Despite running into a ridiculous headwind, Moravian freshman Zion Howard, a Moorestown graduate, posted the second-fastest qualifying time in the 200-meters Thursday in the NCAA Division 3 national championships.

Howard ran 21.79 into a 5.0 meters-per-second headwind.

That was just 1-100th off the fastest qualifying time in Thursday’s trials at La Crosse, Wisc. Jordan Johnson of Benedictine College in Illinois ran 21.78 into a 3.5 miles-per-hour wind.

Only three other sprinters were under 22 seconds on a day when the headwinds for the 200 trials were all over 3.5.

Howard ran within a quarter of a second of his PR of 21.52 set back in April at a meet at Muhlenberg College in Allentown that was run with a 1.5 meters-per-second assisting wind.

Howard finished first in the third of three heats of qualifying rounds, earning an automatic berth in the final.

Howard was only seeded 20th coming into the meet, making him the final entry in the event.

But he’ll be in a center lane for the final and only needs to beat one runner to earn All-America honors as a true freshman.

Howard didn’t run a lot of 200s at Moorestown. His fastest was a 22.32 at Central Jersey Group 3 sectionals last spring in Bernardsville.

The 200 final is scheduled for 2:40 p.m. Saturday at Roger Harring Stadium on the Wisconsin La Crosse campus, just across the Mississippi River from Minnesota.

Stockton University senior Kaitlyn Dermen, a graduate of Millville High, earned All-America honors Thursday when she placed fourth in the pole vault at the NCAA Division 3 Championships  in La Crosse, Wisc.

Dermen entered the meet seeded ninth.

The top eight finishers in each event earn All-America honors. Derman placed ninth at nationals last spring and was 12th at indoor nationals this past winter, so after two near-misses she’s now an All-America.

Derman entered at the opening height of 11-5 3/4 and cleared on her second attempt. She cleared 11-11 3/4 on her first attempt and 12-3 1/2 on her second.

By clearing 12-3 1/2 on her second try instead of her third, she placed fourth instead of fifth or sixth.

I would love to know how many track All-Americas Stockton has had, but Stockton doesn’t have a list or any history of Stockton track available on its athletics web site.

But Derman is at least the third Stockton pole vaulter to earn All-America honors. Kim Marino, a graduate of Middletown North, won the NCAA indoor and outdoor Division 3 titles in 2003 and was a five-time All-America, and Chelsea Vaughan of Southern Regional tied for third in 2016.

 

What a race for Aliya Rae Garozzo at sectionals!

The Paul VI sophomore won the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 1:02.37, fastest time this year in South Jersey and No. 2 in the state.

Only West Essex senior Reanda Richards, the Meet of Champions 400 and 400IH runner-up last spring, has run faster with a 59.17 for third place at Penn.

Garozzo’s previous PR was a 1:03.36 at the Camden County meet, so that’s nearly a full-second jump. Before that she hadn’t broken 1:05. And she’s only run the event four times at major meets, so it’s quite an improvement in a short amount of time.

Her time is fastest by a South Jersey sophomore since Rachel Armstead of Millville ran 1:02.13 for sixth at the 2014 Meet of Champions.

Garozzo also ran a leg on Paul VI’s record-setting first-place 3:54.89 1,600-meter relay team, placed third in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.50 after a 15.43 in the trials and took fourth in the 400 in 58.20.

The 15.43 broke her high hurdles PR of 15.44 by 1-100th of a second, and she ran within 21/100ths of her 400 PR of 57.99, set at the Rowan Open earlier this month.

Garozzo’s 400IH time was fastest of all four non-public races

Junior Angela Bannan had a hand in 30 points, and senior Ayana Plummer had a hand in 25 more as the Holy Spirit girls won their first South Jersey Parochial B title Monday and Tuesday at Donovan Catholic in Toms River.

Bannan ran a personal-best 5:13.40 for second in the 1,600 and a PR 11:14.11 for second in the 3,200. She also ran 2:24.72 for fourth in the 800 and led off the winning 3,200-meter relay team.

Plummer was second in the javelin at 93-3, sixth in the 400 in 1:03.71 and ran legs on two relay teams — the first-place 4×4 and third-place 4×1.

