Sterling graduate Jessie Klenk, a Stockton senior, used a 76-second final lap to move up from 3rd to the lead and won the NJAC mile title Monday at Ocean Breeze.

Klenk ran a personal-best 5:17.62 at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships, finishing two meters ahead of Salini Iyer of TCNJ, who took second in 5:21.58. Klenk’s previous best mile time was 5:19.44 in her last race, the Gotham Cup on the same track. Before this year she hadn’t broken 5:25 in a mile indoors or out.

The NJAC title is Klenk’s second. She won the 1,500 last spring in 5:00.71 at Ramapo College in Mahwah. She was 2nd at the NJAC cross country championships this past fall on Stockton’s course in Galloway Township.

Klenk is versatile enough that as a freshman she placed 3rd in the NJAC heptathlon.

At Sterling, Klenk didn’t run indoor track and had a PR of 5:44.58 for 1,600 meters, so to win a Division 3 conference title is quite a remarkable accomplishment and a testament to her determination and perseverance.

With a lineup featuring three South Jersey alums, Rowan on Friday ran the 2^nd-fastest 800-meter relay in NCAA Division 3 history.

But not a school record or a meet record.

Freshman Nana Agyemang from Parsippany, sophomore Jah’mere Beasley of Sterling, freshman Robert McKinney from Highland and freshman Isaiah Arzu from Rancocas Valley won the 4-by-200 at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at Ocean Breeze in 1:27.88.

The only faster time in Division 3 history was turned in by a 2019 Rowan team of Glassboro’s Tyler Garland, West Deptford’s Shai Mumford, Dayquan Murray of Hammonton and Spencer Jarrett from Salem, who ran 1:27.69, also at the NJAC Championships and also on the banked 200-meter track in Staten Island.

The No. 3 time in Division 3 history also belongs to Rowan – that’s a 1:28.27 at the 2018 NJAC meet with Garland, Jonathan Ramirez of Memorial of West New York, Steven Jones of Kingsway and Mumford.

So Rowan now owns the three-fastest 800-meter relay times in NCAA Division 3 history.

The official splits don’t look quite right, and there is no split listed for the first 200. If we get correct splits we’ll post them!

Sterling’s Jah’mere Beasley broke one school record and just missed another in a very fast sprint double Monday evening at the NJAC Championships at Ocean Breeze.

Beasley placed second to Ramapo’s Cheickna Traore in both the 60 and the 200 but ran PRs of 6.89 and 21.60.

The 6.89 broke the school record of 6.92 set in 2020 by Julian Pratt of Camden, and the 21.60 missed the school record of 21.56 set in 1999 by Rich Dixon of Dover (Del.) by 4-100ths of a second.

Beasley’s times are No. 4 in NCAA Division 3 in the 200 and No. 24 in the 60.

Traore, who came into the meet ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division 3 with a 21.34 at Boston University earlier this month, won the 200 in 21.38, well under the meet record of 21.57 set by Dixon at the 1999 meet.

Beasley’s time is No. 19 in NCAA Division 3 indoor track history and No. 3 in NJAC indoor history, behind Traore and Dixon.

Dixon arrived at Rowan as a soccer player before becoming one of the top sprinters in the country. He was the 1997 Division 3 outdoor 400 champ with a 47.33 in LaCrosse, Wisc.

Beasley and Rowan freshman Nana Agyemang from Parsippany both ran under 22 seconds, Beasley in 2^ndand Agyemang 3^rd in 21.87. Highland graduate Robert McKinney [5^th in 22.29] gave Rowan 18 points in the event. Bordentown graduate Carson Latham, a Stockton freshman, was 7^th in the race in 22.36.

For Beasley, the 21.60 is an indoor PR. His previous indoor best was a 21.86 in Boston earlier this month. Beasley’s outdoor PR is a wind-legal [1.7] 21.18 for 2^nd place at NCAA Division 3 outdoor championships last spring in Greensboro, N.C.

Beasley ran 21.30 outdoors at Sterling in the 2019 Meet of Champions. He never ran indoor track in high school.

Traore, who graduated from Innovation Charter in Jersey City and competed for Snyder, never broke 23 seconds for 200 meters in high school. His lifetime best before this month was 21.68 outdoors and 21.80 indoors.

Traore’s 21.34 last week ranks No. 6 in NCAA Division 3 history.

Traore won the 60 in 6.80, which broke the meet record of 6.89 by another Ramapo sprinter, Ackeme Brown, in 2012. His 60 time is No. 26 in NCAA Division history.

