Pleasantville senior Gabriel Moronta continued his phenomenal season Saturday when he shattered the South Jersey record in the 500-meter dash.

Moronta won the 500 at the New Balance Games at the Armory with a time of 1:04.89. That’s No. 3 in state history and breaks the South Jersey record of 1:05.3 hand-timed set in 1989 by Willingboro’s Sean Scott.

That’s No. 5 in the U.S. this year, according to the MileSplit national database.

Moronta by won by five meters over Jakob Kunzer of Lawrenceville School, who was second in 1:05.46 – No. 6 in state history.

Moronta has already run 1:20.90 for 600 meters and 1:54.59 for 800 meters. He ranks No. 1 in New Jersey in all three middle-distance races.

Running 500 meters in 1:04.89 is the equivalent of running a 400 at 51.9 pace and then running another 100 meters without slowing down.

The was Moronta’s first lifetime competitive 500.

Moronta fell just short of the meet record of 1:04.71, set last year by Barrington Harris Brown of Dewitt Clinton in the Bronx.

The previous Atlantic County record was 1:07.23 by Quentin Bundy, also of Pleasantville, also at the Armory, early in the 2017-18 season.

Here’s a look at the all-time state list in the 500:

1:02.20 … Najee Glass [St. Peter’s Prep], 2012
1:04.75 … Cory Poole [East Orange], 2016
1:04.89 … Gabriel Moronta [Pleasantville], 2020
1:05.14 … Kishaun Richardson [East Orange], 2017
1:05.44 … Markus Bagley [St. Peter’s Prep], 2018
1:05.46 … Jakob Kunzer [Lawrenceville], 2020
1:05.3h … John Bailey [Monmouth Reg.], 1979
1:05.3h … Fred Brenner [Morris Hills], 1985
1:05.3h … Sean Scott [Willingboro.], 1989
1:05.3h … Matt Kalwinsky [Toms River North], 1995
1:05.6h … Dean Olawski [Kearny], 1979
1:06.14 … Sean Brown [Camden], 1998
1:06.22 … Bob Arvidsen [Don Bosco], 1985
1:06.1h … John Morris [Camden], 1998
1:06.24 … Neil Jasey [Columbia], 1994
1:06.32 … Nakia Fenner [Newark Science], 1994
1:06.40 … Adian Sanderson [Ewing], 2004
1:06.92 … Fran Davis [Columbia], 1984
1:06.7h … Jameel Spencer [Seton Hall Prep], 1985
1:06.7h … Andrew Giannotti [Westwood], 1998
1:06.9h … Marquel Thomas [Newark East Side], 1991

Amazing breakthrough race Friday for Rider’s Kristin Siegle, who won the 800 at the NYC Gotham Cup at Ocean Breeze in 2:15.28 — nearly a 6-second indoor PR!

Siegle, a Buena graduate, lowered her indoor PR from a 2:20.89 back in 2017 in a meet at the Lawrenceville School. Her previous overall PR was a 2:17.90 from the trials at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships at West Long Branch last May.

Siegle’s time is No. 1 in the MAAC so far this year, just ahead of Marist’s Gianna Mastromatteo,  who was 3rd in the same race.

Siegle, a native of Estell Manor, finished first in a field of 53 half-milers. She edged second-place Faten Laribi of Monroe College by a step.

Paris Boucher of Rider led the field through 200 meters, and Siegle was still in fourth when they came through 400 meters. She moved into second behind Mastromatteo with a lap to go before taking the lead on the final lap.

She was out in 32.1, 65.7 and 1:40.6 before closing in 34.6.

Siegle’s time is also No. 4 in Rider history indoors, and three of the top five times on that list come from South Jersey runners:

2:12.71 … Tori Brewer, 2018 [Bensalem, Pa.]
2:14.44 … Emily Ritter, 2015 [Sussex County Tech, Georgetown, Del.]
2:14.64 … Madeline Hummel, 2013 [Holy Cross]
2:15.28 … Kristin Siegle, 2020 [Buena]
2:16.49 … Nicole Berry, 2019 [Cherokee]

Two other notes from Rider’s performance at Ocean Breeze: 

1) Senior Nicole Berry of Winslow and senior Quinn Bithell of Lower Cape May Regional ran on Rider’s winning 1,600-meter relay team, which ran 3:58.86. 

2) And senior Ronetta Hunter from Burlington Township grad threw 42-3 3/4 for fourth place in the shot.

Juniors Sarah Naticchia, Allison Colflesh, Payton Weiner and Lindsay Colflesh all ran on two winning relay teams, and the Haddonfield girls  won their sixth state relays title Friday.

