Delsea’s Nico Morales, a junior at Rutgers, cleared a lifetime-best 16-9 ½ Saturday to place 2nd in the college pole vault at the 127th annual Penn Relays. The competition was held indoors because of poor weather in West Philly.

Morales passed at opening height of 15-0 and cleared 15-5 ¾ and 15-11 ¾ on his second attempt. With the bar at a PR 16-5 ½ he missed twice before clearing on his final try. The bar went up to 16-9 ½ and after missing is first try he cleared on his second. After nine attempts, he went out at 17-1 ½. Christian Di Nicolantonio of Catholic University in Washington, D.C., won on fewer misses. He cleared 16-9 ½ on his first attempt.

Morales moved into the No. 4 spot on the all-time Rutgers list with the best clearance in 10 years, since Chris Wykoff from Toms River East got over the bar at 17-0 ¾ at the 2013 NCAA East Preliminary.

Mark Vinci from Fox Lane High School in Bedford, N.Y., set the school record of 17-0 ¾ at the 2000 IC4A Championships in Princeton and Steve Keating of Pompton Lakes cleared 17-0 at the 1989 Metropolitan Championships at Columbia University.

Morales came into the spring season with a PR of 16-1 ¼ from a meet in January in Orlando, Fla., and he extended it to 16-2 ¾ earlier this month in a meet at Princeton. His indoor PR is 16-0 ¾ from a meet in January of 2022 in Boston.

His clearance Saturday will likely be considered an indoor mark. It would rank No. 3 in Rutgers history indoors behind Ed Keefe’s 17-4 ½ [2008 Big East in Syracuse] and Vinci’s 17-2 ¾ [couldn’t find details].

Either way, it’s a nearly seven-inch PR and No. 8 this this year in the Big 10 Conference.

The Cherokee girls ran the 7th-fastest 4-by-8 in South Jersey history Saturday and placed 6th in the Championship of America race at the 127th annual Penn Relays at Franklin Field.

Senior Kelsey Niglio, junior Kerry O’Day, freshman Maddie Meder and sophomore Megan Niglio ran 9:14.25.

The only South Jersey schools to ever run faster are Haddonfield four times and Lenape twice. Cherokee set its previous school record of 9:17.77 when the Chiefs placed 4th in last year’s CoA race with Kelsey Niglio, O’Day, Megan Niglio and Nicole Clifford, who graduated.

Cherokee’s time is fastest by any South Jersey school at Penn since 2008, when Haddonfield placed 7th in 9:06.30 with Mariele Hall, Greta Feldman, Mia Spinelli and Alyssa D’Orazio.

Kelsey Niglio got the Chiefs out into the lead pack with a quick 2:14.58 leadoff split, 8th-fastest of all the runners in the race and the 3rd-fastest leadoff leg. O’Day followed with a personal-best 2:17.01 split. Meder, split 2:22.52 – four seconds faster than on Friday – to set up Megan Niglio’s 2:20.16 anchor.

Union Catholic of Scotch Plains won the race in 8:44.98 and was the only New Jersey school to run faster than Cherokee, who is now the fastest public school in the state. Rumson-Fair Haven was the only other New Jersey school to qualify and placed 11th in 9:22.79.

Cherokee qualified by running 9:23.45 Friday in its qualifying race.

All-Time South Jersey 4-by-800 Sub-9:20 List
9:00.51 … Haddonfield, 2021
9:05.62 … Lenape, 2012
9:05.83 … Lenape, 2008
9:06.30 … Haddonfield, 2008
9:10.32 … Haddonfield, 2000
9:12.30 … Haddonfield, 2019
9:14.25 … Cherokee, 2023
9:15.61 … Ocean City, 2014
9:15.19 … Lenape, 2007
9:15.92 … Haddonfield, 2015
9:16.57 … Seneca, 2017
9:16.79 … Haddonfield, 1999
9:17.77 … Cherokee, 2022
9:18.22 … Kingsway, 2016
9:18.37 … Haddonfield, 2019
9:18.57 … Seneca, 2018
9:18.71 … Lenape, 2011
9:18.93 … Haddonfield, 2018
9:18.94 … Lenape, 2006
9:19.15 … Wilson, 2002
9:19.68 … Kingsway, 2017

With her best jump in two years, Delsea graduate Ashley Preston of Villanova tied for 5th in the Championship Pole Vault at the 127th Penn Relays Saturday. The vault was held indoors because of bad weather.

