Earlier today we shared five boys at the Meet of Champions whose impressive performances may have gotten lost in the shuttle.

You can find that here.

Now we have five performances by South Jersey athletes in the girls Meet of Champions that you might have missed.

Jewel Ash, Eastern, 200-, 400-meter runs: Ash, an Eastern senior, quietly had a very strong double Sunday with a PR 25.09 for third in the 200 and another PR 57.59 for fifth in the 400. Her 200 time is fastest by an Eastern girl indoors since Jennifer Jackson ran 24.5 in 2003. Her 400 time is fastest by an Eastern girl indoors since Olympic gold medalist English Gardner ran 56.29 at the 2007 Meet of Champions. Ash was the only girl to place in the top six in both the 200 and 400.

Kelsey Niglio, Cherokee, 800-meter run: The top South Jersey freshman this indoor season in the 800 and No. 2 in the state, behind only Jenai Berry of Scotch Plains, who ran 2:16.92 for fifth at the M-of-C. Niglio took more than five seconds off her PR of 2:23.17 from sectionals with her big M-of-C race. She’s fastest South Jersey freshman since Gabbi Kirsch of Williamstown ran 2:16.60 in 2015 and Cherokee’s fastest indoor 800 runner since Lisa Burkholder ran 2:17.23 at 2004 Easterns.

Hailey Tabar, Clearview, 800-meter run: That 800 was full of PRs. Clearview senior Hailey Tabar lowered her PR from 2:21.14 from last year’s state meet to 2:18.72 at the M-of-C, No. 5 in South Jersey this year and the fastest by a Clearview girl in at least 15 years. I need to look up how fast Carrie Thompson ran in the early 1990s. Time to go through old New Jersey Track annuals in the garage! 

Alilya Rae Garozzo, Paul VI, Meredith Updike, Cinnaminson, 55-meter hurdles: Garozzo and Updike have had some great battles all year, so it shouldn’t have been surprising that they finished 2-100ths of a second apart in the Meet of Champions final. Garozzo took fourth in 8.27 and Updike fifth in 8.29 in a race won by Eastern’s Jailya Ash in 8.03. Garozzo will run collegiately at Penn and Updike at Rutgers.

Karissa Watson, Williamstown, long jump: Watson took fourth in the long jump at the M-of-C with a personal-best 18-2 1/4, the best indoor jump by a Gloucester County girl since Tacquaya Tobias hit 18-5 1/4 at Easterns in 2011. Her jump is No. 4 in Gloucester County history, behind Shelly Bailey of Woodbury [18-7 1/4 in 1982], Tisifinee Taylor of Woodbury [18-6 1/2 in 2002] and Tobias. Watson, also a 5-2 high jumper, has long jumped as far as 18-10 1/2 outdoors at the Rowland Relays, but her 18-2 1/4 surpassed her previous indoor PR of 17-6 1/2 from Ocean Breeze earlier this month.

Considering how remarkable South Jersey athletes performed at the Meet of Champions – from Anthony Vazquez winning the hurdles to Gabriel Moronta winning the 800 to Austin Gabay running 9:00.27 in the 3,200 – it’s easy to miss some remarkable performances.

There was certainly no shortage of them.

So here are five South Jersey performances you may have missed … but shouldn’t have … from Sunday’s 52nd annual Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze!

Coming soon: 5 performances from South Jersey girls at the Meet of Champions you might have missed … but shouldn’t have!

Jayden Greene, Washington Township, 800-meter run: Greene ran 1:55.19 for ninth in the 800 and destroyed his 800 PR of 1:57.2, which he set on the same track last month. He also ran faster than his outdoor PR of 1:55.41, which he set last spring at states. That’s the fastest ninth-place time in Meet of Champions history. The previous record was 1:55.75 et by Marcus Hatchett of Piscataway in the hot 2013 race where Isaac Clark, Derrell Manhertz, Jacob Clark and Ishmael Muhammad gave South Jersey a 1-2-3-4 finish, all between 1:51.72 and 1:53.68. His time was just off the Washington Township school record of 1:54.82, set in 2009 by Xavier Fraction, and No. 6 in Gloucester County history. Also No. 17 in South Jersey indoor history.

