Villanova sophomore Ashley Preston, a 2018 Delsea graduate, hit a new pole vault PR Saturday at the Quaker Invite at Franklin Field.

Preston cleared 13-3 3/4 on her second attempt to break her lifetime best of 13-3 1/2, which she cleared winning the 2020 indoor Big East Championships at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. Her previous outdoor PR was a 13-2 1/4, which she cleared at the 2019 outdoor Big East Championships at Icahn Stadium in New York. Preston has won all four Big East Championship pole vaults that have been held since she entered Villanova.

Preston’s mark Saturday makes her the No. 3 performer in Villanova history, behind Alexandra Wasik, who cleared 13-10 at the Gotham Cup at the Armory in 2015, and Ashyln Llerandi, who cleared 13-5 3/4 indoors at the ECAC Championships in Roxbury, Mass., in March of 2020. Her mark is tied for No. 2 in Villanova outdoor history, behind only Wasik’s 13-7 1/4 at the 2014 NCAA East Regional prelims in Jacksonville and tied with McPhillips’ mark at the 2015 Big East Championships at Villanova.

At the Quaker Invite, Preston passed the first five heights and entered the competition at 12-5 1/2, which she cleared on her first attempt. She cleared 12-11 1/2 and 13-3 3/4 on her second attempts. With the win locked up, she had the bar moved up to 13-5 3/4 and missed her three tries.

Preston’s mark is No. 1 this year in the Big East. U. Conn junior Emma Chee is No. 2 at 13-5 earlier this month in a meet in Storrs.

At Delsea, Preston was a Group 3 state champ and Meet of Champions runner. She had a high school PR of 12-7 1/2 when she placed third at the 2018 Penn Relays at the same pole vault facility where she PR’d this weekend. She’s No. 2 in South Jersey scholastic history, behind only Shawnee’s Danielle O’Reilly, the former national scholastic indoor record holder with her 13-5 at the 2004 Varsity Classic at the Armory. O’Reilly’s outdoor best was 13-3 at the 2004 Olympic Conference meet at Pennsauken. 

Kingsway’s Allie Pierontoni continued her outstanding freshman year at Monmouth Sunday morning by running the 4th-fastest 10,000 in school history.

Pierontoni ran 37:06.10 to win the 10,000 at the Monmouth Spring Invitational in West Long Branch. After averaging 87.2 on her first five laps, she ran 17 of her next 19 laps between 89.1 and 91.9 and then closed in 81.2.

Her time is fastest by a Monmouth runner since Kelsey Maher from Jackson Memorial ran 36:36.02 in a meet at Bucknell in 2013. 

Pierontoni has shown tremendous range in her first year of college track, running 1,500 meters in 4:42.56, 3,000 in 10:15.36 and 5,000 in 17:40.98 along with her 10,000. She has yet to run any distance more than once this spring, and this was her first lifetime 10,000. 

She won by about 40 meters over Carissa Kahn of Siena (N.Y.), who placed second in 37:15.30.

 

What an incredible race tonight by Trenton’s Athing Mu, who won the 800 at the Michael Johnson Invitational at Baylor in 1:57.73.

Her time:

–> Breaks the U.S. Collegiate record of 1:59.10, set in 2017 by Raevyn Rogers of Oregon at Mt. SAC in Walnut, Calif.

–> Breaks the U.S. Under-20 record of 1:58.21 set by Neptune High graduate Ajee Wilson set at the 2013 IAAF World Championships at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

–> Is No. 8 on the all-time world Under-20 list.

–> Is No. 1 in the world this year, moving her ahead of  Wilson, who ran 1:58.93 in Austin in February.

–> Is No. 10 in U.S. history. Only three American women – Wilson, Meredith Rainey-Valmon (whose husband Andrew Valmon ran for Manchester High School) and Alysia Montaño – have run faster on U.S. soil.

Kiara Lester, a Deptford High School graduate and grad student at Texas Tech, ran sub-54 for 400 meters for the first time outdoors in a meet in Lubbock, Texas.

Lester ran 53.99 at the Masked Rider Open, lowering her outdoor PR of 54.08, which she set at the 2019 Big Ten Championships, while she was attending Penn State.

