The 51st annual Meet of Champions is underway at Northern Burlington Regional High School in Mansfield, and our good friends at N.J. Milesplit are providing real-time results!

Click here to follow along! http://bit.ly/2MKQLWi

The biggest meet of the track season is two days away, and we have everything that you need to prepare in one place!

Dive in!

Complete entry list! HERE

Event previews from the great Jim Lambert! HERE

All-time boys Meet of Champions top-20 performance list! HERE

All-time girls Meet of Champions top-20 performance list! HERE

2019 Meet of Champions Program! HERE

Meet of Champions records! HERE

All-time Meet of Champions winners! HERE

Complete previous results index going back to 1996! HERE

Mastoris, the best diner in the world, is only 10 minutes away from Northern Burlington! HERE

 

 

In his final collegiate meet, Florence graduate Curtis Thompson placed second in the javelin at the NCAA Championships, finishing behind only teammate Anderson Peters, the Grenadan national champion.

It made him 4-for-4 in first-team All-America (top-8) finishes in his brilliant collegiate career.

Competing at the NCAA Division 1 championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, Thompson threw 257-3, less than a foot off his season-best 258-2, which he threw at the National Relay Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., in April.

Peters won with a 284-2 throw, a personal-best and meet record, and freshman Tyriq Horsford threw 248-0 to give Mississippi State a 1-2-3 sweep.

It was the first javelin sweep in NCAA Division 1 in 55 years, since Oregon swept the 1964 meet at its home track at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., with Les Tipton (249-10), Gary Reddaway (246-1) and Ron Gomez (232-8) taking the top three spots in what was then called the NCAA university division.

Thompson opened with the 257-3 and threw 238-8, 235-7 and 236-6 on his three other legal throws.

Peters had the three-best throws of the competition, broke his own meet record set last year and improved his own No. 3 mark in college track history.

Thompson was third in NCAAs as a freshman in the spring of 2015. He won NCAAs and was second in the Olympic Trials with his PR 271-11 in 2016 and placed seventh at 2017 NCAAs.

Rutgers senior Chris Mirabelli, a Holy Cross graduate, earned second-team All-America status with a ninth-place finish. His best throw was a 228-8 on his second throw. He’s been a first- or second-team All-America four times.

Mirabelli, who also sat out the 2018 season, has a PR of 251-6 from the 2017 Penn Relays and a season best of 235-8 this year when he won his third Big Ten title. His best NCAA finish was an eighth place in 2017 at 235-2.

Holy Spirit graduate Cade Antonucci, a sophomore at Auburn, placed 21st with a throw of 209-7. He had a best throw of 237-5 this year.

Thompson, Antonucci (237-5), R.V. grad Chris Mirabelli (236-6) and Nick Mirabelli are ranked No. 2, 16, 17 and 18 among all U.S. men this spring.

https://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/throws/javelin-throw/outdoor/men/senior/2019?regionType=countries&region=usa&page=1&bestResultsOnly=true

The top shot putter in New Jersey had never thrown beyond 53-8 until three weeks ago.

Think about that for a moment.

Cherokee senior Lucciano Pizarro is one of those crazy stories you see sometimes in track and field where a solid performer entering the final weeks of his prep career suddenly becomes an exceptional one.

Sometimes it takes a few weeks for everything to click. Sometimes it takes years.

Pizarro threw 38-3 and placed 37th at sectionals as a sophomore. He surpassed 50 feet just once as a junior, going 52-10 for sixth at sectionals.

He was ranked No. 649 in New Jersey as a sophomore and No. 28 last year.

Heck, he wasn’t even one of the top 100 sophomores in the state two years ago.

Now he goes into the Meet of Champions as the No. 1 seed.

Pizarro had a breakthrough in his first meet this spring, PR’ing by 3 1/2 feet with a 55-2 at the Moorestown Invitational. He extended that to 56-3 1/2 when he won the Olympic Conference meet and then to 56-9 1/2 when he won sectionals.

