Marquise Young, a junior from Sterling, came within a fraction of a second of Rowan’s school record for the 60-meter hurdles Friday in his 2023-24 season-opening race.

Young won the event in 8.02 at the FastTrack National Invitational at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y.

http://milesplit.live/meets/583096/events/2/results/F/M

That’s 3rd-fastest in Rowan history, behind two former Division 1 transfers – David Benjamin ran 7.98 when he won the 2017 NCAA Division 3 title in Naperville, Ill. (after a 7.99 in the trials) and Bobby Cooks ran 8.01 at the 2018 All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference Championships in Ithaca, N.Y. (after another 8.01 in the trials).

Young’s 8.02 makes him tied for the No. 24 performer in NCAA Division 3 history, according to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches of America all-time performance list.

USTFCCCA InfoZone: Records and Lists

Young, a seven-time NCAA Division 3 All-America, lowered his PR from 8.11, which he ran when he won the New Jersey Athletic Conference title this past February, also at Ocean Breeze.

In the trials, Young ran a near-PR of 8.12, and Rowan soph Kwaku Nkrumah from Teaneck ran 8.21 in a separate race for the 2nd-fastest qualifying time. In the final, New Haven junior Jordany Dely placed 2nd in 8.08 and Nkrumah, an All-America in the 110 highs last spring, PR’d at 8.14.

Benjamin, Cooks and Young are now the three-fastest indoor hurdlers in NJAC history. Only 17 Division 3 hurdlers have ever run sub-8, and Young is now 3-100ths of a second from becoming the 18th.

Young already holds one school record. He ran on Rowan’s 4-by-4 that ran an NCAA Division 3 indoor record 3:10.09 last February in Boston.

Willingboro graduate Anaias Hughes, a sophomore at Rowan, placed 5th in 8.34. That’s a big PR for Hughes, who ran 8.53 last year when he placed 6th as a freshman in the 60 highs at the NJAC Championships and then again at the AARTFC Championships at the Armory.

In his first college track meet on Friday, Pleasantville graduate Isaiah Davenport set a high jump PR.

Davenport, a freshman at Holy Family in Northeast Philadelphia and just across the Delaware River from Delanco, cleared 6-8 ¼ at the FastTrack National Invitational at Ocean Breeze.

Davenport PR’d at 6-8 when he won the state Group 2 title at Delsea this past June. His previous indoor PR was a 6-6 at the indoor state Group 2 meet at the Bubble in Toms River this past February.

On Friday, Davenport cleared 6-0 ¼ and 6-2 ½ on his first attempt and 6-4 ½ on his third. He was clean at 6-6 ¼ and then got over the bar at 6-8 ¼ on his second attempt. He finished the competition by taking three tries at 6-10 ¼.

Nishorn Pierre, Holy Family’s school indoor record holder at 7-1 ¾, won the event at 7-0 ¼. Pierre has cleared 7-2 ¼ outdoors. Pierre is a 2-time NCAA Division 2 All-America.

Triton graduate Nevaeh Lorjuste just missed the Rowan school record at 400 meters in her first meet of the year.

Lorjuste, a Rowan junior, won the 400 at the FastTrack National Invitational at Ocean Breeze in 56.88. just 8-100ths of a second off the school record of 56.80 set in 2013 by Delsea graduate Brianna Crofton at the NYU Fastrack Team Challenge at the Armory in February 2013.

Lorjuste’s previous indoor PR was a 57.54 this past February when she placed 2nd at the New Jersey Athletic Championships – also at Ocean Breeze. Her lifetime best is a 55.46 when she won the outdoor NJAC meet in Mahwah. That put her within reach of Rowan’s outdoor 400 record of 54.74, set by Pemberton grad Shailah Williams when she placed 3rd in the 2016 NCAA Division 3 Championships in Waverly, Iowa.

Through one lap, Rutgers-Newqark senior Zrreyah Moore had a very slight lead over Lorjuste, 26.66 for 200 meters to 26.70. But Lorjust finished two meters clear of Moore at the finish line.

Woodstown grad Molly Lodge ran 58.47 for 3rd place and Burlington Township’s Jasmine Pope was 4th in 58.49. 

Rowan junior Jasmine Pope of Pennsauken, in her first race for Rowan after transferring from St. Peter’s, was 4th in 58.49. It was Pope’s first race on the track since May 2022. That’s a lifetime best for Pope, whose indoor PR was a 1:00.67 for St. Peter’s in a meet in February 2022 at Ocean Breeze. He overall PR was a 59.61 at the 2021 Group 3 sectionals at Pennsauken.