Preston, a Villanova senior cleared 13-2 ½ before going out at 13-6 ½, which would have been a personal best.

She cleared her lifetime-best 13-3 ¾ in April of 2021 in the Quaker Invitational, also at Franklin Field. Last weekend in Charlottesville, Va., Preston cleared 13-1 ½, her best performance in two years. And she topped that Saturday in cool, wet conditions.

Preston cleared opening height of 12-2 ¾ on her first attempt and 12-8 ¾ and 13-2 ½ on her second. She and Victoria Atkinson of Cornell also cleared 12-8 ¾ and 13-2 ½ on her second attempts, and Preston and Atkinson tied for 5th.

Preston won the college-division vault at Penn in 2019 at 12-5 ½ and placed 6th in the championship division last year at 12-2 ¾.

With her 13-3 ¾ Preston ranks No. 2 in Villanova history behind Alexandra Wasik, who cleared 13-7 ¼ at the 2014 NCAA preliminary round in Jacksonville. Indoors, Preston is No. 3 all-time at Villanova at 13-3 ¼ from the 2020 Big East at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Pennsauken’s sophomore Amina Dyer, freshman Sianni Wynn, freshman Sanaya Dupree and sophomore Ameenah Rodriguez raced to the fastest 4-by-4 by a South Jersey school this year, a win in the Penn Relays South Jersey Large-School race and a berth in the Philly Area Championship race later Saturday.

With Wynn splitting 55.39, Pennsauken ran 3:58.41, 3rd-fastest of all New Jersey schools at the 127th annual Penn Relays at Franklin Field.

Pennsauken’s best previous finish in the South Jersey relay at Penn was a 3rd in 2014 in 4:01.25 with Tiara McDuffie, Briana Roberts, Aiyanna Ware and Olivia Jamison. This is the first time Pennsauken has ever broken 4:00 at Franklin Field.

Pennsauken will be back on the track at 5:45 p.m. for the Philadelphia Championship Race.

Pennsauken finished eight meters ahead of Winslow, which placed 2nd with a season-best 3:59.69. Seniors Ciara Wiltshire and Alana Henry, junior Dominique Clement and senior Janelle Marshall ran for Winslow, with Marshall anchoring in 57.92.

Other sub-60 splits were turned in by Rancocas Valley junior Leah Howe [59.09] and senior Kasey White [58.08] and Timber Creek junior Chloe Jones [59.86]. Timber Creek placed 3rd in 4:00.53 and R.V. was 4th in 4:02.03 with sophomores Aniya Wilkins and Cecilia King joining Howe and White, and sophomores Ryan Jennings and Billie Frazier and junior Naylah Jones joining Chloe Jones.

Competing in terrible conditions, Millville senior Leah Howard placed 3rd in the javelin Friday at the 127th annual Penn Relays at the grass throwing fields across the Amtrak lines from Franklin Field in West Philadelphia.

Howard popped a 148-7 on her first throw and that held up for 3rd place behind Julia Magliaro of Trinity School of Hicksville, N.Y. [164-7] and Belle Bosch of Chestnut Ridge of New Paris, Pa. [150-7].

Howard surpassed 140 feet on two other throws – 142-9 on her 3rd attempt and 144-10 on her 4th.

According to the MileSplit national database, Howard ranks No. 3 nationally and No. 2 in state history at 163-1 from the Woodbury Relays last weekend behind Trinity Spooner of South Beauregard in Longville, La. (171-11) and Magliaro.

