Do you get the feeling Lenape is pretty good at this?

Lenape owns the top four spots and eight of the top 13 spots on the all-time South Jersey girls indoor 3,200-meter relay list.

That’s incredible! 

I guess Jack Walsh and Gerald Richardson know what they’re doing!

In all, Lenape appears on the list 13 times. Every Lenape team from 2005 through 2014 is represented.

Before Lenape got good, Woodrow Wilson held the South Jersey record with Taniesha Pittman, Takeesha Carter, Qiana Mason and Lindsay Thomas running 9:19.35 for fifth place at 2002 indoor nationals at the Armory.

Lenape then shattered the record in three times in six years. Let’s take a look at their remarkable run of sub-9:20 indoor performances from 2008 through 2013:

9:04.66 … 4th, 2013 Indoor Nationals, Armory [Emily McGee, Carly Pettipaw, Camille Franklin, Natalia Ocasio]
9:09.71 … 1st, 2012 New Balance Collegiate Invitational, Armory [Emmy Duffey, Camille Franklin, Emily McGee, Natalia Ocasio]
9:11.94 … 1st, 2008 Easterns, Armory [Brianna Beddall, Miya Johnson, Caitlin Orr, Moira Cunningham]
9:19.01 … 2nd, 2011 Easterns, Armory [Emily Duffey, Emmy Duffey, Amanda Restivo, Emily McGee]

Lenape also ran 9:09.03 winning the 2013 New Balance Collegiate Invite  and 9:11.37 to win 2012 Easterns. So Lenape has run sub-9:20 six times indoors in the last 18 years and no other South Jersey school has done it once.

Lenape’s 9:04.66 remains No. 5 in state history, and the 9:09 and 9:11 are No. 14 and No. 17.

Only Columbia also has three performances in the top-20!

Here is the all-time South Jersey top-50. Hopefully we have a 2021 indoor season because Haddonfield will be loaded and trying to break up that Lenape stronghold!

 

All-Time South Jersey Girls Indoor 4-by-800 Top-50

9:04.66 … Lenape, 2013
9:09.71 … Lenape, 2012
9:11.94 … Lenape, 2008
9:19.01 … Lenape, 2011
9:19.35 … Wilson, 2002
9:22.18 … Haddonfield, 2020
9:22.30 … Lenape, 2010
9:21.38 … Buena, 1999
9:23.71 … Lenape, 2009
9:24.68 … Seneca, 2017
9:26.65 … Kingsway, 2020
9:26.67 … Lenape, 2007
9:27.22 … Lenape, 2014
9:28.7 ….. Willingboro, 2003
9:28.90 … Haddonfield, 2019
9:31.10 … Seneca, 2016
9:31.92 … Shawnee, 2014
9:31.92 … Haddonfield, 2017
9:32.18 … Kingsway, 2017
9:32.95 … Seneca, 2008
9:34.35 … Lenape, 2006
9:34.49 … Millville, 2007
9:36.10 … Sterling, 2017
9:36.41 … Seneca, 2009
9:36.50 … Seneca, 2014
9:36.9h … Willingboro, 1998
9:37.11 … Cherokee, 2012
9:37.3h … Woodrow Wilson, 2001
9:37.54 … Shawnee, 2017
9:38.07 … Haddonfield, 2005
9:38.19 … Washington Twp., 2020
9:38.40 … Millville, 2009
9:38.68 … Haddonfield, 2007
9:38.74 … Lenape, 2017
9:39.70 … Shawnee, 2012
9:40.30 … Kingsway, 2019
9:40.65 … Willingboro, 1996
9:41.50 … Seneca, 2015
9:41.83 … Shawnee, 2004
9:43.05 … Highland, 2003
9:43.48 … Lenape, 2005
9:44.20 … Seneca, 2018
9:44.27 … Lenape, 2019
9:44.52 … Kingsway, 2016
9:44.92 … Rancocas Valley, 2010
9:45.50 … Seneca, 2013
9:45.74 … Washington Twp., 2011
9:46.13 … Oean City, 2000
9:47.10 … Haddonfield, 2018
9:47.33 … Seneca, 2010
9:47.34 … Ocean City, 2005
9:47.74 … Haddonfield, 2001
9:48.07 … Cherokee, 2008
9:48.9h … Haddonfield, 2004
9:49.00 … Lenape, 2016
9:49.79 … Cherokee, 2006
9:49.8h … Haddonfield, 2006

Late last night we told you about Southern Regional rising senior Jackson Braddock’s remarkable 8:54.02 in Nashville, the No. 10 3,200 (or converted two-mile) in state history.