Her lifetime best is a 53.37 from the winter of 2020, when she won the 400 at the Big Ten Championships at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Lester had a high school PR of 55.72 from when she won the state Group 3 title in South Plainfield in the spring of 2015.

Looks like Lester’s time is No. 12 in Texas Tech history outdoors:

51.39 … Shereefa Lloyd, 2005
52.21 … Montenae Roye-Speight, 2014
52.22 … Licretia Sibley, 2004
52.32 … Sara Limp, 2018
52.60 … Candace Jackson, 2011
52.63 … Taylor Evans, 2010
53.20 … Olivia Lewis, 2012
53.35 … Christen Rivers, 2013
53.55 … Marika Brown, 2017
53.62 … Ngozi Iwu, 1999
53.94 … Trudeann Clarke, 2009
53.99 … Kiera Lester, 2021

Check out this hot sprint double by Rowan freshman Jah’mere Beasley:

10.74 in the 100 and 21.30 in the 200.

WOW!!!

Beasley, a Sterling graduate, won both dashes at the Bill Fritz Invitational on Rowan’s home track in Glassboro. Fritz is the legendary former Glassboro State and Rowan coach who led the Profs to five straight NCAA Division 3 track championships from 1980 through 1984.

Beasley ran a barely wind-aided (2.1) 10.74 in the trial sand then a wind-legal 10.80 in the final, outracing teammate Nana Agyemang, who was second in 10.97. Beasley’s previous collegiate 100 PR was a 10.88 earlier this month on the same track and his previous lifetime best was a 10,.81 at the 2019 New Balance nationals in Greensboro.

In the 200, Beasley outraced Nick DiMaria of Stevens, who was second in 21.55 in a fast race that saw four sprinters under 22 seconds. Agyemang, a freshman from Parsippany, was fourth in 21.96. Both of Ageymang’s times were PRs as well.

Beasley’s previous college best 200 was a 21.72 last weekend at West Chester (Pa.) University. He tied his lifetime best of 21.30 which he ran at the 2019 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.

The official results do not show any wind information.

Beasley’s 100 time is currently No. 11 in NCAA Division 3 and his 200 time is No. 2, behind only J.P. Vaught of Centre College of Danville, Ky., who ran 21.25 back on March 6 in a meet at Berry College in Mount Berry, Ga.

Beasley is closing in on school records in both sprints. Dior Hightower set the 100 record of 10.64 in the prelims of the Oscar Moore Invitational at Rowan in April of 2017 and Ali Ejaz set the 200 mark of 21.18 in 2012 in the prelims of the NCAA Championships in Claremont, Calif. (He ran 21.31 for fourth in the final).

 

Sterling graduate Sydney Coppolino found herself in a hot 800 Saturday afternoon and wound up with another personal best.

Coppellino, racing in the Virginia Challenge at Lannigan Field on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, ran 2:08.61 in the fourth of six sections of a race that saw 25 women break 2:10,.

Coppolino, a Virginia sophomore, smashed her personal best of 2:09.21, which she just set earlier this month on the same track. Her time is No. 9 in the ACC so far this year.

Before this season, Coppolino had a collegiate PR of 2:10.67 from the 2020 indoor ACC Championships at Notre Dame.

Coppolino ran 2:11.45 at the 2017 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington, and that remained her lifetime best outdoors until this month.

Coppolino’s 2:08.61 doesn’t quite make Virginia’s all-time top-10 outdoor times, but it’s only 1.02 seconds off the No. 10 time so she’s in very good company. 

Williamstown graduate Edwyn Pierre of Rutgers ran his second-fastest 400-meter intermediate hurdles time ever Friday with a season-best 53.30 at the Husker B1G Invite in Prairie View, Texas.

It was his fastest time since a 52.71 at the 2018 Big Ten Championships in Bloomington, Ind.

It was only Pierre’s third 400IH race in the last three years. He didn’t compete outdoors in 2019 and the 2020 outdoor season was wiped out but he’s run 53.X in all three of his intermediate hurdles starts so far this spring.

Four of the nine-fastest intermediate hurdlers in Rutgers history are South Jersey high school graduates: Delsea’s Aaron Younger set the school record of 50.65 in 2010, Lenape’s Steve Swern is No. 4 at 51.68, Delran’s Harran Williams is No. 7 at 52.19 and Pierre is No. 9 with his 52.71.

