The top two milers in South Jersey so far this spring are from Haddonfield, and they’re both sophomores, and they both enjoyed big breakthrough races at Rowan this past weekend.

Sarah Naticchia won the 1,600-meter race in 5:06.95, just ahead of teammate Payton Weiner, who ran 5:07.89.

Shawnee junior Isabella Turner (5:09.35), Cherokee junior Kate Rathman (5:09.68) and Delsea sophomore Carly Nicholson (5:10.07) all also ran 5:10 or faster.

Naticchia’s previous PR was 5:13.84 indoors at the state Group 2 meet at the Bennett Center in February. She didn’t compete last year, and this was her first major outdoor 1,600.

Weiner’s previous PR was 5:17.61 three weeks ago at Lenape. Before that it was 5:25.05 indoors.

So that’s a combined … 16.61 seconds in PRs for the Haddonfield teammates at the Rowan Invitational in Glassboro.

Nicholson’s 5:10.07 is also a big PR. She ran 5:16.83 indoors at sectionals. Their times are No. 3 and 5 among all New Jersey sophomores so far this spring.

I may be missing someone, but it looks like Naticchia and Weiner are the 10th and 11th Haddonfield girls to run sub-5:10. It’s a list that includes some pretty accomplished runners, including two Olympians (Erin Donohue and Marielle Hall).

4:41.16 … Erin Donohue, 2000
4:45.97 … Briana Gess, 2014
4:48.73 … Marielle Hall, 2010
5:05.42 … Kaitlyn Bonnet, 2014
5:06.95 … Sarah Naticchia, 2019
5:07.44 … Shelby Cain, 2014
5:07.85 … Vanessa Wright, 2005
5:07.89 … Payton Weiner, 2019
5:08.53 … Susie Cook, 1998
5:08.80 … Elizabeth Sikkema, 2008
5:09.50 … Mia Spinelli, 2009

Naticchia joined Donohue (4:54.0 in 2000), Wright in 2004 (5:05.92) and Gess (5:00.16 full mile in 2014, 4:39.38 1,500 in 2015) as the fourth winner of the four-lap race at the Rowan Invitational.

Unlike the Rowan women, the Rowan men were in a position this weekend where they didn’t have to double or triple (or in some cases quad) their athletes to win a close team title.

For the Rowan men, most athletes competed in only one event, and the ones who did double did it in less strenuous events.

Even with just six athletes scoring in two events — and none in three — Rowan easily won its fifth straight title after The College of New Jersey had won 17 in a row. Rowan previously won titles in 1984 through 1992 as Glassboro State and also from 1994 through 1997.

Rowan dominated the sprints and hurdles, outscoring Stockton 95-5 in the 100, 200, 400, highs and intermediates.

Here’s a look at Rowan’s top point scorers over two days at Stockton University’s Larry James Stadium in Galloway Township.

JOHN OWENS, SOPH., WEST WINDSOR-PLAINSBORO NORTH: Placed third in the 400 intermediates (55.18), not far off his 55.07 PR, and took second in the long jump at 22-4 1/2, for 14. big points.

TYLER GARLAND, SOPH., GLASSBORO: Garland won the high hurdles in 14.37, not far off his wind-aided PR of 14.30, and also took sixth in the intermediates in 56.93 and also led off Rowan’s winning 400-meter relay team, which ran 42.01.

DAYQUAN MURRAY, FRESHMAN, HAMMONTON: Murray placed second in the 200 in 22.49 and fifth in the 100 in 11.27 and ran the third leg on Rowan’s 400-meter relay team.

EARNEST DANIEL, SOPH., KINGSWAY: Daniel cleared 6-2 for second in the high jump and jumped 42-6 3/4 for fifth in the triple jump.

ZAIRE WEAVER, SOPH., PASSAIC COUNTY TECH: Weaver placed in both horizontal jumps, with 42-11 3/4 for third and 21-9 1/2 for sixth.

FRANKIE RICHARD, SOPH., NORTHERN HIGHLANDS: Richard also placed in both horizontals, with 42-10 3/4 for fourth and 21-11 1/2 for fifth.

