The mile is in good hands in 2022. South Jersey returns five sub-4:20 milers next year and four more who ran 4:24 or faster. It has to be one of the deepest groups of returning milers ever.

Overall, New Jersey returns 14 sub-4:20 milers and 29 sub-4:24 milers. At the Meet of Champions last weekend, 11 of the first 16 finishers were underclassmen, including five of the first seven South Jersey runners.

Going deeper, an incredible 23 underclass South Jersey milers ran sub-4:35, including four freshmen under 4:34.

Next year is going to rock when it comes to the 1,600. Hopefully all 23 of them line up at the South Jersey Invitational, the conditions are perfect, somebody takes it out fast and the whole group runs 4:15 or faster! Hey, ya never know!

Let’s take a look at the fastest South Jersey returners in 2021, a list that begins of course with Meet of Champions winner Kyle Rakitis of Kingsway:

4:08.58: *KYLE RAKITIS, KINGSWAY: Rakitis is undefeated at 1,600 meters this year and never ran slower than 4:12.63, his time when he won states. He’ll run one more 1,600, at the National Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., on July 3. Rakitis is No. 2 in South Jersey history, behind Brett Johnson’s 4:08.51 in 2008 and No. 23 in state history.

4:18.08: *TOBIAS JANSSEN, HADDONFIELD: Janssen focused on the 3,200 at states, but he got down to 4:18.08 when he won the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township in May. He was also under 4:20 at the Haddonfield Invitational in a terrific race that also saw Brady Shute of Woodbury and Josh Forrest go under 4:19.

4:18.59: *JACOB COBB, WEST DEPTFORD: Cobb had a very consistent season in both the 1,600 and 3,200. He ran 9:19.89 early in the season and lowered his 1,600 PR from 4:21.64 at the Haddonfield Invite to 4:19.62 at states to 4:18.59 at the Meet of Champions, where he was the No. 2 South Jersey (and Gloucester County), finisher behind only Rakitis.

4:19.15: *ZEB HINKER, LOWER CAPE MAY: Hinker has always run XC but this was his first season of track, and after a few races in the 4:25-4:30 range he had a breakthrough at sectionals with a 4:22.43, then ran 4:19.37 at states and 4:19.15 for 11th at the Meet of Champions. That’s the fastest time by a Cape May County underclassman since Miles Schoeder of Ocean City ran 4:11.46 in 2010.

4::19.61: **PATRICK DITMARS, CHEROKEE: Ditmars was the top sophomore in the Meet of Champions, placing 14th in 4:20.23. He PR’d at 4:19.61 at states, which made him the No. 2 sophomore in the state, just a fraction behind Ryan Beegle of Chatham, who ran 4:19.50 at sectionals.

4:21.07: *BILLY CLEWELL, CAMDEN CATHOLIC: Clewell ran two PRs in a challenging Meet of Champions double, going 1:58.56 in the 800 – his first time under two minutes – and 4:21.07 in the 1,600 for 16th place overall. He was the No. 11 underclassman in the 1,600 and No. 7 underclassman.

4:21.08: *JAKE BUNIVA, LENAPE: When Buniva ran 4:21.08 at sectionals, it was a 12 1/2-second PR and made him Lenape’s fastest miler since Burlington County record holder Ryan Garvin, who ran 4:11.15 at the 2009 Meet of Champions (as part of a remarkable double with 1:53.84 in the 800 in his final high school race).

4:22.60: *DENNIS FORTUNA, TRITON: Fortuna’s focus this year was the 3,200, and he ran 9:28.26 at the Cherokee Night of Race back in April. But in his one serious foray at 1,600 meters he ran 4:22.60 at the Camden County Championships.

4:23.92: *ANDRE FAIGAL, RANCOCAS VALLEY: That 4:23 at sectionals was a 12-second PR and makes him one of three Burlington County underclassmen under 4:25 this spring.