If you want to watch the race, check out this video!

You can find the boys high school 3,200 right at 4:44:45!

For full meet results, click here.

OK, Southern Regional isn’t technically in South Jersey. But it does have the word “South” in its name. And Manahawkin is only about 12 miles from the Burlington County border as the crow flies. And Southern Regional competes in the NJSIAA’s South Regional. And it’s not like anybody else is racing right now.

So we’re here to tell you that Jackson Braddock, a rising senior at Southern Regional, ran 8:54.02 tonight in Nashville.

Yikes!!!

Braddock, in his first race since the indoor Meet of Champions, beat a field of 22 high school runners in a special high school 3,200 held at the Music City Distance Carnival at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville.

Izaiah Steury of Angola (Indiana) High School was second in 8:57.17. His previous PR was 9:15.76 in a meet last month in Marion, Ind.

Braddock broke the Ocean County record of 8:58.58, set at the 2018 Meet of Champions by Devin Hart of Point Pleasant Boro.

Since Jackson only ran one 3,200 as a sophomore last outdoor season, he technically just outdoor PR’d by more than a minute – 1:00.02 to be exact. His previous outdoor PR was 9:54.06 at last year’s Cherokee Night of 3200’s.

Braddock broke the meet record of 8:55.27 set last year by Kashon Harrison of Kirtland Central High in Kirtland, N.M.

Braddock blossomed this past fall, when he ran 15:49 at Holmdel to win the state Group 4 title and then took 6th at the Meet of Champions in 15:50 and took 29th at Nike Team Cross Nationals at Glendover Golf Course in Portland, Ore.

He ran 9:06.86 at Meet of Champions – a 10-second PR – at Ocean Breeze on March 8. And that was the last time he was on the track.

Who knows whether Braddock’s time will count on all-time New Jersey lists. I’m counting it and I don’t know if anybody else keeps all-time lists, so it’s now officially (or unofficially) No. 10 in state history.

Here’s what I came up with for every New Jersey sub-9 runner, including converted two-mile times:

All-Time New Jersey 3,200-Meter Sub-9 List

8:41.02y … Joe Rosa [West Windsor-Plainsboro North], 2010
8:41.49y … Craig Forys [Colts Neck], 2007
8:46.08 … Jeremy Elkaim [Livingston], 2010
8:48.38y … Jim Rosa [West Windsor-Plainsboro North], 2010
8:48.91y … Buck Logan [Bernards], 1979
8:50.64y … Mohamad Khadraoui [JFK Paterson], 2004
8:50.9y … Mike Keogh [Essex Catholic], 1970
8:52.02y … Edward Cheserek [St. Benedict’s Prep], 2011
8:53.63y … Devin Hart [Point Pleasant Boro], 2019
8:54.02 … Jackson Braddock [Southern Regional], 2020
8:55.31y … Justin Scheid [Pope John XXIII], 2003
8:55.41 … Kyle Levermore [Don Bosco Prep], 2013
8:55.61 … Murad Campbell [Overbrook], 1999
8:55.94 … Jack Boyle [Christian Brothers Academy], 2013
8:56.28y … Morgan Pearson [Delbarton], 2011
8:58.26y … Bob Amitrani [Cranford], 1976
8:58.28y … Andrew Hanko [Trinity Christian], 2007
8:58.32 … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2015
8:58.68y … Kyle Soloff [Morris Hills], 2007
8:59.06y … Tim Conheeney [Paramus Catholic], 1973
8:59.55y … Mike Butynes [Sterling], 1972
8:59.75 … Jason DiJoseph [Paul VI], 1987
8:59.80 … Tyler Udland [Millburn], 2010
8:59.93 … Bob Papazian [Gill St. Bernard], 2005

Most high schools would be thrilled to have a girl running 56.3 for the indoor 400.

In one race 17 years ago, Willingboro’s four quarter-milers AVERAGED 56.3.

In one of the greatest indoor track performances in state history, Halimah Bashir, Rhea Mann, Channel Hamilton and Okechi Ogbuokiri ran 3:45.37 at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships at the Armory to set a state record that stood for 10 years. Ogbuokiri also won the 400 in 54.24 to set another state record (and a S.J. record that still stands).

