Bishop Eustace’s Katy Storti opened her 2018 cross country with a rainy, muddy, sloppy 10-second win in the senior girls race at the 23rd annual Cherokee Challenge Saturday in Marlton.

Storti covered the 3,200-meter course in 12:14, finishing 40 meters ahead of Nia Goddard of Conestoga High in Chester County, Pa.

Storti became the first Eustace girl to ever win any class race at Cherokee. Holly Bischof placed second in the junior race in 2010 and the senior race in 2011. Storti was third last year in the junior race.

Storti last year placed third in the state Parochial A race at Holmdel and was the No. 3 finisher from South Jersey at the Meet of Champions.

Last time a South Jersey girl won the senior girls race at the Cherokee Challenge was 2010, when Megan Lacy of Cherokee ran 10:55 to edge Bischof by three seconds.

Complete Cherokee Challenge history can be found here.

Pitman graduate Hannah Vendetta, now a senior at Rowan, was first across the line Saturday in the 22nd annual Salisbury (Md.) Fall Classic.

Vendetta ran 23:28 over 6,000 meters on Salisbury’s home course on the school’s campus. She won by about 14 meters over Catie Cambron of Salisbury.

Vendetta was the NJAC mile champion indoors and 1,500 champ outdoors last spring.

Salisbury, ranked No. 5 in the NCAA Division 3 Region by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, won the team title 31-26 over Rowan despite three Rowan runners in the top five.

Madison Edwards, a freshman from Cinnaminson, made her college debut with an impressive fourth-place finish in 23:37 and senior Jennifer Klavens of Washington Township was fifth in 23:53. Edwards was second last fall in the South Jersey Group 2 race, and Klavens was 12th in the NJAC XC race last fall.

Rounding out Rowan’s all-South Jersey top five were sophomore Alyssa Sanders of Pitman, 10th in 24:06, and Carly Tool of Seneca, 11th in 24:23.

Vendetta and Sanders were teammates on the 2013 Pitman team that won the state Group 1 title by 58 points.

 

Billy Mayhew of Delsea, Nick Falk of Cherokee and Pat Mulligan of Haddon Township, all running their first college cross country races for The College of New Jersey, swept the first three spots in the 2018 Blue/Gold Alumni Invitational.

The race was held over 4,000 meters at Green Lane Fields in Ewing.

Mayhew ran 13:57, Falk 13:59 and Mulligan 13:59. Mayhew and Mulligan are freshmen, and Falk is a red-shirt freshman.

The top alumni was Chris Curto, a 2003 graduate of TCNJ and a 1999 graduate of Rancocas Valley. Curto, who placed 10th overall in 14:12, was a teammate at R.V. and at TCNJ with current TCNJ assistant coach Mike Walker.

Two other South Jersey runners finished with 20 seconds of the winner: junior Mike Zurzolo of Cherokee [5th in 14:00] and freshman Jack Ennis of Shawnee [12th in 14:16].

They haven’t run a race yet, but the Rowan Profs men’s cross country team is already off to a great start this fall!

Rowan is ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division 3 in the preseason Atlantic Region poll compiled by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Assocation.

Rowan won the New Jersey Athletic Association meet last year and placed fourth in the Atlantic Region last year and earned an at-large bid to race in the NCAA Championships, where the Profs placed 23rd.

The College of New Jersey and Ramapo are right behind Rowan, giving the NJAC three of the top seven schools in the Atlantic Region.

Here is the full poll:

Rowan also earned a No. 29 national ranking in the preseason poll, which you can find here.

2018 NCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Preseason

The Profs are led by Dan “Fitch” Henry, a senior out of Clearview, who placed second to teammate Kevin Veltre in last year’s NJAC conference meet at Stockton nd

Other South Jersey runners on the Profs’ 2018 roster are juniors Ryan Federline (Cherry Hill East),  Jacob Hellmig (Delsea) and Jason Muermann (Pitman); sophomores Dean Mignogna (Washington Township) and Michael Onu (Cherry Hill East); and freshmen Korey Greene (Ocean City), Jordan Pitt (Vineland), Nick Simila (St. Augustine) and Sean Smithson (Washington Township).

TCNJ also has numerous South Jersey runners on its roster, including senior Jack Wood (Haddonfield), juniors Mike Zurzolo (Cherokee) Chris Coombs (Burlington Township), sophomores Nick Falk (Cherokee), Robert Abrams (Cherry Hill West) and Noah Preihs (Cherry Hill East), freshmen Jack Ennis (Shawnee) and Michael Iannotta (Cherokee), William Mayhew (Delsea), Patrick Mulligan (Haddon Township), Matthew Smith (Cherokee).

Rowan is scheduled to open the season Saturday morning at the Salisbury (Md.) Invitational. TCNJ is scheduled to open at the Blue-Gold Invite on its own campus in Ewing.

After a 13-month injury layoff, English Gardner returned to track and field with a splash, winning the 100-meter dash at the Palio della Quercia in Rovereto, Italy.

Gardner, a Voorhees native and graduate of Eastern Regional High School, ran a meet-record-tying 11.02 and beat a loaded field that included 2016 U.S. champion and Olympic finalist Michelle Lee Ahye and Olympic 400-meter relay gold medalist Imani Lansiquot.

“I expected to run faster, but I am glad I had the opportunity to compete here,” Gardner said.

It was Gardner’s first race since July 12, 2017, when she ran 11.21 at Lignano Sabbiadoro, about 150 miles to the east in Italy. Soon after she shut down with an injury.

The 11.02 was her fastest time since the 2016 Olympics in Rio, when she ran 10.94 and placed seventh.

Gardner’s time makes her No. 7 American this year. Her PR of 10.74 at the 2016 Olympic Trials in Eugene is No. 7 in world history and and No. 4 in U.S. history.

Florence High graduate Curtis Thompson threw 247-7 to place third in the javelin Sunday  in the 2018 Athletics World Cup at Olympic Stadium in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.

Thompson, competing in just his second meet this year after sitting out the entire season for Mississippi State, was just 20 inches off his season-best of 249-3, which he threw last month to win the USATF U.S. National Championships in Des Moines.

Thompson, the 2016 NCAA champion and Olympic Trials runner-up, has a career-best of 271-11 from the Trials last year in Eugene, Ore.

Thompson finished behind only Olympian Julian Weber of Germany, who threw 271-7, and Polish national record holder Marcin Krukowski, who was second with a 263-3.

When Florence High graduate Curtis Thompson won the javelin this weekend at the U.S. