Nico Morales lost his South Jersey pole vault record to his twin brother Marco earlier this year, but now he’s a state champion.

Morales, in only his third meet of the year, beat his brother for the first time since sectionals last spring and tied a meet record along the way.

Nico Morales cleared 15-6, matching his indoor PR and one inch off his overall PR, and Marco cleared 14-0 for third, and the amazing Morales brothers’ 16 points along with some clutch running by senior Noah Deckert, hurdling by Damir Lomax and throwing by junior Joe Metzger led the Crusaders to the state Group 2 championship.

The state indoor title is Delsea’s third in the last 10 years. Delsea, always strong in distance and the throws, also won Group 2 in 2011 and 2018.

Woodbury is the only Gloucester County school with more indoor state titles. The Thundering Herd has won five, all between 1969 and 1982.

Marco Morales broke the South Jersey record when he cleared 16-0 at Ocean Breeze earlier this month, and he broke the overall New Jersey sectional record last weekend when he cleared 15-8.

Both Morales brothers and West Deptford’s Dan Batdorf, who cleared 15-6 in 2008, came into the season sharing the South Jersey indoor record.

Marco Morales and Bob Green (Haddon Heights outdoors in 1992) are the only 16-footers in South Jersey history.

Nico Morales is tied for 9th in state history indoors at 15-6 and No. 4 in South Jersey history overall at 15-7.

Nico tied the Group 2 meet record of 15-6 set in 2013 by Craig Hunter of Robbinsville and matched in 2019 by Liam Landau of Pascack Hills.

But the Morales brothers definitely got some help Saturday!

Deckert had a strong double with 4:24.39 for second in the 1,600 and 9:41.60 for fifth in the 3,200. His 4:24.39 was an overall indoor-outdoor PR, breaking his mark of 4:28.17. He just broke 4:33 for the first time earlier this month. His 9:41.60 was just off his PR of 9:40.35 from last month.

Metzger threw 52-10 1/4 for second in the shot put, a little over a foot off his PR of 54-1 1/4 that he set last week. He never threw 50 feet before late last month.

Lomax barely got into the finals of the hurdles at sectionals after an 8.35 in the trials, but he bounced back with an 8.10 for second in the final and then ran 8.08 in the trials Saturday and matched his PR with an 8.04 in the final.

Deptford graduate Kiara Lester, a Penn State senior, won her first Big Ten Conference title Sunday with a personal-best time at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Lester ran 53.37 to win the first section in a two-section final. Chisom Nwoko of Illinois was second in 53.51 running out of a different race. 

Her time appears to be fastest by a Penn State woman since 2014, when Kiah Seymour ran 52.53.

Lester’s previous PR was 53.78 from last year’s indoor Big 10 meet, where she placed fourth. She ran her outdoor PR of 54.08 placing third in last year’s outdoor Big 10 meet in Iowa City. 

Lester ran 54.56 in the trials, only the sixth-fastest time going into the final. 

Trying to navigate Penn State’s horrible on-line “track yearbook” is a nightmare. It’s literally the worst platform I’ve ever seen. Give it a try for laughs: https://issuu.com/gopsusports/docs/2018-19_track_yearbook

But anyway, it looks like Lester is Penn State’s first indoor Big Ten 400 champ since Seymour in 2014 and fifth all-time along with Shana Cox (53.40 in 2008), Fawn Dorr (54.10 in 2009) and Seymour in 2014 (52.53) and 2015 (52.72).

At Deptford, Lester ran 55.72 outdoors and 55.83 and also long jumped over 18 feet. She was Meet of Champions 200 champ indoors in both 2015 and 2016.

Elizabethtown senior Samuel Gerstenbacher from Schalick turned in a huge double at the Landmark Conference Championships, winning the mile and 3,000 Saturday at Susquehanna’s track in Selinsgrove, Pa.

Gerstenbacher ran 4:18.41 to beat Scranton’s Matt Kinback by just over a second in the mile and won the 3,000 in 8:49.84 to win by just over a second over long-time rival Greg Jaindl of Moravian. He had about two hours and 10 minutes between races.