ALSO UNDER 4:35:
4:25.42 … *Owen Ritti [Ocean City], SJ-3 Sectionals
4:25.68 … *Linden Wineland [Mainland Regional], SJ-3 Sectionals
4:28.69 … *Scott Hubbard [Audubon], SJ-1 Sectionals
4:29.28 … ***Peyton Shute [Woodbury], Group 1 Sectionals
4:30.19 … *Andrew Littlehales [Delsea], Haddonfield Distance Night
4:31.94 … *Ryan Allen [Kingsway], SJ-4 Sectionals
4:32.94 … ***Owen Karcsh [Eastern], Group 4 Sectionals
4:32.95 … *Jeffrey Heineman [Kingsway], Holmdel Twilight
4:32.96 … *Makaio Kelii [Audubon], SJ-1 Sectionals
4:33.16 … **Alex Boyko [Cinnaminson], Haddonfield Distance Night
4:33.84 … ***Jorge Cruz [Wildwood], Group 1 Sectionals
4:34.48 … *Aiden Dickinson [Cherokee], Cherokee Last Chance
4:34.55 … **Cole Knoedler [Highland], Haddonfield Distance Night
4:34.90 … *Justin Penny [Lenape], Wash. Twp. dual meet

*** – freshman in 2021
** – sophomore in 2021
** – junior in 2021

Here’s how close the Meet of Champions triple jump was:

Going into the final group of jumps, Faith Bethea of Snyder led the competition with a 37-7 jump, Kiley Mironenko of Waldwick was second at 37-5 1/2 and Egg Harbor’s Mariah Stephens was third at 37-3 3/4.

So as they warmed up for the finals, Stephens jumped sixth out of the eight finalists, with Mironenko seventh and Bethea eighth.

With one jump left, nobody had improved on their best jumps of the competition, and Bethea – who already had four jumps over 37 feet – was one jump away from a Meet of Champions title.

Stephens lined up for the final jump of her high school career, and when the official yelled out the measurement – 37-10 1/4 – it put her in the lead.

That was exciting, but there were two jumps to go, and Mironenko and Bethea both had PRs beyond Stephens’ best jump. Mironenko has jumped 37-11 and Bethea – undefeated all year – had a state-leading PR of 39-9.

Mironekno went 36-8 1/4 on her final jump and then it was down to Stephens and Bethea, who is ranked in the top 40 nationally.

Bethea had already jumped 37-7, 37-0 1/2 twice and 37-6 1/4 and when she landed on her final jump of the day she was in almost exactly the same spot as Stephens on her final jump.

Anything from 37-10 1/4 or better gives Bethea the win. Anything at 37-10 or less gives Stephens the win.

The measurement? Would you believe exactly 37-10?

Since Bethea had a superior second jump, a tie would have given her the championship. So Stephens won herself a Meet of Champions by literally the smallest possible margin – one quarter of an inch.

That actually only ties the record for closest Meet of Champions triple jump 1-2 finish in meet history! 

In 2002, Ebony Foster of Hillsborough jumped 37-0 and edged Trisha McGowan of Ridgewood by a quarter of an inch. In fact, the top six that year were all separated by just 6 3/4 inches!

As for Stephens, she became the second straight Atlantic County M-of-C triple jump winner. In 2019, Claudine Smith of Atlantic City won. Oakcrest’s Shameka Marshall won the title in 2001, and the only other South Jersey M-of-C triple jump winners are Pennsauken’s Thananya Wooden in 2000 and Jessica Mills of West Deptford in 2005. So three of the five S.J. winners are from Atlantic County.

Bethea and sprinter Lauren Princz, who won the 200, gave Egg Harbor two Meet of Champions after the school produced just one in meet history – Princz in the 200 in 2018.

Incredibly, Egg Harbor is the first South Jersey school in 40 years with two different girls winning a Meet of Champions title in the same year. 

The only other school to accomplish that was Willingboro in both 1980 and 1981 with Michelle Glover and Carol Lewis. Glover swept the 100 and 200 in 1980 and 1981 and Lewis the 100-meter hurdles and long jump. 

