Paul VI sophomore Shaelan McNally ran a monster 17-second 3,200 PR yesterday at the Parochial A state championships.

McNally, who entered the day with a PR of 11:10.80 from the Olympic Conference Championships, ran 10:53.46, which was 2nd-fastest among all South Jersey runners at the six  state races. Nicole Clifford of Cherokee ran 10:45.24 to win the state Group 4 race.

McNally broke a Paul VI school record that had stood for 44 years.

In 1978, Doreen Startare ran 11:02.2 for a hand-timed full two-mile, which converts to 10:58.5 for 3,200 meters.

McNally’s time makes her the top sophomore in South Jersey this year and the No. 5 sophomore in the state. The only faster Camden County sophomores over the last 15 years are Haddonfield’s Sarah Naticchia [10:48.87 in 2019] and Alyssa Condell of Timber Creek [10:52.00 in 2015].

McNally placed 5th in a very fast Parochial B race. Red Bank Catholic’s Cate DeSousa won in 10:30.97, leading four runners under 10:40.

McNally will be the No. 13 seed in a ridiculously loaded 3,200 at Meet of Champions, although several of the top seeds aren’t expected to compete.

McNally races in the 1,600 on Saturday back at Middletown North. She has a 5:02.10 PR from the South Jersey Elite meet last month at Delsea. That makes her the No. 5 seed in Parochial A.

McNally’s time is No. 15 on the all-time Camden County list. Here’s a look at every Camden County girl who’s run sub-11.

10:28.6h….. Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2001
10:32.4h….. Mindy Rowand [Sterling], 1985
10:33.22 … Holly Bischof [Bishop Eustace], 2012
10:33.25 … Megan Venables [Highland], 2011
10:33.85 … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2021
10:34.79 … Theresa Cattuna [Cherry Hill East], 2007
10:37.53 … Vanessa Wright [Haddonfield], 2005
10:40.24 … Katie Van Horn [Triton], 2005
10:42.22 … Jenn Rawls [Highland], 2009
10:43.50 … Alyssa Condell [Timber Creek], 2017
10:45.12 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2014
10:46.38 … Madison Coppolino [Sterling], 2018
10:52.32 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2009
10:52.75 … Meghan Malloy [Haddonfield], 2013
10:53.46 … Shaelan McNally [Paul VI], 2022
10:54.0y … Lori Watson [Cherry Hill East], 1983
10:55.34 … Sophie Steidle [Collingswood], 2021
10:56.54 … Arianna McKinney [Highland], 2004
10:58.46 … Doreen Startare [Paul VI], 1978
10:59.56 … Amanda Bakley [Pennsauken], 2015

Paulsboro’s remarkable Jamile Gantt won the state Group 1 high jump title Friday with the best mark in New Jersey this year.

Gantt cleared 6-8 ¼ to win the state Group 1 title at Pennsauken and go into the Meet of Champions as the No. 1 seed. That’s No. 5 in Gloucester County history.

Gantt, a junior, had a PR of 6-2 until just six weeks ago. He cleared 6-6 at the Woodbury Relays and then 6-8 at the Delsea Crusader Field #1 meet last month.

His 6-8 ¼ clearance is best by a South Jersey Group 1 jumper in 21 years, since Schalick’s Darryl Gause hit 6-10 at the 2001 Meet of Champions in South Plainfield. It’s the best by any South Jersey jumper since current Dallas Cowboy Markquese Bell cleared 7-0 in 2016.

It’s the best jump by a Paulsboro athlete since Spencer Irvin cleared 6-10 at the 1993 Haddonfield Invitational.

Fortunately, Tomahawk Timing – which provides results for the Group 1 and 3 meets – does include field event details in its results, unlike the company that did Group 2 and 4.

So we can tell you that Gantt cleared 5-8, 5-10, 6-0, 6-2 and 6-4 on his first attempt. He had the meet won at 6-4, then cleared 6-6 on his second try and 6-8 ¼ on his third. It appears that he didn’t take any jumps beyond 6-8 ¼.

Unfortunately, the timing of the high jump prevented Gantt from racing the 800, where he was the 800 No. 4 seed at 1:59.85.

How many athletes in New Jersey history have cleared 6-8 in the high jump and broken 2:00 in the 800?

I can only think of one.

And he’s back next year.