Miekel House, Rancocas Valley, 55-meter dash: House, in his first year of indoor track, finished fourth in the 55 in 6.48, ninth-fastest by a South Jersey sprinter in M-of-C history and fastest since Kashif Miller of Haddon Heights ran 6.46 when he won the 2014 race. House was the top South Jersey finisher, and he finished the season with the fastest time by a South Jersey sprinter with his 6.45 at Easterns. His 4th-place finish is the best by a Burlington County sprinter in the Meet of Champions 55 since James Townsend of Holy Cross won the 2002 race in 6.57.

Owen Ritti, Ocean City, 1,600-meter run: Huge PR for Ritti, who placed sixth in the 1,600-meter division of the ill-fated 1,600 in 4:20.43 a month after his PR was 4:41. After a solid XC season – he was 4th at sectionals and ran 16:58 at Holmdel as a soph – he lowered his PR to 4:31.89 at Ocean Breeze , then 4:27.62 at sectionals and 4:24.30 at states before his breakthrough at the M-of-C. According to the MileSplit database Ritti’s time makes him the No. 8 sophomore in the U.S. and he’s the fastest in South Jersey indoors in at least a decade.

Isaiah Lewis, Winslow, 55-meter hurdles: Another massive PR. Lewis had run 7.51 in the 55-meter hurdles trials at Easterns, but he blew that away with a 7.39 for third on Sunday, finishing just 8-100ths of a second behind winner Anthony Vazquez of Egg Harbor Township. In a very fast race, Lewis ran the fastest 3rd-place time in M-of-C history, breaking the record of 7.41 set by Gordan Ferguson of Manchester Township in 2012. His time is No. 12 in South Jersey history (No. 16 if you include converted hand times from the 1970s) and fastest by a Camden County hurdler since Chais Hill of Highland ran 7.34 in 2015.

Pennsauken, 1,600-Meter Relay: Pennsauken ran 3:25.02 for sixth in the Meet of Champions, and they did it with three freshmen and a senior. Pennsauken was the only South Jersey school in the top 10 and their 3:25.02 is fastest this year by a South Jersey school and fastest by any South Jersey school since Haddonfield ran 3:23.54 in 2017. Senior DeVante Greene led off with a 50.7 split, freshman Kahlil Ali ran 51.6, freshman Ejani Shakir 50.6 and freshman Bryce Tucker, who set a state freshman 800 record earlier in the day [read about that race here], anchored in 52.1.

Willingboro senior Nate Robertson joined the 6-8 club Sunday when he placed second in the high jump at the Meet of Champions.

Robertson had cleared 6-6 at seven different meets going back a couple Bubble meets in Toms River last winter. But he finally got over the hump on Sunday, when he placed second to Jamier Wright-Collins of Paterson Kennedy, who cleared 6-10.

Willingboro has quite a high jumper history. Actually, it has quite a history in every event.

Robertson is the third Willingboro high jumper to clear 6-8. Scott Harrison cleared 6-8 in 1984 and national champ Mike Morrison cleared 7-4 1/4 at the Armory in 2003, still No. 7 in U.S. indoor track history. Outdoors, Marc Holland cleared 7-0 in 1977, Pat Collier hit 6-10 in 1983 and Dijon Thomas cleared 6-8 in 2002 when he was second to Morrison in the Meet of Champions.

Robertson is actually the first South Jersey jumper to clear 6-8 indoors in five years. Three did it in 2005 – Williamstown’s Devin Bradham and Delsea’s Ameer Banks both went 6-10 and Tariq Adams of Pleasantville cleared 6-8.