This past weekend, he added three more feet to his PR with a 59-9 to win the state Group 4 title.

That made him the first Cherokee shot putter to win a state title since Gary Roskoski in 1999.

His 59-9 is No. 2 in Burlington County history or No. 3 if you include indoor marks. He’s now No. 15 in South Jersey history.

Only three boys threw at least 57 feet at the various state meets. Pizarro is the top seed, Red Bank senior Anthony Zamarro threw 59-2 to win the Parochial A title, and Kyle Lipscomb of Linden threw 58-8 for second in Group 4.

The only Cherokee boy to win a Meet of Champions title is Marc Pelerin in the 1,600 with 4:12.74 in 2002 at South Brunswick.

SOUTH JERSEY ALL-TIME SHOT PUT LIST
68-8 1/2  … Braheme Days Jr. [Bridgeton] 2012
64-10 1/2 … Jon Kalnas [Paulsboro], 1997
64-6 1/4 … Ron Dayne [Overbook], 1996
64-5 … Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], 1995
64-4 1/4 … Chris Robinson [Penns Grove], 1990
62-10 1/4 … Nick Pulli [West Deptford], 2014
63-0 … Lou Gordon [Bridgeton], 1995
61-11 3/4 … Kamron Kobolak [Cinnaminson], 2018
61-10 1/2 … Harry Dilts [Pitman], 1971
61-6 … Josh Awotunde [Delsea],  2013
61-4 1/2 … Bubba Green [Millville], 1976
61-4 … Kofi Yamoah [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013
61-2 1/4 … Matthew Huckabee, [Timber Creek], 2010
60-3 … Donate Rivera [Pleasantville], 2012
59-9 ………. Lucciano Pizarro [Cherokee], 2019
59-8 1/2  … Ell Ash [Willingboro], 2004
59-7 3/4 … Chris Pressley [Woodbury], 2003
59-5 1/4 … Cade Antonucci [Holy Spirit], 2017

The boys Meet of Champions dates back to 1969, and the girls meet began five years later.

What are the most amazing marks from those first 50 years?

We’ve got them!

Exclusive to New Jersey MileSplit and the From the Backstretch blog, it’s the Meet of Champions all-time top-20 performance lists for every event!

Jim Lambert and I spent hours putting these lists together, and we’re sure you’ll spend hours studying them.

One thing is certain: Based on the way the season has gone before, there will be major revisions to these lists after this weekend!

The 51st annual Meet of Champions is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Northern Burlington Regional High in Mansfield Township.

Hope you enjoy these lists as much as we enjoyed putting them together!

Boys All-Time Meet of Champions Performance List!
Girls All-Time Meet of Champions Performance List!

Claudine Smith put on a remarkable performance at Group 4 states this weekend, running one of the fastest times in state history in the high hurdles and shattering the meet record in the triple jump by nearly a foot.

Smith, a senior at Atlantic City, goes into the Meet of Champions as the top seed in both the hurdles and the triple jump.

Let’s take a look at her two incredible performances:

HIGH HURDLES: Smith lowered her PR from 14.04, which she ran in April at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative CARIFTA (Caribbean Free Trade Association) Trials in Kingston, Jamaica. That 13.80 is No. 13 in state history ranks her No. 25 nationally according to the MileSplit database. It’s No. 4 in South Jersey history behind Olympic medalist Nia Ali of Pleasantville, who ran 13.65 in 2006, Nichole Hill’s 13.72 for Oakcrest in 1997, and Stey’ce McNeil of Winslow, who ran 13.79 in 2012. Interesting that Smith’s time is No. 13 in state history but only No. 3 in Atlantic County history. The full list of every girl in state history who’s run under 14 seconds is below. The Meet of Champions is shaping up to be a tremendous race with Smith, 2018 indoor Meet of Champions winner Grace O’Shea of Ramapo, who ran 13.82 to win the state Group 3 meet, and Tionna Tobias of Winslow, who ran a PR 13.99 behind O’Shea, No. 10 in South Jersey history.