CHRIS MESIANO, SOPH., SCHALICK: Mesiano, No. 4 nationally in Division 3 at 52.96, won the intermediates in 54.91 and anchored the winning 1,600-meter relay team.

MATT RUSSO, JUNIOR, WESTFIELD: Russo only entered one event and won the steeplechase by more than a minute with a 9:31.30, less than two seconds off his PR.

RAKIM COYLE, FRESHMAN, WILDWOOD CATHOLIC: Coyle won the long jump and smashed his PR with a 23-6, No. 17 in the nation.

DAN MCALEAVEY, SOPH., HOWELL: McAleavey missed his PR by one inch but won the javelin competition with a 199-5. He’s thrown 199-5 or better in three meets, so 200 feet is just a matter of time.

CAM DALEY, SENIOR, CANTON, CT.: Won the decathlon by more than 500 points. Daley posted the No. or No. 2 marks in nine of 10 events, all but the closing 1,500, which he knew he could jog while still easily winning. Daley’s marks: 12.14 for 100, 18-10 1/2 in the long jump, 35-6 3/4 in the shot, 5-8 3/4 in the high jump, 53.86 in the 400, 17.81 high hurdles, 103-1 in the discus, 11-7 3/4 in the pole vault, 150-3 in the javelin and 5:30.70 in the 1,500.

JULIAN PRATT, JUNIOR, CAMDEN: Pratt ran 10.91 to win the 100 and ran the second leg on the winning 4-by-100.

SHAI MUMFORD, SENIOR, WEST DEPTFORD: Led Murray on a 1-2 finish, crossing the line 1-100th of a second in front of his teammate, and also anchored the 4-by-1.

JUSTIN BISHOP, SOPHOMORE, MAINLAND REG.: Bishop led a 1-2-3 400 finish in 49.31 and ran the third leg on the winning 4-by-4.

Rowan got contributions from a bunch of others, including freshman Airrion Scott from Ewing (second in 400, 49.72, leadoff on 4-by-4), sophomore Vincent Delle of Old. Ridge (50.22, third in 400, second leg on 4-by-4), senior Andrew Fitch Henry of Clearview (3:59.38, second in 1,500), freshman Kevin Lauer of Lenape (third in 1,500, 3:59.88), freshman Cyril Harvey from Old Bridge (second in 5,000, 15:20.43), freshman Cheo King of Woodbury (third in long jump) and freshman Julio Lebron of Memorial West New York (third in javelin).

Rowan goes to Swarthmore for a last-chance qualifier Monday and then competes in the All-Atlantic Championships at SUNY Cortland in Cortland, N.Y., next Wednesday and Thursday as a final warm-up for NCAA Division 3 nationals later this month in Geneva, Ohio.

Rowan is ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division 3 Atlantic Region behind Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Hartford, Conn., by the USTFCCCA and No. 13 nationally.

 

What a day for Arianna Smith!

The Pennsville senior won four gold medals with two PRs Tuesday at the Salem County Championships on her home track.

Let’s take a look at her performance:

—> Smith won the 100-meter hurdles with a personal-best 14.44. Her previous best was a 14.64 in the trials of the 2017 Meet of Champions. That’s fastest this year in Group 1 and No. 5 in South Jersey. The Salem County record is a hand-timed 14.1 by Ruth Dickey of Penns Grove in 1983. Smith’s 14.44 is the fastest FAT time on the all-time Salem County list.

—> Smith won the long jump at 17-6 1/4, just over her previous PR of 17-6, which she hit at Group 1 states last year. Her jump is the best this year by a Group 1 girl in New Jersey

—> Smith won the intermediate hurdles in 1:04.22. Her PR is 1:02.76, her winning time at states last year, and she has run 1:02.97 this year, No. 3 in New Jersey

—> Smith teamed up with sophomore Hanna Johnston, freshman Kaitlyn Samuels and freshman Taylor Burchfield to win the 1,600-meter relay in 4:09.25. Audubon and Pennsville rank No. 1 and No. 2 this year among New Jersey Group 1 schools at 4:06.20 and 4:06.39, both from Penn.

Woodstown outscored Schalick, 115-97, to win the girls title.