What has to happen for Curtis Thompson to lock up an Olympic berth?

It’s a difficult, complicated question and one that the USATF – the governing body for track and field in the United States – provides no answers to.

In fact, it’s a question nobody provides any answers to.

It’s a strange way to run a sport, leaving people to just guess who’s on an Olympic team. You’d think this is something they’d want people to know. And the amount of incorrect information that was out there Monday evening was unfortunate but understandable considering the actual process that determines Olympians is not only ridiculously complicated but also a virtual state secret that doesn’t appear to be published anywhere.

But that’s the reality of track and field today in the U.S. They don’t make it easy to be a fan of the sport. Imagine watching the Super Bowl and not only not knowing who wins the game for 10 days but not even knowing what the process actually is to determine the winner?

That’s what we’re talking about here!

Thompson, a Florence graduate, on Monday evening in Eugene uncorked a 271-7 when he won the Olympic Trials in Eugene. It’s the 3rd-best javelin throw in Olympic Trials history with the current javelin implement and the No. 18 throw in the world this year, only a few inches short of Thompson’s personal best of 271-11 from 2016.

When you win an event at the Olympic Trials with one of the best performances in the world, you’d think you’d have an Olympic spot locked up.

But the selection process isn’t that easy. Not even close.

And the ridiculous thing is nobody even knows exactly what that process is. It doesn’t appear to be written anywhere – not on the USATF web site or the World Athletics web site. People covering the meet in Oregon didn’t understand it, people tweeting about Thompson’s performance didn’t understand it, even Jim Lambert and I didn’t understand it and we spent all day trying to figure it all out.

Messages sent to the USATF asking for an explanation went unanswered and you can Google all you want you’re just not going to find out how the process works.

But Lambo and I finally cobbled together enough information from various sources to get this figured out, and here’s how it works:

✔️  Every event has a performance standard that World Athletics (formerly IAAF) sets. If you reach that standard and finish in the top three in your country’s Trials, you are an Olympian.

✔️ The javelin standard is 278-10, a mark that only three Americans have EVER hit: Breaux Greer in 2007 (91.29), Tom Petranoff in 1991 (89.16) and Tom Pukstys in 1997 (87.12).

✔️ Thompson’s 271-7 is his best throw during the Olympic qualifying period, so he needs to be ranked in the top-32 by the IAAF to make the U.S. Olympic team.

✔️ That throw ranks Thompson No. 18 in the world this year. But it doesn’t mean he’s ranked No. 18 in the world by World Athletics.

✔️ You can find the rankings here: https://www.worldathletics.org/stats-zone/road-to/7132391?eventId=10229636&qualificationType=q4 (warning – it doesn’t always work. Good luck.)

✔️ It’s not clear what exactly determines an athlete’s ranking and it’s not explained anywhere, but it appears from context to be based not just on performances but also place in various meets with a premium on major meets.

✔️ Every performance is given a numerical rating, and an athlete’s top-five ratings are combined and averaged out to determine their ranking number. The meets that are considered appear to go back as far as 2018.

✔️  Before the Trials, Thompson was sitting in the No. 32 spot in the ranking system. The World Athletics web site that shows the so-called “quota” rankings has not been updated with Thompson’s performance Monday in Eugene.

✔️ The five performances that formed his ranking before the Trials were the 2019 U.S. Championships in Des Moines, Iowa; the USATF Showcase in Prairie View, Texas, earlier this month; the USATF Grand Prix in Eugene in April; the 2018 NACAC Championships in Toronto; and the USATF Throws Fest in Tucson, Ariz.

✔️ Thompson received 1,222 points for the USATF Throws Fest, 1,190 for the NACAC meet, 1,116 for the Grand Prix, 1,164 for the USATF Showcase and 1,112 for the 2019 nationals. That’s 5,584 points for an average of 1,170 points, which is the figure that ranked him 32nd.