Haddonfield scored 52 points, doubling up Rahway and Holmdel, who tied for second with 25 points.

The DMR ran 12:33.00, No. 1 in South Jersey this year and No. 3 in the state. The sprint medley ran 4:19.01, No. 3 in South Jersey this year and No. 4 in the state. And the 4-by-800 ran 9:51.15, No. 8 in the state and No. 3 in South Jersey.

Naticchia ran on the DMR and SMR, Weiner and Allison Colflesh on the 4-by-8 and DMR and Lindsay Colflesh on the SMR and DMR. Senior Katherine Rice and junior Olivia Stoner also ran 3,200-meter relay legs, and senior Rachel Bonnet and senior Grace Kegler contributed SMR legs.

Allison Colflesh, Weiner, junior Grace Donch and Stoner also ran on the 1,600-meter relay team, which placed third in 4:15.61.

It looks like Haddonfield also won the pole vault relay and placed third in the high jump relay, although it would be nice if the official results compiled field event totals.

Junior Robin Rosen cleared 10-6 in the vault, matching Seneca junior Julia Greeley for the best clearance of the day, and Kegler cleared a PR 8-0 in what appears to be only her second career pole vault competition.

Bonnet cleared 5-0 and Robin Rosen 4-8 for third place in the high jump.

The Haddonfield girls won their first state relays titles in Group 1 in 2000, 2001 and 2003 and have since won Group 1 in 2014 and Group 2 in 2017 and 2020. 

The Delsea girls swept the 800- and 1,600-meter relays. More on the Crusader later!

NOTE: The official results included some incorrect relay lineups for Haddonfield, and an earlier version of this story included those names. The current information should all be correct. We apologize for the errors.

Junior Balkis Lyiola had a hand in all 38 points Willingboro scored on the track Wednesday with three firsts and a second as the Chimeras won their state-record 11th state relays title.

Willingboro outscored second-place Audubon 43-26 to win the Group 1 title at the Bennett Center in Toms River. 

Lyiola ran on Willingboro’s winning 800- and 1,600-meter relay teams and winning shuttle hurdles team. She anchored the 4-by-4 and shuttle hurdles and also anchored the second-place sprint medley.

Willingboro won the 4-by-200 by more than four seconds in 1:49.81, the 4-by-400 by more than five seconds in 4:14.77 and the shuttle hurdles by more than two seconds in 33.38. The sprint med ran 4:30.29, finishing second to Audubon, which ran 4:28.09.

Senior Tamia Welch (4-by-4, shuttles), senior Mikell Dolo (4-by-2, shuttles) and freshman Samiyah Williams (4-by-2, 4-by-4) each ran on two winning teams.

Sophomore Jadah Grant also ran on the 800-meter relay team, sophomore Aleshia Mendez ran on the 4-by-4 and sprint medley and senior Afusat Iyiola ran on the shuttles team. Dolo and Welch joined Lyiola and Mendez on the sprint med team.

The Chimeras previously won Group 4 in 1992, 1993, 1995 and 1997, Group 3 in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 and Group 1 in 2010 and last year.

Coming into this year, Columbia, Hopewell Valley and Willingboro had each won 10 state relays titles. Columbia and Hopewell Valley haven’t competed yet this season, but as of right now Willingboro is the only one with 11.

For more on the history of Willingboro’s boys and girls programs at the state relays and other state championship meets, click here: https://wp.me/p5uW7L-4oV

Sophomore shot putter C.J. Johnson joined the 50-foot club and the Willingboro boys swept the field events on the way to their fourth straight Group 1 state relays title at the Bennett Center Wednesday night.

Johnson, who hadn’t thrown 45 feet until last weekend, bombed a 50-4, the second-best throw of the competition, and junior teammate Deonte Allen threw a PR 48-1 1/2 for a combined 98-5.

Johnon’s throw looks like the best indoor throw by a Burlington County sophomore since Lamere Corley of Moorestown threw 51-3 in 1991. It’s the best throw in New Jersey by a soph this year and the best indoors by a South Jersey 10th-grader since Nick Pulli of West Deptford threw 50-11 in 2012.

Allen also PR’d, adding more than half a foot to his PR of 47-5 1/4 from the Cherokee Throw Down last weekend. His overall PR from last spring is 47-8 1/2.

The Chimeras weight duo won the event by nearly 16 feet over Malcolm X Shabazz’s throwers, who combined for 82-5 1/2.