Junior Madeline Hunt, the SJ-1 high jump champ indoors, had a big day, winning the high jump (4-10), pole vault (9-6) and triple jump (36-0 1/4) for Woodstown

Senior Leah Gibson (12.86 100), junior Indian Norman (25.99 200), junior Annika Hantho (106-8 discus) and sophomore Kara Knorr (97-9 javelin) were other Woodstown winners. Hantho led a 1-2-3 Woodstown discus weep with senior Carmen Santiago and junior Alexis Marini.

Junior Tyler Davidson of Willingboro and freshman Mar-Quel Davis of Deptford were both double winners for Bloomfield Sunday at the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championships in Lakewood.

Davidson won the 400 in 49.32 and the intermediate hurdles in 56.27, and Davis won the 100 in 10.69 and the 200 in 21.72.

Davis’s 10.69, which was wind-legal at 1.5 meters per second, is a college-best. He’s gone as fast as 21.58 in the 200 this year.

Davidson also led off Bloomfield’s winning 1,600-meter relay team, which also included sophomore Samuel Keleekai of Rancocas Valley and junior Eddy Ongwenyi of Burlington Township.

Davis, who didn’t compete last year, also anchored the winning 400-meter relay team, which also included junior Mikal Wright of Bridgeton.

Davidson has college bests of 49.26 from an indoor meet at Ocean Breeze and 52.78 from the 2017 Penn Relays. His 400 PR is 48.03 from the BCSL meet at Northern Burlington, where he was second to Brandon Outlaw, who’s now at Virginia.

Davidson’s 100 PR is 10.65 from 2017 Group 3 sectionals at Delsea.

I’d love to tell you whether either Davidson or Davis has or is close to any school records, but Bloomfield’s web site doesn’t list school records or any other history of the program. It also lists the Penn Relays as an upcoming meet.

Also from the CACC meet (and remember this meet was held Sunday in a heavy rain):

–> Keleekai placed fourth in the 200 in 22.45

–> Sophomore Ja’haud Lowber of Bloomfield, a sophomore from Deptford, placed third in the triple jump at 45-3.

–> Bloomfield freshman Jeanquai Morton from Riverside was fourth in the 110-meter high hurdles (15.22) and sixth in the high jump at 6-1 1/2.

–> Freshman Michael Ramos of Riverside and Ongwenyi placed second and third in the intermediates in 57.36 and 57.38, giving South Jersey a sweep of the top three spots in the race.

–> Nicholas Rivera, a Bloomfield freshman from Camden, ran 4:05.37 for second in the 1,500.

–> Delsea graduate William Goldsborough, a Georgian Court freshman from Delsea, took second in the shot with a 48-11 1/2,  third in the discus with a 146-8 and fifth in the hammer at 135-9.

–> Georgia Court junior Devin Martin, a St. Joe’s Prep grad from Williamstown, ran 15.04 for second in the 110 highs and had a 45-2 1/2 for fourth in the triple jump.

–> Omari Kennedy, a Georgian Court junior from Cherry Hill East, took third in the long jump at 22-0 1/4.

–> Alejandro Valdez, a Georgia Court freshman from Bridgeton, placed third in the shot with a throw of 47-9 and added sixths in the discus and hammer.

–> Charles Wolef-Fields, a Wildwood Catholic graduate and Georgian Court freshman, ran 11.15 for fourth in the 100 and anchored the third-place 4-by-1 team.

–> In the women’s meet, Bloomfield freshman Siani Smith of Burlington City placed fifth in both the high hurdles and and high jump.

–> Georgian Court, coached by Holy Cross graduate Mike Murawski, won both the men’s and women’s team titles. The men have won four of the last five CACC titles. The women have won six in a row.

Jailya Ash recorded PRs in both the 100-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles at the Rowan Invitational this weekend, recording the fastest time in the state this year in the 100 and the No. 4 time in the hurdles.

WOW!!!

Ash, a sophomore at Eastern, was ready to make a 100 breakthrough based on her 7.06 indoors, which won her the Meet of Champions title at 55 meters.

She went into Glassboro with a 100 PR of 12.30 from last year’s Meet of Champions, but she ran close to that with a 12.31 at Lenape last weekend.