TRIPLE JUMP: Smith’s 41-6 destroyed the Group 4 meet record of 40-7 3/4, set in 2013 by Columbia’s Kayla Richardson. Smith jumped slightly aster at the Carifta Trials — 41-6 1/2 — but it was wind-aided. Her 41-6 makes her the No. 1 seed Saturday at Northern Burlington by seven inches over Mahogany Jenkins of Watchung Hills, the only New Jersey other girl over 40 feet this year. Smith, ranked No. 3 nationally in the triple jump, is also No. 3 in state history. That list is below also.

ALL-TIME N.J. 100-METER HURDLES LIST

13.20 … Dawn Bowles (Neptune), 1985

13.34 … Sydney McLaughlin (Union Catholic), 2014

13.35 … Charmaine Walker (Plainfield), 1997

13.50 … Porscha Dobson (Kent Plaeace), 2003

13.65 … Nia Ali (Pleasantville), 2006

13.67 … Patricia Dziekonska (West Windsor-Plains. North), 2014

13.71 … Lanyka Brown (Metuchen), 1996

13.72 … Nichole Hill (Oakcrest), 1997

13.73 … Kim Turko (North Edison), 1997

13.77 … Amber Williams (Roxbury), 2001

13.78 … Lakeema Lewis (Plainfield), 1998

13.79 … Stey’ce McNeil (Winslow Twp.), 2012

13.80 … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2019

13.82 … Trier Young (Neptune), 2005
13.82 … Grace O’Shea (Ramapo), 2019
13.84 … Lenaami Morton (Camden), 2017

13.85 … Carol Lewis (Willingboro), 1980

13.85 … Danielle Delgado (Franklin Twp.), 2013

13.85 … Sherese Price (Pleasantville), 1998

13.86 … Amaya Chadwick (Union Catholic), 2017

13.88 … Zonya Cross (Edgewood), 1983

13.88 … Amber Williams (Roxbury), 2001

13.89 … Dashana Ransome (Irvington), 2012

13.90 … Kim Henry (Old Bridge), 2003

13.91 … Kayann Richards (Columbia), 2010

13.91 … Samantha Jensen (Central Regional), 2012

13.95 … Selena Lewis (Elizabeth), 1998

13.95 … Morgan Harvey (North Hunterdon), 2013

13.96 … Ashley Adams (Plainfield), 2006

13.98 … Tramaine Shaw (Piscataway), 2004

13.98 … Cidae’a Woods (Winslow Twp.), 2014

13.99 … Imani Gilliam (Pennsauken), 2004
13.99 … Tionna Tobias (Winslow Twp.), 2019

ALL-TIME N.J. TRIPLE JUMP LIST

44-11 … Keturah Orji [Mount Olive], 2013

42-2 3/4 … Charlene Cummings [Englewood], 1998

41-6 1/2 … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2019

40-11 … Mahogany Jenkins [Watchung Hills], 2018

40-10 1/4 … Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2014

40-9 1/2 … Iana Amsterdam [Essex Tech], 2013

40-7 3/4 … Kayla Richardson [Columbia], 2013

40-7 … Shenaie Herber [JFK Paterson], 2008

40-6 3/4 … Tiffany Bautista [Paramus Catholic], 2018

40-6 1/4 … Essence Mayers [Lakewood], 2011

40-6 … Jordan Fields [Columbia], 2016
40-5 ….. Nnenna Ibe [North Brunswick], 2015
40-4 1/2 … Adefunke Sonaike [Montgomery], 2011
40-3 1/4 … Ebony Young [Hillsborough], 2009
40-1 1/4 … Kaitlin Salisbury [Hawthorne], 2016
40-1 …… Domonique Pantin [Freehold Twp.], 2015
40-0 1/4 … Stephanie McIntyre [South Brunswick], 2007
40-0 ……….Bonvie Fosam [Robbinsville], 2017
40-0 ………. Ada Unachukwu [Marlboro], 2009

The Clayton boys didn’t win a state title this weekend. What they did with just five boys is almost as impressive.