Johnson came into the indoor season with a shot PR of 42-3 3/4 from the first meet of last season. He threw 44-7 at the Bennett Center just before Christmas, then PR’d again at 48-3 last weekend at the Cherokee Throw Down before

He’s Willingboro’s first indoor 50-foot thrower since Rashaun Graves hit 50-5 1/2 in 2013.

The Chimeras won their 17th title overall — most of any public school in history — and fifth in the last six years. They’re the first school to win four straight in Group 1 or any public school group since Asbury Park won eight straight from 1988 through 1995.

For more on the remarkable history of the Willingboro boys and girls programs at the state relays and other state championship meets indoors and out, click here.

Willingboro has won twice as many state relays titles as any other South Jersey school. Haddonfield is next with seven and Woodbury has five but none since 1983.

The Chimeras also won the pole vault relay and high jump relay for a perfect 30 out of a possible 30 points in the field.

In the pole vault, senior Dontavis Wilson cleared 11-0 and junior Glenn Ferguson 9-6 for a combined 20-6.

In the high jump, seniors Nate Robertson and Kameron Smith, the top two high jumpers in South Jersey so far this winter, both cleared 6-4. Their combined 12-8 broke the meet record of 12-4 set in 1992 by Palmyra and matched in 1995 by Pleasantville and 1999 by Westwood.

The Chimeras also scored 20 points on the track, including second-place finishes in both the 800- and 1,600-meter relays.

Sophomore Jaylen Young and senior Sheraton Green both ran on the 4-by-2 and the 4-by-4. Senior Zaire Clements and Smith also ran on the 4-by-2, and sophomores Christopher Johnson and Bryson Bright contributed legs on the 4-by-4.

Willingboro ran 1:35.70 for second in the 4-by-2, behind Camden’s 1:34.43, and the Chimeras ran 3:34.69 for second in the 4-by-4 to Metuchen’s 3:34.18.

Willingboro ran 3:50.16 for sixth in the sprint medley with the team of Clements, Smith, junior Roshane Waugh and Robertson.

The sprint medley was a 1-2-4-5-6 South Jersey finish, with Camden winning in 3:44.35, Audubon second in 3:46.97, Buena fifth in 3:51.91 and Woodbury sixth in 3:53.01.

Darian Chestnut, Qahhar Danford, Hakeem Evans and Imir Cartoe were on Camden’s winning 4-by-2 and Chestnut, Evans, Jaheim Wimberly-Cole and Guest ran on the winning sprint med.

For Pitman, Thomas Jackson, Tyler Jackson, Cole Sharpnack and Sebastien Reed all doubled the winning DMR (10:48.78) and 4-by-800 (8:33.46).

Pitman’s DMR time is No. 4 in the state this year and only 12 seconds off Pitman’s 10:36.32 from last year’s Eastern’s.

For the fifth time in the last 19 years, the Willingboro boys and girls programs have swept the state relays titles.

The Willingboro boys and girls each won state titles at the Group 1 relays Wednesday at the Bennett Center in Toms River, and they each did it in commanding fashion.

The Chimera boys nearly doubled up second-place Camden, 50-26, and the girls defeated Audubon, 43-26.

How impressive is this?

Only nine other schools have ever had a state relays sweep in any group even once. And only two others — Asbury Park and Delsea — have done it more than once. Asbury Park swept Group 2 in 1992 and 1993, and Delsea swept Group 2 in 2010 and 2011.

Willingboro swept Group 3 in 2002, 2003 and 2005 and Group 1 in 2019 and 2020.

So Willingboro has had five state relays sweeps since 2002, and every other school in the rest of the state combined has also had five.

Here’s a look at all the schools that have recorded state relays sweeps:

5 … Willingboro [Group 3 in 2002, 2003 and 2005, Group 1 in 2019 and 2020]
2 … Asbury Park [Group 2 in 1992, 1993]
2 … Bernards [Group 1 in 1985, Group 2 in 1986]
2 … Delsea [Group 2 in 2010, 2011]
1 … Bishop Eustace [Group 2 in 1996]
1 … Haddonfield [Group 1 in 2014]
1 … Kingsway [Group 3 in 2014]
1 … Matawan [Group 2 in 2013]
1 … Newark Arts [Group 1 in 1990]
1 … Red Bank Reg. [Group 2 in 2000]

I’ll have more about how both Willingboro teams won their state titles soon, but for now check out this incredible record by the Willingboro track programs over the years.

Willingboro has been winning state titles since 1979 — 42 seasons ago — and now has 65 state team championships. That’s a lot of banners hanging in the gym!

Either the Chimera boys or girls teams have won at least one state title indoors or outdoors in 33 of the last 42 years.