He’s the first Burlington County jumper over the bar at 6-8 indoors or outdoors since Ed Kramer of Cherokee cleared 6-8 indoors and 6-8 1/4 outdoors.

Robertson’s teammate Kameron Smith cleared 6-6 at the Meet of Champions and placed fourth. Smith cleared 6-7 earlier this season at the Bubble.

The versatile Robertson also ran 6.79 this indoor season, placing fourth in the 55 at sectionals, and long jumped only twice but did hit 21-8 1/4 at a meet last month at Ocean Breeze, which was No. 11 in the state this year and No. 5 among South Jersey jumpers.

Here’s a look at the all-time Burlington County indoor high jump list! Some great names on here!

ALL-TIME BURLINGTON COUNTY INDOOR HIGH JUMP LIST
7-4 1/4 … Mike Morrison (Willingboro), 2003
6-11 … Mike Pascuzzo (Lenape), 1980
6- 8 1/4 … Mike Murawski [Holy Cross], 2003
6- 8 … Barry Anderson [Rancocas Valley], 1977
6- 8 … Chris Walsh [Shawnee], 1983
6- 8 … Scott Harrison [Willingboro], 1984
6- 8 … J.C. Slocum [Bordentown], 1989, 1990
6- 8 … Marvin Bass [Palmyra], 1994
6- 8 … Ed Krammer [Cherokee], 2010
6- 8 … Nate Robertson [Willingboro], 2020

Pennsauken’s remarkable Bryce Tucker destroyed the state freshman 800 record Sunday when he ran 1:56.75 at the Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze.

He broke the state freshman mark of 1:57.70 that Myles Plummer of Union Catholic set at last year’s Meet of Champions at the Bubble.

Before Plummer, the mark belonged to Maxwell Bruno of Indian Hills, who ran 1:58.9 in 2005.

According to the MileSplit database, it’s the fastest indoor time by a U.S. freshman in seven years.

Tucker ran his first lifetime high school 800 at the Bubble last MONTH and ran 2:10.49. He quickly got down to 2:02.89 a week later and then PR’d at 2:01.99 at sectionals, 2:00.89 at the Bubble and 2:00.16 at states.

But 1:56.75 is a nearly 3 1/2-second PR and the No. 1 freshman time in the U.S., according to the MileSplit data base. The only other freshman under 1:58 this winter according to MileSplut is Nathan Cumberbatch of Shorewood, Wisc., who ran 1:56.99 at a meet in Lexington, Ky., last month. He was an AAU national age-group champ last spring at 1:59.18.

To put Tucker’s time in perspective, only eight New Jersey seniors have run that fast this winter. Tucker placed 11th in his first Meet of Champions race.

Tucker was out in 28.3 and 58.1 and came back in 30.4 and 58.6.

Incredibly, unless I’m missing someone, his time is No. 5 in Camden County indoor history and less than a second off the county indoor record of 1:55.93, set in 2017 by Haddonfield’s Derek Gess.

Looks like Pennsauken’s previous school record was 1:59.24 by Elijah Swain at the 2011 Meet of Champions.

I went through all my Jack Shepard U.S. High School Track annuals going back to the early 1990s and found only four faster freshman times, although in some years the cut-off for the 800 was faster than 1:56.75, so there are likely missing times out there. If they happened before the MileSplit national data base came into existence, there’s probably no way to find them.

1:55.45 … Andrew Perkins [Watertown (Wisc.)], 2005
1:55.64 … Terrell Jackson [Memphis (Tenn.) University School], 2013
1:56.02 … Lionel Williams [St. Peter’s, Staten Island, N.Y.], 2004
1:56.10 … Obea Moore [Muir, Pasadena, Calif.], 1994

ALL-TIME CAMDEN COUNTY INDOOR 800-METER LIST
1:55.93 … Derek Gess [Haddonfield], 2017
1:56.49 … Greg Pelose [Haddonfield], 2016
1:56.50 … Brian Laskowski [Bishop Eustace], 2008
1;56.60 … Andrew Riviello [Eastern], 2003
1:56.75 … Bryce Tucker [Pennsauken], 2020

It was Olivia Wright’s final triple jump attempt of the season. Until it wasn’t anymore.

