Senior Helene Usher was a double winner and the Haddonfield girls won their fourth straight Group 2 sectional title and 11th overall Saturday at the Bubble.

Usher led a 1-2-3 Haddonfield sweep in the 1,600 and a 1-2-5 finish in the 3,200, and the Bulldogs scored in every event other than the 400 and shot put to pile up 111 points aand win the team title by 81 points.

This is the 9th time Haddonfield has scored over 100 points at indoor sectionals. Only four other teams have scored 100 points (Willingboro, Delsea twice, Collingswood).

Haddonfield’s 11 titles are the most in state history at indoor sectionals. Ridge has won 10 going into the North 2 Group 4 meet at the Bubble next week. Haddonfield’s streak of four straight titles is 2nd-longest by a South Jersey school. Delsea won five straight from 2010 through 2014.

Indoor sectionals began in 2008 and the meet wasn’t held in 2021, so Haddonfield has won 12 titles out of a possible 15 – the first seven in Group 1, the last five in Group 2.

In the 1,600, Usher ran 5:24.21, with junior Riley Slootsky [5:26.32] and senior Libby DeMichele [5:34.90] in 2nd and 3rd. In the 3,200, Usher ran 11:40.01, junior Ava Thomas was 2nd [11:45.02] and sophomore Dylan Melcher 5th [12:33.20].

Haddonfield added a 1-3-4 finish in the 800 for 60 out of a possible 72 points in the three long track races. Junior Stella Stolarick ran a PR 2:24.28 for the win, senior Thea Spellmeyer ran 2:26.75 for 2nd and senior Maya Carey was 5th in 2:29.73.

Sophomores Audrey Adams and Avery Connor both PR’d in the 55-meter hurdles and picked up 14 more points, Adams winning in 9.15 and Connor 4th in 9.63. Adams also placed 3rd in the high jump at 4-8

Sophomore Mia Bompensa PR’d at 9-6 in the pole vault for another Haddonfield win and junior Chloe Kamp ran 7.53 in the 55 for 2nd place.

Slootsky, Solarick, Ava Carpenter and Spellmeyer ran 4:15.06 to win the 1,600-meter relay.

Other winners: Oakcrest senior Royanah Farmer in the 55 [PR 7.18], Deptford junior Djassi Dean in the 400 [1:00.16] and Sterling senior Jordyn Caul in the shot put [34-9 ¾].

Seniors Bryce Tucker and Premier Wynn combined to score 48 points – enough to win the title by themselves – and Pennsauken sprinted its way to its third straight sectional title at the Bubble Sunday.

Tucker won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.85 and the 800 in 2:00.12 and placed second in the 400 in 50.28, and Wynn won the 55 with a PR 6.57 and the 400 in 50.10.

They also ran the third and fourth legs on Pennsauken’s winning 1,600-meter relay team, which won in 3:26.52 to finish off the meet. Freshman KaRon Ali and junior Ladanian McGrath ran the first two legs on the 4-by-4.

Pennsauken outscored 2nd-place Winslow Township 78-42.33, and the 78 points are most in a Group 3 sectional since Kingsway scored 97 in 2015.

McGrath and Elijah Jennings picked up 2nd-place finishes, McGrath with a 2:00.18 behind Tucker in the 800 and Jennings with a 6.58 just behind Wynn.

Junior Bronze Whitmore finished 5th in the 55 in 6.71. That race saw the first seven placers all finish with 17-100ths of a second of one another. Ali also scored in the 400 with a PR 52.58.

Other winners were Highland junior Cortland Webb in the 1,600 [4:24.60], Ocean City’s Nick Scarangelli in the 3,200 [PR 9:45.09], Winslow senior Jaylen Wall in the high jump [four-inch PR 6-4] and Delsea junior Greg Masso in the shot put [53-10].

In the 3,200, Delsea’s Matthew Littlehales placed 2nd in 9:50.72, fastest by a South Jersey freshman indoors in 15 years. In 2008, Triton’s Robert Rawls ran 9:45.41 at Group 4 sectionals, also at the Bubble. Littlehales’ previous PR was 10:11.09 last week at the Bubble. That was his only previous 3,200.

Another huge meet for Pennsauken freshman Sianni Wynn at the SJTCA Winter Meet #10 at the Bubble.

Wynn ran a big indoor 400 PR with the No. 2 time in South Jersey this year and also won the 55-meter dash.

