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)

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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!

Nicole Clifford ran a monster 3,200 PR Thursday night on her home track at Cherokee.

Clifford, a Cherokee senior, won the girls division of the Cherokee Night of 3200s in 10:46.71, the No. 5 time in Burlington County history and fastest in nine years.

Clifford had a previous PR of 10:55.58 from a meet at the Bubble in January. She also ran 4:53.85 this past indoor season.

Her time is fastest in New Jersey so far this outdoor season and No. 2 in Cherokee history, behind only Megan Lacy’s 10:22.02 in 2012.

Clifford ran her 800s in 2:43.81, 2:42.55, 2:40.39 and 2:39.99 and finished 15 meters ahead of second-place Lindsay Hausman of Kent Place School in Summit, who ran 10:49.40.

The meet was run as 13 combined boys and girls races seeded together. There were over 250 runners in all.

Here are the too-10 South Jersey girls with their overall place in the girls race:

10:46.71 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 1st
11:13.91 … Audrey Naticchia [Haddonfield], 4th
11:17.16 … Megan Niglio [Cherokee], 5th
11:20.10 … Kelsey Niglio [Cherokee], 7th
11:23.77 … Kiley Walsh [Cherry Hill East], 8th
11:23.86 … Helene Usher [Haddonfield], 9th
11:26.53 … Kerry O’Day [Cherokee], 11th
11:28.02 … Jess Goode [Haddonfield], 12th
11:31.34 … Ava Thomas [Haddonfield], 13th
11:34.80 … Macie McCracken [Wildwood], 16th

Here’s the full all-time South Jersey sub-11:50 outdoor 3,200 list:
10:12.8h ….. Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1983
10:19.31 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2009
10:22.02 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012
10:27.44 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2017
10:28.6h….. Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2001
10:29.28 … Rachel Vick [Kingsway], 2017
10:30.57 … Dina Iacone [Washington Twp.], 2012
10:32.4h….. Mindy Rowand [Sterling], 1985
10:33.22 … Holly Bischof [Bishop Eustace], 2012
10:33.25 … Megan Venables [Highland], 2011
10:33.85 … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2021
10:34.79 … Theresa Cattuna [Cherry Hill East], 2007
10:35.59 … Amanda Goetschius [Delsea], 2007
10:37.47 … Meghan McGlinchey [West Depford], 2009
10:37.53 … Vanessa Wright [Haddonfield], 2005
10:39.15 … Devon Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2015
10:40.24 … Katie Van Horn [Triton], 2005
10:40.95 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], 2013
10:42.22 … Jenn Rawls [Highland], 2009
10:43.3h….. Deanna Germano [Shawnee], 1985
10:43.48 … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2021
10:43.50 … Alyssa Condell [Timber Creek], 2017
10:44.23 … Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2004
10:45.12 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2014
10:45.40 … Julianna Catania [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2016
10:45.73 … Meghan Hughes [Moorestown], 2002
10:46.38 … Madison Coppolino [Sterling], 2018
10:46.71 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022

All-Time Burlington County Sub-11 List
10:22.02 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012
10:40.95 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], 2013
10:43.3h….. Deanna Germano [Shawnee], 1985
10:45.73 … Meghan Hughes [Moorestown], 2002
10:46.71 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
10:54.16 … Lisa Burkholder [Cherokee], 2004
10:55.92 … Isabella Turner [Shawnee], 2020
10:56.34 … Brianna Rodgers [Moorestown], 2005
10:56.3h … Colleen Sunderland [Northern Burlington], 1995
10:57.52 … Mara Schiffbauer [Seneca], 2014
10:57.97 … Megan Quimby [Lenape], 2015

Cherry Hill East junior Alexis Tepper got her outdoor season started out the right way with an outdoor PR and a win in the 800 at the Lenape Invitational.

Tepper ran 2:23.50, winning the 800 by 12 meters over Mainland sophomore Gillian Lovett, who ran 2:25.79. She’s No. 1 in South Jersey in the early going and No. 6 on the state 800 list through two weekends.

Indoors, Tepper set an East school record of 2:19.12 at the Bubble in February, which ranked her No. 4 in South Jersey during the winter. But she raced the 1,600 at sectionals, and that 2:19.12 was her only indoor 800 and her last 800 until Saturday, when she ran away from the field at Lenape.