Willingboro finished 3rd that day in New York behind two high schools from Long Beach, Calif. Long Beach Poly set the national record of 3:41.54 and Long Beach Wilson ran 3:43.66 for second.

(Tosca, if you’re reading this, shoot me over the splits if you remember them!)

Willingboro’s splits that day: 58.01 for Mann, 57.12 for Hamilton, 56.03 for Bashir and 54.21 for Ogbuokiri!

(edited – thanks, Tosca and happy anniversary!)

The top three times in the race at the time were the No. 1, No. 5 and No. 14 times in U.S. indoor track history.

That 3:45 broke the state record of 3:47.95 set by Willingboro a year earlier by the same four girls at the USATF

Willingboro’s 3:45.37 stood as the state record until Columbia ran 3:42.03 to win Nationals at the Armory in 2013. It’s still No. 3 in state history behind Columbia and Union Catholic’s 3:40.28 to win nationals in 2016.

It’s so fast only six New Jersey schools have run faster OUTDOORS! Not surprisingly, that list includes Union Catholic, Columbia and Willingboro as well as Trenton, Montclair and Plainfield.

The closest anybody in South Jersey has gotten to Willingboro’s 3:45 since they ran it is Winslow, who ran 3:51.49 at the 2017 Meet of Champions at the Bennett Center with Iyianna, Flora Ahiarakwe, Janeya Hammond and Shakira Dancy.

Here’s the full all-time girls South Jersey indoor 1,600-meter relay top-50, with mile relay times converted using the standard formula (I actually included the top 60 because I wanted to list all the sub-4 times). Corrections and additions are always welcomed in the comment section!

All-Time S.J. Indoor Girls 1,600-Meter Relay Top-50

3:45.37 … Willingboro, 2003
3:47.95 … Willingboro, 2002
3:49.07 … Camden, 1995
3:51.49 … Winslow Twp., 2017
3:52.37 … Willingboro, 2000
3:52.55 … Wilson, 2006
3:53.61 … Willingboro, 1998
3:53.81 … Paul VI, 2020
3:53.6h … Willingboro, 1999
3:53.97 … Rancocas Valley, 2019

3:54.38 … Camden, 2009
3:54.4h … Eastern, 2003
3:54.62 … Rancocas Valley, 2020
3:54.82 … Millville, 2008
3:54.99 … Winslow Twp., 2018
3:55.04 … Millville, 2019
3:55.28 … Rancocas Valley, 2017
3:55.40 … Winslow Twp., 2019
3:55.94 … Winslow Twp., 2020
3:55.8h … Wilson, 2002

3:56.01 … Washington Twp., 1999
3:56.05 … Willingboro, 2005
3:56.52 … Buena, 1999
3:56.52 … Camden, 2008
3:56.54 … Kingsway, 2014
3:56.92 … Wilson, 2008
3:56.96 … Wilson, 2001
3:57.05 … Winslow Twp., 2016
3:57.44 … Kingsway, 2013
3:57.4h … Camden, 2004

3:57.54 … Seneca, 2009
3:57.60 … Lenape, 2012
3:57.4h … Camden. 2004
3:57.67 … Millville, 2009
3:57.74 … Willingboro, 2009
3:57.96 … Washington Twp., 2011
3:58.33 … Willingboro, 2010
3:58.35 … Camden, 2006
3:58.39 … Woodrow Wilson, 2005
3:58.70 … Lenape, 2015

3:58.70 … Winslow Twp., 2012
3:58.78 … Winslow Twp., 2015
3:58.81 … Seneca, 2010
3:58.85 … Washington Twp., 2010
3:58.96 … Camden, 1993
3:58.96 … Washington Twp., 1998
3:58.98 … Winslow Twp., 2014
3:59.0h … Willingboro, 2001
3:59.16 … Lenape, 2013
3:59.19 … Lenape, 2014

3:59.25 … Willingboro, 2006
3:59.4h … Washington Twp., 2004
3:59.64 … Camden, 2007
3:59.65 … Lenape, 2008
3:59.8h … Willingboro, 2004
4:00.08 … Washington Twp., 2000
4:00.08 … Cherokee, 2008
4:00.43 … Camden, 1994
4:00.71 … Willingboro, 1996
4:00.8h … Willingboro, 1997

 

 

Before we get to the girls indoor relay top-50 lists, here are a few leading marks in some rarely run or retired indoor events, ranging from the 300-yard dash to the 5,000!

If you notice a missing mark, lemme know in the comments section!