The PR came tumbling down in the 100 trials Friday at Rowan when she led all qualifiers into the finals with a 12.28. Then she outran the field in the final with a huge PR of 12.00, fastest at Rowan in nine years — since another Eastern sprinter, English Gardner, won the 2010 race in 11.87. Gardner of course went on to become an Olympic gold medalist and one of the greatest sprinters ever.

Ash’s time is third-fastest in meet history, behind Gardner and Shavon Greaves, who set the meet record of 11.68 for Lakewood in 2006. Greaves became a nine-time All-America at Penn State and now coaches at Wagner.

Egg Harbor sophomore Lauren Princz, the Meet of Champions 200 champ last spring, was second to Ash in 12.14. Ash, Wilson’s Dennisha Page (12.02) and Princz rank No. 1, 2 and 3 in New Jersey, according to the MileSplit data base.

Ash didn’t seriously race the 100 highs as a freshman, but she showed she can hurdle indoors, when she took second at Group 4 states and made the finals at the Meet of Champions.

But her outdoor PR was 14.78 going into the Rowan Invite. That went down to 14.40 in the trials and 14.36 in the final, where she finished behind only Winslow’s Tionna Tobias and Atlantic City’s Claudine Smith, who both ran 14.24.

The 2019 state list shows Smith at the top at 14.04, with Tobias third at 14.24 and Ash fourth.

Ash’s older sister Jewel, an Eastern junior, ranks second in New Jersey in the 200 at 24.70 and fifth in the intermediates 1:03.17 but didn’t compete at Rowan.

ALL-TIME S.J. 100-METER DASH LIST
11.42 … Michele Glover (Willingboro), 1981
11.49 … English Gardner (Eastern), 2008
11.57 … Patti Dunlap (Camden), 1979
11.58 … Bria Mack (Williamstown), 2017
11.61 … Amandi Rhett (Moorestown), 2000
11.71 … Shakira Dancy (Winslow Twp.), 2017
11.73 … Torie Robinson (Winslow Twp.), 2014
11.77 … Aisha Morgan (Schalick), 1998
11.78 … Shameka Speed (Bridgeton), 2003
11.81 … Denise Liles (Kingsway), 1984
11.81 … Lauren Princz (Egg Harbor Twp.), 2018
11.81 … Audrey (Wilson (Deptford), 2008
11.82 … Amandi Rhett (Moorestown), 1999
11.82 … Annie Johnson (Shawnee), 2012
11.84 … Robin Taylor (Deptford), 1980
11.85 … Dana Burnett (Willamstown), 1996
11.88 … Denis Mitchell (Edgewood), 1983
11.89 … Cecelia Gerstenbacher (Delsea), 2017
11.90 … Dennisha Page (Woodrow Wilson), 2018
11.91 … Aliya Harrison (Sterling), 2017
11.94 … Emily Carson (Haddonfield), 2013
11.95 … Aliyah Taylor (Rancocas Valley), 2017
11.96 … Jamillah Nock (Woodrow Wilson), 2004
11.98 … Kiara Lester (Deptford), 2014
11.98 … Ciera Ismail (Schalick), 2013
11.98 … Aliya Harrison (Sterling), 2018
12.00 … Jailya Ash (Eastern), 2019
12.00 … Andrea Conway (Bordentown), 1986
12.00 … Aisha Morgan (Schalick), 1998

The Rowan women got a bunch of massive performances this weekend in winning their six NJAC title in the last eight years.

Five women in particular came up huge for the Profs:

Hannah Vendetta, Myiah Sturdivant, Darielle Cross, Michelle Macauley and Aaniyah Robinson.

Those five combined to score 99 points — more than a third of Rowan’s total — as the Profs outscored The College of New Jersey 280-254 to win the 2019 team title at Stockton University’s Larry James Stadium in Galloway Township.

A 26-point win is very close in a meet with 19 events.

Here’s how they did it:

HANNAH VENDETTA, SENIOR, PITMAN [22 points]
Vendetta won the 1,500 in 4:47.01, took second in the 800 in 2:19.32 and ran fifth in the 5,000 in 18:34.41.