Here’s a look at the all-time Gloucester County high jump top-10:

6-10 …….. Spencer Irvin [Paulsboro], 1993
6-10 ……… Josh Butler [Delsea], 2006
6-10 …….. Devin Bradham [Williamstown], 2005
6-10 …….. Ameer Banks [Delsea], 2015
6-8 ½ …… Rocky Harrison [Woodbury], 1975
6-8 ½ …… Jamile Gantt [Paulsboro], 2022
6-8 …….… Greg Collins [Deptford], 1980
6-8 ….…..… Craig Howard [Washington Twp.], 1998
6-8 ………. Tim Cook [Glassboro], 2005
6-6 ………. [Numerous]

Three South Jersey track teams lead their state meet after one day of action at Pennsauken and Franklin Township.

Here’s a look at every team battle heading into Saturday. Click the subhead for complete results!

Girls Group 1
Clayton goes into Day 2 trailing Hasbrouck Heights 40 ½-32, with Haddon Township in 4th with 27 points. Audubon [10 ½] and Gateway [10] are also in double digits, and Schalick is right there [9 ½].

Boys Group 1
Emerson leads the way with 22 points, but Glassboro [20] and Audubon [19] are within striking distance, and Salem [12], Paulsboro [10] and Penns Grove [10] are also already in double figures.

Boys Group 2
The move up from Group 1 to Group 2 hasn’t affected Willingboro, which piled up 40 points on Day and leads 2nd-place Haddonfield, who has 24. Deptford is sitting in 4th with 19 points.

Girls Group 2
Haddonfield and Sterling are both in double figures, Haddonfield sitting in 5th place with 13 points and Sterling in 6th with 12 points. Metuchen leads NJ-2 with 22 points after Day 1.

Boys Group 3
The anticipated battle between Delsea and Pennsauken is off and running, with Delsea leading 38-29 through Friday’s action. Moorestown [12] and Timber Creek [10] both reached double figures also.

Girls Group 3
Mainland scored 22 Day 1 points and trails Colts Neck by four going into Saturday. Timber Creek and Winslow are tied for 6th with 14 points.

Girls Group 4
Cherokee scored 18 in the 800 and 10 in the 3,200 for 28 points on Day 1 and a six-point overnight lead on Montclair [22] and Montgomery [20]. Millville [18] and Rancocas Valley [17] are in 5th and 7th in NJ-4.

Boys Group 4
Washington Township is South Jersey’s top school in NJ-4 so far with 14 points. Cherry Hill East and Kingsway are tied for 8th with 10 and Egg Harbor is only half a point back with 9 ½.

Parochial A Boys
Camden Catholic is the only South Jersey school that scored on Day 1, and they’re in 7th place with four points going into Saturday.

Parochial B Boys
Holy Spirit has 21 points and trails only St. Rose of Belmar, which leads with 46 points. Bishop Eustace is in 4th with 17 points.

Parochial A Girls
Camden Catholic and Paul VI each have two points going into Day 2.

Parochial B Girls
Holy Spirit and Holy Cross are tied for 7th with 12 points and Bishop Eustace is just behind with 10 points.

Millville junior Leah Howard popped the No. 6 javelin throw in South Jersey history Friday and won the state Group 4 title at Franklin High.

Howard threw 148-2 and won by more than 15 feet over Hailey Romero of Fair Lawn, who was second at 132-7.

Her throw is No. 14 in the U.S., according to the MileSplit database and just over two feet off the meet record for the new javelin of 150-5 set in 2019 by Alianna Eucker of Bergen Tech.

Howard came into the season with a PR of 123-3 from last year’s sectionals. He improevd to 132-10 at the Woodbury Relays, 134-10 at the South Jersey Elite and 138-6 at sectionals before bombing a 13-foot PR Friday.

Unfortunately, the timing company did not see fit to include full series info, so we can’t tell you what her five other throws looked like.

But Howard came up less than two feet from becoming the 16th 150-foot thrower in state history with the new implement, which went into use in 2002.

The only South Jersey underclassman to ever throw farther than Howard is state record holder Brielle Smith of Oakcrest, who threw 163-8 at the 2018 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.

Her mark is just over a foot shy of the qualifying standard for the USATF Under 20 Championships in Eugene later this month.

168- 6 … Brielle Smith [Oakcrest], 2019
160- 8 … Maria Jimenez [Vineland], 2012
152- 9 … Kate Johnston [Haddonfield], 2012
152- 4 … Jill Shaner [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2009
148- 8 … Caitlin Cielo [Eastern], 2002
148- 2 … Leah Howard [Millville], 2022
146- 7 … Victoria Imbesi [Our Lady of Mercy], 2008
143-11 … Ayana Culhane [Absegami], 2016
142- 6 … Kaela Schrier [Cherokee], 2016
142- 1 … Alexa Gardner [Hammonton], 2018
141- 6 … Lindsay Minch [Pennsville], 2009
141- 5 … Kelly Yanucil [Bordentown], 2013
141- 1 … Tumelo Nwanma [Vineland], 2016
141- 0 … Jocelyn McRae [Millville], 2006
140- 8 … Julianne Foering [Rancocas Valley], 2017
140- 0 … Melissa Lake [Cherokee], 2011

Racing on their home track, Pennsauken juniors Bryce Tucker and Premier Wynn ran 1-2 in the intermediate hurdles at the state Group 3 meet Friday.