300 Yards
36.83 … Ivy Foster [Haddon Heights], 1991
37.1h … Vonnie Coker [Woodbury], 1976

300 Meters
39.16 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
39.42 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
40.13 … Jasmine Still [Woodrow Wilson], 2006
40.27 … Kiara Lester [Deptford], 2014
40.2h … Evelyn Simpson [Camden], 1979
40.2h … Dana Burnett [Williamstown], 1996
40.22 … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], 2006
40.36 … Halimah Bashir [Willingboro], 2003

500 Meters
1:17.31 … Maya Harper [Pleasantville], 2020
1:19.16 … Aliya Ray Garozzo [Paul VI], 2019

600 Yards
1:27.0h … Carol Willis [Paul VI], 1979

600 Meters
1:34.50 … Okechi Ogbuokiri [Willingboro], 2003
1:36.37 … Taneshia Pittman [Woodrow Wilson], 2002
1:36.58 … Kimarra McDonald [Rancocas Valley], 2005
1:36.75 … Cierra Farquharson [Pleasantville], 2006
1:37.34 … Lindsey Kane [Washington Twp.], 2014
1:37.44 … Emily Duffey [Lenape], 2011
1:38.04 … Ariana Harrell [Pemberton], 2019
1:38.10 … Raelynne Miller [Millville], 2018
1:38.33 … Megan Quimby [Lenape], 2015
1:38.2h … Aishia Lawson [Camden], 1995

1,000 Yards
2:34.65 … Monica Olkowski [Cherokee], 1990

1,000 Meters
2:50.63 … Michelle DiMuro [Shawnee], 1985
2:52.52 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2010
2:53.12 … Monica Olkowski [Cherokee], 1990
2:59.02 … Taneshia Pittman [Woodrow Wilson], 2002

1,500 Meters
4:24.0h … Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1983
4:31.86 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2001
4:36.11 … Ruth Lockbaum [Glassboro], 1985
4:36.26 … Rachel Vick [Kingsway], 2017
4:37.31 … Briana Gess [Hadodnfield], 2016
4:42.0h … Brittnee Bynoe [Willingboro], 2003

3,000 Meters
9:53.39 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2011
10:00.86 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2017
10:09.80 … Devon Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2015
10:11.65 … Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2006
10:16.46 … Megan Venables [Highland], 2009
10:18.9h … Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1981

5,000 Meters
17:03.79 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2008
17:12.38 … Holly Bischoff [Bishop Eustace], 2012

It’s usually not good news when your phone rings and someone on the other end is screaming.

This time it was.

It was Feb. 9, 2004, and it was Dan O’Reilly on the phone from the Armory in New York.

I was working for the Burlington County Times at the time, and I had asked him to give me a buzz if things went well that night at the Varsity Classic.

They went well.

His daughter Danielle, a senior at Shawnee, had just cleared 13-5 in the pole vault at the Varsity Classic, breaking the national indoor record of 13-4 1/2, set by Kira Costa of San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, Calif., one year earlier.

Earlier that winter, she had broken the state record of 12-0 set in 1999 by Lauren Contursi of Hunterdon Central.

O’Reilly still holds the New Jersey indoor record. The closest anybody has gotten is 13-0 3/4, which Sydney Woods of Northern Valley of Demarest cleared last year at the Spiked Shoe Holiday Festival, also at the Armory.

The closest any South Jersey vaulter has gotten is 12-7. That was Delsea’s Ashley Preston at the Bennett Center in 2018. She’s gone on to win three Big East titles for Villanova.

Here’s the all-time South Jersey list, which this time is not a top-50 list. I’ve got 47 girls on the list who’ve cleared 10 feet or higher. Normally, in this case I would find everybody who’s cleared 9-6 or higher because we do top-50 plus ties. But there isn’t any reliable way to find all the 9-6 vaulters, and there are probably about 30 of them. So we’ll wait until three more girls clear 10-0 or better, and then we’ll have a top-50 list. And considering seven girls cleared 10-0 this past indoor season, that shouldn’t take too long!

I could be missing a few 10-footers as well, just because girls pole vault performances were just never accurately maintained until New Jersey MileSplit came along. Please let me know any corrections or omissions in the comment section!