✔️ There’s no way of knowing exactly how many points Thompson gets from throwing 271-7 at the Trials because the formula is not explained anywhere, but it has to be somewhere over 1,222 since it was a superior performance to the one that earned him 1,222. Let’s say conservatively he earns 1,230 points. By subtracting his worst performance in the top five (1,112 from 2019 Nationals) and adding 1,230, his total increases by 118 and his average increases from 1,170 to 1,194. That moves him up to 27th in the ranking system. (Curtis told us this morning that he is actually now 28th, so our estimate was close!).

✔️ The cut-off for qualifying is June 30. But considering how difficult it is to move up or down in a ranking system that considers meets going back at least three years, it won’t be easy for four throwers to pass Thompson in the next eight or nine days.

Florence native Curtis Thompson won the javelin Monday evening at the U.S. Olympic Trials and uncorked his biggest throw in five years and the second-best throw of his life, virtually guaranteeing himself a spot on the U.S. Olympic team headed to Tokyo next month.

He’s the first Olympic Trials champion from Burlington County since Carl Lewis of Willingboro won the 100 and long jump in Indianapolis in 1988.

Thompson does not have the Olympic standard of 278-10 (85 meters) – only three Americans have ever thrown that far, none since 2007. 

But as the winner of the Trials, if he’s ranked among the top-32 in the world as of June 29, he’ll make the U.S. team.

He’s currently got the No. 18 throw in the world, although the IAAF’s ranking systems take some other things into account, and his actual updated ranking isn’t available yet. He’s currently listed right at No. 32, but it appears that doesn’t include his performance at the Trials. You can find that ranking system on the IAAF site here.

Thompson also has 10 more days to improve on his 271-7 that he hit on his final throw Monday evening in Eugene.

Thompson had the greatest series of his life Tuesday, averaging 260-3 on six legal throws. Nobody else in the competition had one throw of 260-3. So Thompson’s six-throw average would have won the Olympic Trials!

Thompson won the event by nearly 12 feet. Michael Shuey placed second at 260-0, and when his sixth and final attempt landed at 258-2, it clinched the championship for Thompson. 

This is Thompson’s second national title and first Olympic Trials title. He led the 2016 meet – and broke the Olympic Trials record with a 271-11 on his first throw – before Cyrus Hostetler threw 273-1 on his fifth throw to break Thompson’s meet record and snag the one available Olympic berth.

Thompson didn’t let that happen this year.

He bombed a 263-7 on his first throw of the competition and nobody came within three feet of it the rest of the meet.

Thompson, with the victory locked up, Thompson finished the competition by hitting the second-biggest throw of his life and the No. 3 throw in meet history.

Importantly, that 271-7 moved him up from No. 28 in the world to No. 18, dramatically improving his chances of being in the top 32 in 10 days.

Thompson now owns two of the top three throws in U.S. Olympic Trials history.

This is the second national title for Thompson, who threw 249-3 to win the 2018 championship in Des Moines, Iowa.  

Thompson is the first South Jersey Olympic Trials champ on the men’s side since Edgewood graduate Dennis Mitchell won the 100 in 1996 and the first New Jersey winner since Bobby Smith of Hopatcong won the javelin in 2008 (but did not go to the Olympics because he never achieved the A standard necessary that year).

 After his 263-7, Thompson threw 243-8 on his second attempt and then finished the qualifying round with a 260-4, which was the second-best throw of the first set of throws. 

He opened the finals with a 262-9 and a 259-8 before his closing bomb of 271-7, just four inches off his PR from the 2016 Trials.

Thompson’s margin of victory – 11 feet, 7 inches – is the largest since 1984, when Duncan Atwood won by 27 feet, 10 inches over Tom Petranoff.

A few months ago, Dillon Page had a high jump PR of 6-2. Now he’s a Meet of Champions winner.

Page became the first Cherry Hill East boy to ever win a Meet of Champions title when he was the only competitor to clear 6-6 Saturday at South Plainfield in the 52nd annual M-of-C.