Bryce Tucker opened his collegiate track career Friday by running the 5th-fastest 600 in Rutgers history.

Tucker, a three-time Meet of Champions winner in the 400-meter hurdles and a medalist last spring at the U.S. Under-20 Championships in Eugene, Ore., ran 1:19.52 for 600 meters Friday, leading a 1-2-3 South Jersey finish at the Rutgers Holiday Classic at the Armory in New York.

Two other Rutgers runners – Rancocas Valley’s Micah Wood and Deptford’s Lathan Brown – took 2nd and 3rd, Wood in 1:19.3 and Brown in 1:21.93.

Three of the five-fastest 600 runners in Rutgers history are now from South Jersey. Delsea’s Aaron Younger is No. 3 at 1:18.91 from 2011, Wood is No. 4 at 1;19.46 from two years ago and Tucker is now No. 5. Lenape graduate Steve Swern is No. 10 at 1:21.63 from 2008 and Egg Harbor’s Eric Barnes got knocked out of the top 10 with his 1:21.67 from 2022.

Tucker ran one serious 600 in high school, winning the New Balance Games last year on the same track in 1:20.79, No. 3 in South Jersey history. Brown was 3rd in that race in 1:22.44.

Tucker and Wood also went 1-2 in the 800, Tucker winning in 2:00.02 and Wood 2nd in 2:00.07, with nobody else under 2:10.

If you followed New Jersey track and cross country in the mid-1990s, you remember Jen Pesce, who ran for Toms River North.

Pesce placed 7th in both the 1995 and 1996 XC Meet of Champions at Holmdel and placed 2nd in the 3,200 at the 1996 track MoC in 10:50.48.

Pesce is one of the top Masters runners in the U.S. these days and in February won the USATF 5K Masters Championship in Atlanta with a course-record 17:49.

This past weekend, she placed 3rd in one of the biggest 8Ks on the East Coast, the Ashenfelter Classic in Glen Rock with a 29:01.02. Former Millville runner Amanda Eller was 7th in 30:16.34.

Why are we writing about Pesce on a South Jersey track and cross country blog? Because according to the Ashenfelter results, she now lives in Shamong Township.

One weekend earlier, Pesce ran 29:00 and placed 12th in the massive Rothman 8K in Philly held a day before the Philly Marathon.

Pesce, 43, was also 2nd in the Broad Street Run in April in 59:16 and she’s listed with a 1:22.01 and a win in last year’s Love Run Half Marathon in Philadelphia.

Pesce, who runs for the Garden State Athletic Club, ran 17:32.46 on the track in April in a meet at Rider in Lawrenceville.

Ocean City junior Maeve Smith placed 11th out of nearly 200 runners Saturday in the Nike Cross Country Nationals Northeast Regional.

Smith ran 19:03.7 and was named to the Northeast All-Region second team. She was the 4th underclassman in the race and the 3rd junior.

Smith’s time is 3rd-fastest ever by a South Jersey girl on the course that’s been used for years for Nike Northeast Regionals. Briana Gess of Haddonfield ran 18:22.6 when she won the 2014 Bowdoin Classic, and Kingsway’s Rachel Vick ran 18:46.6 when she was 6th in the 2016 Nike Northeast Regionals.

Smith this fall won the South Jersey Group 3 race and was 3rd at states and 9th at the Meet of Champions.

Cherokee finished 9th in team scoring with 285 points, with senior Kerry O’Day leading the way in 18th place in 19:19.7. Junior Megan Niglio [47th in 20:10.6], senior Alaina Bromley [97th in 20:52.6], senior Olivia Parkinson [100th in 20:57.1] also broke 21 minutes for the Chiefs.

Mainland junior Sofia Day ran 19:46.2 and placed 31st out of 196 finishers and senior teammate Gillian Lovett was just behind in 44th with a 20:06.6.

Williamstown’s Sophia Aldridge was the 15th sophomore in the race, running 20:29.6 and placing 74th overall.

Top South Jersey finisher in the boys race was Ocean City senior Matt Hoffman, who place 75th out of nearly 300 runners in 17:08.0. Cherry Hill East junior Brody Bogos ran 17:17.9 for 94th.

Northern Burlington junior Liliah Gordon earned a trip to Foot Locker Nationals with a 7th-place finish at Northeast Regionals Saturday in Boston.

Gordon ran 17:51 over 5,000 meters at Franklin Park and was the top New Jersey finisher in the 45th annual Foot Locker Northeast Regional.

The top 10 finishers in each of four regional races qualify for the Foot Locker National Championships Dec. 9 at Balboa Park in San Diego.

She became the first South Jersey girl to place in the top 10 and qualify for nationals in seven years, since Mainland Regional’s Alyssa Aldridge won the 2016 race. She went on to place 13th in San diego.

Gordon is the second Burlington County Foot Locker national qualifier and the first since Cherokee’s Megan Lacy placed 3rd in the 2010 race at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

She joins Brittany Sedberry of Ocean City in 2004, Chelsea Ley of Kingsway in 2008, Briana Gess of Haddonfield in 2013 and Alyssa Aldridge of Mainland Regional in 2015 as the 5th girl from South Jersey to qualify for nationals as a junior.

Paul VI senior Shalean McNally was the 2nd finisher from South Jersey in 16th place in 18:31, just 15 seconds out of the top 10.

Gordon and McNally both placed in the top 25 last year, Gordon in 20th in 19:16.1 at Van Cortlandt park and MCNally 23rd in 19:L22.4.

Zariel Macchia of William Floyd High School of Mastic Beach on Long Island’s south shore in Suffolk County, N.Y., won the race in 17:13. Macchia, a member of the U.S. junior team that competed at the Pan Am Games, has run 4:47.00 for the full mile and 10:08.50 for two miles.

2023
*Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 7th [17:51]
2016
Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 1st [17:40.3]
2015
Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 5th [17:44.2]
*Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg,.], 6th [17:47.8]
2013
*Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 5th [17:43.2]
2011
Holly Bischof [Bishop Eustace], 4th [18:24.9]
2010
Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 3rd [18:08.0]
Megan Venables [Highland], 4th [18:11.0]
2009
Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 3rd [18:33.1]
Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 5th [18:36.4]
2008
*Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 5th [18:08.3]
2007
**Chelsea Ley, [Kingsway], 10th [18:33.1]
2004
*Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 10th [18:33]
2003
**Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2nd [18:16.4]
2001
Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2nd [18:07.8]
1998
***Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 17th [18:36]
1982
Michelle Rowan [Washington Township] 2nd [17:28.7]

Peyton Shute placed 5th in the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals Saturday morning and earned a trip to San Diego for the Foot Locker Nationals.

Shute, a senior at Woodbury, ran 15:08 over 5,000 meters at Franklin Park in Boston and became the first South Jersey boy to qualify for nationals since Mainland’s Kevin Antczak in 2019 and the first from Gloucester County ever.

Shute was in 9th place through the first mile despite getting out in 4:41. He moved up to 5th with a 5:00 second mile.

The top 10 finishers in each race qualify for the Foot Locker National Championships Dec. 9 at Balboa Park in San Diego.

Ryan Pajak of Ringgold High in Monongahela, Pa., the PIAA Class 2A champ, remained undefeated, winning the race in 14:51.

Cherokee senior Nick Kuenkel placed 12th in 15:40 and missed qualifying for nationals by eight seconds. Kuenkel was in 17th place through two miles before moving up to 12th in the final 1.1 miles.

Audubon senior Aiden Williams also had an oustanding race, taking 21st overall in 15:59, best ever finish by an Audubon runner at Foot Locker.

Foot Locker moved from its long-time home at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx to Boston this year. It was at Vanny every year from 1979 through 2022 other than 2009, when the meet was held at Sunken Meadow Park in Smithtown, Suffolk County, on Long Island.

The Northeast Region consists of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, D.C., and U.S. citizens in overseas military installations.

Here’s a look at all South Jersey qualifiers at Foot Locker (aka Kinney / Champs / Eastbay) Northeast Regionals:

Boys
2023
Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 5th [15:08]
2019
Kevin Antczak [Mainland Regional], 4th [15:24]
2015
*Josh Clark [Highland], 4th [15:28.4]
2014
Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2nd [15:33.4]
Shawn Hutchison [Bishop Eustace], 10th [15:45.7]
2013
Lou Corgliano [Hammonton], 9th [15:40.7]
2012
Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 3rd, [15:42.5]
2008
Brett Johnson [Ocean City], 8th, [15:50.1]
2003
Jonathan Anderson [Cinnaminson, 7th [15:30.4]
2001
Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 6th [15:40.1]
1998
Nate Miller [Highland], 5th [15:49]
1997
*Murad Campbell [Overbrook], 2nd [15:27]
1988
Jason DiJoseph [Paul VI], 1st [15:17.6]
1987
*Jason DiJoseph [Paul VI], 4th [15:47]
Eric Lorenz [Holy Cross], 8th [15:50]
1986
**Jason DiJoseph [Paul VI], 6th [15:55]
1985
Kevin Pumphrey [Highland], 2nd [15:25.6]
Ron Faith [Paul VI] 6th [15:46]
1979
Jim Smith [Haddonfield] qualifier, unknown place [N/A]
Jerry Andrews [Highland], qualifier, unknown place [N/A]

Sophia Day, Maeve Smith and Kerry O’Day, who all placed in the top 10, lead the South Jersey contingent to this weekend’s Nike Northeast Regional Cross Country Championships.