MYIAH STURDIVANT, SOPH, TIMBER CREEK [20 points]
Sturdivant won the 200 in 25.81 and the 400 in 57.39 and anchored winning 400-meter relay team (48.00) and ran on the second-place 1,600-meter relay team (4:07.58).

MICHELLE MACAULEY, SENIOR, FRANKLIN TWP. (20 points):
It’s pretty crazy that Macauley not only competed in the grueling seven-event, two-day heptathlon and placed second with 3,286 points, she also won the long jump at 18-1 3/4, placed in the high jump and even contested the triple jump! What a weekend!

DARIELLE CROSS, JUNIOR, MATAWAN [19 points]
Cross broke the school record and meet record in the hurdles trials with a 14.03, then took second in the final (14.52), third in the 100 (12.67) and fourth in the 200 (26.43) and also ran on the winning 4-by-1.

AANIYAH ROBINSON, SOPH, PASSAIC COUNTY TECH [18 points]
Robinson won the 100 in 12.30, placed second in the 200 in 25.88 and ran on the 4-by-100.

But that quintet got plenty of help.

Here are some of Rowan’s other standouts from this past weekend. And remember, times from Sunday don’t mean much since conditions were so bad.

Aspen McMillan, Senior South Brunswick (14 points): Won the 100 highs in 14.35, placed fifth in the 100 in 12.83 and ran on the 400-meter relay team.

Ashley Edwards, Freshman, Sayreville (14 points): Took fourth in the triple jump (34-8 1/2), second in the long jump (17-11 1/4) and eighth in the 100 hurdles (15.97).

Alyssa Sanders, Sophomore, Pitman (12 points): Ran second to teammate and high school teammate Vendetta in the 1,500 (4:50.02) and was seventh in the 800 (2:27.02) and 5,000 (18:49.38). How about that range!

Kari DiTonno, Junior, Livingston (11 points): Placed third in the high jump and fourth in the pole vault.

Dani Nicklas, Junior, Audubon (10 points): Won the intermediates in 1:05.09 and ran on the second-place 4-by-400.

Claire Incantalupo, Senior, Sparta (10 points): Ran fourth in both middle-distance races with 59.26 and 2:23.84 and ran a leg on the 4-by-400.

There are too many to mention here, but Chelsea Smith (freshman, Paulsboro) was fifth in the discus and hammer, Diane Ferraro (soph., South Plainfield) was fourth in the 1,500 and fifth in the 800, Makayla Taylor (freshman, Randolph) was fourth in the discus and fifth in the shot and Kierston Johnson (freshman, Oakcrest) was third in the 200 and eighth in the long jump

A *.pdf of full results, click here: http://www.leonetiming.com/2019/Outdoor/NJAC/Results.pdf

For event-by-event results, click here: https://results.leonetiming.com/?mid=1662

Deptford graduate Tyler Garland easily won his first conference title for Rowan University Sunday, running 14.37 to win the 110-meter high hurdles at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at Stockton University in Galloway Township.

Garland finished more than half a second ahead of second-place Daniel Pfueger of The College of New Jersey, who was second in 14.99.

https://results.leonetiming.com/?mid=1662

Garland, a sophomore, is ranked fourth nationally in NCAA Division 3 in the 110 highs with his 14.30 from a meet back in March in Orlando, Fla., in much better conditions.

https://www.tfrrs.org/lists/2572/2019_NCAA_Div._III_Outdoor_Qualifying/2019/o?gender=m

Garland will race in the 400-meter intermediates later Sunday. He’s ranked No. 25 nationally. Senior teammate Chris Mesiano from Schalick is the No. 1 seed and ranked fourth nationally at 52.96 behind three runners from different Ohio colleges.

Garland is a transfer from Rowan College Gloucester County, where he was a JUCO All-America in the 110 highs.

Senior Hannah Vendetta and sophomore Alyssa Sanders, Rowan teammates and former Pitman High School teammates, finished 1-2 in the 1,500 Sunday in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at Stockton University in Galloway Township.