Including indoor and outdoor track, the remarkable Gerstenbacher has won 16 consecutive Landmark Conference titles. The last conference event he raced and didn’t win was the 1,500 at the 2017 outdoor championships.

Here’s a look at his 16 consecutive wins:

2017 outdoor
5,000 meters [15:23.90]
2017 XC
8K [27:27.3]
2018 Indoor
Mile [4:24.60]
3,000 [9:09.22]
2018 Outdoor
1,500 [3:59.45]
5,000 [15:27.01]
Steeple [9:20.72]
2018 XC
8K [26:02.9]
2019 Indoor
Mile [4:25.93]
3,000 [8:51.00]
2019 Outdoor
1,500 [3:59.02]
5,000 [15:08.09]
Steeple [9:27.35]
2019 XC
8K [26:03.2]
2020 Indoor
Mile [4:18.41]
3,000 [8:49.84]

Gerstenbacher has PRs of 1:57.84 for 800, 4:17.40 for the mile, a school-record 8:29.21 for 3,000 meters, 14:54.79 for 5,000 meters and 9:00.21 in the steeple.

He ranks No. 4 in NCAA Division 3 Mideast Division in the 3,000 and No. 9 in the mile going into the All-Atlantic Regional Championships at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y.

 

 

CInnaminson’s Austin Gabay turned in a monster double Saturday at the state Group 2 meet.

Gabay won the 1,600 in 4:21.42 for his first career indoor state title and then came back with a brilliant 9:12.77 in the 3,200 to out-race Haddonfield’s Martin Riddell.

Gabay’s 3,200 broke the meet record of 9:14.31 set in 2013 by Jimmy Daniels of Sterling and bumped Oliver Adler of Cherry Hill East and Ethan Wechsler of Cherokee – who ran 9:12.87 and 9:12.90 earlier in the day in the state Group 4 race – into No. 7 and No. 8 in South Jersey history.

To put all that in perspective, more South Jersey two-milers ran sub-9:13 in one day (three) than in the past 33 years combined (two).

Riddell ran an indoor personal-best 9:16.29. He’s run 9:10.75 outdoors. His time was fourth-fastest of the day by a South Jersey runner but No. 14 in South Jersey history.

The state titles were the third and fourth of Gabay’s career. He won the 1,600 outdoors last spring and XC in the fall.

Gabay’s previous indoor PR was 9:15.90 at Ocean Breeze earlier this month. He’s run 9:15.13 so this was an overall indoor-outdoor PR.

Gabay has run faster for 1,600 meters – 4:16.02 outdoors and 4:20.31 full mile indoors last month.

The two titles make Gabay the first Cinnaminson athlete ever to double at the indoor state meet.

Three Cinnaminson athletes have doubled at the outdoor state meet: Anderson (1,600, 3,200 in 2004), Matt Poskus (800, 1,600 in 2007) and Kamron Kobolak (shot and disc in 2018). 

Going into the Meet of Champions, Gabay, Adler and Wechsler are the No. 3, 4 and 5 seeds, behind defending champ and Foot Locker finalist Liam Murphy of Allentown [9:04.41] and Foot Locker XC national top-10 finisher Jack Jennings of Mendham [9:09.27]. Riddell is the No. 7 seed. Murphy and Jennings are also the top-two seeds in the 1,600 (4:13.83, 4:14.63), so it will be interesting to see who winds up on the starting line for what could be a historic M-of-C 3,200 on the faster, banked track at Ocean Breeze next weekend.

Gabay wasn’t Cinnaminson’s only state champ Saturday at the Bubble. Corey Harrell, a junior, won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.78 after going into the meet with a PR over 8 seconds.

With the wins from Gabay and Harrell, Cinnaminson finished second in Group 2 team scoring behind only Delsea.