Page cleared 5-10 and 6-0 on his first attempt, 6-2 on his second and 6-4 on his third and was in fifth place before he sailed over the bar at 6-6 on his second attempt. With his 10th, 11th and 12th jumps of the day, he missed three tries at a personal-best 6-8.

The only previous Meet of Champions winners in Cherry Hill East history are three girls – Erin Halpin in the high jump in 1987, Liz Griesback in the javelin in 1989 and Teneacia Smith in the long jump in 1991 and 1992.

He’s not the first Meet of Champions winner from Cherry Hill, though. Terrance Ferguson of Cherry Hill West won the event at 6-8 in 1986 and 6-10 in 1987.

Page is the first South Jersey M-of-C winner in the high jump since 2015, when Devin Bradham of Williamstown and Marquese Bell of Bridgeton shared the title (why didn’t they have a jump off?).

The last winner from Camden County was Jarrett Carr of Pennsauken in 1994.

Page cleared 6-2 three times during the 2020 indoor season, placing second at the state Group 4 meet and ninth at the Meet of Champions. His big breakthrough came this past March, when he hit both 6-4 and 6-6 for the first time in a dual meet against Washington Township at the Bubble in Toms River.

He didn’t lose a high jump competition the entire outdoor season, clearing a PR of 6-6 1/4 at Group 4 sectionals at Washington Township.

Audubon senior Adam Tomeo, who cleared 6-7 indoors in 2020 and 6-6 earlier this year, wound up sixth at the M-of-C at 6-4.

Highland senior Floyd Whitaker, who won the triple jump, made it three South Jersey jumpers in the top seven with a 6-4 clearance for seventh place.

Julia Bannan became the first Holy Spirit girl in 28 years to win a Meet of Champions title Saturday with a lifetime-best throw in the discus.

Bannan threw 129-0 at South Plainfield and won by nine inches over Olivia Prescott of West Orange, who had four throws within 2 1/2 feet of Bannan and finished with a best throw of 128-3.

The last Holy Spirit M-of-C winner was Kim Stoll, who won the high jump at 5-8 in 1993. She went on to become a four-year starter for the St. Joe’s basketball team.

Bannan also became the first South Jersey thrower to win the M-of-C discus since Jessica Woodard of Cherokee won her third straight in 2013. The last Atlantic County discus winner was Atlantic City’s Kim Warren in 2006.

Bannan won her second “straight” state Parochial B title with a PR of 126-8 before hitting 129-0 at the Meet of Champions. 

On Saturday, Prescott hit 128-0 on her second throw to take the lead before Bannan moved into the lead with her 129-0. Prescott had three more big throws – 126-9, 126-9 again and 128-0 – but Bannan’s 129-0 held up for the win.

Bannan was one of three Atlantic County girls to win a Meet of Champions title Saturday at South Plainfield. Lauren Princz of Egg Harbor won the 200 and Mariah Stephens of EHT won the triple jump at 37-10 1/4.

Atlantic County girls have won six Meet of Champions titles in the last three meets after winning 10 in the meet’s first 45 years.

Here’s a look at all the Atlantic County girls who’ve won Meet of Champions titles since the girls meet began in 1974:

1996
Nichole Hill [Oakcrest], 200-Meter Dash [24.71]

1998
Sherese Price [Pleasantville], 100-Meter Hurdles [13.85]

1999
Katrina Sye [Buena], 800-meter Run [2:11.82]
Frances Bundy [Pleasantville], Long Jump [18-3 1/4]

2001
Shameka Marshall [Oakcrest], Long Jump [18-10 3/4]
Shameka Marshall [Oakcrest], Triple Jump [38-10 3/4]
Chelsea Salisbury [Buena], Javelin [139-6]

2006
Kim Warren, [Atlantic City], Discus [138-10]
Mia Ali [Pleasantville], 100-Meter Hurdles [13.78]

2012
Helena Leyrer, [Buena], 400-Meter Hurdles [1:00.26]

2018
Lauren Princz, [Egg Harbor Twp.], 200-Meter Dash [23.90]
Brielle Smith [Oakcrest], Javelin [163-8]

2019
Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], Triple Jump [42-0]
Brielle Smith [Oakcrest], Javelin [157-0]

2021
Julia Bannan [Holy Spirit], Discus [129-0]
Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor Twp.], 200-Meter Dash [24.22]

Winning back-to-back Meet of Champions titles is a monster accomplishment in any year. But doing it when those titles were separated by a year without a meet is even crazier.