BOYS
State Relays (18)
1982 [Group 4]
1983 [Group 4]
1985 [Group 3]
1986 [Group 3]
1987 [Group 3]
1990 [Group 4]
1996 [Group 4]
2000 [Group 3]
2001 [Group 3]
2002 [Group 3]
2003 [Group 3]
2005 [Group 3]
2012 [Group 3]
2015 [Group 1]
2017 [Group 1]
2018 [Group 1]
2019 [Group 1]
2020 [Group 1]

Indoor States (13)
1983 [Group 4]
1986 [Group 3]
1987 [Group 3]
1988 [Group 3]
1989 [Group 3]
1990 [Group 4]
1995 [Group 4]
1997 [Group 4]
2000 [Group 3]
2002 [Group 3]
2012 [Group 2]
2018 [Group 1]
2019 [Group 1]

Outdoor States (13)
1979 [Group 4]
1981 [Group 4]
1982 [Group 4]
1986 [Group 3]
1988 [Group 3]
1989 [Group 3]
1990 [Group 4]
1991 [Group 4]
1993 [Group 4]
1994 [Group 4]
2002 [Group 3]
2003 [Group 3]
2019 [Group 1]

GIRLS
State Relays (11)
1992 [Group 4]
1993 [Group 4]
1995 [Group 4]
1997 [Group 4]
2002 [Group 3]
2003 [Group 3]
2004 [Group 3]
2005 [Group 3]
2010 [Group 2]
2019 [Group 1]
2020 [Group 1]

Indoor States (6)
1980 [All-Groups]
1981 [Group 4]
1998 [Group 3]
2002 [Group 3]
2003 [Group 3]
2004 [Group 3]

Outdoor States (4)
1980 [Group 4]
1981 [Group 4]
1999 [Group 3]
2002 [Group 3]

Lenape graduate Hayley Conway, a freshman at The College of New Jersey, has been named NJAC women’s track Rookie of the Week after recording a four-second PR in her first collegiate 800-meter race.

Conway negative-split a 2:22.43 to finish second at the TCNJ Invitational at the 168th Street Armory this weekend.

In her first college 800 and second college race, Conway took second to Kayla Rosario of Rutgers. Rosario ran 2:21.62.

Conway came through 400 meters in 72.1 but closed in 70.3 for a nine-second indoor PR.

Her time is No. 16 early on in Division 3 and No. 4 among freshmen. It’s also fastest in the early weeks of the season in the New Jersey Athletic Conference.

This is the kind of story we love. It’s not always about what superstar high school freshman comes out of the gate running 2:13, never to be heard from again. 

Conway wasn’t one of Jack Walsh and Gerald Richardson’s endless stable of 2:15 half-milers at Lenape. She had an outdoor PR of 2:26.38 and an indoor PR of 2:31.52 during her high school career.

She never placed in a county or sectional meet indoors or outdoors, although she did place 3rd in the intermediate hurdles last spring in the Olympic Conference American Division Championships.

But she never stopped working and never stopped improving and now she has a big 800 PR to show for it.

There’s something to be said for persistence and steady development. 

Every runner’s journey is different, and someone like Conway — who didn’t break 2:33 until the end of her sophomore year outdoors but kept at it — can be more inspiring than someone who experiences immediate success.

TCNJ is back at the Armory on Friday for the Ramapo Indoor Opener

Olympic high jumper Priscilla Frederick, a Paul VI graduate from Sicklerville, opened her indoor season with a 6-0 1/4 clearance, which places her in the top 10 in the world early on this winter.

Frederick cleared 6-0 1/4 at the Father Diamond Invitational at George Mason Sports Complex in Fairfax, Va., which ranks her No. 6 in the world.

After passing the first seven heights, she cleared 5-7 and 5-10 3/4 on her first attempt and then 6-0 1/4 on her third attempt. She took three tries at 6-2.

Frederick maintains dual citizenship and competes for Antigua + Barbuda, her father’s home country.

Frederick, 30, has indoor and outdoor PRs of 6-3 1/4. She hit 6-3 1/4 indoors in Hustopeče, Czech Republic, last January, and she has a 6-3 1/4 outdoor clearance from 2015 in a meet in Toronto. Both are national records. She’s a two-time Pan Am Games silver medalist (2015, 2019) and she placed 28th at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro at 6-2 1/2.

George Mason junior Avory Ransome, a Penns Grove graduate, bombed PRs over the last two weekends in two events.