Pierre on Friday also ran 14.51 in the 110-meter high hurdles into a 2.5-meters per second wind. It was his first outdoor high hurdles race since the 2018 Big Ten Championships, when he ran his PR of 14.42.

This past indoor season, Pierre ran 8.04 for the 60-meter high hurdles, the No. 4 time in school history.

 

Northern Arizona senior Jack Shea of Cherokee closed in 58.23 for his final 400 and 2:02.90 for his final 800 and ran a near-PR 14:09.58 for 5,000 meters Friday evening at the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville.

Shea, in his first track 5,000 since the spring of 2019, moved up from 17th to 5th in his section of the 5,000 over the final two laps.

Shea’s PR is 14:08.74, which he ran in a meet at Azusa (Calif.) Pacific University in April of 2018.

Shea posted a huge 1,500 PR earlier this month, running 3:51.95 in a meet in Phoenix. That’s the equivalent of a 4:10.51 full mile. Shea had a 1,600 PR of 4:19.36 in high school.

 

Austin Gabay began his college track career with a hot 800-1,500 double and a couple PRs.

Gabay, a Duke freshman from Cinnaminson, raced this past weekend at the Tobacco Road Challenge at Duke’s Morris Williams Stadium in Durham, N.C.

First up was the 1,500, and Gabay ran 3:50.13, which converts to about 4:07.1 for the 1,600-meter run and 4:08.54 for a full mile.

Gabay was out in 45.83 for the first 300, then closed with 400s of 61.43, 62.94 and 59.95.

However you break it down, the 3:50.13 is a huge PR for Gabay. His fastest high school 1,500 was a 4:06.93 at New Balance Nationals at the Armory in March of 2019, his fastest 1,600 or mile was a 4:16.02 for 1,600 meters, when he edged Haddonfield’s Derek Gess at the 2019 state Group 2 meet at Central Regional in Bayville.

Less than two hours later, Gabay was back on the track for the 800 and had enough left to run 1:54.64. He was out a little fast (54.58), which isn’t ideal in a quick double, but he held it together enough to break 1:55.

Gabay’s previous 800 PR was a 1:54.73, which he ran fresh at 2019 Haddonfield Distance Night in May of 2019.

These were Gabay’s first track races since the 2020 indoor Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze, when he ran 9:00.27 for 3,200 meters in a titanic battle with Liam Murphy of Allentown [8:58.16] and Jack Jennings of Mendham [8:58.19].

They were his first outdoor races since he ran a two-mile at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., in June of 2019.

Shelton Sainvil is our favorite kind of athlete.

According to his MileSplit bio, Sainvil had a javelin best of 103-0 as a freshman at Florence, hit 119-11 as a sophomore and then threw 130-11 as a junior.

He PR’d with a 145-2 as a senior in 2017, when he reached the state Group 1 meet at Egg Harbor. That ranked him No. 186 in the state and No. 40 in South Jersey.

Sainvil stuck with it.

He went to Delaware Valley College in Doylestown and extended his PR to 156-11 as a freshman at a meet at Widener and then to 159-4 as a sophomore, again at Widener. 

That was the last we saw of Sainvil into a couple weeks ago, when he resurfaced as a junior at Stockton University.

He PR’d in his first meet competing for the Ospreys, a meet at his home facility in Galloway Township, and then had a breakthrough in another home meet, throwing 173-3 earlier this month.

Sainvil has now PR’d by nearly 14 feet this year and nearly 30 feet since he graduated from Florence (although he did throw 157-6 the summer of 2017 at the American JavFest in East Stroudsburg).

He’s now ranked fourth in the New Jersey Athletic Conference and 38th in NCAA Division 3.

When Sainvil was a freshman, in the spring of 2014, his javelin partner at the Hall of Fame Relays in Maple Shade was senior Curtis Thompson, who went on to become a four-time All-America at Mississippi State, won the 2016 NCAA Championship, broke the U.S. Olympic Trials meet record in 2016 and won the 2018 U.S. championship.

Thompson, currently the No. 3 ranked American at 258-11, is No. 16 in U.S. history at 271-11.

But his former Hall of Fame Relays partner isn’t doing so badly himself!

It appears Sainvil went by “Marrick” Sainvil until his sophomore year at Florence.