Tucker ran 53.82, repeating his win from last year on his way to winning the Meet of Champions in 52.17. Wynn ran a personal-best 54.28, lowering his PR from 54.69 from sectionals last weekend.

Along with a win in the 400-meter relay – with Elijah Jennings, Kahlil Ali, Bronze Whitmore and Wynn – Pennsauken already has 28 points as it seeks its second straight state team championship.

This is the first 1-2 sweep in the Group 3 intermediate hurdles in 23 years, since Camden teammates Danyne Brown and Dwight Ruff ran 53.57 and 53.93 at the 1999 meet in South Plainfield.

Smoking hot 800 from Cherokee teammates Nicole Clifford and Kelsey Niglio at the state Group 4 meet.

Clifford, a senior, won the race in a personal-best 2:11.12 and Niglio, a junior, finished right behind her in 2nd place with a PR 2:11.80.

They are the two-fastest times from among the four public school 800 races.

Their times are No. 12 and No. 15 in South Jersey history and No. 3 and 5 in Burlington County history. Full lists below.

All six medalists at Franklin High ran sub-2:14.

Clifford’s previous PR was 2:11.52 at the Olympic Conference Championships last month, and Niglio’s was 2:13.31 last weekend at sectionals.

Here are the top 10 times from the four public school races [parochials haven’t raced yet]:
2:11.12 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], Group 4 [1st]
2:11.80 … Kelsey Niglio [Cherokee], Group 4 [2nd]
2:12.19 … Christina Allen [River Dell], Group 2 [1st]
2:12.43 … Lucia Rabolli [Ridgewood], Group 4 [3rd]
2:13.43 … Jenai Berry [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], Group 4 [4th]
2:13.53 … Emma Zawatski [Freehold Twp.], Group 4 [5th]
2:13.91 … Olivia Takla [Toms River North], Group 4 [6th]
2:14.20 … Caroline Schleif [Metuchen], Group 2 [2nd]
2:14.89 … Lily Oliver [Toms River South], Group 3 [1st]
2:16.26 … Alexa LaSasso [North Hunterdon], Group 3 [2nd]

All-Time Burlington County Top-10
2:07.33 … Marielle Hall (Haddonfield), 2009
2:08.87 … Erin Donohue (Haddonfield), 2001
2:09.2h … Katrina Sye (Buena), 1999
2:09.50 … Renee Tomlin (Ocean City), 2005
2:09.84 … Rachel Stremme (Ocean City), 2014
2:10.1h … Michelle Rowen (Washington Twp.), 1982
2:10.55 … Shelby Whetstone (Lenape), 2019
2:10.57 … Nijgia Snapp (Oakcrest), 2009
2:10.79 … Krista Ferrara (Vineland), 1991
2:10.9h … Ruth Lockbaum (Glassboro), 1985
2:11.07 … Miya Johnson (Lenape), 2007
2:11.12 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
2:11.45 … Sydney Coppolino (Sterling), 2017
2:11.56 … Mary Bohi (Seneca), 2009
2:11.80 … Briana Gess (Haddonfield), 2016
2:11.80 … Kelsey Niglio [Cherokee], 2022
2:11.88 … Kayla Martin (Seneca), 2015
2:11.94 … Bridget Flynn (Ocean City), 2014

All-Time Burlington County Top-10
2:10.55 … Shelby Whetstone (Lenape), 2019
2:11.07 … Miya Johnson (Lenape), 2007
2:11.12 … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
2:11.56 … Mary Bohi (Seneca), 2009
2:11.80 … Kelsey Niglio [Cherokee], 2022
2:11.88 … Kayla Martin (Seneca), 2015
2:11.95 … Miya Johnson [Lenape], 2007
2:12.0h … Monica Olkowski (Cherokee), 1990
2:12.78 … Megan Quimby (Lenape), 2015
2:12.93 … Carly Pettipaw (Lenape), 2015

Great start to state meet weekend from Audubon senior Scott Hubbard, who won the 800 at the state Group 1 meet at Pennsauken in 1:56.15.

Hubbard led a 1-3-4 South Jersey finish, with Maple Shade senior Lincoln Ormsby 3rd in a PR 1:58.86 and another Audubon half-miler, senior Makaio Kelii 4th in 2:00.70.