Ransome placed second to teammate Jaylen Simmons in the shot at the Father Diamond Invitational at his home track in Fairfax, Va., last weekend with a PR of 52-11 with the 16-pound shot. Simmons won the event with a PR of his own at 57-5 1/4. This past weekend, he threw a PR of 49-7 3/4 in the weight throw and also hit 52 feet for a second straight week in the shot.

Ransome now ranks 4th in the A-10 in the shot put behind Simmons and two Virginia Commonwealth throwers – Jaekob Vollbrecht (56-1 1/4) and Ebenezer Belayneh (54-3 1/4).

He also ranks No. 4 in George Mason history indoors in the shot put.

Ransome’s previous shot put PR, which was also his indoor PR, was a 52-5 1/2 when he placed fourth at last year’s Atlantic 10 Championships, also at his home track. His previous weight throw PR was a 44-0 3/4 last January in another meet at George Mason.

His outdoor shot PR is 52-2 3/4 when he was fourth in the outdoor A-10 Championships last May at Amherst, Mass. Ransome was the A-10 shot put champion as a freshman with a 50-7 1/2 throw.

At Penns Grove, Ransome threw 55-11 1/2 and was a county, conference and sectional champ in the shot put and a sectional winner in the discus outdoors and a sectional champ indoors.

Ransome, a native of Pedricktown, graduated from Penns Grove with a 4.0 GPA and was a member of the National Honor Society and salutatorian.

His first name was spelled A-V-E-R-Y when he was in high school.

Rancocas Valley junior Tahmir Clark had a big day over the weekend, recording huge PRs in both the high jump and long jump.

Clark won the high jump at 6-2 and the long jump at 21-10 1/2, winning both events in the Monmouth University Invitational in West Long Branch.

If the MileSplit database is correct, Clark’s previous high jump PR was 5-8 and his long jump PR was 20-8.

Those are serious PRs!

The 5-8 came at the Bennett Center a week earlier. Before then his high jump PR was 5-6, which he hit a couple times early last spring. He hit 20-8 last May at the Cherokee Invitational. The 21-10 1/2 appears to be his first-ever indoor long jump competition.

Clark’s 21-10 1/2 is No. 1 in South Jersey and No. 3 in the state so far this year. His 6-2 is tied for No. 9 in the state and No. 3 in South Jersey behind Willingboro teammates Kameron Smith (6-6) and Nate Robertson (6-4).

It looks like the only long jumper R.V. has ever had that’s jumped farther indoors than Clark is Iverson Clement, who took 4th ta 2017 Easterns with a 22-6 1/2. He went on to jump 23-0 1/2 and win Group 4 states that spring but didn’t compete as a senior.

Another RV jumper, Jalen Blango, also a junior, PR’d as well with a 21-7 1/4 for second, just behind Clark. Blango, also a first-year indoor competitor, extended his indoor PR by over a foot and a half. He had jumped 20-0 1/2 at Ursinus back in December. Blango has a 21-6 1/2 outdoor PR from last year’s County Open on his home track.

Blango’s jump is No. 4 in the state this year and No. 2 in South Jersey. Looks like they’re the first teammates in Burlington County history to jump 21-6 indoors in the same year, although Willingboro may have in 1981. I’ll check that.

Clark also placed sixth in the 55-meter high hurdles and again if the database is correct it looks like it was the first hurdles race of his life indoors or outdoors. He ran 8.59 to win an unseeded section and his time held up for sixth overall.

Here’s my best attempt at an all-time indoor Burlington County list. Corrections and additions are always welcome!

25-5 1/2 … Carl Lewis (Willingboro), 1979
24-6 1/4 … Gerard Reynolds (Willingboro), 1990
24-2 1/2 … Isaac Samuels (Kennedy), 1983
24-0 3/4 … Mike Morrison (Willingboro), 2002
22-9 3/4 … John Meekins (Cinnaminson), 1987
22-8 1/2 … Chris Steliga (Cherokee), 2008
22-7 3/4 … Hede Dewberry (Willingboro), 1981
22-7 1/2 … Chase Campbell [Lenape], 2014
22-6 1/2 … Iverson Clement [Rancocas Valley], 2017
22-4 1/4 … Sean Mayers (Cherokee), 2002
21-11 3/4 … Areon Robinson (Kennedy), 1985
21-11 3/4 … Mel Long (Willingboro), 1982
21-11 … Dwayne Ross (Moorestown), 1989
21-10 1/2 … Paul Grimes (Shawnee), 1983
21-10 1/2 … Tahmir Clark [Rancocas Valley], 2020
21-10 1/4 … Justin Farrar (Willingboro), 1997