All-Time S.J. Indoor Girls Pole Vault Top-50 [sort of]

13-5 … Danielle O’Reilly [Shawnee], 2004
12-7 … Ashley Preston [Delsea], 2018
12-0 … Jessica Kloss [Moorestown], 2004
11-6 … Melissa Gale [Millville], 2005
11-6 … Brittney Raffo [Seneca], 2017
11-6 … Lindsey Michie [Northern Burlington], 2019
11-2 … Sarah Parr [Audubon], 2020
11-1 … Kaitlyn Derman [Millville], 2014
11-0 ¼ … Jennifer Scott [Haddonfield], 2019
11-0 … Kristin Weigel [Pennsville], 2009
11-0 … Allyson Brooks [Moorestown], 2008
11-0 … Lori Stratton [Sterling], 2017
11-0 … Alexandra Elder [Moorestown], 2012
11-0 … Robin Rosen [Haddonfield], 2020
11-0 … Julia Greeley [Seneca], 2019
10-7 … Casey Sturts [Buena], 2013
10-6 … Anna Heim [Moorestown], 2006
10-6 … Lauren Tauscher [Moorestown], 2008
10-6 … Emily Waldron [Triton], 2013
10-6 … Katie Selfridge [Delsea], 2014
10-6 … Elizabeth Douglas [West Deptford], 2015
10-6 … Cassie Hoxit [Lenape], 2016
10-6 … Alana Cohen [Cherry Hill East], 2017
10-6 … Colleen McDowell [Seneca], 2011
10-6 … Sophia Crozier-Carole [Mainland Reg.], 2019
10-6 … Abby Boggs [Rancocas Valley], 2019
10-6 … Lisa Martin [Mainland Reg.], 2006
10-6 … Madison Mamounis [Delsea], 2018
10-6 … Allison Bobst [Kingsway], 2020
10-4 … Christina Kursewicz [Clearview], 2011
10-0 … Lauren Taylor [Cherokee], 2008
10-0 … Tracey Masterson [Mainland Reg.], 2011
10-0 … Lexi Brown [Delsea], 2012
10-0 … Laura Ortiz [Atlantic City], 2015
10-0 … Rachel Ondricek [Pennsville], 2016
10-0 … Erin Gray [Kingsway], 2017
10-0 … Christina Lees [Sterling], 2010
10-0 … Justine Thomas [Sterling], 2015
10-0 … Shannon Storms [Lenape], 2016
10-0 … Rebecca Bohi [Seneca], 2016
10-0 … Fiona Basewitz [Collingswood], 2020
10-0 … Meghan Dineen [Pennsville], 2010
10-0 … Tifani Beebe [Millville], 2008
10-0 … Kristen Visconti [Cherokee], 2013
10-0 … Miranda Roberts [Washington Twp.], 2012
10-0 … Claudia Theriault [West Deptford], 2013
10-0 … Sarah Polistina [Absegami], 2016

You have to go back 40 years to find South Jersey’s first 40-foot indoor thrower. Sterling senior Linda Dougherty hit 40-0 1/2 when she won the shot at the 1980 South Jersey Championships at Widener University in Chester, Pa.

Although she didn’t get a headline, and the usually excellent track writer Curt Holbreich doesn’t mention it in this story from the Feb. 7, 1982 Courier Post, that broke the South Jersey record of 39-1 set two years earlier by Willingboro’s Denise Thomas at the Philadelphia Department of Recreation Meet most likely at the Convention Center in January of 1980. (That broke the S.J. mark of 36-11 3/4 set in 1979 by Clayton’s Emma Painter.)

Dougherty’s 40-0 1/2 remained Sterling’s school record for 39 years, until Alijah Caul threw 40-2 at the SJTCA meet at the Bennett Center on Jan. 7, 2019. Caul broke her own school record again when she won the state Group 1 title with a 41-8 five weeks later. She now throws for Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.