Wright, a Winslow Township junior, jumped a lifetime-best 37-4 on her final attempt of the Meet of Champions triple jump trials Sunday at Ocean Breeze and then passed on her final three attempts to focus on her 4-by-400 duties for Winslow.

Wright was actually in the lead until Teja Brown of Pope John in Sparta – who was the final qualifier for the finals at 36-2 1/2 – jumped 38-2 on her final attempt.

But it was still a heck of a performance for Wright, whose 37-4 is No. 6 in South Jersey history and best by any South Jersey underclassman indoors since another great Winslow athlete, Cidae’a Woods, hit 37-10 as a junior in 2013.

It also qualified her for New Balance Nationals this weekend at the Armory, which is why her last attempt of the year guaranteed her more jumps!

Wright’s PR before M-of-C was a 36-8 3/4 at the Varsity Classic at the Armory last month. Wright was also a sectional runner-up in the high jump at 5-0 and is a regular leg on several of Winslow’s relay teams.

She won’t be triple jumping again until outdoors, but she will be in action this weekend at New Balance Nationals at the Armory.

Wright will be joined by sophomore Jaia James and seniors Janeya Hammond and Nylah Perry on Winslow’s team for the Championship 800-meter relay, and she’ll race alongside James, sophomore Kamryn Holness and sophomore Charly Dutton on a 1,600-meter relay team in the Emerging Elite division.

Winslow also has a team in the mixed 4-by-400 (senior Terry McNeill, junior Brandon Greene, Hammond and Perry), and Perry will also race in the Emerging Elite 400 after winning the M-of-C in 56.19.

Greene is also entered in the Emerging Elite 60-meter hurdles.

Here’s a look at the all-time indoor South Jersey triple jump list!

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR TRIPLE JUMP LIST
40-1 1/2 … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2019
38-4 … She’quell Higgs [Winslow Twp.], 2013
38-0 1/2 … 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 1/2 … Kristina Tossas [Rancocas Valley], 2020
37-1 … Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2015
36-9 1/4 … Jasmin Jones [Kingsway], 2016
36-8 1/2 … Leah Ellis [Millville], 2019
36-6 1/2 … Maryn Hess [Winslow Twp.], 2017
36-6 1/2 … 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 3/4 … Kiah Walton [Burlington Twp.], 2014
36-1 1/2 … Chastiney Pearson [Timber Creek], 2020
36-0 1/2 … Taliya Rogers [Rancocas Valley], 2016
36-0 1/2 … Keyanna Meade [Burlington Twp.]. 2018

Huge race for Kingsway senior Allie Pierontoni Sunday with a seven-second PR and fifth place in the 3,200 at the Meet of Champions.

Pierontoni was the only South Jersey runner in the top 10

Pierontoni ran 10:52.53 at Ocean Breeze, lowering her lifetime PR from 10:59.06, which she ran last month on the same track.

Her time is No. 5 in Gloucester County history and fastest in eight years, since Washington Township’s Dina Iacone ran 10:40.03 in 2012. It’s No. 19 in South Jersey history.

Pierontoni ran with the lead group most of the race and when the pack began to string out over the final few laps she held her pace and position, negative-splitting 5:27.4 and 5:25.1 and closing in 78.2 for her final 400 and 36.7 for her final lap.

Her time is 13th-fastest ever by a South Jersey girl at the indoor Meet of Champions and 3rd-fastest by a Gloucester County runner, behind only Kingsway’s Chelsea Ley in 2009 [10:43.10] and Iacone’s 10:46.11 in 2012.