She ran 58.02 in the 400, No. 2 in the state behind only Piscataway senior Brooke’lyn Drakeford, who ran 56.51 at Ocean Breeze late last year. Wynn’s time is No. 11 nationally among freshmen, according to the MileSplit database, and it’s fastest by a South Jersey freshman since another Pennsauken girl, Jade Pope, ran 56.98 / 57.79 at Group 3 states at the Bubble in 2018.

The South Jersey freshman record is 56.29 by Olympian English Gardner of Eastern at the 2007 Meet of Champions, also at the Bubble in Toms River.

http://milesplit.live/meets/505891/events/1/results/F/F

In the 55, Wynn won in 7.14 unpressed (second place was 7.62). She ran a state-leading 7.06 at the Armory in early January, No. 12 in South Jersey history.

Wynn this winter has also run a S.J. No. 1 24.81 in the 200 and 39.17 for 300 meters – both at the Armory.

Wynn’s 400 time is No. 17 on a very fast all-time Camden County list, but only a little over half a second outside the top 10.

55.16 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
55.4h … English Gardner [Eastern], 2008
55.6h … Denise Mitchell [Edgewood], 1984
56.19 … Nylah Perry [Winslow], 2020
56.44 … Avionne Sloan [Camden], 2006
56.62 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
56.85 … Nylah Perry [Winslow], 2020
56.98 … Jade Pope [Pennsauken], 2020
57.36 … Flora Ahiarakwe [Winslow Twp.], 2018
57.43 … Raniyah Walker [Camden], 2002
57.59 … Jewel Ash [Eastern], 2020
57.61 … Janeya Hammond [Winslow Twp.], 2020
57.72 … Aishia Lawson [Camden], 1995
57.76 … Olivia Jamison [Pennsauken], 2015
57.7h … Jenelle Wilson [Eastern], 2003
57.84 … Tamara Jones [Woodrow Wilson], 2007
58.02 … Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], 2023
58.15 … Kristina Keegan [Haddonfield], 2002
58.19 … Shakira Dancy [Winslow Twp.], 2017
58.28 … Jennifer Civatte [Eastern], 2017

So much for that PR.

Egg Harbor junior Michaela Schlemo arrived in Toms River Monday with a 3,200 PR of 12:02.01. When she left, she had lowered it nearly 50 seconds.

Schlemo was first across the line at the SJTCA meet at the Bubble with an 11:13.59, No. 5 in Atlantic County history and No. 2 in South Jersey this year.

http://milesplit.live/meets/505893/events/11/results/F/F

You don’t get many 48.42-second PRs in a race as short as 3,200 meters, but Schlemo finished 50 meters ahead of Cherokee sophomore Megan Niglio, who placed 2nd in 11:23.16.

The only faster time by a South Jersey two-miler this winter belongs to Clearview senior Abby Waddington, who ran 10:55.10 at the Bubble last week. Schlemo’s time is No. 9 in the state.

Schlemo plays softball in the spring and has never run outdoor track, although if her times keep dropping … who knows?

She ran a 1,600 PR of 5:16.00 at Ocean Breeze earlier this month, and that’s No. 9 this year in South Jersey.

Before this month, Schlemo had PRs of 5:34.82 from Ocean Breeze and 12:02.01 from a SJTCA meet at the Bubble, both last February.

But she’s coming off a terrific XC season, where she placed 3rd in the Shore Coaches A race, 4th at sectionals and 15th at the Meet of Champions with a 19:26 at Holmdel.

Here’s a look at the top-5 indoor 3,200 times in Atlantic County history:

10:33.95 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2016
10:45.40 … Julianna Catania [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2016
10:53.4h … Christin Bettis [Hammonton], 2012
11:08.72 … Sofia Day [Mainland Reg.], 2022
11:13.59 … Michaela Schlemo [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2023

Washington Township junior Yashahya Brown continued his attack on the record book Friday with a state-leading performance in the 55-meter hurdles at the Bubble.

Brown ran 7.44 at the Olympic Conference #2 meet, eclipsing his PR of 7.46 that he set earlier this month at Ocean Breeze.

Brown ranks 6th nationally according to the MileSplit database and No. 2 among underclassmen, behind Colton Westlake of St. Clairsville (Ohio) High School, who ran 7.40 at the Dyson Baudo Rec Center in Marietta, Ohio.

His time is also No. 19 in South Jersey history and No. 4 on the all-time Gloucester County list.

Brown bumped senior Nathaniel Rayan of Scotch Plains-Fanwood from the No. 1 spot in New Jersey this year. Rayan ran 7.45 at the Metropolitan Invitational earlier this week at the Armory.