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR 3,200 LIST
8:58.81 ….. Jonathan Vitez [Haddonfield], 2010
9:11.1y ..… Mike Butynes [Sterling], 1970
9:11.2y ..… Mike Elder [Haddon Twp.], 1974
9:11.86y … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
9:11.9y ….. Johnny Englehardt [Willingboro], 1976
9:12.77 … Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], 2020
9:12.87 … Oliver Adler [Cherry Hill East], 2020
9:12.90 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2020
9:13.33 ….. Michael Rankin [Paul VI], 2010
9:13.93 ….. Paul Szulewski [Williamstown], 2011
9:14.31 ….. Jimmy Daniels [Sterling], 2013
9:15.8y ….. Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1978
9:15.82y … Kevin Pumphrey [Highland], 1986
9:16.09 ….. Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East], 2016
9:16.29 … Martin Riddell [Haddonfield], 2020
9:17.52 ….. Lou Corgliano [Hammonton], 2013
9:17.55 ….. Greg Hughes [Mainland Reg.], 2004
9:17.71 ….. Dave Forward [Shawnee], 2009

Rancocas Valley graduate Erika Kemp moved into the all-time U.S. top-20 in the indoor 5,000-meter run over the weekend in Boston.

Kemp, a Rancocas Valley graduate and six-time All-America at North Carolina State, ran 15:14.76 in the LastChance Invitational on Boston University’s banked 200-meter track, No. 17 in U.S. indoor history, No. 45 on the all-time world list, according to the IAAF and No. 13 in the world this year.

Kemp’s previous PR for 5,000 meters was a 15:28.69 set last May at the Stanford Invitational. She had never run a serious indoor 5,000, although she did run 8:58.44 for 3,000 meters, which makes her No. 6 American woman this year.

Her time is second-fastest ever by a New Jersey woman indoors, behind only Marielle Hall’s 15:06.05 at the Armory in 2016.

On the overall New Jersey 5,000 indoor-outdoor combined list, it’s No. 4. Check out the lists below:

ALL-TIME NEW JERSEY 5,000-METER LIST
15:02.27 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], Azusa, Calif., July 9, 2019
15:05.38 … Julie Culley [North Hunterdon], London, Aug. 7, 2012
15:11.27 … Sarah Pagano [Immaculate Heart], Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, July 21, 2018
15:14.76I … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], Boston, Feb. 27, 2020
15:18.53 … Ashley Higginson [Colts Neck], Palo Alto, Calif., May 2, 2015
15:23.71 … Anne Marie (Letko) Lauck [North Hunterdon], Sacramento, Calif., July 21, 2000

ALL-TIME NEW JERSEY INDOOR 5,000-METER LIST
15:06.05 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], New York, Feb. 20, 2016
15:14.76 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], Boston, Feb. 27, 2020
15:53.74 … Meghan McGlinchey [West Deptford], Haverford, Dec. 7, 2013
15:56.02 … Sarah Pagano [Ringwood, Immaculate Heart], Boston, Feb. 1, 2020
15:56.73 … Mindy Rowand [Sterling], March 9, 1990

Kemp ran 4:55.1 pace for 3.1 miles. She was out in 2:24.3 and 2:23.9 for 4:48.2 and then ran her 800s in 2:25.3, 2:26.9, 2:30.1 and 2:30.7 before closing in 71.1 for the final 400 meters and 34.1 for her final 200.

Senior Janeya Hammond had a huge day with a win and a PR in the 55, a PR and third place in the hurdles and a near PR and third place in the 400 as the Winslow girls won their state-record 10th indoor state title.

Winslow outscored Colts Neck 56-39 to win its third straight state Group 3 title and seventh in the last nine years.

Hammond won the 55-meter dash in 7.22, trimming 1-100th of a second off her PR of 7.23 at Easterns on a faster track at the Armory, and PR’d in the hurdles at 8.45, well below her previous PR of 8.56 from sectionals. She ran 58.15 for third in the 400, not far off her PR of 57.61, also from Easterns.

Hammond also joined sophomore Jaia James, senior Nylan Perry and junior Olivia Wright on the winning relay team. Winslow ran 4:01.21, finishing 15 meters ahead of second-place Pennsauken.