Vendetta won the race in 4:47.01, Sanders was second in 4:50.02 and Moorestown graduate Natalie Cooper, a senior at The College of New Jersey, was third in 4:51.10, giving South Jersey a sweep of the top three places.

The conference title is Vendetta’s fourth. She also won the mile indoors the last two years and the 1,500 last spring.

The second-place finish is Sanders’ best ever in a conference meet. He was third in the 1,500 last spring.

Vendetta and Sanders ran at Pitman for legendary Matt Elmuccio, who won three Meet of Champions titles at 800 and 1,600 meters for Westfield in the late 1990s and anchored Westfield to the 1995 Penn Relays DMR title as a sophomore with a 4:11 anchor split.

Is she a hurdler who also long jumps or a long jumper who also hurdles? Tionna Tobias is making that question very difficult to answer.

Tobias over the last couple weekends has dominated both events, winning the long jump at Woodbury with a season-best 18-9 1/2 and then winning at Rowan with an 18-7 1/4. She ran 14.29 in the hurdles trials at the South Jersey Open Friday night, then ran a season-best 14.24 to win the finals

Tobias is No. 3 in the state in the hurdles, behind Atlantic City’s Claudine Smith, who ran 14.04 at the Carifta Trials in Jamaica last month, and Ramapo’s Grace O’Shea of Ramapo, who was third in the Meet of Champions last spring.

She’s No. 2 in the long jump in New Jersey, behind only Williamstown’s Karissa Watson, who popped a 18-10 1/2 at the Rowland Relays last weekend.

Tobias and Smith hooked up in a titanic battle in the hurdles finals at Rowan, with both being clocked in 14.24.

The photo cameras actually had Tobias winning by 6-1000ths of a second — 14.232 to 14.238 for Smith. Eastern soph Jailya Ash wasn’t far behind in a personal-best 14.36.

Tobias, Smith and Ash ran the three-fastest hurdles times at the Rowan Invite since 2012, when Ste’yce McNeil set the meet record of 13.79. Interesting that Tobias was Winslow’s eighth Rowan Invite hurdles winner in the last 15 years, following Krystal Cantey in 2005 and 2006, McNeil from 2010 through 2012, Gabrielle Bennett in 2015 and Brittany Preston in 2016. You can add Edgewood’s Pam Richardson in 2000 as well, since Edgewood became Winslow.

In the long jump, Tobias came up just short of her own meet record of 18-9 1/4 from last year but she did become the first girl in meet history to win the long jump two years in a row. Her 18-7 1/4 was two inches better than Millville freshman Bryanna Craig, who set a huge PR of 18-5 1/4.

Next for Tobias and the Winslow girls powerhouse is the Camden County Championships Saturday at Haddon Township.

Rancocas Valley graduate Danielle Steff of Monmouth bombed a 161-1 to win the javelin Saturday at the MAAC Championships at her home track in West Long Branch.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title is the second in a row for Steff, who threw 160-7 to win last year’s title.

She’s the first Monmouth woman ever to win back-to-back conference javelin titles going back to Monmouth’s days in the NEC.

Steff PR’d last month with a 163-1 in a meet at Moravian College in Bethlehem. That’s only a foot off the school record of 164-4, set in 2014 by Kelsey Reese. No. 2 and 3 in Monmouth history — Steff and Cinnaminson graduate Faith Blamon (162-7 in 2017) — are from South Jersey and more specifically from the Burlington County Scholastic League.

Steff wasn’t far off the meet record of 164-3, set in 2014 by Reese.

Steff opened with a 150-0 that would have been good enough to win. She threw 143-4 and then fouled to finish the trials, then opened the finals with throws of 141-0 and 136-0 before hitting the 161-1 on the final throw of the competition.

Monmouth swept the top three spots with Stephanie Roones second and Kristin Krier third. In all, Monmouth went 1-2-3-5-7-8 in the event.

Good luck finding team scores anywhere — they don’t seem to be on the results web site — but the Monmouth women seem to have a huge lead going into Sunday’s final events.

Matter of fact, the MAAC web site is a disaster. As of noon Sunday they still hadn’t updated Saturday’s team scores. There is no order of events to be found. There is a meet program, but it’s from 2018 and doesn’t include an order of events.