It’ll be a busy weekend at the 168th Street Armory at the National Scholastic Championships for Pierontoni and her twin sister Emily and younger sister Aubrey, a Kingsway freshman.

They will be joined by junior Allison MacFarland for the 4-by-mile at 10:40 a.m. Saturday and joined by Skye Robinson for the 3,200-meter relay championship race at 6:10 p.m. Saturday.

Aubrey is also entered in the freshman mile, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Sunday.

Here’s the full all-time South Jersey Meet of Champions sub-11 performance list!

10:31.06 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012 [3]
10:34.78 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Regional], 2016 [4]
10:38.31 … Megan Venables[Highland], 2011 [1]
10:38.90 … Erin Donohue[Haddonfield], 2001 [1]
10:39.15 … Devon Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2014 [6]
10:40.10 …….. Grisbaum, 2015 [7]
10:40.70 …….. Aldridge, 2017 [2]
10:42.06 … Holly Bischof[Bishop Eustace], 2011 [2]
10:42.40 …….. Aldridge, 2016 [3]
10:42.68 …….. Venables, 2010 [1]
10:43.10 … Chelsea Ley[Kingsway], 2009 [4]
10:44.89 …….. Ley, 2008 [3]
10:45.40 … Julianna Catania [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2016 [6]
10:46.09 …….. Venables, 2009 [5]
10:46.11 … Dina Iacone [Washington Twp.], 2012
10:46.85 … Theresa Cattuna [Cherry Hill East], 2007 [2]
10:47.81 …….. Bischof, 2012
10:49.12 … Madison Coppolino [Sterling], 2017 [3]
10:50.06 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], 2013 [4]
10:52.53 … Allie Pierontoni [Kingsway], 2020 [5]
10:54.42 … Alyssa Condell [Timber Creek], 2016 [9]
10:54.75 … Madison Coppolino [Sterling], 2016 [10]
10:58.93 … Ann Klocke [Bishop Eustace], 1996 [1]
10:59.92 … Amanda Goetchius [Delsea], 2007 [4]

In a bizarre twist resulting from an inexcusable official’s error Sunday, Cherokee senior Tyler Jackson became a Meet of Champions winner on Monday.

The Meet of Champions 1,600 was held in two sections Sunday at Ocean Breeze, and Jackson was in the first section.

He ran a heck of a race.

With two laps to go he was in sixth place and came through the 1,200 at 3:15.3. He was still in sixth and a good eight meters back when he came through 1,400 meters at 3:47.7. Even as the pack hit the final backstretch he was in sixth. But he began picking guys off on the back straight and had moved into fourth when they hit the final turn.

He hit the final straight in third but in contact with leaders Rodolfo Sanchez of St. Peter’s Prep and Myles Plummer of Union Catholic. Sanchez dropped back and Jackson began chasing Plummer, who briefly gapped Jackson. But Jackson kept hammering and edged Plummer at the line in 4:18.83.

The FAT splits are messed up, but from the video it looks like ran his final 400 in about 63.5 and his final 200 in 31 seconds.

His 4:18.83 is No. 5 in Burlington County history and a nearly five-second PR for the 1:56 half-miler, who had run 4:23.41 at states.  

Normally, a 4:18 will get you onto the medal stand. Jackson’s former teammate, Justin Kelly, ran 4:18.48 two years ago and placed seventh. In 2017 a 4:18 would have won the race. 

So Jackson walked off the track with the fastest 1,600 by a South Jersey runner this year and set out to watch the seeded heat to see where he would wind up.

Instead, he saw disaster strike the second section of the 1,600.

When an official inexplicably rang the bell for one lap to go with TWO laps to go, the lead group kicked over the next 200 and stopped when they crossed the line.

Liam Murphy of Allentown and Shaw Powell of CBA were leading the group and with the crowd booing and yelling and screaming they realized what happened and regrouped and ran another lap.

