Cherokee graduate Kaila Carter, a sophomore at The College of New Jersey, ran a massive PR of 14.29 in the 100-meter hurdles this week at the All-Atlantic Regional Track and Field Championships in Brockport, N.Y.

Carter lowered her PR from 14.63, which she ran placing third in the NJAC meet on her home track earlier this month.

Her time was wind-aided but ranks No. 7 in NCAA Division 3 going into the NCAA Championships.

Carter finished second to Rowan sophomore Darielle Cross, who ran a personal-best 14.24, No. 4 in NCAA Division 3.

Carter’s high school PR in the highs was 15.51 for fifth at South Jersey Group 4 sectionals in 2016.

Stone Caraccio wasn’t in the fast race. Until he made it the fast race.

Caraccio, a Kingsway sophomore, didn’t qualify for the seeded boys 1,600 Friday evening at the 11th annual Holmdel Twilight Series Royal Rumble because his PR was only 4:22.80 from just a week ago, when he won the Gloucester County meet at Delsea.

That’s fast. And very fast for a sophomore. But not quite fast enough to get him into the field of 15 for the elite race Friday night at Bob Roggy Stadium.

So Caraccio settled for the 21st and fastest section of the open 1,600 and proceeded to win it in a ridiculous six-second PR of 4:16.11 — fast enough to place sixth in the seeded race!

The time makes Caraccio the No. 12 sophomore in the U.S. and No. 1 in New Jersey. It’s fastest by a South Jersey sophomore since Ben Potts of Haddonfield ran 4:14.14 at the 2009 Meet of Champions. The last Gloucester County sophomore to run faster was Xavier Fraction of Washington Township, who went 4:15.66 at the 2010 Meet of Champions.

Tom Cooke set the Kingsway 1,600 record of 4:11.84 at the 2012 Meet of Champions. Caraccio is the fastest Kingsway miler since Noah Culbreath ran 4:16.01 at 2014 sectionals..

With Cooke, Culbreath and Caraccio, Kingsway has now had three runners whose last name starts with “C” go 4:16.11 or faster in the last seven years.

The various races at Holmdel Friday night produced the six-fastest 1,600 times in South Jersey this year, and all six runners recorded outdoor PRs.

In addition to Caraccio,

—> Bishop Eustace junior Connor Melko PR’d with a 4:16.20 for sixth in the elite race (his previous PR was 4:17.99 at last year’s Parochial A states;

—> Cherokee senior Justin Kelly ran 4:19.93 in the seeded race, an outdoor PR, although he has run faster (4:18.48) indoors;

—> Cherokee sophomore Christopher Spisak ran 4:20.96 in the seeded race, a nine-second PR from his previous PR of 4:29.76 set this past winter at the Bennett Center;

—> Kingsway senior Jonathan Connor ran 4:21.91 for sixth in the open race and a five-second PR;

—> Eustace junior Andrew Massaro ran 4:22.24, a five-second PR, and placed seventh in the open race.

Also:

—> Cherokee soph Ethan Wechsler ran 4:22.70 for a 12-second PR and a 24-second outdoor PR and was ninth in the open race;

—> Kingsway senior Joe Grandizio ran 4:23.04 in the elite race, missing his 1,600 PR of 4:22.68 by less than half a second.

Rowan junior Shai Mumford, a West Deptford graduate, ran a season-best 21.40 to win the 200-meter dash Thursday at the All-Atlantic Regional Track and Field Championships at Brockport, N.Y.

Mumford ran within 8-100ths of a second of his PR of 21.32, which he ran last year at another upstate New York meet — in Oneonta, N.Y.

Mumford out-sprinted Hamilton senior Eli Saucier of Hamilton (N.Y.), who was second in 21.47, with junior Alex Kainer of Stevens Institute another step behind in 21.53.

Mumford’s best time previously this spring was a 21.53 last month in a meet in Bethlehem, Pa.

The 21.40 ranks No. 10 in NCAA Division 3 this year. The times were PRs for Saucier and Kainer.

Mumford’s high school PR was a 21.72 to win the 2014 South Jersey Group 2 sectionals at Buena.

Rowan senior Bobby Cooks ran a personal best and the fastest 110-meter hurdles time this year in NCAA Division 3 Thursday with a 14.05 to win the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Championships at Brockport, N.Y.

Cooks edged top-ranked Peter Girardi of St. John Fisher, who entered the day ranked No. 1 in Division 3 at 14.21 to Cooks’ 14.24.

Cooks, from McArthur High School in Pembroke Pines, Fla., broke his personal best of 14.09, set last spring at the NCC Gregory Final Qualifier in Naperville, Ill., as a junior at Aurora College in Illinois.