The Clayton bus brought five boys to Franklin Township for the state Group 1 meet.

Each of those five boys – Thomas Hampton, TerMeir Hill, Justin Gibson, Dominick Bishop and Dorien DePina – medaled.

And that bus returned to Gloucester County with the second-place team trophy.

Now, that’s incredible.

Clayton might not have the depth to to put together a great dual meet record or win a conference or county title. They were fifth in the Gloucester County Championships and seventh in the Tri-County Conference, and that’s actually pretty impressive considering the Clippers competed in those meets with a total of just 14 boys.

But in big meets? Clayton has some serious firepower up top. The Clippers lost a heartbreaker at the South Jersey Group 1 meet, where they finished one point behind Haddon Township. And this past weekend they went to states and finished second only to a deep and powerful Willingboro team.

It’s the best finish ever at states for Clayton, and it speaks volumes about the coaching staff, the five boys who competed at states and everybody else in the program for sticking with it during some tough times and taking on the best small-school programs in the state and beating all but one of them.

Clayton’s two big guns are senior Thomas Hampton and sophomore TerMeir Hill. They each became Clayton’s first individual state champions in 24 years, since Don Taylor won the shot put with a throw of 51-9 1/2 in 1995. (Before that it was Mike Conover in the javelin with a 198-1 in 1983!)

Let’s take a look at these two and the rest of this remarkable Clayton bunch!

THOMAS HAMPTON: Became the first Clayton boy ever to win two events at a state championship with wins in the 100 in 10.69 and the 200 in 21.76 and made it three gold medals with a leg on Clayton’s winning 400-meter relay team, which went 42.25. Hampton will be the No. 4 seed in the 100 at Meet of Champions and No. 9 in the 200. The Clippers are the No. 5 seed in the 4-by-100. Hampton is Gloucester County’s fastest in the 100 since Glassboro’s James Brown ran 10.47 in 2009. He’s No. 4 in county history in the 100 at 10.60, behind only legendary Bill “Peanut” Gaines, who ran a hand-timed 10.2 for Clearview in 1966, Brown and Washington Township’s Todd Dutch (10.53 in 2001).

TERMEIR HILL: Hill PR’d by more than a foot to win the state Group 1 long jump title with a ridiculous 23-3 jump. That’s the best by a South Jersey sophomore since Mikhail Micheaux of Eastern went 24-2 1/2 in 2012 and makes him the No. 4 seed in the M-of-C. Incredibly, Clayton has now had two 23-foot jumpers in the last three years. Marcus Chambers went 23-0 to place fourth at the 2017 Meet of Champions. Kimere Brown of Penns Grove jumped 23-3 to win Group 1 in 2014, but Hill’s 23-3 matches the longest winning jump at Group 1 states since Devin Jones of Boonton went 23-4 to win in 2010.

400-METER RELAY TEAM: Hampton, Hill and sophomores Justin Gibson and Dominick Bishop ran 42.25, just missing the Group 1 meet record of 42.14 set in 2016 by Jonathan Taylor and Salem. Clayton’s 42.25 is one of the fastest times ever recorded by a New Jersey Group 1 school. I actually couldn’t find any times other than Salem’s faster than Clayton’s. And the Clippers could very well go faster Saturday or at nationals, if they choose to race in Greensboro.

Here’s the all-time Gloucester County 400-meter relay top 10, with Clayton at No. 7:

41.47 … Deptford, 2018
41.55 … Deptford, 2017
42.12 … Deptford, 2016
42.15 … Delsea, 2010
42.17 … Deptford, 2013
42.23 … Delsea, 2019
42.25 … Clayton, 2019
42.27 … Deptford, 2019
42.30 … Delsea, 2007
42.40 … Deptford, 2015

JUSTIN GIBSON: In addition to the relay leg we just referred to, Gibson ran a huge PR of 22.39 to place third in the 200. The sophomore’s previous-best was 22.88 at the Tri-County Championships, so that’s about a half second improvement in the biggest race of the year.