Murphy came through 1,400 meters in 3:37.40 and Shaw in 3:38.29, with Kingsway’s Stone Caraccio in third at 3:42.67. Murphy actually went on to run 4:17 and change including his pit stop.

But on Monday the NJSIAA ruled that they would consider the two sections separate Meet of Champions finals and hand out two sets of medals, one for the first eight runners in the 1,600-meter first section and another for the first eight in the 1,400-meter second section.

So Murphy is the Meet of Champions 1,400 winner, Jackson is the Meet of Champions 1,600 winner, and 16 milers will get medals. 

And in case you’re wondering, the South Jersey 1,400 record now belongs to Caraccio.

For more on this story, read Jim Lambert’s outstanding coverage on New Jersey MileSplit:

For Whom Did The Bell Toll? Boys MOC 1600 Results In Doubt

NJSIAA Will Award Two Sets Of Medals For Boys MOCs 1600m

ALL-TIME BURLINGTON COUNTY INDOOR 1,600 LIST
4:13.56y … Marc Pelerin (Cherokee), 2002
4:16.71y … Dave Forward (Shawnee), 2009
4:18.48 … Justin Kelly (Cherokee), 2018
4:18.50 … Shawn Wilson (Cherokee), 2012
4:18.83 … Tyler Jackson (Cherokee), 2020
4:18.91y … Jon Anderson (Cinnaminson), 2004
4:19.97 … Steven Burkholder (Cherokee), 2010
4:20.09 … Austin Gabay (Cinnaminson), 2019
4:20.46y … Brian Tetreault (Cinnaminson), 2007
4:20.93 … Ryan Garvin (Lenape), 2008
4:21.1h … Eric Lorenz (Holy Cross), 1988
4:21.32 … Shawn Wilson (Cherokee), 4:21.32
4:21.43 … Ethan Wechsler (Cherokee), 2020
4:21.54 … Mark Miller (Shawnee), 2017
4:21.70 … Isaiah Curbelo (Rancocas Valley), 2016
4:22.19y … Rob Novak (Bordentown), 2005
4:22.24 … Kevin Lauer (Lenape), 2018
4:22.36y … Mike Sheehan (Holy Cross), 2008
4:23.15 … Dave DeJong (Shawnee), 1998
4:23.27 … Jon Anderson (Cinnaminson), 2003
4:24.69 … Joshua DeJesus (Rancocas Valley), 2016
4:24.6y … Paul Friedman (Moorestown), 1976
4:24.9y … Johnny Englehardt (Willingboro), 1976
4:25.0y … Vance Watson (Willingboro), 1983
4:25.0h … Keith O’Brien (Shawnee), 1992

On Sunday, we wrote about Lauren Princz’s historic Meet of Champions win in the 55-meter dash. You can read about that race here.

But Princz wasn’t finished.

Lost in all the hoopla was a second-place and personal-best 24.83 for the Egg Harbor Township junior in the 200.

Racing in the showcase 200 – the field was selected by qualifying times, since it’s not contested at sectionals and states – Princz finished second to Mariah Fede of Paramus Catholic, who had finished second to Eastern’s Jailya Ash in the 55-meter hurdles.

Princz’s time equals No. 10 in South Jersey history. Kiara Lester of Deptford, who won the Big 10 400-meter dash title for Penn State earlier this month, also ran 24.83 indoors.

Princz lowered her own Atlantic County record from 24.86, which she ran last year at Easterns. Previously it was 25.11 by Olympic silver medalist Nia Ali of Pleasantville in 2006.

Princz is one of only three girls that ranks in the top 10 in South Jersey history in both the 55 and the 200. The others are Amandi Rhett of Moorestown in 2000  (7.00, 24.46) and Aliyah Taylor of Rancocas Valley in 2017 (7.01, 24.93).

At Nationals this weekend, Princz is entered in the Championship section of the 60-meter dash and will also run a 200 leg on EHT’s sprint medley. Senior Isabella Leake will anchor. Junior Anne Rutledge and senior Gabrielle German will split up the 400 and other 200 leg.