Cooks was the Division 3 runner-up indoors, finishing 4-100ths of a second behind Mount Union’s Mason Plant. He is ranked sixth in D-3 this spring at 14.33.

The race Thursday at SUNY Brockport produced the three-fastest times in NCAA Division 3 this year.

Behind Cooks, Girardi ran 14.08 and Storm Malone of SUNY Cortland of 14.12.

Rowan sophomore Francis Terry, a Sterling High School graduate, ran another 400 PR Monday night, clocking 47.55 for second at the Swarthmore Final Qualifier Meet.

Terry finished second to Thomas Kalieta Jr., of Wesley College in Newark, Del., who won the race in 47.01.

Terry’s time is No. 6 in NCAA Division 3 and breaks his indoor PR of 48.22, set last month at the Widener Invitational. His previous overall PR of 47.99 was set  indoors when he won the NJAC title at the Ocean Breeze facility in Staten Island, N.Y.

It’s fastest by a Rowan quarter-miler since at least 2005, as far as available records go, and probably longer than that.

Terry’s PR at Sterling was 49.37, when he placed second to Luke Colehower at the 2016 Camden County meet at Haddon Township. He competed last year for Neumann University in Aston, Pa., but focused on other events and finished his freshman year with a season-best of 50.45.

He ran nearly three seconds faster than that Monday night against a loaded field on a perfect night at the Walter T. Skallerup Jr. track.

In all, four Rowan 400 runners broke 50 seconds, Terry in the first heat, freshman Hunter Barbieri of Egg Harbor Township High (PR 49.16) and freshman Justin Bishop from Mainland Regional (49.29) in the second heat and freshman Vincent Delle of Old Bridge in the third heat (49.70).

All four are in their first year in the Rowan program.

Including senior Jamil Jackson of Highland, who has run 49.27, Rowan now has five under 50 seconds (actually at 49.65 or faster).

 

 

Jaymes Dennison, a Penns Grove graduate and senior at Iowa State, ran 1:48.20 for second place Sunday at the Big 12 Conference championships Sunday in Waco, Texas.

Dennison finished behind only Texas Tech senior Vincent Crisp, who won the race in 1:47.69.

Dennison ran only about half a second off his PR of 1:47.63 from a meet last spring at Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz.

Dennison ranks 22nd in NCAA Division 1 and 12th in the Western Regional. He ranks No. 5 in Iowa State history both indoors and outdoors and No. 3 indoors in the 600-yard run at 1:08.97.

 

 

Jessica Woodard won her third Big 12 Conference shot put title Sunday, with a season-best 59-3 1/2, the No. 3 throw in the country this spring.

Woodard won the outdoor title last year and the indoor title this year. Her throw Sunday at Baylor’s Clyde Hart Stadium was less than a foot off her PR of 60-2 3/4, set at last year’s Big 12 meet.

Woodard trails only Arizona State’s Maggie Ewen [63-10 1/4] and Stanford’s Lena Giger [59-4 1/4] on the NCAA Division 1 list. Her mark is No. 23 on the 2018 world women’s list USA and No. 7 among U.S. women.

On Saturday, Woodard placed third in the discus with a throw of 184-7, also the second-best of her brilliant career at Oklahoma. Her PR is a 190-9 from a meet in Austin back in March and is No. 7 in NCAA Division 1 this year. She’s No. 37 internationally and the No. 10 American women.

Woodard’s best throw in both events this weekend came on her third throw of the competition.

The only other U.S. collegian ranked in the top 10 in both the shot and discus is Ewen [63-10 1/4, 201-0], the double national leader.

Kamron Kobolak continued his record-setting senior season with a monster throws double at the BCSL meet Saturday at Northern Burlington.

The Cinnaminson senior won the shot put at 60-0 3/4 and the discus at 171-5 to help Cinnaminson win the Patriot Division title, 197-103, over Delran. It was Cinnaminson’s third straight title and sixth in the last nine years.

Kobolak didn’t PR — he has a 61-0 from last weekend and a 63-7 3/4 indoors in the shot and a 177-6 from last weekend – but he destroyed every throws record in a meet that goes back to the 1960s.

Kobolak broke the BCSL Patriot Division records of 54-7 set in 1992 by Cinnaminson’s Craig Turner and 153-6 set in 1996 by Delran’s Joe Howe.

And he broke the overall meet records of 58-6 1/2 set in 1970 by Riverside’s Dean Ness – the former county record – and 164-7 set by Willingboro’s Chuck Spinner in 1970.

Kobolak is only the sixth thrower — and the first in 24 years — to throw 50 and 150 in the same BCSL meet.