But that’s what Highland senior Floyd Whitaker did Saturday.

Whitaker, who won the 2019 Meet of Champions triple jump at Northern Burlington, won it again Saturday at South Plainfield at the 52nd annual M-of-C. Only the pandemic and the cancelled 2020 meet prevented him from a likely three-peat.

Whitaker jumped 49-7 on his final attempt and won by nearly two feet over Sincere Robinson of Essex County Tech, second in 47-10.

Whitaker had the four-best jumps of the competition and averaged 48-3 3/4 on his six legal jumps. 

In addition to his 49-7, he had consecutive jumps of 48-7 1/2, 48-9 and 48-8 3/4 on his second, third and fourth attempts.

Whitaker’s 49-7 is the No. 6 jump in meet history and No. 8 in the U.S. this year, according to the MileSplit database.

Whitaker is entered in both the long jump and triple jump at the National Scholastic Championships, scheduled for June 30-July 3 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Whitaker also jumped 6-4 for seventh in the high jump Saturday.

All-Time Meet of Champions Performance List
50-2 1/2 … Floyd Whitaker, Highland Regional, 2019
49-11 3/4 … Myles Hartsfield, Sayreville, 2014
49-11 1/2 … Devin Jones, Boonton, 2010
49-11 1/4 … Eric Bethea, Piscataway, 2015
49-7 1/4 … Dodley Thermitus, Elizabeth, 2016
49-7 ……… Whitaker, 2021 
49-4 3/4 … Tiquan Underwood, Notre Dame, 2005
49-4 ¼ … Chris Phipps, Lodi, 2008
48-10 … Devon Bond, Trenton, 2007
48-10 … Dominique Irons, Haddon Heights, 2013
48-10 … Adam Bergo, Westfield, 2008
48-9 1/2 … Khaliel Burnett, Delsea, 2017
48-9.25 … Richmond Shasha, Hamilton West, 2019

Whitaker is the 22nd South Jersey boy in the meet’s 52-year history to win the same event twice. Here’s a look at that star-studded list!

Isaac Samuels [Kennedy], Long Jump
1982 … 24-2
1983 … 24-8

Mark Murphy [Haddonfield]. Pole Vault
1984 … 14-6
1985 … 15-0

Kenny Reynolds [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash
1985 … 10.8
1986 … 10.77

Russell Willit [Penns Grove], Discus
1985 … 175-10
1986 … 185-9

Terry Ferguson [Cherry Hill West], High Jump
1986 … 6-8
1987 … 6-10

Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 110-Meter Hurdles
1989 … 14.00
1990 … 13.59

Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], Long Jump
1989 … 24-0
1990 … 23-5 1/2

Lamont Smith [Willingboro], 400-Meter Dash
1990 … 47.78
1991 … 46.62

Dwayne Robinson [Bridgeton], High Jump
1991 … 6-8
1992 … 6-10

Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], Shot Put
1994 … 60-7
1995 … 64-5

Ron Dayne [Overbrook], Discus
1995 …201-0
1996 … 215-1

William Spearman [Wilson], Long Jump
1995: 23-4 1/4
1996: 25-0

Murad Campbell [Overbrook], 3,200-Meter Run
1997 … 9:15.66
1998 … 9:07.10
1999 … 8:58.71