Holy Spirit’s 1,600-meter relay win gave the Spartans an 88-84 win over St. Rose for the team title. Plummer led off, followed by junior Isabella Desario, senior Kayla Patitucci and junior Paige Sofield. That group ran a season-best 4:10.38.

Bannan, sophomore Jenna Bradberry, Patucci and Sofield ran 10:16.44 to win the 3,200-meter relay, and sophomore Melody Pugliese, Plummer, Patitucci and Desario ran 53.26 in the 400-meter relay. Sofield was also third in the 800 in 2:24.44.

In the field, Holy Spirit went 1-3 in the discus with junior Ariana Mack winning at 97-8 and freshman Julia Bannan third at 91-10. Bannan (31-3) and junior Mack (28-5) went 3-4 in the shot. With Plummer and Mack going 2-6 in the javelin, that’s 35 points in the throws.

In the nine years of outdoor parochial sectionals, the Holy Spirit girls are the first program that’s actually from South Jersey to win a sectional title. The S.J. Parochial B team title has belonged only to Pingry (five times), Oak Knoll (twice) and Benedictine Academy (once).

Holy Spirit is the first school from Atlantic County to win an outdoor girls sectional title since Pleasantville in Group 2 in 2002 and the first from the Cape-Atlantic Conference since Bridgeton in Group 2 in 2005.

The last time a non-public South Jersey girls program won any sectional title was 1977, when Paul VI won Group 3.

Paul VI won the 1,600-meter relay in 3:54.89 Tuesday on Day 2 of the South Jersey Parochial A sectional championships at Donovan Catholic in Toms River.

The all-underclass team of junior Carly Schmidt, sophomore Aliya Rae Garozzo, junior Keyann’a Watkins and freshman Abigail Lutz upset No. 1 seed Union Catholic, which was second in 3:57.46.

The time is the fastest by a South Jersey non-public school in at least a decade and perhaps ever. That will take some research.

The time is also No. 3 in New Jersey this year, behind only Winslow, which ran 3:53.73 at the Penn Relays, and Union Catholic, which ran 3:54.38, also at Penn.

The only other South Jersey schools under 4:00 so far this spring are Rancocas Valley [3:56.09 at Penn] and Egg Harbor [3:59.87 at Penn].

 

Shawnee sophomores Isabella Turner and Claire Hauser finished 1-2 in the 1,600-meter run Monday night at the Haddonfield Distance Night.

Turner won the race in 5:12.68 and Hauser was second in 5:13.22.

Turner’s previous PR was a 5:14.59 at last year’s Burlington County Open. Hauser’s 5:13.22 is a season best and less than a second off her PR of 5:12.55 from Group 3 sectionals last year.

The times are No. 1 and No. 2 in Burlington County this year and No. 5 and No. 6 in South Jersey. Shawnee is the only South Jersey school with two girls under 5:15.

They also put Turner and Hauser in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in South Jersey Group 4 going into sectionals, behind only Kingsway’s Kylie Anicic, who has run 5:08.86. They’re also the top two South Jersey times this year by sophomores.

Cinnaminson senior Madison Edwards also PR’d, making it a 1-2-3 Burlington County finish with a 5:15.47. Her previous PR was a 5:17.08 at the indoor state Group 2 meet at the Bennett Center.

Rancocas Valley on Monday became the first South Jersey school to win the East Coast Relays sprint medley in 16 years when the Red Devils girls ran a South Jersey-best 4:09.47 at the 42nd annual East Coast Relays at Randolph High School.

The time is No. 2 in New Jersey this year.

R.V. is the first South Jersey school to win the ECR sprint medley since Woodrow Wilson in 2002. The only other S.J. school to win it in the last 30 years was Willingboro in 1998.

Sophomore Maya Primas (25.6) and junior Daryn Minus Vincent (25.5) handled the 200s, with senior Aliyah Taylor breaking the race open with a 55.3 split and senior Alanna Thompson anchoring in 2:18.2.

The time is R.V.’s fastest in 11 years, since the 2007 team ran 4:06.56 to win the Eastern Regional Relay Classic in Willingboro.

The SMR win was the first ever on the track for the R.V. program at the prestigious East Coast Relays. The Red Devils’ only previous wins at the ECR came in the field in 2014 — wins in the long jump and javelin relays.