DOMINICK BISHOP: Another sophomore, Bishop also ran on the winning 4-by-100 team.

DORIEN DEPINA: DePina, the No. 12 seed, placed fifth in the triple jump at 43-1 3/4.

It really was an incredible weekend for Gloucester County track. Paulsboro won the girls Group 1 title, the rival Delsea and Deptford boys won the Group 2 and 3 titles and tiny Clayton was second in Group 1. Matter of fact, four of the top nine finishers in Group 1 come from Gloucester County – Clayton in second, Woodbury in third, Pitman in seventh and Glassboro in ninth, all with at least 20 minutes. That’s really amazing.

If the names of DePina, Bishop and Hill seem familiar, they all played on the Clayton basketball team that as a No. 8 seed beat Wildwood to win the 2019 South Jersey Group 1 basketball team, Clayton’s first since 1980 and the days of Granger Hall.

So yeah. These guys are used to defying the odds.

Delsea’s state track championship this weekend was definitely a true track and FIELD championship.

The Crusaders won the state Group 2 title by one point, thanks to a phenomenal performance from their field team.

Delsea scored 42 of its 56 points in the field on the way to an intense one-point win over a very talented Haddonfield team at Central Regional. Delsea finished with a 56-55 win.

It was a fascinating team battle, since Delsea and Haddonfield are so strong in different areas. In fact, there was only one event where they both scored.

Delsea’s only medalists on the track were senior Colin Kane, who placed fourth in the 3,200 with a six-second PR of 9:26.96, and the 400-meter relay team — senior Aidan Borguet, juniors Damir Lomax and Shaikyi Hannah and senior Jimmy Vargo — which won in 42.23, fourth-fastest from all the state meets.

Everything else? Jumpers and throwers.

As always, Delsea piled up huge points in the pole vault, where juniors Nico and Marco Morales and senior Ryan Jillard went 2-3-4 for 18 points. The Morales twins each cleared 15-0 and Jillard got over the bar at 14-0.

Junior Jake Nwosu won the discus with a 160-2 throw, Lomax took second in the long jump at 22-9 1/2 and senior Kevin Gilliano was third in the shot put with a 50-3 3/4 throw.

Nwosu is on quite a run, with wins in the Gloucester County and Tri-County meets along with sectionals and now states. This is a kid who was eighth at Woodbury and fifth in the South Jersey Invitational before something clicked in mid-May. His 173-3 at sectionals is No. 6 in the state.

For Lomax, that 22-9 1/2 jump represented a massive PR. This is an athlete who just started long jumping this winter and didn’t even break 20 feet until two months ago.

But he’s increased his PR in every major championship meet — 20-10 1/4 at counties, 21-1 at conference, 21-5 at sectionals and another 16 1/2 inches for 22-9 1/2 and second place at states. When you look at a one-point team title, you look at a guy who wouldn’t have even placed if he just jumped at his PR. That’s how you win a championship.

And then there’s Gilliano, who was the fifth seed and placed third. The difference between fifth and third is four points, and Delsea won by one.

The title was Delsea’s second overall and second in a row. They’re only the second Gloucester County school to win a state title in consecutive years since 1980. Woodbury won Group 1 in 2010 and 2011.

The boys and girls performance lists for this weekend’s 51st annual Meet of Champions are now available!

There could be slight alterations to the lists over the next few hours, since coaches are allowed to update seeds with superior marks from earlier in the season for winners on the state level.

But this is the complete list of accepted athletes for the biggest meet of the year.

The Meet of Champions is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Northern Burlington Regional High School in Mansfield.

Click here to find the complete lists: https://nj.milesplit.com/articles/262749-njsiaa-meet-of-champions-performance-list-wild-cards

Willingboro didn’t just win a state title this weekend, the Chimeras did it in the most dominating fashion imaginable.

The Chimeras won the 13th state title in school history — but first in 16 years — by 43 points, the largest margin ever in Group 1.