Lenape grad Kevin Lauer, a Rowan junior, continues closing in on Rowan’s indoor mile school record Monday evening at Ocean Breeze.

Lauer placed 3^rd in the NJAC Championships in 4:14.81, lowering his PR from a 4:15.22 he ran just last week at Boston University. His indoor PR before late January was a 4:19.72 at the 2019 NJAC meet at Ocean Breeze.

Lauer’s time is fastest by a Rowan miler indoors since Kevin Veltre ran 4:12.30 at the 2018 NJAC meet, also at Ocean Breeze. Before that, Eric DuBois ran 4:14.57 at the 2012 NJAC meet at the Armory. Delsea graduate Sean Mick set the school record of 4:11.3 in 1997.

Rowan’s web site does not list an all-time top-10, but presumably Lauer’s time would land somewhere in the middle of that list.

Lauer’s indoor PR at Lenape was 4:25.79 in a meet at Ocean Breeze in the winter of 2018. He ran 4:18.96 outdoors at the 2017 Olympic Conference Championships at Washington Township.

On Monday’s New Jersey Athletic Conference Meet, Lauer came through the 400 in 64.42, the 800 in 2:08.60 and the 1,200 in 3:14.33 before turning on the jets and running his last two 200s in 30.25 and 30.23 for a final 400 of 60.48 and negative 800 splits of 2:08.60 and 2:06.21.

Chris Anderson of Ramapo and Ramsey High School won the race in 4:12.26, and Stockton’s Erik Ackerman from West Morris Central was 2^nd in 4:13.75 with a final 400 of 59.83.

 

 

Delsea graduate Josh Awotunde uncorked the No. 2 shot put throw in the world this year and No. 20 throw in U.S. history in a meet in Louisville.

Awotunde popped a throw of 70-7 1/2 on his third attempt at the American Track League event at the Norton Sports Complex in Louisville. He won the event by about a foot over Darrell Hill, who was second with an indoor PR of his own at 69-6 ½.

Awotunde came into the meet with an indoor PR of 69-11 ¾ from a meet during the 2018 season at College Station, Texas.

In Louisville, he opened with a PR 70-2 ½ and then a 69-1 ¾ before the 70-7 ½ bomb on his third attempt. After a 69-2 ½, he fouled on his to final attempts. He averaged 69-9 ½ on his four legal throws, so his average throw was only two inches off his indoor lifetime best coming into the meet.

Awotunde now ranks No. 2 in the world behind Darlan Romani of Brazil, who threw 71-2 ¾ at a meet this weekend in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

On the all-time IAAF world list, the 26-year-old Awotunde ranks No. 38.

Awotunde’s throw extends his own all-time New Jersey alumni indoor record. The previous record belonged to Morristown graduate Nick Vena, who threw 67-8 ½ in a meet at Monmouth University in West Long Branch in January of 2018.

Outdoors, Awotunde has a PR of 72-2 from Meeting Città di Padova at

Stadio Colbachini in Padova, Italy, in September. That’s No. 15 in U.S. history.

Awotunde, a Franklinville native, was an All-America at South Carolina. He placed 5^th at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials with a throw of 71-8.

He’s scheduled to compete at the USATF Indoor Nationals at the Podium in Spokane, Wash., this coming weekend. U.S. Nationals this year are a qualifier for the World Championships, scheduled for March 18-20 at Štark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia.

The top two finishers in Spokane will represent the U.S. in Belgrade as long as they’ve met the world qualifying standard. For the shot put, it’s 69-2 ½, which Awotunde has already met.

Cherokee graduate Lucciano Pizarro bombed a massive shot put PR this weekend at Penn State, surpassing the 60-foot barrier with the 16-pound shot for the first time.

Pizarro, a Penn State sophomore who’s competerd unattached so far this season, threw 60-8 ¼ at the Penn State Tune-Up at Ashenfelter Indoor Track in State College.

That ranks No. 41 among all U.S. men this year.

Pizzaro’s previous indoor best was a 57-6 ½ at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge last month at the same facility on Penn State’s campus. Earlier in January he threw 57-2 ½ at the Penn State National.

But before Jan. 22, his indoor PR was a 55-1 ½ from last year’s Sykes & Sabock Challenge. So he’s added over five feet to his indoor PR since Jan. 22.

Pizzaro has a lifetime best of 61-1 ½ from the Jim Thorpe Invitational last May, also at Penn State. That’s No. 9 in Penn State history outdoors.

His longest lifetime throw that didn’t come in State College was a 58-4 at the NCAA East Preliminaries at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville this past May.