Her previous outdoor PR? She actually didn’t have one. Other than dual meets presumably, this was her first 800 on a 400-meter track.

But Tepper had a strong cross country season, placing 3rd at Group 4 sectionals at DREAM Park for the 2nd-place Cougars, 20th at states at Holmdel, where East placed 5th, then running 19:41 at Holmdel at the Meet of Champions, where the Cougars recorded a top-10 finish as South Jersey’s No. 3 team behind Cherokee and Haddonfield.

She ran 5:18.72 indoors in addition to her 2:19.12 setting her up for a big spring season.

Lovett, meanwhile, also PR’d. Her previous outdoor best was a 2:31.51 as a freshman at Group 3 sectionals last spring, and she ran 2:25.95 indoors at sectionals in February.

Three other girls broke 2:30, and all set PRs as well – Cinnaminson sophomore Anna Marino [3rd in 2:26.79], Egg Harbor soph Taylor Rooney [4th in 2:28.43] and Cinnaminson junior Stephanie Renouf [5th in 2:28.87].

Deptford graduate Mar’Quel Davis, a senior at Bloomfield, won the 100 at the Temple Invitational Saturday with a wind-aided but very fast PR.

Davis ran 10.45 to lead seven runners under 11 seconds at Temple. The performance was assisted by a 3.2 meters-per-second tailwind, and anything over 2.0 meters per second is considered wind-aided and not eligible for records and all-time lists.

But it can serve as a qualifier for NCAA Division 2 Nationals, and right now Davis ranks 15th in the country and No. 1 in the East Region.

The provisional 100 qualifying standard is 10.57, with 10.28 the auto qualifier.

Davis also anchored Bloomfield’s 400-meter relay team at Temple, which ran 41.61 and placed second to Rowan’s 41.16, which is No. 1 in NCAA Division 3.

Davis has a wind-legal PR of 10.51 from his win at last year’s Central Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships in Lakewood. That was actually the last open 100 he ran before Saturday.

Davis also has a 200 PR of 21.58 from a meet at Moravian College in Bethlehem last April. He won the CACC 200 in 21.72 and also had a 21.65 and 21.68 to his credit last spring. He hasn’t run an open 200 yet this spring. The NCAA D-2 200 provisional is 21.32.

This year’s CACC Championships are scheduled for May 7 back at Georgian Court in Lakewood. The Division 2 nationals are scheduled for May 26-28 at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich.

Rowan junior Jah’mere Beasley from Sterling ran 10.82 in the same wind-aided section as Davis. The fastest wind-legal time of the day came from Highland’s Robert McKinney, a Rowan freshman, who won the second of three races in 10.85 with a 1.2 wind. Also in that race was Andrew Lodge of The College of New Jersey, who ran a PR 11.00. His high school PR was 11.46.

 

Shawnee graduate Amanda Demko, a College of New Jersey freshman, is off to a hot start this spring with a PR in her first open 400 of the season.

Demko only ran relays and a 200 in TCNJ’s first two meets this spring, but at the Osprey Open Saturday in Galloway Township she won the 400 over senior teammate Allison Uhl from Park Ridge in 56.99, with Uhl second in 57.30 and another TCNJ quarter-miler, junior Maria Grill if Whippany Park, 4th in 58.03.

Demko’s previous PR was a 57.46 at the Quaker Invitational last April at Franklin Field. She earned All-America honors for her leg on TCNJ’s 5th-place 1,600-meter relay team at NCAA Division 3 Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., and then ran an indoor PR 57.94 at Boston University in February and again ran on a 4-by-4 at NCAAs.

That 56.99 puts Demko in the No. 9 spot on the NCAA Division 3 performance list, and No. 1 in the NJAC. Demko, Uhl and Grill are No. 1, 2 and 4 in the conference, and TCNJ’s 4-by-4 team is No. 6 in the country with its 3:54.26 from Saturday at Stockton. Freshman Eliza Bruncaj from Hanover Park joined Grill, Uhl and Demko on the 4-by-4.

At Shawnee, Demko ran 58.54 at the 2020 indoor Meet of Champions at the Bubble.