The Minutemen have two of the top-six hurdlers in the state with Brown and senior Kanye Mills, who ran a PR 7.64 earlier this month at Ocean Breeze. Mills ran a 5-second 800 PR of 2:00.29 Friday at the bubble.

Brown is the fastest underclassman in New Jersey since Sincere Rhea of St. Augustine, who’s now at Miami, ran 7.35 to win the 2018 Meet of Champions at the Bubble.

Here’s a look at the all-time South Jersey top-20:

7.10 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
7.18 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1996
7.22 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
7.22 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
7.29 … Nate Harley [Pleasantville], 1996
7.29 … Danyne Brown [Camden], 1999
7.29 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], 2001
7.29 … Will Brown [Palmyra], 2006
7.31 … Anthony Vasquez [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2020
7.32 … Jon Dickey [Penns Grove], 1985
7.34 … Chais Hill [Highland], 2015
7.35 … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 1990
7.39 … Rashad Baker [Wilson], 2000
7.39 … Isaiah Lewis [Winslow Twp.], 2020
7.42 … Kevon Brown [West Deptford], 2009
7.42 … Naseem Smith [Deptford], 2019
7.43 … Danyne Brown [Camden], 1999
7.43 … Edwin Alston [Winslow Twp.], 2015
7.44 … Lance Reed [Willingboro], 1983
7.44 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2023

Lenape became the third New Jersey school this year with three milers running 4:30 or faster when seniors Colin Hermack, Sean Brennan and Will Whalen turned the trick at the SJTCA meet at the Bubble on Friday.

Hermack won the race in 4:28.96, Paul VI junior Will Mrozinski was 2nd in 4:30.16 and Brennan and Whalen took 3rd and 4th, both in 4:30.39.

Hermack has run 4:27.82 outdoors – he was 5th at Grouip 4 sectionals at Buena last spring – but his time is an indoor PR by nearly 20 seconds.

Brennan and Whalen both ran lifetime bests. Brennan had never broken 4:50 indoors or out, and Whalen hadn’t broken 4:45.

Mrozinski also PR’d. He also hadn’t broken 4:50 indoor – he hadn’t run an indoor 1,600 since he was a freshman – and his outdoor PR is 4:33.71 from Parochial A states at Middletown North last spring.

If you’re thinking 4-by-mile, you should be. He ran the 3,200 and not the 1,600 on Friday, but sophomore Noah Manwaring ran 4:35.51 in his only 1,600 so far this winter – earlier this month at Ocean Breeze. Manwaring placed 12th at Group 4 XC sectionals at DREAM Park in October and was the top sophomore in the race. Manwaring ran the 3,200 Friday and placed 2nd to Cherokee’s Patrick Ditmars in a PR 9:54.10. Ditmars ran 9:41.84.

If you add up those four times, you get 17:59.9. The 4-by-1,600 or 4-by-mile is rarely run indoors, but outdoors, only 16 schools have run sub-18 for a 6,400-meter relay or the 4-mile equivalent, most recently Kingsway with a 17:59.1 converted from yards in 2019 at Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.

The only other New Jersey schools with three milers under 4:31 so far this year are Ridge and Christian Brothers Academy.

In her first multi as a collegian, freshman Bryanna Craig recorded the 5th-highest score in Purdue history.

Craig, who grew up in Millville and began her track career at Millville High School, placed 3rd in the pentathlon Friday at the PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational at Louisville’s Norton Health Care Sports and Learning Center with a score of 3,968.

That’s No. 16 in NCAA Division 1 so far this year and No. 1 by a freshman.

Pitt athletes Lydia Bottelier, a senior, and Ilse Steigenga, a junior, placed 1st and 2nd, with the top three separated by just 12 points over five events. Bottelier won with 3,980 and Steigenga was 2nd with 3,975.

Craig picked up her biggest point total in the 60-meter hurdles, where she ran 8.76, not far off her PR of 8.70 from a meet earlier this month in Chicago. She led all competitors with a 2:16.02 in the 800 for 878 points and also scored big in the high jump with a 5-7 ¼, not far off her indoor and outdoor PRs of 5-8. The 800 time isn’t a PR but it’s a multi PR.

She also set indoor PRs in the shot put with a 34-0 and the long jump at 18-1 ¾. She’s thrown 34-6 ¾ and jumped 18-8 ¼ outdoors.

Four Purdue women have broken 4,000 points in the pentathlon but only one since 1997 – Rebecca Coan scored 4,023 points at the 2020 Big Ten Championships in Geneva, Ohio. NCAA outdoor heptathlon champ Corissa Yasen set the school record of 4,181 in 1996 when she won the Big Ten Championship in Madison, Wisc.