Robert Jordan [Millville], High Jump
1998 … 7-0
1999 … 7-2

Anthony Miles [Winslow] Long Jump
2002 … 24-11 1/4
2003 … 24-3 1/4

Mike Morrison [Willingboro], High Jump
2002 … 7-0
2003 … 7-0

Anthony Averett [Woodbury], Long Jump
2011 … 23-0 3/4
2012 … 22-10 3/4

Dominique Irons [Haddon Heights], Triple Jump
2011 … 48-10
2013 … 48-10

Cade Antonucci [Holy Spirit], Javelin
2016 … 205-8
2017 … 220-11

Jonathan Taylor [Salem], 100-Meter Dash
2016 … 10.76
2017 … 10.64

Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], Triple Jump
2017 … 48-9 1/2
2018 … 48- 2 1/4

Floyd Whitaker [Highland], Triple Jump
2019 … 50-2 1/2
2021 … 49-7

English Gardner fell just short in her bid to make the U.S. Olympic team in the 100-meter dash.

Gardner, an Eastern Regional graduate and 2016 Olympic gold medalist, ran her fastest time in five years with a 10.96 earlier Saturday at the U.S. Olympic Trials before placing sixth in the final in 11.16 into a 1.0 meters-per-second wind.

Gardner, who set her PR of 10.74 – No. 9 in world history – at the 2016 Trials on the same Hayward Field track in Eugene, Ore., finished just 13-100ths of a second out of third place.

It will be up to the U.S. coaching staff to decide whether to include Gardner in the relay pool. Based on her long, distinguished career, years of international experience and success and steady progression this spring and summer since a difficult battle with COVID, she certainly has the resume to be considered.

Rob Moseley of Go Ducks shared some comments from Gardner from after the 100 final:

Rancocas Valley juniors Masai Byrd and Herbert Quarterman and seniors James McGhee and Isaiah Arzu finished the season in style with a win in the 400-meter relay at the Meet of Champions.

R.V. edged Montclair (42.24) and Mount Olive (42.29), with Deptford fourth in 42.42. The Red Devils were the top seed with a 42.08 at states.

This is the second time Rancocas Valley has won the M-of-C 400-meter relay since the event was added in 2010. The 2015 team of JeSean Foster, Shaun Bradley, Dyson Scott, Sterling Pierce ran 42.03, the school record until Saturday at South Plainfield.

R.V. ran three loaded 4-by-1’s this year and ran them all in 42.11 or faster. Those wound up being the three-fastest times by any New Jersey schools this year.

South Jersey has dominated the race, winning nine of the 11 times it’s been contested. List below.

R.V.’s time is No. 2 in Burlington County history and fastest by any Burlington County school in 39 years, since Willingboro ran 41.69 in the Championship of America race at the 1982 Penn Relays, where they placed second to Camperdown of Jamaica, which ran 41.49. Lance Reed, George McKey, Damon Chambers and Derek Streater.

Meet of Champions 400-Meter Relay
2010 … Delsea, 42.22
2011 … Oakcrest, 41.83
2012 … Oakcrest, 42.09
2013 … Timber Creek, 41.50
2014 … Timber Creek, 41.45
2015 … Rancocas Valley, 42.03
2016 … Pennsauken, 41.85
2017 … Franklin Twp., 41.49
2018 … Deptford, 41.47
2019 … Nottingham, 41.71
2020 … Not held
2021 … Rancocas Valley, 41.99

English Gardner ran 10.96 – her first time under 11 seconds in five years – and advanced to the finals of the 100-meter dash at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Gardner, who advanced to the semifinals with an 11.17 in Friday’s qualifying rounds, placed third in the second of two semifinal races, advancing automatically to the final later Saturday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

The top three in each heat plus the next four-fastest will race in the final at 10:51 p.m. EST, with the top three finishers making the U.S. Olympic team.

Gardner’s 10.96 makes her the 5th-fastest qualifier for the final but only 13-100ths of a second out of the No. 2 spot.

Her time is No. 13 in the world this year.

The last time Gardner ran sub-11 was at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where she placed seventh in the finals in 10.94. She ran a lifetime-best 10.74 earlier that summer when she won the 100 at the Olympic Trials on the same Hayward Field track in 10.74, 9th-fastest in world history. She won a Gold Medal as part of the U.S. 400-meter relay team in Rio.