Let’s take a look at those six doubles:

Kamron Kobolak [Cinnaminson], 2018 –> 60-0 3/4 … 171 1/2 [Patriot]
Barry Dickerson [Willingboro], 1981 –> 54-10 1/2 … 155-3 [Liberty]
Steve Muse [Kennedy], 1984 –> 53-9 … 157-1 [Liberty]
Brandon Potter [Delran], 1994 –> 52-2 … 151-4 [Patriot]
Greg Willis [Palmra], 1994 –> 51-4 1/4 … 160-10 [Freedom]
Lonnie Rice [Florence], 1980 –> 50-7 1/2 … 157-10 [Freedom]

Kobolak ranks No. 2 in the state in the shot put and No. 3 in the discus and No. 1 in both throws in South Jersey.

He’s No. 8 in South Jersey history in the shot put and No. 1 in the discus.

Next for Kobolak is the Burlington County Open.

Meet records?

Kobolak is going after 60-7 3/4 in the shot, set in 2004 by Ell Ash of Willingboro, and 172-9 in the discus, set in 1997 by Cherokee’s Dennis Norman.

Burlington Township senior Keyanna Meade put together quite a jumps double Saturday, PR’ing in both the long jump and triple jump and winning both horizontal jumps at the BCSL Liberty Division meet at Northern Burlington.

Meade jumped 17-5 1/2 to win the long jump and 36-4 to win the triple jump. She also placed third in the high jump, matching her PR of 5-0, accounting for 26 points

Her previous PRs were 16-1 3/4 in the long jump at Group 3 states last spring and 35-9 3/4 in the triple jump just last weekend at the Rowan Open at Washington Township.

Meade is now No. 6 in South Jersey this year in the long jump and No. 2 in the triple jump. She is the No. 4 performer in BCSL Liberty Division meet history in the long jump and No. 3 in the triple jump.

The only superior jumps double in BCSL Liberty Division history was turned in by Ashley Edwards of Northern Burlington, who had a 17-6 / 36-9 1/2 double in 2015.

Here’s a look at the top long jump marks in BCSL Liberty Division Meet history:

TOP BCSL LIBERTY DIVISION LONG JUMPS
18-4 1/2 .… Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], 1987
18-2 1/4 …..… Lee, 1988
17-10 1/2 … Demya Walker [Rancocas Valley], 1995
17-10…………….Walker, 1994
17-6 ….…… Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2013
17-5 1/2 … Keyanna Meade [Burlington Twp.], 2018
17-4 ……… Kerri Hobbs [Lenape], 1985
17-3 3/4 … Kathy Todd [Shawnee], 1983
17-3 ……… Samantha Sweeney [Cherokee], 1999
17-2 1/2 … … Hobbs, 1984
17-2 1/2 … … Lee, 1986
17-2 1/2 … … Edwards, 2014
17-2 ……… Kristen Kelly [Shawnee], 1990
17-2 ……… Kristina Tossas [Rancocas Valley], 2018
17-0 3/4……….Edwards, 2014
17-0 1/2 … Jessica Hurley [Shawnee], 1998

TOP BCSL LIBERTY DIVISION LONG JUMPS
38-1 …….. Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2014
36-10 ..… Kiah Walton [Burlington Twp.] 2013
36-9 ½ ……… Edwards [Northern Burlington] 2015
36-4 ….… Keyanna Meade [Burlington Twp.] 2018
36-3 1/2 .. Nia Hinds [Burlington Twp.], 2015
36-0 ……. Kiah Walton [Burlington Twp.] 2012

Villanova junior Sterling Pierce, a Rancocas Valley, won the Big East 100-meter dash title Saturday by 1-100th of a second over sophomore Adam Nelson of DePaul.

Pierce ran a personal-best 10.60 to Nelson’s 10.61 on the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Pierce came back to place second in the 200 with another PR of 21.18, just 7-100ths of a second behind freshman Nate Alleyne of Georgetown, who ran 21.11. Egg Harbor graduate Amir Brock, a Villanova freshman, was fifth in that race in 21.60.

Pierce’s 100 time is fastest in the Big East meet since 2013, when Derrick Hopkins of South Florida ran 10.38. His 200 time would have been fast enough to win the last four titles.

His previous 100 PR was a 10.64 when he won the Big East title as a freshman. His previous 200 PR was a 21.34 at the 2016 Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Va.

Pierce is now a three-time Big East champ. He won the 100 and 200 in 2016. Although his 100 titles weren’t consecutive, he’s only the seventh sprinter in the meet’s 39-year history to win the 100 twice. Among the double winners were Pitt’s Dietrich Jells in 1994 and 1995. Jells went on to play wide receiver for the Eagles.

Pierce was a two-time Meet of Champions winner in the 200 at Rancocas Valley. He had high school PRs of 10.72 and 21.66, both at the 2015 Group 4 sectionals at Egg Harbor.