A very small but very game Clayton group finished second, the best in school history, with 48 points. More on the Clippers soon.

Willingboro’s 91 points are the second-most in state Group 1 history, behind only Penns Grove’s monster 112 1/2 points in 2013.

For the Boro, the title was a long time coming.

From 1979 through 1994, led by legends such as Carl Lewis, Gerard Reynolds and Lamont Smith, won 10 state titles in a 16-year span.

But the Chimeras won two championships since 1994, both coming in Group 3 during the Mike Morrison Era in 2002 and 2003.

Willingboro’s longest drought without a state title ended Saturday when the Chimeras won that elusive 13th title and their first outdoor championship under coach Martin Booker.

Only CBA and Montclair (21 each) and Glen Ridge (15) have won more state titles than Willingboro. But Glen Ridge hasn’t won one sine 1966 and Montclair has only won two since 1958.

Since Willingboro opened in the fall of 1976, no public school in the state has won more state titles.

In fact, Camden has the second-most with nine, and seven of them were with Booker coaching the Panthers.

Public school NJ titles since 1976
12 … Willingboro
9 … Camden
8 … Asbury Park
8 … Bridgeton
8 … Metuchen
8 … Winslow Twp.
6 … Timber Creek
5 … Plainfield
5 … Woodbury
5 … Bernards
5 … Somerville
5 … Monmouth Regional
5 … Haddonfield

This title was a lot like the others, with Willingboro showing tremendous strength in the sprints, hurdles and throws.

Senior Jayaire King led the way with a monster weekend. We already wrote about his double win on Friday♦♦♦ but King followed that with a third place in the high hurdles with a 14.46 after a PR 14.43 in the trials and then ran a leg on Willingboro’s first-place relay team.

That team, seniors Dinonn Capp, King and Elijah Valme and freshman Jaylen Young, ran 3:21.84 for the win.

He’s only the fifth Willingboro boy to win three gold medals at a state meet. The first four are all absolute legends at the Boro:

♦♦♦ Carl Lewis was the first to triple at a state meet, and he did it as a senior in 1979 (little-known fact that Carl didn’t win a state title until the end of this senior year) when he won the 100-yard dash in 9.9, the 220 in 21.8 and the long jump at 24-5 1/2.

♦♦♦ Gerard Reynolds did it as a junior in Group 3 in 1989. He won the highs in a meet-record 13.8, the intermediates in 54.0 and the long jump in a meet-record 24-3.

♦♦♦ Reynolds did it again in 1990, when he won the Group 4 long jump (24-2 1/2) and intermediates (53.92) and ran on the winning relay team (3:19.24). He didn’t win the 110 highs, although he did win them at the Meet of Champions (along with the long jump).

♦♦♦ Lamont Smith did it in 1991 when he won the Group 4 200 (21.75) and 400 (47.89) and anchored the winning relay team (3:18.0).

♦♦♦ Mike Morrison did it in Group 3 as a junior in 2002 with wins in the high jump (7-0) and long jump (22-11 3/4) and a leg on the winning relay team, which ran 3:15.71.

Senior Emmanuel Lewis III also had a huge day, winning the discus at 160-6 and the shot put at 48-0 for 16 big points. He’s the first state discus champ Willingboro has ever had (although Greg Hardy of Willingboro Kennedy won Group 3 in 1988 with a 155-1 throw and went on to win the Meet of Champions at 169-2).

Juniors Kameron Smith and Nate Robertson went 1-3 in the high jump, Smith at 6-6 and Robertson with a 6-4.

Junior Zaire Clements and Valme both medaled in two sprints, Clements with a fourth in the 100 (11.31) and sixth in the 200 (22.67) and Valme with a fifth in the 200 (22.64) and sixth in the 400 (50.61).

Kevin Peterson PR’d at 14.70 for fourth in the high hurdles and junior Dontavis Wilson took fifth in the pole vault.

The Boro also took second in the 4-by-100 in 43.34, behind Clayton’s 42.25. Young, Clements, Smith and Valme ran for the Chimeras.