High School Track

Josh Clark makes history … for himself AND for Highland!!!!!!!!!

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Highland junior Josh Clark made history for himself and for his school Saturday when he blazed the challenging Van Cortlandt Park 5,000-meter course in an eye-opening 15:28.4 and placing fourth in the 39th annual Foot Locker Northeast Regionals.

We’ll have a bunch of lists farther down, but let’s take a look at what a monumental accomplishment this was for Clark:

–> By placing among the top 10, he advanced to the Foot Locker National Championships, scheduled for Dec. 12 at Balboa Park in San Diego.

–> Clark ran the fourth-fastest time ever by a South Jersey runner at Vanny and the fastest in 18 years, since Overbrook’s Murad Campbell ran 15:27.7 in the 1997 race.

–> That time is also 12th-fastest ever at Van Cortlandt by a New Jersey runner and 58th-fastest in course history.

–> Clark finished just 4 1/2 seconds behind overall regional winner Noah Affolder of Fort Drum, N.Y., who won in 15:23.9. It’s also only 11 seconds off the legendary South Jersey Vanny-record 15:17.6 run by Jason DiJoseph 27 years ago, a time once thought untouchable.

— He also joined Jerry Andrews in 1979, Kevin Pumphrey in 1985 and Nate Miller in 1998 as Foot Locker national qualifiers from Highland. To put that in context, every other South Jersey school combined has sent a total of nine boys to Foot Locker nationals.

–> In fact, only two other South Jersey schools have had more than one qualifier. Paul VI has had two, Jason DiJoseph and Ron Faith, both in the 1980s, and Cherokee has had two, Marc Pelerin and Shawn Wilson, both in the last 15 years.

–> The only New Jersey school other than Highland with more than two Foot Locker finaliss is North Hunterdon, which has had five — Brad Hudson, Andy Martin and Bill Babcock — who were all teammates in the mid-1980s on the greatest team ever assembled in NJ XC history — and more recently Brendan and Heffernan and Mat McDonald.

–> And Clark gave South Jersey a national qualifier for an unprecedented fourth straight year. Cherokee’s Shawn Wilson, Hammonton’s Lou Corgliano and Haddon Township’s Luke Petela also placed the last three years.

OK, it’s time for some charts and lists.

First, here’s a look at every Foot Locker qualifier from South Jersey and his performance at Northeast Regionals:

1979
N/A, Jim Smith, Haddonfield, N/A,
N/A, Jerry Andrews, Highland, N/A,
1985
2nd, Kevin Pumphrey, Highland Regional, 15:25. 6
6th, Ron Faith, Paul VI, (San Diego), 15:46
1986
6th, Jason DiJoseph, 10, Paul VI, 15:55
1987
4th, Jason DiJoseph, 11, Paul VI, 15:47
8th, Eric Lorenz, 12, Holy Cross, 15:50
1988
1st, Jason DiJoseph, 12, Paul VI, 15:17.6
1997
2nd, Murad Campbell, 11, Overbrook, 15:27
1998
5th, Nate Miller, 12, Highland Regional, 15:49
2001
6th, Marc Pelerin, 12, Cherokee , 15:40.1
2003
7th, Jonathan Anderson, 12, Cinnaminson, 15:30.4
2008
8th, Brett Johnson, 12, Ocean City, 15:50.1
2012
3rd, Shawn Wilson, 12, Cherokee, 15:42.5
2013
9th, Lou Corgliano, 12, Hammonton, 15:40.7
2014
2nd, Luke Petela, 12, Haddon Twp., 15:33.4
2015
4th, Josh Clark, 11, Highland, 15:28.4

Now let’s take a look at the all-time New Jersey list at Van Cortlandt, with South Jersey athletes in bold-face:

  • 15:15.5 … Craig Forys [Colts Neck], 2006
  • 15:17.6 … Jason DiJoseph [Paul VI], 1988
  • 15:18.0 … Brad Hudon [North Hunterdon], 1983
  • 15:19.8 … Cliff Sheehan [Westfield], 1980
  • 15:20.5 … Edward Cheserek [St. Benedict’s], 2011
  • 15:24.8 … Tom Fischer [Manalapan], 1981
  • 15:24.9 … John Carloti [Bernards], 1982
  • 15:25.6 … Kevin Pumphrey [Highland], 1985
  • 15:25.8 … Brian Leung [West Windsor], 2007
  • 15:26.9 … Mike Mykytok [Bound Brook], 1988
  • 15:27.7 … Murad Campbell [Overbrook], 1997
  • 15:28.4 … Josh Clark [Highland],  2015
  • 15:29.1 … Liam Mullet [Pingry Prep], 2014
  • 15:29.9 … Brandon Jarrett [Hillsborough], 2006
  • 15:30.3 … Andy Martin [North Hunterdon], 1984
  • 15:30.4 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 2003
  • 15:31.0 … John Coyle [CBA], 1988
  • 15:31.4 … Joe Dragon [High Point], 2015
  • 15:33.0 … Bill Babcock [North Hunterdon], 1984
  • 15:33.5 … Matt Grossman [Millburn], 2015
  • 15:33.4 … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2014
  • 15:35.1 … Mohamed Khadraoui [JFK-Paterson], 2003
  • 15:36.0 … Andrew Brodeur [Brick], 2007
  • 15:36.6 … Tyler Udland [Millburn], 2008
  • 15:37.0 … Iah Hahn [Lakewood], 1997
  • 15:37.0 … Jeffrey Perrella [Westfield], 2005
  • 15:38.2 …  Brendan Heffernan [North Hunterdon], 1991
  • 15:39.0 … Scott Meehan [Sparta], 2013
  • 15:40.1 …  Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2001 
  • 15:40.7 … Loui Corgliano [Hammonton], 2013

Curious what schools have sent more than one runner to Foot Locker [or Kinney before it] nationals? Here’s the full list. Only seven schools have done that.

North Hunterdon [5]: Brad Hudson, Andy Martin, Bill Babcock, Brendan Heffernan, Matt McDonald
Highland [4]: Kevin Pumphrey, Nate Miller, Jerry Andrews, Josh Clark
Westfield [2]: Cliff Sheehan, Jeffrey Perrella
Hunterdon Central [2]: Jim Herdman, Jon Fasulo
Paul VI [2]: Ron Faith, Jason DiJoseph
Cherokee [2]: Marc Pelerin, Shawn Wilson
Millburn [2]: Tyler Udland, Blake Udland

 

Schalick’s Mesiano looking to make history in Group 1 intermediates!

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Keep an eye on the Group 1 intermediates Friday afternoon at the South Jersey sectionals a Egg Harbor. It should be very fast.

Chris Mesiano of Schalick is the favorite and will be trying to become the first ever to win three straight SJ-1 intermediates. He won in 2013 in 57.36 and last year in 55.7.

Mesiano ran a big PR of 53.83 last week at the Tri-County Championships, the No. 2 time in New Jersey, behind only Union Catholic’s Taylor McLaughlin (51.92) and the No. 1 time among all New Jersey juniors and all South Jersey athletes.

Mesiano’s time is second-fastest in the last 10 years by a South Jersey Group 1 athlete, just 1-100th of a second behind the 53.82 run by Penns Grove’s Stephon Bell when he won the 2010 state Group 1 title. The fastest Group 1 hurdler in state history is the legendary Fred Sharpe of Paulsboro, who ran 51.62 at the 1997 Meet of Champions.

Nobody has run under 55 seconds at the SJ-1 intermediates since Palmyra’s Will Brown ran 54.8 in 2005. Brown went on to win the national scholastic title in the high hurdles a year later and was a two-time national high hurdles for Montclair State.

Burlington City’s Bryan Smith (54.3 in 2001) and Sharpe (53.0 in 1997) are the only other runners to break 55 in Group 1.

Mesiano will also be trying to become the first South Jersey hurdler in any group since Dwight Ruff of Camden to win three straight sectional titles in the intermediates. Ruff won SJ-3 from 1999 through 2001 (53.2, 52.4, 51.0) on his way to becoming a multiple All-America at Florida.

Mesiano just broke 55 seconds for the first time earlier this month with a 54.74 at the Salem County meet on his home track at Schalick. His PR coming into the season was 55.59 from last year’s state meet, when he was second to Verona’s Chris Sweeney, who was also credited with a 55.59.

Other than Sharpe and Bell, the only New Jersey Group 1 hurdlers in the last 10 years faster than what Mesiano ran at the Tri-County meet are John Porteous of Wood-Ridge (52.93 at the 2011 Meet of Champions) and Dylan Capwell of Hopatcong (52.43 at the 2013 M-of-C).

What makes this year so unusual is that there is some depth in the South Jersey Group 1 intermediates field.

Riverside’s Michael Ramos has been PR’ing regularly and could push Mesiano Friday afternoon.

How far has Ramos come in the last year? His PR as a sophomore was 58.53 at the County Open, and he’s lowered that in each of his last four major races:

58.12 – Moorestown Invite
56.80 – BCSL meet
56.00 – County Open
55.87 – Willingboro Relay meet

Ramos is the No. 3 Group 1 runner in the state behind Mesiano and Raymund Clark of Roselle (54.46) and the No. 10 junior overall in the state.

Here’s a look at every runner since 1985 to win the South Jersey Group 1 400-meter intermediates:

2014    Chris Mesiano (Schal.) 55.71
2013    Chris Mesiano (Schal.) 57.36
2012    Sam Maniglia (P.G.) 56.60
2011    Shane Shanahan (P.G.) 55.1
2010    Stephon Bell (P.G.) 55.63
2009    Ali Ejaz (Glass.) 56.60
2008    Stephon Bell (P.G.) 57.08
2007    Keenan Cromartie (P.G.) 56.59
2006    Will Brown (Palmyra) 55.65
2005    Will Brown (Palmyra) 54.8
2004    William Barnes (Salem) 56.41
2003    Corey Crawford (Pennsville) 56.7
2002    Jason Alm (Bordentown) 57.2
2001    Bryan Smith (Burlington) 54.3
2000    Bryan Smith (Burlington) 55.7
1999    Dave Lowden (Pitman) 56.4
1998    Marcus Dowe (Penns Grove) 56.2
1997    Fred Sharpe (Paulsboro) 53.0
1996    Fred Sharpe (Paulsboro) 55.2
1995    Kevin Blakemore (Burl. Twp.) 55.6
1994    Tivon Silva (Penns Grove) 55.9
1993    Gerrit Kemps (H’field) 55.7
1992    Brian Davis (Maple Shade) 56.4
1991    Brian Davis (Maple Shade) 58.0
1990    Byron Pugh (Haddon Twp.) 57.9
1989    John Rowarnd (Audubon) 57.1
1988    Matt Moore (Palmyra) 55.6
1987    Mike Williams (Kingsway) 56.1
1986    George Bland (P.G.) 56.1
1985    Winston Henry (Florence) 57.3

Order of events, group breakdowns and much more are listed in the spring track regs on the NJSIAA web site. You can link to it here.

Curbelo led deepest, fastest 800 in Burlington County Open history!!!!!

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Three under 1:57? Seven under two minutes? Nine at 2:01 or faster?

The 800-meter run at Saturday’s Burlington County Open was fast and deep, and we searched deep down into the record books to see just how fast and deep it was!

Not surprisingly, we learned it was faster and deeper than any other 800 in the meet’s more than 70-year history.

First of all, let’s take a look at the top 10 finishers, which included juniors in the first four spots and seven underclassmen among the first eight finishers:

1:55.81 … *Isaiah Curbelo (Rancocas Valley)
1:56.51 … *Tyler Davidson (Willingboro)
1:56.81 … *Tom Long (Cinnaminson)
1:57.71 … *Joshua DeJesus (Rancocas Valley)
1:58.99 … Jose Colon-Cruz (Rancocas Valley)
1:59.17 … *Tyler Kurzawa (Cherokee)
1:59.32 … *Harrison Morris (Moorestown)
2:00.86 … **Mark Miller (Shawnee)
2:01.82 … Daniel Forman (Pemberton)
2:04.18 … Chris Martin (Northern Burlington)

Let’s take a look at the field and what they achieved, and then we’ll look at some records for place. We counted six PRs among the first eight across the line.

→ Curbelo became the first repeat winner of the Burlington County Open boys 800 in 16 years, since Aaron Boucher of Cherokee won in 1998 and 1999. His time is an outdoor PR, although he ran slightly faster (1:55.54) when he placed second at the indoor M-of-C this past winter.

→ Davidson took more than four seconds off his PR of 2:00.65, set at the indoor Meet of Champs.

→  Long ran a nearly three-second PR. His previous best was an indoor 1:59.52 at Toms River in the Group 2 sectionals.

→  DeJesus also ran a PR. Two week earlier he ran 1:58.02 at the South Jersey Invitational.

→  Colon-Cruz has a 1:56.86 to his credit from last year’s Group 4 sectionals, when he placed third.

→  Kurzawa is another junior who PR’d in the race, lowering his personal-best time from 1:59.88, set at last year’s South Jersey Invitational.

→  Another junior, another PR. Morris dipped under two minutes for the first time in his life. His previous PR was a 2:00.43 at last year’s Haddonfield Distance Night.

→  Miller was the first sophomore across the line, and he PR’d by more than 2 1/2 seconds. His previous 800 PR was a 2:03.43 at the District Cup.

→  Forman fell a bit shy of his PR of 2:00.12, set at the South Jersey Invitational earlier this year.

→  Martin has run faster (2:00.29), but he was doubling back not long after winning the 3,200.

Where do all these times fit in among South Jersey’s best? Curbelo is No. 2, followed by Davidson (No. 5), Long (No. 6), DeJesus (No. 11), Colon-Cruz (No. 18), Kurzawa (No. 20), Morris (No. 21) and Miller (No. 29).

We wondered if there’s ever been such a deep County 800, so we began researching fastest times by place in meet history.

Here’s what we found: The race produced the fastest times in County Open history for fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth place. Some other spots were very close. Let’s take a look!

1st: Fastest time for first, obviously, is the meet record, which is shared by Clayton Baloche of Lenape (1:53.4 hand time in 1992) and Ian Waterhouse of Rancocas Valley (1:53.58 in 2005).

2nd: Rob Novak won the national 800 title in 2005, but Waterhouse edged him in the County Open, and Novak’s 1:54.14 stands as the fastest second-place time ever.

3rd: Long’s 1:56.81 is second-fastest third-place time ever, behind only Lenape’s Zach McBride’s 1:55.84 in 2003.

4th: DeJesus broke the fourth-place record of 1:57.80 that Waterhouse set as a sophomore in 2003.

5th: Colon-Cruz’s time is third-fastest ever for fifth place, behind the 1:58.10 that RV’s Joel Straker ran in 2012 and a 1:58.65 by Cherokee’s A.J. Valentine in 2009.

6th: Kurzawa broke the sixth-place record set by another Cherokee runner, Colin Merrigan, who ran 1:59.33 for sixth in the 2011 race.

7th: Morris ran nearly a second faster than the previous seventh-place record of 2:00.16, set in 2012 by Derek Gore of Holy Cross.

8th: Miller toppled the eighth-place record of 2:01.04, set in 2005 by Patrick Fox of Holy Cross.

9th: Forman just missed the ninth-place record of 2:01.65, set in 2005 by Shawnee’s Matt Abbate.

10th: The 10th-place record was also set in that fast 2005 race by Cherokee’s Rich Nelson at 2:02.60.

Full results of the County Open are here.

Petela 4:11, four others at 4:16 or faster at Camden County Meet!!!!!!!!!

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Luke Petela just keeps getting faster. And on Saturday, he brought a couple other runners along  with him.

Petela, a senior at Haddon Township and Foot Locker finalist, won the Small-School 1,600-meter run at the Camden County Meet Saturday in 4:11.78, No. 10 on the all-time South Jersey list.

Petela ran 4:13.86 for a full mile indoors, and that converts to 4:11.89 for 1,600 meters, so Saturday’s time will serve as a PR for Petela.

Teammate Owen Long, a junior, also PR’d, running 4:15.12, and Sterling’s Sean McPherson was just behind, placing third in 4:16.71.

But that’s not all.

In the Large-School race, two other milers dipped under 4:17 and two more ran 4:20 or faster. Dominick Munson of Timber Creek ran 4:16.74 to win the Large-School race, with Nick Pschunder of Eastern (4:16.85), Nick Rivera (4:18.81) and Dan Helfand of Cherry Hill East (4:20.45) just behind.

That’s seven runners at 4:20 or faster in one county meet.

The seven times rank No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 11 in New Jersey this year. So Haddon Township owns the two-fastest mile times in New Jersey through the second Saturday in May.

Munson ran 4:16.56 at states last year, but the times were PRs for the six others at 4:20 or faster.

Here are their previous PRs:

  • Petela: 4:11.89y
  • Long: 4:21.31
  • McPherson: 4:19.60
  • Pschunder: 4:19.73
  • Rivera: 4:26.00
  • Helfand:4:21.70

So Rivera PR’d by more than nine seconds and Long by more than six seconds!

Let’s take a look at the updated all-time South Jersey mile list, with 1,600 times converted to the full mile:

  • 4:08.51 … Brett Johnson (Ocean City), 2009
  • 4:09.30 … Colin Baker (Haddonfield), 2009
  • 4:10.2 ….. Mike Elder (Haddon Twp.), 1973
  • 4:10.69 … John Richardson (Ocean City), 2003
  • 4:11.07 … Xavier Fraction (Washington Twp.), 2009
  • 4:11.15 … Ryan Garvin (Lenape), 2009
  • 4:11.42 … Miles Schoedler (Ocean City), 2011
  • 4:11.7 ….. Mike Mantini (Gateway), 1979
  • 4:12.99 … Jim Wyner (Mainland Reg.), 2004
  • 4:13.24 … Luke Petela (Haddon Twp.), 2015
  • 4:13.33 … Marc Pelerin (Cherokee), 2002
  • 4:13.5 ….. Al Harden (Millville), 1978
  • 4:13.52 … Murad Campbell (Overbrook), 1999
  • 4:13.7 ….. Ed Blakeley (Haddon Twp.), 1975
  • 4:13.9 ….. Dick Caton (Woodbury), 1978

Full results of Saturday’s meet at Haddon Township can be found here.

Luke Petela blazes his way into all-time S.J. 3,200 top 10!!!!!!

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step0001-38Luke Petela raced his way into the all-time South Jersey top-10 in the 3,200 Friday night with a blazing 9:02.92 at the Henderson Invitational in West Chester, Pa.

The Haddon Township senior placed fourth in a loaded field, moving into the No. 8 spot on the all-time South Jersey list and even moving ahead of school record holder Ed Blakeley, who ran 9:06.8 for a hand-timed two-mile in 1975. That converts to a 9:03.63 for 3,200 meters.

Petela has run as fast as 4:13.36 for a full mile, at nationals last year, and he already has a 4:14.71 to his credit from indoors. He’s run 15:40 at Holmdel, winning the M-of-C, and he was second at Foot Locker Regionals. But he had never run a competitive two-mile or 3,200. Until now.

The meet was insanely fast across the board, with 17 girls under 60 in the 400, five girls under 2:17 in the 800, 10 girls at 5:05 or faster in the 1,600, six girls at 10:45 or faster and 28 boys under 2:00 in the 800 (three under 1:53).

Here’s a look at all the South Jersey two-milers who’ve run 9:07 or faster, with two-mile times converted to 3,200 meters for the sake of convenience:

  • 8:55.61y … Murad Campbell (Overbrook), 1999
  • 8:59.55y ….. Mike Butynes (Sterling), 1972
  • 8:59.75y ….. Jason DeJoseph (Paul VI), 1987
  • 9:00.25y ….. Jim Smith (Haddonfield), 1980
  • 9:00.30 ……. Jimmy Daniels (Sterling), 2013
  • 9:01.84y ….. Mike Mantini (Gateway), 1979
  • 9:02.03y … Marc Pelerin (Cherokee), 2002
  • 9:02.92 ……. Luke Petela (Haddon Twp.), 2015
  • 9:03.03y ….. Jerry Andrews (Highland), 1979
  • 9:03.63y ….. Ed Blakeley (Haddon Twp.), 1975
  • 9:04.05 ……. Shawn Wilson (Cherokee), 2013
  • 9:04.94 ……. Louis Corgiano (Hammonton), 2014
  • 9:05.98 ……. Steve Maine (Highlan), 2014
  • 9:06.11y ….. Greg Stremmel (Gatweway), 1974
  • 9:06.47 ……. Jonathan Vitez (Haddonfield), 2010
  • 9:07.03 ……. Greg Hughes (Mainland), 2004
  • 9:07.11 ….. Ron Faith (Paul VI), 1985

Interesting that the top four has remained the same for 16 years, even in this era of super-fast distance times. Butynes’ South Jersey record stood for 27 years, and now Campbell’s mark has stood for 16 years. But if Petela can run 9:02 now … watch out later in the season, if he chooses to run another hot one.