Collingswood senior Elijah Forrest recorded the fastest 3,200 this year by a New Jersey runner Saturday at the Ocean Breeze Invitational on Staten Island.

Forrest ran 9:18.79 for the full two miles and placed 2nd to Henry Koike-Siera of Hunter College of Manhattan. Koike-Siera ran 9:17.99.

Although 3,200-meter en route times weren’t recorded, 9:18.79 converts to 9:15.55 for 3,200 meters, which bumps CBA’s Alex Kemp from the top spot on the New Jersey list. Kemp ran 9:16.28 for 3,200 meters at the Shore Conference Championships at the Bubble last month.

Forrest’s splits are messed up in the official results – they show him running his fourth lap in 70 seconds – but it looks like he came through through the 1,600 in 4:41.87 and closed in 2:12.45 for his final 800, 65.01 for his final 400 and 31.58 for his final 200.

This was Forrest’s first 3,200 or two-mile this year and only his second race. He ran a 1,600 PR of 4:24.35 two weeks ago at the Bubble.

Forrest’s previous 3,200 PR was a 9:19.24 for 4th place at the Meet of Champions at Franklin in June. His indoor PR was a 9:40.56 last February at the Bubble at the South Jersey Group 2 sectionals.

Forrest’s 9:15.55 is No. 11 on the all-time Camden County list.

The only other South Jersey runner under 9:20 so far this year is Cherokee senior Nick Kuenkel, who ran 9:17.31 to win the South Jersey Group 4 race Friday at the Bubble.

All-Time Camden County 3,200-Meter List
8:58.81 ….. Jonathan Vitez [Haddonfield], 2010
9:08.09 … George Andrus [Haddonfield], 2022
9:08.42 … Oliver Adler [Cherry Hill East], 2020
9:08.89 … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 2022
9:10.4y ….. Ken Medlin [Haddon Township], 1970
9:11.1y ..… Mike Butynes [Sterling], 1970
9:11.2y ..… Mike Elder [Haddon Twp.], 1974
9:13.33 ….. Michael Rankin [Paul VI], 2010
9:14.31 ….. Jimmy Daniels [Sterling], 2013
9:14.70 … Martin Riddell [Haddonfield], 2020
9:15.55 … Elijah Forrest [Collingswood], 2024
9:15.76 … Kevin Pumphrey [Highland], 1986
9:16.09 ….. Aaron Groff [Cherry Hill East], 2016
9:16.7y … Jim Smith [Haddonfield], 1980
9:18.19 … Dennis Fortuna [Triton], 2022

Moorestown’s Kevin McDonnell finished 58th out of nearly 200 runners Saturday morning in the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando.

McDonnell, a graduate of Camden Catholic, ran 2:20.10, less than three minutes off his PR of 2:17.22 from the Chicago Marathon in October.

The marathon did not start until 10:10 a.m. and conditions were very warm and challenging for the runners, with temperatures reaching the 70s by the finish around 12:30 p.m.

McDonnell came through the half at 1:09.22 and ran his second 13.1 miles in 1:10.48 despite the gradually warming weather.

In the women’s race, Rancocas Valley graduate Erika Kemp appears to have dropped out. Her GPS data shows her coming through 12 miles at 11:29.10, on pace to run 2:31.11, but that’s the last entry. Kemp ran 2:33.57 at the Boston Marathon in April in her marathon debut. That’s fastest marathon ever by a South Jersey runner.

Even without an individual winner, the Audubon girls cruised to an impressive win in the South Jersey Group 1 sectional meet at the Bubble Friday.

Audubon scored in all seven track events to top defending champion Clayton 72-59, with Salem [49] and Haddon Township [43] 3rd and 4th.

It was Audubon’s first outright sectional title. The Green Wave shared the 2020 championship with Collingswood after both scored 75 points.

Audubon’s one first place came in the 1,600-meter relay, which the Green Wave won in 4:18.05 with the listed team of senior Arianna Bittner and sophomores Kylie Tocco, Charlotte Owens and Alaina Copsetta.

Sophomore Riley Fayer scored 24 points – one-3rd of Audubon’s total score – with 2nd-place finishes in the 800 [2:33.68], 1,600 [5:22.18] and 3,200 [11:56.18].

Copsetta medaled in the 55 and 400, taking 2nd in the 400 with a PR 1:00.53 and 3rd in the 55 with a 7.65.

Junior Elizabeth Butrica PR’d with a 9-6 for 2nd place in the pole vault and also placed 6th in the hurdles with a 10.08.

Senior Madelin Carter ran 3rd in the 800 [2:29.54] and 5th in the 3,200 [13:48.50], senior Emily Powers placed 3rd in the hurdles [9.95] and freshman Lydia Gravante scored with a 6:12.01 for 6th place in her second lifetime 1,600.

Clayton junior Leila Ortiz doubled the 55 and 400, winning the dash in a personal-best 7.41 and the 400 in 1:00.06, and Schalick junior Jordan Hadfield won the 1,600 and 3,200 with PRs of 5:12.36 and the 11:16.06.

Other winners were Salem senior Anna Buzby in the 800 [2:22.30], Clayton senior Alanna Woolfolk in the high jump [5-6], Haddon Township junior Emerson Levins in the pole vault [9-6] and Clayton senior Maylisa Bluford in the shot put [37-2].

Lenape graduate Shelby Whetstone ran the 3rd-fastest 600 in Rutgers history Friday at the Scarlet Knights Open at the Armory.

Whetstone ran 1:32.17 and finished 3rd behind two post-graduate runners – Jordan Shead, who ran 1:29.18, and Reanda Richards, who ran 1:32.02.

On the all-time Rutgers list, the only faster women at 600 meters are school record holder Denise Peynado, who ran 1:29.53 at the AIAW Championships in Columbia, Md., in 1980, and Richards, who ran 1:30.23, in 2020 at the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind.

Whetstone’s previous PR over 600 meters was 1:35.03 at the same meet at the Armory last February.

Whetstone’s indoor 800 PR of 2:09.77 is No. on the all-time Rutgers list.

Seniors Dahlia Beasley and Dylan Giloley and juniors Dakota Jones and Ella Karp each recorded individual wins Friday at the Bubble to lead the Washington Township girls to their second indoor sectional title and first since 2011.

The Minutemaids doubled 2nd-place Eastern 84 5/6-42 in Group 4, with Toms River North 3rd with 41 ½ points. Washington Township won the 2011 team title 69-67 over Lenape.

Washington Township’s 84 5/6 points are 2nd-most in Group 4 since indoor sectionals began in 2008. Southern Regional scored 91 in 2012.

Jones won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.47, Beasley the high jump at 5-4, Giloley the 55 in 7.26 and Karp the shot put with a 36-7 on her final throw.

The 55 was a huge event for Washington Township, with Giloley and senior Kayla D’Ottaviano going 1-2 for 18 points. D’Ottaviano placed second with a PR of 7.33, lowering her lifetime best from 7.42 at Ocean Breeze in December.

In addition to her high jump win, Beasley placed 2nd in the 400 with a 58.64 and led off Township’s 3rd-place 4-by-4, which ran 4:15.13. Giloley added a point in the 400 with a 6th-place finish in 1:00.05.

Sophomore Cali Lacovara matched her PR with a 10-0 clearance in the pole vault for 2nd place. Lacovra passed through 8-6 and cleared 9-0, 9-6 an 10-0 without a miss. Another sophomore pole vaulter, Gabrielle Chelnik, tied for 6th with an 8-0 clearance, matching her personal best.

Senior Lauren Stanger placed 3rd in the shot put with a 33-9 ¾ throw and junior Gianna Shippy was 5th with a 32-2 ½, senior Zarria Oliphant took 4th in the hurdles in 8.70 and junior Ashley Loprez cleared 4-10 for 5th in the high jump.

Also, freshman Layla Beasley ran 2:19.88 – a 5 ½-second PR – and placed 4th in the 800. That’s the fastest time by a Gloucester County freshman since Gabbi Kirsch of Williamstown ran 2:16.60 at 2015 Group 4 states.

The correct order for the 3rd-place 4-by-4 team was Layla Beasley to sophomore Hailey Kennedy to D’Ottaviano to Dahlia Beasley.

Senior Cartrell Moore won the hurdles, led off the winning relay team and placed in two other events, senior Damere Lassiter led a 1-2-3 shot put sweep and Glassboro won its third South Jersey Group 1 indoor sectional title and second in a row Friday at the Bubble.

Glassboro outscored Gloucester Counrty rival Woodbury 90-72. Audubon was 3rd with 39 points.

The Bulldogs also won Group 1 indoor sectional titles in 2010 and 2022.

Moore ran a PR 7.82 to win the 55-meter high hurdles. That’s 3rd-fastest in the state this year by a Group 1 hurdler and fastest by a South Jersey Group 1 hurdler since Sam Aviles of Palmyra ran 7.49 in 2019. He also placed 4th in the 400 in 51.46 and 5th in the 55-meter dash in 6.71.

Senior Lassiter threw 55-11 to win the shot, with senior Jeremiah Jones [46-3 ¼] and junior Kyle Williams [45-6] completing the 24-point sweep.

Junior Dayshaun Day, in only his third lifetime pole vault competition, cleared 11-0 to give Glassboro another win as the No. 3 seed. His previous PR was 9-6.

Seniors Brysheen Ferguson, Caron Wright, Joseph Hadrick and Moore ran 3:36.45 to win the 1,600-meter relay by 8-100ths of a second over Audubon.

Junior Ty Blackman ran 4:36.88 and 10:14.97 and placed 2nd to Woodbury’s Peyton Shute in both the 1,600 and 3,200.

Senior Desmond Vassell PR’d in the 55-meter hurdles with a 7.91 for 2nd place. His previous PR was a 7.98 this past weekend.

Ferguson ran 6.51 for 3rd in a fast 55-meter dash that saw four runners under 6.60. Ferguson ran just 3-100ths of a second off his PR of 6.48 from this past weekend.

He came close last time. This time, Yashahya Brown wasn’t going to be denied.

Brown, a senior at Washington Township, shattered the state 55-meter hurdles record Friday at the South Jersey Group 4 meet at the Bubble in Toms River.

Brown won the race in 7.06, breaking the state record of 7.07 by 1-100th of a second. Cory Poole set the record on March 11, 2017 in the prelims of Armory Nationals in New York. He ran 7.07 en route to a 7.63 for 60 meters. He false started in the semis and didn’t advance to the the final.

He broke the South Jersey record of 7.10 set by St. Augustine’s Sincere Rhea set on March 10 in the prelims of 2019 Armory Nationals. He wound up winning the final in 7.16.

Brown’s time is 7th-fastest in U.S. scholastic track history.

Brown had a PR of 7.22 coming into this season from his win at last year’s Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze. He lowered it to 7.21 in the prelims of his season opener at the Armory and then to 7.13 in the final. He dropped his time to 7.11 last week at the Bubble.

Outdoor, the FAT state record for the 110-meter highs is 13.40, by Scotch Plains-Fanwood’s Nathaniel Rayan at the USATF Under-20 Championships this past July in Eugene, Ore. Former world record holder Renaldo Nehemiah of Scotch Plains-Fanwood ran a hand-timed 12.9 at 1977 Easterns at St. John’s University in Queens, N.Y.

The South Jersey record is 13.43 by Camden’s Danyne Brown at the 1999 state Group 3 meet in South Plainfield.

Although the official meet program inexplicably doesn’t list meet records, the previous meet record was Brown’s 7.36 last year.

ALL-TIME UNITED STATES 55-METER HURDLES LIST
6.87 … Trey Cunningham [Winfield City, Ala.], 2017
7.04 … Kurt Powdar [Oscar Smith, Va.], 2019
7.04 … Ayden Owens [North Allegheny, Pa.], 2018
7.05 … Grant Holloway [Grassfield, Va.], 2015
7.05 … Wayne Davis [Southeast Raleigh, N.C.], 2009
7.05 … Chad Zallow [Kennedy, Warren, Ohio], 2015
7.06 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2024
7.07 … Johnny Dutch [Clayton, N.C.], 2007
7.08 … Deworski Odom [Overbrook, Philadelphia], 1995
7.07 … Cory Poole [East Orange Campus], 2017
7.10 … Eric Perry [Menchville, Va.], 1979
7.10 … Patrick Mann [Gar-Field, Va.], 1984
7.10 … Michael Hancock [George Washington, Denver], 2008
7.10 … Damion Thomas [Northeast, Oakland Park, Fla.], 2017
7.10 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
7.12 … Rod Wilson [Bartram, Philadelphia], 1979
7.14 … Nathaniel Rayan [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 2023
6.9h … Dan Lavitt [Raytown, Mo.], 1976
6.9h … Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 1977
6.9h … Jeff Martin [Indianapolis], 1995
7.15 … Terrance Trammell [Decatur, Ga.], 1997
7.15 … Jermaine Cooper [Giddings, Texas], 1999
7.15 … Josh Hembrough [Forest Hills, Northern, Mich.], 2007
7.15 … Donovan Robertson [Midpark, Berea, Ohio], 2012

Williamstown graduate Anna Sasse, who never broke 5:30 for 1,600 meters in high school, continued her outstanding winter season for Rowan with a big PR of 5:01.51 Friday at the Metropolitan College Championships at Ocean Breeze.

Sasse, a junior, placed 3rd behind two Division 1 runners and lowered her PR from 5:06.64, which she just ran last month on the same track. Before January, her mile PR was 5:10.39 from last winter at the Armory.

Sasse now ranks No. 3 in the NJAC in the 800 behind Ramapo’s Dale Leonard [2:15.01] and Stockton’s Kayla Kass [2:16.01] and No. 2 in the mile behind Leonard [4:56.62].

Her 5:01.51 is fastest by a Rowan woman since 2017, when Christin Bettis of Hammonton ran 5:01.02 at Ocean Breeze. The last Rowan woman under 5:00 is Haddonfield graduate Vanessa Wright, who set the school record of 4:53.38 when she placed 6th at the 2013 NCAA Division 3 Championships in Naperville, Ill.

Sasse had PRs of 2:20.84 and 5:30.70 at Williamstown (and 77-9 in the javelin) in 2021, her only year of outdoor track in high school.

After sitting out nearly a year, Highland graduate Floyd Whitaker has resurfaced at Oklahoma and came within two inches of his lifetime-best in the triple jump in his first meet ever for the Sooners.

Whitaker, in his first meet since March of 2023, jumped 51-3 ½ at the Corky Classic at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center in Lubbock. He had an outstanding series, with 50-7 ¾, 50-8 ½, 50-5, 51-3 ½ and 49-10 ¾ with a foul on his 5th attempt. Whitaker averaged 50-7 on his five legal jumps.

The 51-3 ½ – the 2nd-best jump of his life – puts Whitaker at No. 22 in NCAA Division 1. Teammate Brandon Green Jr. is No. 2 with a 54-6 ½ this past weekend.

Incredibly, Oklahoma does not have any historical info on its web site. No top-10 lists, only a dead link under program history.

Whitaker is No. 10 among U.S. jumpers – it seems a high percentage of NCAA triple jumpers represent other countries.

Whitaker spent the 2021-2022 indoor season, 2022 outdoor season and 2022-2023 indoor season at Minnesota, where he hit 51-5 ½ indoors in a meet in Minneapolis in January 2022 and 51-2 ¼ outdoors in May 2022. Minnesota doesn’t have an indoor track team so he competed unattatched during the two indoor seasons.

Whitaker’s 51-5 ½ two years ago ranks No. 2 in South Jersey alumni history, behind only Shawnee graduate Greg Foster, who hit 53-6 ½ in Flagstaff, Ariz., in May 1988. Foster’s son, also Greg, currently jumps for Princeton and reached 50-4 ¾ last spring.

At Highland, Whitaker hit 23-6 ½ in the long jump at the 2021 state Group 3 meet at Pennsauken and 50-2 ½ to win the 2019 Meet of Champions, the first of his three Meet of Champions titles and No. 6 in New Jersey history. He was unbeaten in the triple jump as a senior, capping his career with a win at the Eugene Nationals. He also ran 54.85 in the intermediates and high jumped 6-4 in high school.

Eastern grad Jailya Ash shattered the UConn hurdles record in New York over the weekend.

Ash lowered her PR in the 60-meter highs from 8.27 at a meet in Storrs in December to 8.19 at the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge at the Armory.

She broke the school record of 8.24 set by Phylicia George at the NCAA Division 1 Championships at Randall Tyson Track at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in March 2010. George placed 11th in the trials, missing the final by 2-100ths of a second.

Ash’s time is No. 15 in NCAA Division 1, tied with several others, including Winslow graduate Tionna Tobias of Iowa. It’s No. 1 in the Big East.

On the U.S. women’s list, Ash is now No. 24. Her time is No. 77 in the world this year.

https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/60-metres-hurdles/all/women/senior/2024?regionType=countries&region=usa&timing=electronic&page=1&bestResultsOnly=true&maxResultsByCountry=all&eventId=10230177&ageCategory=senior

https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/60-metres-hurdles/all/women/senior/2024?regionType=world&timing=electronic&page=1&bestResultsOnly=true&maxResultsByCountry=all&eventId=10230177&ageCategory=senior

Ash’s PR coming into this season was 8.31 from a meet in Boston in December of 2022, so early last season. She went on to win the Big East indoor title in 8.35 as well as outdoor with a 13.58.

She lowered her PR to 8.27 in her 2023-24 season opener in December in Storrs and then followed with an 8.28 in Boston last month before he breakthrough 8.19.

UConn’s web site is an abomination – one of the few Division 1 web sites with no top-10 lists – but last winter we went through years of results and came up with an all-time UConn 60-meter hurdles top-10. Here’s the updated version:

8.18 … Jailya Ash, 2022
8.24 … Phylicia George, 2010
8.33 … April Garner, 2005
8.34 … A’liyah Thomas, 2024
8.45 … Madalayne Smith, 2012
8.55 … Chantal Scott, 2014
8.59 … Emily Lavarnway, 2023
8.61 … Shavon Briscoe, 2012
8.61 … Tia Strackman, 2018
8.62 … Ashley Wiggins, 2017

Speaking of UConn’s web site … they’re under the impression Ash PR’d by eight seconds in a race that takes about eight seconds to complete. If she had PR’d by eight seconds, she would have run 0.27.