Day, a junior at Mainland, Smith, a junior at Ocean City, and O’Day, a senior at Cherokee, will race at 2:15 p.m. Saturday at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y.

Day and O’Day will compete with their full teams. Mainland senior Gillian Lovett, 7th in the state Group 3 meet, will join Day on the starting line.

Senior Claudia Booth, freshman Cecilia Foreman, senior Sophia Goldstein, junior Chloe Malone and junior Ava McDole will also run for Mainland, and senior Alaina Bromley, sophomore Maya Kumar, junior Megan Niglio, senior Olivia Parkinson, senior Madison Van Haren and junior Grace Wojciechowski for Cherokee.

Also entered in the girls race are Williamstown sophomore Sophia Aldridge, who placed 4th in the South Jersey Group 4 sectionals, and Ocean City freshman Lillian Flora.

In the boys race, Cherry Hill East will compete as a full team, with junior Brody Bogos, senior Raine Guidarelli, sophomore Alvin Lin, junior Brandon Lyons, sophomore Colin Moore, sophomore Milo Poerner and freshman Cian Sherlock.

Entered individually are Ocean City senior Matt Hoffman, the Cape-Atlantic Conference champion, and Glassboro junior Ty Blackman, who was 3rd in the state Group 1 meet.

Eight South Jersey runners are headed for Boston this weekend to race in the 45th annual Foot Locker Northeast Regionals.

The meet moves this year from its long-time home at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx to Franklin Park. The boys race is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. and the girls race at noon.

The top 10 finishers in each race qualify for the Foot Locker National Championships Dec. 9 at Balboa Park in San Diego.

Woodbury senior Peyton Shute leads the South Jersey boys contingent. Shute, who will attend Cornell next year, is coming off a 2nd-place finish in the Meet of Champions with a 15:33 at Holmdel County Park. He ran 4:12.13 full mile and 9:11.11 for 3,200 meters last spring.

Cherokee senior Nick Kuenkel, who was 6th in the Meet of Champions, is also entered. Kuenkel will attend Monmouth next year.

Senior Aiden Williams, 2nd in the state Group 1 meet to Glassboro’s Elijah Whitaker, will represent Audubon in Boston.

Highland is sending both senior Aziz Muhammad-Kane and junior Mason Wassell to Foot Locker. Muhammad-Kane was 5th in the state Group 3 meet and Wassell was 19th.

Moorestown’s Peter Simpson is the lone South Jersey sophomore heading to Boston. Simpson ran 16:46 at Holmdel this year and was the No. 2 sophomore in the state Group 3 meet. He was the No. 5 freshman in New Jersey last year at 3,200 meters with a 9:41.81 at sectionals.

The girls race will feature Northern Burlington junior Liliah Gordon and Paul VI senior Shaelan McNally.

Gordon was South Jersey’s top runner at the Meet of Champions in 5th place with an 18:19 at Holmdel. She was 20th as a sophomore last year in Foot Locker, which was then called Champs Northeast Regional.

McNally, 11th in the Meet of Champions, finished 23rd at Champs last fall, just behind Gordon.

The most recent South Jersey boys qualifier for nationals was Mainland Regional’s Kevin Antczak, who placed 4th at regionals in 2019 and 8th at nationals.

The most recent girls qualifier was also from Mainland – Alyssa Aldridge won the 2016 Northeast Regional and went on to place 13th at nationals.

Foot Locker began in 1979 as the Kinney Cross Country Championships and was known as Foot Locker from 1993 through 2019. There was no race in 2020 and when it resumed in 2021, it was called the Eastbay Championships. When Foot Locker shuttered its Eastbay brand, it became known last year as Champs, another Foot Locker brand. It reverted to Foot Locker this year.

The meet was held at Van Cortlandt from 1979 through 2008, it was held in 2009 at Sunken Meadow State Park in Smithtown, Suffolk County, on the northern shore of Long Island, N.Y. It returned to Vanny in 2010 and remained there until this year.

The Northeast Region consists of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, D.C., and U.S. citizens in overseas military installations.