His top seven indoor performances have come at Ashenfelter, and if we checked all his series (which we’re tempted to do) that probably means at least his top 15 indoor throws have all been at his home circle. Pizzaro’s longest lifetime indoor throw that wasn’t at Ashenfelter was a 50-1 ½ at last year’s Big 10 Championships at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Kingsway graduate Kylie Anicic ran a fast 5,000 Friday, and she did it the hardest way possible.

Anicic, a sophomore at Edinboro (Pa.) University, ran 16:47.87, which is 14^th-fastest in all of NCAA Division 2 this year and strengthens her qualifying mark for NCAA Division 2 Nationals.

Anicic moved up to No. 3 all-time on the Edinboro performance list, just 3 ½ seconds shy of the school record of 16:44.22 set by Rachael Lanzel at the 2009 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships in Edinboro. Ida Narbuvoll ran 16:44.50 when she placed 9^th at the NCAA Division 2 Championships in Pittsburg, Kans.

That 16:47.87 is a personal-best by more than half a minute. Anicic ran 17:42.62 outdoors last spring – competing unattached – and ran 17:19.46 in her only previous indoor 5,000, earlier this monthg in a meet at Allendale, Mich.

During her stint at Towson – from the 2019 indoor season through the 2020 indoor season – she never ran a track 5,000. Her best 3,000 time was a 10:18.72 in an indoor meet at Bucknell in December of 2019. She’s now running 5,000 meters at a faster pace [5:25 per mile] than she ran 3,000 meters at her previous school [5:32].

What made Anicic’s 5,000 PR so remarkable is that she solo’d the entire race.

According to the official results, there were only four starters and only two finishers, and the only other finisher ran about two minutes slower than she did.

Anicic ran 2:17.59, 5:07.11 and 11:09.09 at Kingsway. After a brief stint playing soccer at Temple, she began her college track career Towson before transferring to Edinboro last year. This is her first year of eligibility at the Northwestern Pennsylvania school.

Anicic ranks 27^th in Division 2 at 3,000 meters with her school-record 9:43.39 from a meet earlier this month in Ashland, Ohio.

Edinboro competes at the PSAC Championships Sunday at the Fighting Scots’ own Mike S. Zafirovski Sports and Recreation Dome. NCAA Division 2 Nationals are March 11-12 at Pittsburg, Kans.

Monmouth’s Jalen Jones, a junior from Burlington Township, won his second conference 400 title Sunday at the MAAC meet at the Armory.

Jones ran 48.59 in the second race of the two-section final, edging Rider’s Jerome Boyer, who ran 48.87 in the first section.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference 400 title is Jones’ third. He won the 400 indoors at the Armory in 2020 in 48.38, then won the outdoor title last spring at Rider in 48.28.

In the same race, Monmouth freshman Matt Martino of Paul VI ran a personal-best 49.01 for 3rd place. He was the top freshman in the race. Martino’s  previous best indoors was a 49.93 at Ocean Breeze last month. He ran 49.89 last spring in a meet at Monmouth. Martino had PRs of 50.41 outdoors and 50.82 indoors at Paul VI.  

Kingsway’s Stone Caraccio, a freshman at Monmouth, ran 1:52.08 for 3^rd in the 800 after a 1:52.02 in Friday’s trials. He closed in 27.74, moving up two spots on the final lap.

Caraccio came back to contribute a 1:53.07 third leg on Monmouth’s record-setting 3,200-meter relay team, which ran 7:36.98, breaking the meet record of 7:41.79 set in 2018 by the Monmouth team of Dylan Capwell, Rafferty, Marco and Cabral. Joining Caraccio were Tennessee Tremain, James Hoffman and Louis DiLaurenzio.

Rider also ran under the old record, taking second in 7:39.14. Cape May Tech graduate Leo Zaccaria, who competed for Wildwood in high school, ran the third leg for Rider, splitting 1:55.12. Nathan Armstrong, Kevin Heredia and Tamrat Snyder also ran for Rider.

Pitman graduate Sebastien Reed, another Monmouth freshman, ran 8:22.31 for 3^rd in the 3,000, and Highland’s Ben Woodward, a Rider senior was just behind in 8:32.19. On Saturday, Woodward anchored Rider’s 2^nd-place DMR with a 4:12.78. Rider ran 10:06.47. Egg Harbor’s Gobi Thurairajah ran the 800 leg in 1:58.05.

Collingswood’s Keven Kevelier, who won the high jump on Saturday with a PR 6-8 ¾ and was 4^th in the long jump, placed 4^th in the triple jump with a 46-8 ¾ on his second jump. He only had two legal jumps and hit 46-7 ¼ on the other.