All-Time South Jersey Girls Indoor Shot Put Top-50

47-5 ¾ … Zyra Thomas [Schalick], 2018
46-1 ½ … Najeaya Singleton [Vineland], 2017
46-1 … Cydney Thomas [Haddon Heights], 2019
45-3 … Nacole Moore [Bridgeton], 2000
44-6 ½ … Sylvia Galarza [Millville], 2004
44-3 ½ … Jocelyn White [Delsea], 2004
44-0 ½ … Melinda Boykin [Bridgeton], 1996
43-11 ¾ … Stephanie Scaramella [Bishop Eustace], 2007
43-10 ¼ … Mercedes Hicks [Atlantic City], 2006
43-10 … Rosetta Hunter [Burlington Twp.], 2015
43-4 ¾ … Jessica Woodard [Cherokee], 2012
43-4 ½ … Victoria Imbesi [Our Lady of Mercy], 2009
43-3 … Janice Rose [Delsea], 2011
42-7 ¾ … Typhanie Bates [Williamstown], 1995
42-5 ½ … Genevieve Tybicki [Our Lady of Mercy], 2007
42-4 … Sophia Coleburn [Haddon Heights], 2007
42-3 … Genevieve Rybicki [Our Lady of Mercy], 2009
42-1 … Donovan Bennett [Vineland], 2014
42-0 ½ … Lisa Stuto [Winslow Twp.], 2009
42-0 ¼ … Lola Agabalogun [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013
41-10 … Lillian Rivera [Pemberton], 1984
41-9 … Bernadette McGowan [Paul VI], 2016
41-8 … Alijah Caul [Sterling], 2019
41-6 ½ … Dana White [Camden], 2000
41-3 … Tara Daniels [Kingsway], 2013
41-2 … Ciarra Johnson [Winslow Twp.], 2018
41-0 … Nicole Scott [Willingboro], 1997
40-11 … Alexis Kennedy [Millville], 2012
40-10 … Danea Wint [Vineland], 2015
40-10 … Nyla Noble [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2014
40-9 … Amanda Thompson [Camden], 2001
40-8 ¾ … Emily Hilt [Kingsway], 2017
40-5 ½ … Cameron Daniels [Vineland], 2015
40-4 … Shanna Campbell [Pemberton], 2007
40-3 ½ … Lacole Fields [Camden], 1996
40-1 ¾ … Kelly Staten [Atlantic City], 2001
40-1 ½ … Sophia Colburn [Haddon Heights], 2007
40-1 … Katherine Johnston [Haddonfield], 2012
40- ½ … Linda Dougherty [Sterling], 1982
39-11 … Tereana Parker [Millville], 2019
39-10 ¾ … Sarah Anderson [Seneca], 2007
39-10 … Ronny Martin [Absegami], 1998
39-8 ½ … Sandy Hinson [Lenape], 1988
39-8 ¼ … Karen Johnson [Williamstown], 2006
39-8 … Elisia Lancaster [Delsea], 2016
39-7 ¼ … Kimani Bartley [Vineland], 2015
39-2 … Bridget Sedivi [Cherokee], 1991
39-2 … Rose Perry [Riverside], 2003
39-1 ¾ … Stacy Hinson [Lenape], 1988
39-1 … Denise Thomas [Willingboro], 1980
39-0 ¼ … Tomara Carmichael [Palmyra], 2016
38-9 ½ … Emma Painter [Clayton], 1981

The indoor triple jump didn’t really exist for South Jersey girls until a few years after Easterns moved from Boston to Jadwin in 1996 and ultimately to its permanent home at the Armory in 1997.

The first indoor triple jumper to get a legit mark indoors was Highland’s versatile Desearea Byrd, who set a South Jersey record of 34-2 in 2003. But the triple jump was about her fifth event. Byrd was a 5-4 high jumper, 37-foot shot putter, a capable hurdler, a solid long jumper … she even placed 10th in the indoor pentathlon at nationals in 2003.

Shawnee’s Tabatha Haskins, another super-versatile multi-eventer, hit 35-6 in 2004, and Byrd extended her PR to 34-7 in 2005. South Jersey’s first 36-footer was Rachel Montague of Cherokee, who hit 36-4 at the 2008 Poreda Invite at Lawrenceville’s Lavino Fieldhouse.

That stood as the South Jersey record until Millville’s Javona Ford jumped 36-6 at 2010 Easterns. Ford, like all the others, was multi-talented – a 38-8 triple jumper outdoors, an 18-6 long jumper, a 133-foot javelin thrower and a sectional medalist in the high jump!

Lenape’s Shaya Wilkerson was South Jersey’s first indoor 37- or 38-footer with a 38-0 1/2 at Easterns in 2012. She’quell Higgs of Winslow extended the South Jersey record to 38-4 at the 2013 Poreda Invite and held it for six years until amazing Claudine Smith of Atlantic City blasted a 40-1 1/2 at 2019 Nationals at the Armory, No. 6 in state history.