Perry ran 57.33 for second in the 400, and junior Shevell Higgs ran a big PR 8.40 for second place in the high hurdles. James beat her PR of 7.35 from Easterns with a 7.33 for second place in the 55-meter dash.

Winslow also won state Group 3 titles in 2012, 2013 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019 during this current remarkable stretch of success. Previously, the Eagles won Group 4 in 2003 and Group 3 in 2006.

With its 10 indoor state championship, Winslow moved into a tie with Columbia for most in state history. Columbia has not won a state title since 2014.

Pennsauken junior Jade Pope joined the indoor sub-57 club Saturday and won her second straight Group 3 state title in the 400-meter dash.

Pope ran 56.98, fastest at the state Group 3 meet since , to earn the No. 1 seed in the Meet of Champions next month at Ocean Breeze.

Winslow senior Nylah Perry was right behind in 57.33 and Winslow’s Janeya Hammond [58.15] and Shawnee’s Amanda Demko [58.98] made it a 1-2-3-4 South Jersey sweep, all four under 59 seconds.

Pope’s time was only half a second off the meet record of 56.45 set in 1986 by Gisele Harris of Shabazz. It was fastest at the state Group 4 meet since Stey’ce McNeil of Winslow won the 2012 race in 56.62.

Pope’s previous indoor PR was 57.46 from her win at last year’s sectionals. She’s run 55.65 outdoor, when she took fourth in last year’s Meet of Champions.

Her time is No. 7 in Camden County history. It’s also fastest this year by a New Jersey underclassman.

Here’s a list of every South Jersey girl (we think) to break 57 seconds. Please let us know of any corrections or omissions!

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR 400 PERFORMANCE LIST
54.24 … Okechi Ogbuokiri [Willingboro], 2003
54.91 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], 2008
55.16 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
55.19 … Michelle Brown [Seneca], 2008
55.21 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
55.4h … English Gardner [Eastern], 2008
55.6h … Denise Mitchell [Edgewood], 1984
55.83 … Kiara Lester [Deptford], 2016
56.21 … Dana Burnett [Williamstown], 1997
56.24 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
56.34 … Katrina Sye [Buena], 1997
56.44 … Avionne Sloan [Camden], 2006
56.62 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
56.65 … Britney Kott [Millville], 2009
56.76 … Simone Thomas [Willingboro], 2003
56.78 … Ajae Alvarez [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2018
56.85 … Emily Duffey [Lenape], 2012
56.85 … Nylah Perry [Winslow], 2020
56.88 … Marcene Jack [Mainland Reg.], 2004
56.90 … Nadia Davy [Bridgeton], 1999
56.95 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
56.98 … Jade Pope [Pennsauken], 2020

The Willingboro boys track program, re-born and rejuvenated under coach Martin Booker, won its 14th indoor state title Saturday and third in a row.

Willingboro won its third straight state Group 1 indoor title, becoming the first school to win three straight indoor championships in Group 1 since Haddonfield won four in a row from 2000 through 2003.

Willingboro led a 1-2-3 South Jersey finish at the Bennett Center in Toms River with 34 points. Audubon (29) and Camden (26) placed second and third.

The Chimeras won their first indoor state title back in 1983 in Group 4 and then won Group 3 in 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989, then Group 4 again in 1990, 1995 and 1997. Boro moved back into Group 3 and won state titles in 2000 and 2002 winning Group 2 in 2012 and Group 1 the last three years.

Only Christian Brothers Academy of Lincroft, with 25, and Asbury Park, with 15, have won more indoor state titles in New Jersey track history. Asbury Park’s last title came 24 years ago.

Going into the 4-by-400, Camden led the field with 26 points, Willingboro had 24 and Audubon had 23.

With seniors Zaire Clements, Sheraton Green and Jamaho Kingsley and sophomore Jaylen Young, Willingboro won a close 4-by-4 over Metuchen in 3:32.20, with Metuchen second in 3:32.88. The 10 points clinched the at least a tie for the team title, and when Camden didn’t place second that clinched the outright team title.

Audubon ran a close third in the relay with a 3:33.39 to secure six points and move into second place.