Rider freshman Mariah Stephens from Egg Harbor, who won the long jump on Saturday, made it a conference double Sunday with a big win in the triple jump on Sunday

Stephens jumped a lifetime-best 38-5 ½ and won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title at the Armory by 1 ¼ inches over Britney Del Mundo of Quinnipiac, who jumped 38-4 ¼.

Stephens also had jumps of 38-1 and 38-4 ¼ along with three fouls in her series. All three legal jumps surpassed her indoor PR of 37-10, which she jumped in the Gotham Classic at Ocean Breeze last month.

Her previous overall best jump was a 38-4 this past June to win the state Group 4 title at Franklin High School as an EHT senior.

In addition to the two horizontal jump wins, Stephens placed 4^th in 60 hurdles in 8.81 and 6^th in the 60-meter dash final in 7.88.

In the women’s 400, St. Peter’s freshman Diamond McLaughlin ran an indoor best 58.20 and placed 3^rd, and Anne Rutledge of Egg Harbor Township placed 7^th in 59.98.

Kingsway graduate Allie Pierontoni, a Monmouth freshman, placed 5^th in the mile with a time of 5:01.17.

Rancocas Valley graduate Abby Boggs, a Monmouth freshman, cleared 10-11 ¾ on her seond attempt and placed 3^rd in the pole vault.

Shawnee graduate Grace Mary Kearns, a Monmouth junior, recorded a huge PR of 2:14.56 Sunday and placed 3^rd in the 800.

Kearns’ previous best 800 indoors or outdoors was a 2:16.56 in her last race on Feb. 5 in Boston. She also ran 2:16.81 a week earlier at Ocean Breeze. But before Jan. 28, her lifetime PR indoors or outdoors was 2:18.30 from the 2020 indoor MAAC Championships qualifying heatrs at the Armory.

So she’s dropped nearly four seconds in three weeks.

At Shawnee, Kearns had an indoor PR of 2:21.33 from 2018 Easterns – also at the Armory – and an outdoor PR of 2:19.97 at 2018 spring sectionals at Washington Township. Her current outdoor PR is a 2:18.74 from a meet at Lafayette in Easton, Pa., last March.

Cinnaminson graduate Prisca Blamon, a Monmouth senior, moved up from 4^th to 3^rd on her final throw in the shot put Sunday, improving from 45-2 ½ to a lifetime-best 45-8 ½. Her previous best was a 45-7 ¾ outdoors at Monmouth last spring, and her indoor PR was 45-6 ¼ last month at Ocean Breeze.

Blamon’s 45-8 ½ is No. 6 in Monmouth indoor track history. She also placed 5^th on Saturday in the weight throw with a 56-0 ½.

Bordentown graduate Genesis Walker, a Rider senior, placed 5^th in the 60 in 7.98 and 8^th in the 200 in 25.92.

Monmouth outscored Rider 187-134 ½ to win its 7^th title in the last eight years.

Here’s a name out of the past we should all be happy to see: Jasmine Staten.

In what appears to be her first race in nearly FOUR YEARS, the Bloomfield sophomore won the 60-meter hurdles Sunday at the Princeton Invitational at Jadwin Gym.

Staten, who starred for Lenape before graduating from Rancocas Valley, last competed in the 2018 spring season, according to her Direct Athletics profile.

As a Bloomfield freshman at the Central Athletic Collegiat Conference Championships in Lakewood, she won the 100-meter high hurdles in 14.40, won the 200 in 25.53, was 3rd in the long jump at 17-1 ½, took 4th in the 400 in 1:00.18, led off the winning 400 relay team and anchored the winning 1,600-meter relay team.

And then nothing in all of 2019, all of 2020 and all of 2021.

But on Sunday, Staten resurfaced in what looks like her first indoor meet since her junior year at Lenape, when she finished the season at the Varsity Classic at the Armory in February of 2016. Although she graduated from R.V., she never

In the 60 hurdles trials, she led all qualifiers with a 8.91, with teammates Autumn DeMary of Kingsway next at 9.01 and TeSeanna Harris who ran at Camden (and graduated from Creative Arts Morgan Village Academy) 3rd at 9.20.

In the final, Staten ran 8.93, DeMary was 2nd at 8.96 and Harris 3rd in 9.03. Harris, DeMary and Staten also ran on the 2nd-place 1,600-meter relay tam, which was 2nd in 4:00.40.

The CACC only lists an outdoor track championships on its 2022 championship schedule, so I guess there is no indoor conference championship meet this year, unfortunately.

It’s been a while, but it’s great to have Staten back!