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR 200 LIST
24.38 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
24.39 … Shakira Dancy [Winslow Twp.], 2017
24.42 … Dennisha Page [Woodrow Wilson], 2019
24.46 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], 2000
24.52 … Cecelia Gerstenbecher [Delsea], 2017
24.61 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
24.61 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
24.5h … Jennifer Jackson [Eastern], 2003
24.78 … Dana Burnett [Williamstown], 1996
24.83 … Kiara Lester [Deptford], 2014
24.83 … Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2020
24.94 … Shardae Anderson [Paulsboro], 2005
24.96 … Toni Glatz [Delsea], 2017
24.99 … Aliya Harrison [Sterling], 2018

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR 55 TOP 10
6.73 … Michelle Glover (Willingboro), 1981
6.88 … Patti Dunlap (Camden), 1979
6.91 … English Gardner (Eastern), 2010
6.95 … Bria Mack (Williamstown), 2017
6.95 … Torie Robinson (Winslow Twp.), 2014
6.95 … Denise Mitchell (Edgewood), 1983
6.98 … Lauren Princz (Egg Harbor Twp.), 2020
7.00 … Amandi Rhett (Moorestown), 2000
7.00 … Iyanli Kollock (Our Lady of Mercy), 2017
7.01 … Aliyah Taylor (Rancocas Valley), 2017

If there were an all-time Haddonfield 4-by-800, it would now include Lindsay Colflesh.

Colflesh moved into the all-time No. 4 spot on the Haddonfield indoor 800 list with her strong second-place run at the Meet of Champions Sunday at Ocean Breeze.

Colflesh, a Haddonfield junior, ran an indoor PR 2:15.31 to place second to Penn State-bound Victoria Vanriele of Governor Livingston, who ran 2:09.73 to win her seventh straight M-of-C 800 title.

Her 2:15.31 is No. 14 in South Jersey history and puts her behind only Olympian Erin Donohue [2:10.0 in 2001], Olympian Marielle Hall [2:12.55] and Foot Locker finalist Briana Gess [2:15.05] on the all-time Haddonfield indoor list. She bumped Greta Feldman, whose indoor HS PR was 2:15.86 but went on to run 2:03.34 at Princeton and is now an attorney in Virginia.

Colflesh has run 2:14.87 outdoors, but her previous indoor PR was 2:16.62 at states. She only broke 2:20 indoors for the first time at sectionals last month.

Vanriele took the pace out fast Sunday, but Colflesh ran intelligently, content to sit back in the pack through the first 400. She came through in 1:05.6, which is fast but she was in sixth with 400 to go. She was still fourth with a lap to go, but nobody in the field – even Vanriele – closed faster. Colflesh ran her final 200 in 34.0, fastest in the field to secure second. Vanriele closed in 34.3 and nobody else closed in under 35 seconds.

Colflesh and her Haddonfield teammates – juniors Sarah Natichia, Payton Weiner and Allison Colflesh (her sister) – are skipping individual events at Nationals this weekend to focus on the four-by-mile.

We’ll have more on that later in the week, but considering that Allison Colflesh [5:03.82], Natachia [5:04.24] and Weiner [5:06.12] all PR’d Sunday and placed in the top eight and considering that Lindsay Colflesh ran 5:24 early this season in her only 1,600 and is coming off a 2:15, it’s scary to think about what this group is capable of Saturday morning at the Armory.