Willingboro picked up 16 points — nearly half their final total — in the high jump, where seniors Kameron Smith and Nate Robertson both cleared 6-6. Audubon’s Aden Tomeo also cleared 6-6 and got second on misses, just behind Smith and just ahead of Robertson.

Junior Deonte Allen threw 47-8 in the shot for fourth place and four huge points. The Chimeras also got two big points when junior Glenn Ferguson cleared a personal-best 12-0 in the pole vault for fifth place. Clements also took fifth in the 55-meter dash in 6.78.

Seniors Oliver Adler of Cherry Hill East and Cherokee’s Ethan Wechsler locked up Saturday afternoon in an epic 3,200 battle that produced the No. 5 and No. 6 times in South Jersey history.

Racing in the state Group 4 meet at the Bennett Center in Toms River, Adler ran 9:12.87 and Wechsler 9:12.90.

Wechsler closed in 27.8 but Adler closed in 26.9.

They’re the two-fastest times by South Jersey two-milers in 10 years, since Jon Vitez of Haddonfield set the South Jersey record of 8:58.81 to win the 2010 Meet of Champions on the same track.

They’re the fastest time in the state Group 4 meet since Jeramy Elkaim of Livingston won the 2010 race in 9:12.20.

They’re also the top two times in the state so far this winter. Austin Gabay of Cinnaminson, who races in the Group 2 state meet on Sunday, had the fastest time at 9:15.90.

Wechsler’s time is the fastest non-winning time since 2004, when Mohamad Khadraoui of JFK Paterson set a meet record of 9:02.72 and edged Chris Pannone of Hunterdon Central, who was second in 9:02.84.

Adler broke his indoor and outdoor overall PR of 9:16.76, which he just set last weekend at sectionals.

Wechsler, who ran just two seconds off his outdoor PR of 9:10.90, broke his indoor PR of 9:20.37 from earlier this month.

Southern junior Jackson Braddock [9:16.27] and South Brunswick junior Vidhur Pulam [9:16.63] also broke 9:17.

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR 3,200 LIST
8:58.81 ….. Jonathan Vitez [Haddonfield], 2010
9:11.1y ..… Mike Butynes [Sterling], 1970
9:11.2y ..… Mike Elder [Haddon Twp.], 1974
9:11.86y … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
9:11.9y ….. Johnny Englehardt [Willingboro], 1976
9:12.87 … Oliver Adler [Cherry Hill East], 2020
9:12.90 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2020
9:13.33 ….. Michael Rankin [Paul VI], 2010
9:13.93 ….. Paul Szulewski [Williamstown], 2011
9:14.31 ….. Jimmy Daniels [Sterling], 2013
9:15.8y ….. Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1978
9:15.82y … Kevin Pumphrey [Highland], 1986
9:15.90 ….. Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], 2020
9:16.09 ….. Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East], 2016
9:17.52 ….. Lou Corgliano [Hammonton], 2013
9:17.55 ….. Greg Hughes [Mainland Reg.], 2004
9:17.62 … Martin Riddell [Haddonfield], 2020
9:17.71 ….. Dave Forward [Shawnee], 2009

Deptford grad Tyler Garland ran a personal-best 7.86 in the 60-meter high hurdles Saturday at the ACC Championships.

Garland, a junior at Syracuse, placed 6th in an exceptionally fast race that saw Florida State and Clemson hurdlers take the first five spots. Trey Cunningham, a Florida State junior and three-time All-America, set a meet record with his 7.60.

It was a big breakthrough weekend for Garland, who came in with a personal-best 7.97 from a meet at the 168th Street Armory last month. He ran a PR 7.96 in the trials before his 7.86 in the final

Garland’s time will put him somewhere in the top 40 in NCAA Division 1 by the time the day is over.

Syracuse sophomore Jamil Adams of Winslow missed the final by 2-100ths of a second with an 8.11 in the trials, just off his PR of 8.06. Syracuse freshman Naseem Smith from Deptford, who has a PR of 8.08, ran 8.17 and finished 12th overall.