This list is not like most of the others we’ve put together because almost all the marks are recent:

Before 2004: 0
2005-2009: 9
2010-2019: 31
2020: 11

All-Time South Jersey Girls Indoor Triple Jump Top 50

40-1 ½ … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2019
38-4 … She’quell Higgs [Winslow Twp.], 2013
38-0 ½ … Shaya Wilkerson [Lenape], 2012
37-10 … Cidae’a Woods [Winslow Twp.], 2013
37-7 … Elizabeth Montague [Cherokee], 2014
37-4 … Olivia Wright [Winslow Twp.], 2020
37-2 ½ … Kristina Tossas [Rancocas Valley], 2020
37-1 … Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2015
36-9 ¼ … Jasmin Jones [Kingsway], 2016
36-8 ½ … Leah Ellis [Millville], 2019
36-6 ½ … Maryn Hess [Winslow Twp.], 2017
36-6 ½ … Janell Rowe [Sterling], 2016
36-6 … Javona Ford [Millville], 2010
36-5 … Shevell Higgs [Winslow Twp.], 2020
36-4 … Rachel Montague [Cherokee], 2008
36-2 ¾ … Kiah Walton [Burlington Twp.], 2014
36-1 ½ … Chastiney Pearson [Timber Creek], 2020
36-0 ½ … Taliya Rogers [Rancocas Valley], 2016
36-0 ½ … Keyanna Meade [Burlington Twp.]. 2018
35-11 ¾ … Mariah Stephens [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2020
35-8 ¾ … Erica Enarusai [Burlington Twp.], 2013
35-8 … Madeline Hunt [Woodstown], 2020
35-7 ¾ … Jordan James [Winslow Twp.], 2020
35-6 ½ … Tabatha Haskins [Shawnee], 2004
35-3 ½ … Alexia Lee [Millville], 2016
35-1 ½ … Shalonda Forrest [Camden], 2014
35-0 ½ … Gabrielle Bennett [Winslow Twp.], 2014
34-9 ¾ … Brianna McGrath [Winslow Twp.], 2013
34-9 ½ … Nyrae Newman [Millville], 2009
34-9 … Lauren Kilson [Clearview], 2007
34-8 ½ … Anaya Young [Rancocas Valley], 2020
34-7 ¾ … Katie Sellu [Delsea], 2020
34-7 ¼ … Kristen Frombach [Rancocas Valley], 2015
34-7 … Deserea Byrd [Highland], 2005
34-6 ½ … Alex Romanelli [Absegami], 2009
34-5 ¼ … Marissa Decesaris [Cherokee], 2010
34-5 … Abena Asare [Eastern], 2014
34-4 ½ … Akayla Leake [Burlington Twp.], 2017
34-4 ¼ … Stephanie McLean [Willingboro], 2006
33-11 ¾ … Ryan Johnson [Camden], 2008
33-11 ¼ … Natasha Padilla [Millville], 2009
33-10 ¾ … Ihunna Amugo [Timber Creek], 2016
33-10 ½ … Jaeda Butler [Rancocas Valley], 2019
33-10 ½ … Teana Rumph [Millville], 2012
33-7 ½ … Tori Higbee [Cumberland Reg.], 2020
33-7 … Tanyha Smith [Millville], 2020
33-7 … Edirin Akiri [Eastern], 2014
33-6 ¾ … Cierra Bowman [Millville], 2019
33-6 ½ … Courtney James [Burlington Twp.], 2017
33-6 ¼ … Quinteria Allen-Armstead [Millville], 2016
33-6 … Sierra Keller [Cherokee], 2015

With the girls indoor long jump, there’s only one place to start.

With Carol Lewis.

On Jan. 31, 1981, Willingboro High School senior Carol Lewis made the trip down to Dallas to compete against the best long jumpers in the world, and she wound up not only beating all of them, she set an American indoor record and set a U.S. high school record that would stand for 36 years.

Lewis, competing at the inaugural Dallas Times Herald Invitational at Reunion Arena, won the long jump with a leap of 21-7 1/2.

That was the same meet her high school teammate, Michelle Glover, ran the 60-yard dash with a time that remains one of the fastest ever run by a schoolgirl. That story is here.

As for Lewis, she:

♦ Broke the American indoor record of 21-4 3/4 shared by Martha Watson and Kathy McMillan.

♦ Broke the U.S. high school and U.S. junior record of 21-4 3/4 set in 1976 in Greensboro, N.C., by McMillan.

♦ Broke the world junior record of 21-5 1/2, set in 1977 in Bucharest by Gina Ghioroaie of Romania.

Lewis’s 21-7 1/2 remained the U.S. record until 2017, when Tara Davis of Agoura High in Agoura Hills, Calif., jumped 21-11 at the Dunamis Sports Group Prep Classic at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas – about 25 miles north of where Lewis set her record in 1981.

