018 [Gainesville, Fla.]

Of course, the USATF is such a disgrace they don’t maintain any all-time U.S. lists. But the IAAF – now called World Athletics – has a fabulous database that’s sortable by country, so it becomes the de facto U.S. performance list. It includes very deep performances lists going back to 2006 and somewhat deep lists going back to 2000. I went through each one last night and didn’t see any other sub-9:10 times, although I certainly could have missed some.

If anybody knows of a steeplechaser from South Jersey who ran sub-9:10 lemme know!

Alyssa Condell, racing for the Breakneck Track Club, ran a big 5,000 PR Friday night at Princeton.

Condell, a graduate of Timber Creek High and Penn, placed third in the Larry Ellis Invitational in 16:40.17, crushing her previous PR of 16:56.36, which she set on the same track in 2019 while competing for the Quakers.

From 1,000 meters through 4,200 meters, Condell ran every lap between 80.28 and 80.85. She then closed in 2:33.90 for her final 800.

Candace Archer of Empire Elite Track club won the race in 16:31.92.

Condell also has PRs of 4:38.45 for 1,500 meters, 9:46.28 for 3,000 meters and 10:46.47 in the steeplechase.

Rancocas Valley graduate Danielle Steff, a grad student at Monmouth, popped her best javelin throw of the young season Friday afternoon in Bethlehem, moving into the top 30 American women throwers so far this spring.

Steff won the javelin at the Greyhound Invitational at Moravian University with a 160-8 on her sixth and final throw of the competition, less than five feet off her PR. She won by over 30 feet.

Steff set the Monmouth record of 166-6 last April in a dual meet against Rider in Lawrenceville, a mark that earned her a No. 32 U.S. ranking a year ago.

Currently, she’s No. 26.

At R.V., Steff had a PR of 139-0 from her 9th-place finish at the 2017 Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.

She’ll throw next weekend at the Penn Relays at Franklin Field and the following weekend go for her third straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title in Lawrenceville.

A couple huge PRs for Cinnaminson juniors Tyler Schill and Alex Boyko at Cherokee’s Night of 3,200s Thursday.

Schill lowered his PR by more than half a minute – yes, half a minute – and placed 5th in 9:18.80, and Boyko dropped his PR nearly 20 seconds and finished 8th in 9:21.27. There were more than 250 boys and girls in 13 races over three hours.

Schill’s previous PR was a 9:54.85 at the Bubble in January, so that’s officially a 36.05-second improvement. His outdoor PR was 10:04.83 from last year’s Cherokee Night of 3200s. He improved from 52nd place last year to 5th this year.

He is coming off strong XC and indoor seasons. He was 11th at Group 2 states in XC with a 16:55 at Holmdel and ran 4:27.89 indoors for third in the South Jersey Group 2 1,600 at sectionals.

But 9:18 puts him in an entirely different category. He came through 1,600 meters in 4:42.74 and came back in 4:36.06 – which is actually faster than his outdoor 1,600 PR. He closed in 64.99 and 2:14.96.

Boyko’s breakthrough wasn’t quite as big, but it was big. He came in with a lifetime best of 9:39.53 from the indoor state Group 2 meet at the Bubble in February. His outdoor PR was 9:49.23 from SJ-2 sectionals last spring at Delsea. So that’s an 18.26-second drop.

Boyko and Schill were Cinnaminson’s top two runners when the Pirates placed second to Haddonfield at the state Group 2 meet at Holmdel in November. Cinnaminson’s entire top 7 from that team – Boyko, Schill, Matt McCarron, Derek Coceano, Patrick Storti, Dean Clark and Josiah Saint Ellen – returns this fall.

Schill and Boyko move into the No. 5 and 6 spots on the all-time Cinnaminson 3,200 list, which is really an incredible list for a Group 2 school. All coached of course by Dan Fourney:

9:08.22 … Jon Anderson [2004 State Group 2 meet, Egg Harbor]
9:09.80 … Todd Campbell [2009 Meet of Champions, South Plainfield]
9:11.32 … Mike Ungvarsky [2017 Glenn Loucks Games, White Plains, N.Y.]
9:15.13 … Austin Gabay [2019 Holmdel Twilight Series]
9:18.80 … Tyler Schill [2022 Cherokee Night of 3200s]
9:21.27 … Alex Boyko [2022 Cherokee Night of 3200s]

Here’s a look at the top 10 South Jersey runners at Cherokee Thursday night:

9:12.32 … George Andrus [Haddonfield] (1st)
9:12.99 … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield] (2nd)
9:15.76 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury] (3rd)
9:18.45 … Jack Bolling [Haddon Heights (4th)
9:18.80 … Tyler Schill [Cinnaminson] (5th)
9:20.80 … Jacob Cobb [West Deptford] (7th)
9:21.27 … Alex Boyko [Cinnaminson] (8th)
9:24.63 … Billy Clewell [Camden Catholic] (9th)
9:28.08 … Patrick Ditmars [Cherokee] (11th)
9:29.10 … Colin Patterson [Haddon Heights] (12th)

;

Mainland senior Camryn Dirkes popped a major triple jump PR Thursday night at the Eagle Relays.

Competing at Central Regional in Bayville, Dirkes jumped 37-9, the No. 6 mark in Atlantic County history and No. 21 in South Jersey history.

Dirkes’ previous PR was 35-8 ¾ from the Cape-Atlantic Conference Championships in Bridgeton in 2019, her freshman year, where she placed second to South Jersey record holder Claudine Smith of Atlantic City.

Here’s a look at the all-time Atlantic County top-10:

42-2 … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2018
39-2 ¼ … Mariah Hubbard [Absegami Reg.], 2016
38-8 … Shameka Marshall [Oakcrest], 2001
38-6 … Monet Gist [Atlantic City], 2013
38-4 … Mariah Stephens [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2021
37-9 … Camryn Dirkes [Mainland Reg.], 2022
37-7 ¼ … Alex Romanelli [Absegami], 2009
37-7 ¼ … Kyla Edwards [Oakcrest], 2018
37-2 …… Shamyra Brown [Oakcrest], 2006
36-10 ¼ … Neyshka Garcia Perez [Absegami], 2017

MileSplit is having issues with its ranking system, but it appears that Dirkes’ mark is No. 2 in the state so far this spring. Faith Bethea of Snyder jumped 38-3 ¼ at the Pirate Relays in Pearl River, N.Y., opening weekend.

Once the rain stopped, the fast times started.

The Cherokee Night of 3200s is the first chance every spring for distance runners from South Jersey, North Jersey and Philly to run fast in good conditions, and this year’s edition didn’t disappoint.

The Haddonfield duo of junior George Andrus [9:12.32] and senior Seth Clevenger [9:12.99] picked up where they left off indoors, taking the top two spots in the boys race Thursday evening. Both ran sub-9:09 indoors and will race the 3,000 at Penn later this month. And both closed fast Thursday night, Andrus in 62.65 and Clevenger in 63.63.

But Woodbury sophomore Peyton Shute was only 15 meters behind the Haddonfield duo with a massive PR of 9:15.76 for 3rd.

Shute lowered his 3,200 PR believe it or not from 9:34.80, which he ran indoors at the Bubble in January, to the No. 6 time in Gloucester County history. His previous outdoor PR was 9:44.80, when he placed 5th at the state Group 1 meet at Pennsauken as a freshman last spring.

Shute was out in 4:40.91 [2:21.14, 2:19.87] and came back in 4:34.87, which is only five seconds off his outdoor 1,600 PR.

Despite the huge PR, running fast isn’t new to Shute, who lowered his Holmdel County Park time to 16:08 with a top-20 finish at the XC Meet of Champions.

Shute’s time is fastest by a New Jersey 10th-grader since Devin Hart of Point Pleasant Borough won the 2017 state Group 2 meet 4:09.49 at Northern Burlington. It’s No. 16 among all U.S. sophomores so far this spring, according to the MileSplit national database.

It’s also fastest by a South Jersey sophomore in 14 years, since Shawnee’s David Forward ran 9:10.28 at the 2008 Meet of Champions at South Plainfield. Shute broke the Woodbury school record of 9:20.99 set in June by older brother Brady Shute when he won the state Group 1 title at Pennsauken

All-time Gloucester County sub-9:20 list
9:01.9y … Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1979
9:06.2y … Greg Stremmel [Gateway], 1974
9:11.88 … Paul Szulewski [Williamstown], 2011
9:14.31 … Anthony Dentino [Washington Twp.], 2011
9:14.93 … Kyle Rakitis [Kingsway], 2021
9:15.76 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 2022
9:16.39 … Stone Caraccio [Kingsway], 2019
9:19.19 … Nick Costello [Delsea], 2012

Lots more from the Cherokee Night of 3200s coming later today!