 

 

Rancocas Valley on Monday became the first school to win back-to-back sprint medley titles in 17 years when they ran a South Jersey-best 3:32.48 at the 42nd annual East Coast Relays at Randolph High School.

The time is No. 7 in New Jersey this year.

R.V. ran 3:32.99 to win last year’s ECR SMR. The last to successfully repeat the sprint medley at the East Coast Relays was Suffern of New York in 2000 and 2001. The last New Jersey school to repeat was St. Benedict’s of Newark in 1995 and 1996.

Juniors Tai Matlock (22.4) and Caden Kennedy (22.8) handled the 200s for the Red Devils, and senior Daequan Jackson Swoope split 49.1 to set up junior anchor Ian Moore, who finished off the win with a 1:56.8 split.

This is the sixth straight year R.V. has run sub-3:33, which is a remarkable record of consistency, especially considering that when the streak began, three of the four legs from today’s group were in 6th grade.

No other school in New Jersey has run sub-3:33 in each of the last six years. Here are R.V.’s year-by-year times:

2018: 3:32.48
2017: 3:29.44
2016: 3:30.70
2015: 3:32.31
2014: 3:30.68
2013: 3:32.02

Pleasantville junior Quentin Bundy ran 55.84 to win the 400-meter intermediate hurdles and 1:56.25 to win the 800 at the Cape-Atlantic League Championships this weekend at Bridgeton.

Bundy is the first Cape-Atlantic athlete to run sub-56 for the intermediates and sub-1:57 for the 800 since Oakcrest’s Ishmael Muhammad, now at Villanova, back in 2014.

Bundy PR’d in the intermediates, breaking his previous PR of 56.38 just a week earlier in the Atlantic County meet. He ran very close to his 800 PR of 1:56.10, also from the county meet.

The 800 time is No. 2 in South Jersey this year, behind a 1:55.13 turned in by Haddonfield’s Derek Gess at the South Jersey Invitational. The 400IH time is also No. 2 in South Jersey behind county and conference rival Sincere Rhea of St. Augustine, who edged Bundy in the Atlantic County meet with a PR 55.63.

Bundy will race this weekend in the South Jersey Group 2 championships at Delsea.

Oakcrest senior Brielle Smith PR’d again in the javelin, this time with a massive 151-3 bomb to win the Cape Atlantic Championships at Bridgeton.

It’s the top throw by a New Jersey thrower in six years and No. 6 in the U.S., according to the Milesplit database. It’s also No. 4 in South Jersey history and No. 8 in state history with the current implement, which went into use in 2002.

Smith’s previous PR was a 150-7 at the Woodbury Relays in April, but she also had a 150-3 last weekend at the Atlantic County championships.

By surpassing 46 meters — 150-11 — Smith qualified for the USATF Junior Championships next month in Bloomington, Ind.

ALL-TIME S.J. JAVELIN LIST
160-  8 … Maria Jimenez (Vineland), 2012
152-  9 … Katherine Johnston (Haddonfield), 2012
152-  4 … Jill Shaner (Egg Harbor Twp.), 2009
151-  3 … Brielle Smith (Oakcrest), 2018
148-  8 … Caitlin Cielo (Eastern), 2002
146-  7 … Victoria Imbesi (Our Lady of Mercy), 2008
141-  6 … Lindsay Minch (Pennsville), 2010
141-  5 … Kelly Yanucil (Bordentown), 2013
141-  1 … Tumelo Nwanma (Vineland), 2016
141-  0 … Jocelyn McRae (Millville), 2006
140-  1 … Caitlin Ciello (Eastern), 2002
140-  0 … Melissa Lake (Cherokee), 2011

ALL-TIME N.J. JAVELIN LIST
160-  8 … Maria Jimenez (Vineland), 2012
155-  8 … Daina Pucurs (Demarest), 2004
155-  0 … Jamie Klein (Paramus Catholic), 2011
154-11 … Nia Barnes (West Orange), 2011
152-  9 … Katherine Johnston (Haddonfield), 2012
152-  4 … Jill Shaner (Egg Harbor Twp.), 2009
152-  3 … Shauntierah Douglas (Garfield), 2012
151-  3 … Brielle Smith (Oakcrest), 2018