Lewis’s mark remains No. 2 in U.S. history and the New Jersey state record. The closest any New Jersey girl has gotten to Lewis’s mark is just under two feet. Claire Connor of Rahway jumped 19-11 3/4 in 1984.

All-Time South Jersey Girls Indoor Long Jump List

21-7 ½ … Carol Lewis [Willingboro], 1981
19-8 ¼ … Tionna Tobias [Winslow], 2016
19-8 ……. Cidae’a Woods [Winslow], 2014
19-7 ½ … Helen Wilks [Bridgeton], 1993
19-3 …….. Leah Ellis [Millville], 2019
18-9 …….. Shameka Speed [Bridgeton], 2002
18-8 ¾ … Artrelia Turner [Wilson], 1984
18-7 ¼ … Shelly Bailey [Woodbury], 1982
18-6 ½ … Tisifinee Taylor [Woodbury], 2002
18-6 ½ … Asia Young [Holy Spirit], 2016`
18-5 ¾ … Lindsey Walsh [Lenape], 2008
18-5 ¼ … Tacquaya Tobias [Our Lady of Mercy], 2011
18-5 …… Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2019
18-4 ¾ … Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], 1988
18-4 ½ … Kristin Tricocci [Cinnaminson], 2004
18-4 ¼ … Gabrielle Germann [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2020
18-3 ½ … Tanisha Jarrett [Cumberland Reg.], 1991
18-2 ¾ … Sable Loper [Woodrow Wilson], 2005
18-2 ¼ … Karissa Watson [Williamstown], 2020
18-1 ¾ … Robin Taylor [Deptford], 1980
18-1 ½ … Shonda Burroughs [Vineland], 1999
18-1 … Tawana McLean [Deptford], 1980
18-1¾ … Emily Carson [Haddonfield], 2013
18-1 ……. Jasmine Staten [Lenape], 2015
17-11 ¾ … Kim Pierce [Camden], 1980
17-11 ¾ … Angela Clyburn [Egg Harbor Twp.], 1991
17-11 ¾ … Rachell Armstead [Millville], 2015
17-11 ½ … Sarah Jone [Bishop Eustace], 2016
17-11 ¼ … Ariel Mitchell [Lenape], 2014
17-11 ½ … Frances Bundy [Pleasantville], 1998
17-10 ½ … Shameka Marshall [Oakcrest], 2001
17-10 ¼ … Jenna Niedermayer [Cinnaminson], 2009
17-10 … Kristina Tossas [Rancocas Valley], 2020
17-9 ¾ … Annie Taft [Bishop Eustace], 2005
17-9 ¾ … Shaya Willkerson [Lenape], 2012
17-9 ½ … Nicol Corsey [Deptford], 1997
17-9 ¼ … Hashan Johnson [Bridgeton], 2000?
17-9 ¼ … Jasmin Jones [Deptford], 2018
17-8 ½ … Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2014
17-8 ¼ … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], 2006
17-7 ¾ … Jen Heisinger [Woodbury], 1991
17-7 … Tina Walls [Williamstown], 1982
17-6 ¾ … Brianna McGrath [Winslow Twp.], 2013
17-6 ½ … Janiyah Davis-Hines [Timber Creek], 2017
17-6 ¼ … Kelly Settles [Sterling], 1985
17-6 ¼ … Anaya Young [Rancocas Valley], 2020
17-5 ½ … Kiera Clemons [Edgewoo], 2000
17-5 … Shaquanda Meylor [Woodrow Wilson], 2006
17-4 ¾ … Skylar Harris [Paul VI], 2020
17-4 ½ … Denise Mitchell [Edgewood], 1984
17-4 … Terry Archie [Woodbury], 1986

Malachi James, a 14-year-old from Willingboro, posted the fastest qualifying times in the 100- and 200-meter dashes in his age group at the AAU Junior Olympic Games this week in Florida.

James ran 22.72 to lead all qualifiers in the 200-meter dash in the 14-year-old age group on Wednesday afternoon and then ran 11.25 into a 1.6-meters-per-second wind to lead all qualifiers in the 100-meter dash on Thursday morning. The next-fastest times among the eight qualifiers for the finals were 11.45 and 23.05.

James, a rising 9th-grader, is scheduled to run in the 200 final on Friday and the 100 final on Saturday. The meet is being held at Satellite High School in Satellite Beach, Fla.