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR 800 LIST
2:09.56 … Megan Tiernan [Washington Twp.], 2010
2:10.0h … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2001
2:12.4h … Monica Olkowski [Cherokee], 1990
2:12.55 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2010
2:13.51 … Emily Duffey [Lenape], 2011
2:14.12 … Carly Pettipaw [Lenape], 2013
2:14.5h … Ruth Lockbaum [Glassboro], 1985
2:14.6h … Michelle DiMuro [Shawnee], 1985
2:14.64 … Bridget Flynn [Ocean City], 2014
2:14.99 … Kami Joi Hickson [Washington Twp.], 2017
2:15.05 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2015
2:15.06 … Sydney Coppolino [Sterling], 2017
2:15.17 … Britney Kott [Millville], 2008
2:15.31 … Lindsay Colflesh [Haddonfield], 2020
2:15.46 … Tara DeBrielle [Overbrook], 2000
2:15.86 … Greta Feldman [Haddonfield], 2009
2:15.89 … Kayla Martin [Seneca], 2016
2:15.90 … Felicia O’Donnell [Delsea], 2009
2:15.99 … Brooke Kott [Millville], 2008

They don’t have a pentathlon at the Meet of Champions, so Bryanna Craig did her best to create one for herself.

Craig, who competes for her second national multi-event championship this weekend at the Armory, turned Sunday’s 52nd annual Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze into her own personal little near-pentathlon. 

The Millville sophomore, who set the national freshman heptathlon record at outdoor nationals last year, competed in four events Sunday and picked up a first, a fifth, a seventh and a ninth. Is she the first athlete in history to place in the top 10 in four individual events at the same Meet of Champions? She has to be!

Let’s take a look at her busy Sunday on Staten Island!

HIGH JUMP: Craig won her first Meet of Champions title when she cleared 5-6, an indoor PR and Cumberland County record. She has cleared 5-8 in AAU summer track. Craig and A.L. Johnson junior Carly Tarentino both cleared 5-6 on their third tries, but Craig won because she was clean at 5-4 and Tarentino had a miss at 5-4. She joins Sylvia Galarza as the second girl in Millville history to win a Meet of Champions indoor title. Galarza won the shot put at Jadwin in 2004 with a throw of 44-1 1/2. Millville’s only indoor M-of-C winner on the boys side is Raffael Craig, who won the high jump in 1998 and 1999. He happens to be Bryanna’s dad and coach.

55-METER HURDLES: Craig ran 8.39 in the trials and slightly slower in the finals with an 8.49 but still made the medal stand with a seventh-place finish. She set her PR of 8.31 at Easterns at the Armory, where she’ll compete in the pentathlon this weekend.

LONG JUMP: In only her third long jump competition this year, Craig jumped 17-7 3/4, within a few inches of her indoor PR of 18-1 1/4 from a meet at the Armory in December. Ironically, she and sophomore teammate Leah Ellis both jumped 17-7 3/4 and tied for eighth, but Ellis was given eighth place based on a superior second-bet jump. It was a season-best jump for Ellis.

200-METER DASH: Craig jumped in the showcase 200 and placed fifth against some of the best sprinters in the state with a personal-best 25.29. Her only faster 200 was a 25.24 in the women’s heptathlon at the USATF Under-20 Championships in Miramar, Fla., this past June. The 25.29 actually appears to be a Cumberland County record. 

Craig is now ranked No. 2 in South Jersey this year in the high jump, No. 3 in the long jump, No. 3 in the 200 and No. 5 in the hurdles.

Craig scored 3,584 points when she won the Marine Corps Holiday Classic pentathlon at the Armory in December. That’s No. 2 in the U.S. this year, behind Brianna Smith of Cheltenham (Pa.) High in Montgomery County, who scored 3,617 at the Ocean Breeze Invitational in January. Smith is also entered at nationals this weekend.

Craig’s 3,584 is No. 2 in New Jersey history, behind a score of 3,674 that Tia Livingston of Union Catholic set at nationals in 2016. 

The indoor pentathlon consists of the 60-meter hurdles, shot put, long jump, high jump, shot put and 800-meter run. The indoor event is held over one day. At nationals,  this weekend at the Armory it’s scheduled to start with the hurdles at 8:15 a.m. Saturday and continue until mid-afternoon.