Her finish is best by a South Jersey girl in the Penn Relays since 2000, when Haddonfield Olympian Erin Donohue took 2nd with a 139-10, finishing behind only Anna Bobiak of Villa Maria of Malvern, Pa. Later in the day, Donohue ran a 4:58 anchor on Haddonfield’s DMR team, which ran 12:02.34 and finished 2nd to San Lorenzo Valley High of Felton, Calif.

Lynlee Phillips of Shawnee placed 2nd in the 1998 Penn Relays with a throw of 136-5 with the old javelin. Susan Warnick of Meyersdale High in Summit Township, Somerset County, Pa., won the meet that year with a 138-9.

Northern Burlington sophomore Liliah Gordon ran the 9th-fastest 3,000 in South Jersey history on a cold and rain Friday afternoon at the 127th annual Penn Relays at Franklin Field.

Gordon placed 14th among some of the best distance runners in the country, covering the 12 ½ laps in 9:57.23.

That’s equivalent to 10:41.25 for 3,200 meters or 10:45.01 for the full two miles. Gordon’s outdoor PRs for 3,200 is 10:49.76 from earlier this month at Cherokee. She ran 10:38.20 for 3,200 meters indoors at Ocean Breeze at the Meet of Champions last month.

The only New Jersey runner who finished ahead of her was XC Meet of Champions runnerup Lindsay Hausman of Kent Place in Summit, who ran 9:52.74 for 12th place.

Here’s the all-time South Jersey 3,000-meter sub-10 List
9:40.23 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2010 Penn Relays
9:44.72 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012 Penn Relays
9:45.73 … Megan Venables [Highland], 2010 Penn Relays
9:50.11 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2017 Penn Relays
9:50.95 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2016 Penn Relays
9:53.19 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2009 Penn Relays
9:55.0h … Theresa Cattuna [Cherry Hill East], 2007 Penn Relays
9:57.12 … Dina Iacone [Washington Twp.], 2007 Penn Relays
9:57.23 … Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2023 Penn Relays
9:57.9h … Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1981
9:59.5h … Deanna Germano [Shawnee], 1985

Willingboro’s Kaila Speight, Aaliyah Robinson, Jaden Murry and Nester Wea ran 48.78 in the 400-meter relay at the 127th annual Penn Relays Friday at Franklin Field to advance to the Philadelphia Area Championship Race on Saturday.

Willingboro’s time was fastest of 188 New Jersey schools that raced at Penn Friday and 24th-fastest of 550 schools overall.

Among the 23 faster schools, nine were from Jamaica and two from the Bahamas, so Willingboro was 13th-fastest among U.S. schools.

The only faster New Jersey schools Friday were Union Catholic of Scotch Plains [47.48] and Paramus Catholic [48.48]. So the Chimeras were New Jersey’s fastest public school.

Spright, Robinson and Murry are freshmen, and Wea is a sophomore.

The nine-fastest teams qualify for the Championship of America race at 1:05 p.m. Saturday. Willingboro was among the nine-fastest schools from the Northeast that will race at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Also in Willingboro’s race are Union Catholic [47.48], Benjamin Cardozo of Bayside, N.Y. [48.34], Paramus Catholic [48.48], Guilderland of Guilderland Center, N.Y. [48.77], Chester, Pa. [48.82], North Babylon, N.Y. [48.92], Downingtown East of Exton [48.96] and North Penn of Lansdale [49.01].

Willingboro’s 48.78 is its fastest since 2009, when the Chimeras ran 48.08 to win the Emerging Elite race at Greensboro Nationals. Beverly Brownlee, Asja Goode, Tiye Saran Mutazz and Shanavia Thomas ran on that team.

Other South Jersey schools under 50 seconds Friday were Timber Creek [49.34], Winslow Township [49.47], Pennsauken [49.74] and Washington Township [49.97].

Ocean City’s Sophia Curtis extended her outdoor PR and was the top American finisher in the triple jump at the 127th annual Penn Relays Friday at Franklin Field.

Curtis, who set a South Jersey record of 41-3 ¼ at Boston Nationals last month, improved her No. 3 mark in South Jersey history Friday, placing 2nd with a 40-10 ¼.