Craig won three scholastic multi-event national titles, recorded the 6th-highest pentathlon in high school history and placed 3rd at the USATF Under-20 Championships in Eugene and 6th in the World Under 20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.

Penn sophomore Aliya Garozzo from Paul VI ran a PR 8.61 in the 60-meter hurdles Friday at Penn State, the No. 6 time in Quaker history.

Garozzo ran 8.61 in the trials, 8.68 in the semifinals and 8.63 for 5th place in the final at the PSU National Invitational.

Her previous PR was 8.72 from the Seahawk Shootout at Ocean Breeze in December. She beat that three times Friday.

Garozzo hurdled at PVI – she was 4th in the Meet of Champions indoors in 2020 – but focused on the 400 and intermediates her senior year and then didn’t hurdle her first three seasons at Penn. So this is the first season she’s raced the highs indoors or outdoors in three years.

Her 8.61 is No. 4 in the Ivy League this year and just 9-100ths of a second off No. 1. She’s just behind Princeton senior Arianna Smith from Pennsville, who ran a PR 8.55 earlier this month in a dual meet with Navy in Annapolis. Smith is No. 2 in the 400 with a PR 55.01 from that same Navy dual meet.

Clearview senior Abby Waddington, Kingsway senior Nicole Lipieta and Cherokee sophmore Megan Niglio ran the three-fastest South Jersey 1,600s this year Friday night at the Olympic Conference meet at the Bubble.

Waddington ran 5:08.11 to win the race, Lipieta was just behind in 5:08.23 and Niglio ran 5:09.61 for 3rd.

Cherokee senior Kelsey Niglio was 4th in 5:10.72 and Kingsway senior Aubrey Pierontoni made it five girls under 5:13 with a 5th-place finish in 5:12.80.

Waddington, Lipieta and Megan Niglio bumped Delsea senior Lillie Widmer out of the top spot on the 2023 South Jersey 1,600 list. Widmer ran a PR 5:10.03 at the bubble last week.

Waddington had a PR of 5:11.51 from earlier this month at Ocean Breeze. Lipieta ran 4:57.63 outdoors at Holmdel in May and 5:06.09 indoors this past March at the Bubble in the Meet of Champions. Niglio has run slightly faster, with a 5:08.16 last winter at the state Group 4 meet at the Bubble. Kelsey Niglio’s time is an indoor PR, although she has run slightly faster outdoors with a 5:09.08 in May at Holmdel.

Here’s a look at the updated South Jersey top-10

5:08.11 … Abby Waddington [Clearview], Bubble
5:08.23 … Nicole Lipieta [Kingsway], Bubble
5:09.61 … **Megan Niglio [Cherokee], Bubble
5:10.03 … Lillie Widmer [Delsea], Ocean Breeze
5:10.72 … Kelsey Niglio [Cherokee], Bubble
5:12.80 … Aubrey Pierontoni [Kingsway], Bubble
5:14.01 … Gillian Lovett [Mainland Reg.], Ocean Breeze
5:16.00 … Michaela Schlemo [Egg Harbor Twp.], Ocean Breeze
5:18.54 … Abigail Kotran [Clearview], Ocean Breeze
5:20.02 … Shaelan McNally [Paul VI], Ocean Breeze

Ocean City Nick Scarangelli moved into the New Jersey top-10 in the 1,600 Wednesday with a huge PR 4:23.85 win at the Metropolitan Invitational at the Armory.

Scarangelli negative-split the race, getting out in 2:14.0 and coming back in 2:09.9 with a 64.8 final 400 and 31.9 final 200. He finished eight meters ahead of Brenden McMahon of Ridge, who placed 2nd in 4:25.19.

His time is No. 10 in New Jersey this year and No. 3 in South Jersey, with three guys packed together between 4:23 and 4:24 – Woodbury junior Peyton Shute ran 4:23.23 at Ocean Breeze earlier this month and Haddonfield’s George Andrus ran 4:23.55 at the Bubble on Monday.

Scarangelli’s previous indoor PR was 4:32.65 last winter at Group 3 sectionals at the Bubble. His overall PR was 4:29.23 from last spring at the South Jersey Elite meet at Delsea.

His time is No. 6 in Cape. May County (and Ocean City) history:

4:16.02 … Erik Johnson, 2011
4:16.57 … Miles Schoedler, 2011
4:20.43 … Owen Ritti, 2020
4:20.51 … Ryan Birchmeier, 2008
4:22.16 … John Richardson, 2002
4:23.85 … Nick Scarangelli, 2023