Hubbard entered the spring season with a PR of 1:59.30 from the indoor Meet of Champions at the Bubble and then lowered it in each major 800 he ran this spring – 1:58.93 at the Camden County Championships, 1:57.47 to win sectionals and then his 1:56.15 win Friday.

Audubon won the 4-by-4 at last year’s state Group 1 meet, but Hubbard is Audubon’s first individual state champion in at least 30 years.

Hubbard won by nearly a second over Evan Morrow of Hasbrouck Heights, who ran 1:57.04. Ormsby’s previous PR was 1:59.72 at sectionals last weekend, and Kelii’s was 2:00.39 at the Haddonfield Invitational.

They should have been released a few days ago, but the NJSIAA finally got around to releasing the official performance lists for this weekend’s state championship meets.

The state Group 1 and 3 meets are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Pennsauken and the Group 2 and 4 meets will be held at Franklin. Parochials are at Middletown North, but they didn’t have sectionals so no performance lists.

Here ya go!

GROUP 1: Click here
GROUP 2: Click here
GROUP 3: Click here
GROUP 4: Click here

 

Delsea graduate Elisia Lancaster, a senior at Southern Illinois, competed in her first NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships Thursday evening and placed 20th in the hammer throw.

Lancaster fouled on her first throw but went 203-8 and 210-7 on her next two attempts at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon’s campus in Eugene.

Her lifetime best is a 220-4 from just a couple weeks ago when she won the hammer at the Missouri Valley Conference meet in Des Moines, Iowa.

She qualified for the NCAA Finals by throwing 214-6 last weekend in the West Preliminary Meet in Fayetteville, Ark.

Lancaster placed 10th in the weight throw in March at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships at the Metro CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala., with a throw of 71-10, only two feet off her lifetime best of 73-10 ¼.

Lancaster won six NJCAA Division 3 national championships while at Rutgers College-Gloucester and then competed indoors for Towson for one season before spending the last two years in Carbondale.

The 103rd annual state track championships are set for Friday and Saturday, with Groups 1 and 3 at Pennsauken,  Groups 2 and 4 at Franklin Township High and parochials at Middletown North.

Action begins at 2:30 p.m. Friday and 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Pennsauken and Franklin and 3:30 p.m. Friday and 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Middletown North.

The first South Jersey school to win a state title was Vineland in 1925 – 97 years ago! The most recent were Clayton in Group 1 and Pennsauken in Group 3 last year.

The first South Jersey girls team to win a state title was Woodbury in 1976, the third year the girls meet was held. The most recent were Clayton in Group 1, Haddonfield in Group 2 and Egg Harbor Township in Group 4 last spring.

Unbelievably, the NJSIAA still had not released the official meet performance lists as of Thursday morning. We’ll add it when (if?) it’s finally available. But we’ve got links to everything else you’ll need to enjoy the meet right here.

Good luck to everyone competing, coaching or spectating this weekend!

Ad-Free State Meet Program [I deleted all 3,188 pages of ads]: Click here
Order of Events: Click here
Sectional merges from: Click here
State Meet Records: Click here
State Meet All-Time Team Champions: Click here
How to Advance to Meet of Champions: Click here
Buy Tickets: Click here

OFFICIAL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE LISTS:
GROUP 1: Click here
GROUP 2: Click here
GROUP 3: Click here
GROUP 4: Click here

LIVE RESULTS [links will be live Friday]
GROUP 1 BOYS: Click here
GROUP 2 BOYS: Click here
GROUP 3 BOYS: Click here
GROUP 4 BOYS: Click here
PAROCHIAL A BOYS: Click here
PAROCHIAL B BOYS: Click here
GROUP 1 GIRLS: Click here
GROUP 2 GIRLS: Click here
GROUP 3 GIRLS: Click here
GROUP 4 GIRLS: Click here
PAROCHIAL A BOYS: Click here
PAROCHIAL B BOYS: Click here
PAROCHIAL A GIRLS: Click here
PAROCHIAL B GIRLS: Click here

2021 RESULTS
GROUP 1 BOYS: Click here
GROUP 2 BOYS: Click here
GROUP 3 BOYS: Click here
GROUP 4 BOYS: Click here
PAROCHIAL A BOYS: Click here
PAROCHIAL B BOYS: Click here
GROUP 1 GIRLS: Click here
GROUP 2 GIRLS: Click here
GROUP 3 GIRLS: Click here
GROUP 4 GIRLS: Click here
PAROCHIAL A GIRLS: Click here
PAROCHIAL B GIRLS: Click here
GROUP 1 & 3 TEAM SCORING: Click here
GROUP 2 & 4 TEAM SCORING: Click here
PAROCHIAL A & B TEAM SCORING: Click here