That’s only a quarter of an inch off the No. 2 mark in South Jersey history – a 40-10 ½ by Northern Burlington’s Ashley Edwards in 2014 at Greensboro Nationals. Atlantic City’s Claudine Smith, now at Rutgers, set the South Jersey mark of 42-2 at the 2019 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.

Jade-Ann Dawkins of St. Jago in St. Catherine, Jamaica, had the five-best jumps of the competition, including the winning 42-8 ¾, which she hit on her 2nd attempt and repeated on her 3rd.

Curtis was in 6th place until she sailed 40-10 ½ on her final attempt, moving past four competitors. Until her final attempt, Curtis’s best jump was 39-0 ¼, which she did twice – on her 3rd and 5th attempts (with identical -0.6 wind).

On her clutch final jump, she passed Morgan Bridges of Bullis School of Potomac, Md. [39-6], Julia Dial of Thomas Edison of Alexandria, Va. [39-8 ½] and Llyric Driscoll of Western Branch of Chesapeake, Va. [40-7 ½].

Curtis is the top triple jumper in New Jersey by nearly two feet. Union Catholic’s Alexandra Bonn placed 8th Friday at 38-2 ¼, and sophomore I’mara Ford of Moorestown is No. 3 with her 38-1 ¼ at the Lenape Invitational.

Curtis is No. 15 in the U.S. according to the MileSplit national database and the No. 4 junior.

The Cherokee girls advanced to the Championship of America 3,200-meter relay at the 127th annual Penn Relays Friday morning at Franklin Field.

Senior Kelsey Niglio, junior Kerry O’Day, freshman Maddie Meder and sophomore Megan Niglio ran 9:23.45, the 9th-fastest time of the 68 schools that qualified for the Penn Relays.

The 12-fastest schools from four qualifying races qualify for the Championship of America, scheduled for 4:45 p.m. Saturday.

Cherokee is one of three New Jersey schools to qualify for the CoA race. Union Catholic led all qualifiers at 9:11.26, and Rumson-Fair Haven ran 9:22.29. The cutoff was 9:25.44. The full list of qualifiers is here.

Cherokee qualified for Penn with its 9:19.80 at the Millrose Games at the Armory in February. Cherokee ran 9:21.19 in the qualifying rounds last year at Penn and placed 4th in the CoA race in 9:17.77 with Kelsey Niglio, O’Day, Megan Niglio and Nicole Clifford.

Because they were racing in the fourth and final section, Cherokee had a good idea what it needed to qualify for Saturday. Only eight schools had broken 9:25 in the first three races, so the Chiefs were able to race with an eye on the clock, knowing exactly what they needed to get through.

Kelsey Niglio led off with a 2:19.35 split that got Cherokee near the front of the pack, and O’Day followed with a 2:18.31 that got the Chiefs into the lead. Meder, in her first Penn Relays and only her fourth lifetime high school outdoor track meet, split 2:26.82, and Niglio closed in 2:20.60, keeping Cherokee safely ahead of the rest of the pack.

Derrick Robinson became Cinnaminson’s first Penn Relays medalist in 20 years Thursday morning with a 5th-place finish in the high jump.

Competing in poor conditions at Franklin Field – cold, breezy, drizzly – Robinson cleared 6-4 and tied for 5th with Zeraun Daniel of Poly Prep of Brooklyn.

Robinson cleared opening height 6-2 on his first attempt and 6-4 on his second before going out at 6-6, which wound up being the winning height for Ja’Mari Manson of Bloomfield (Conn.).

He’s Cinnaminson’s first Penn Relays medalist since Jon Anderson took 5th in the 3,000 in 2003 with a time of 8:35.71.

Robinson is also South Jersey’s first high jump medalist at Penn since 2015, when Ameer Banks of Delsea cleared 6-7 ¾ for 4th place.

This winter, Robinson cleared 6-6 in a SJTCA meet at the Bubble in Toms River.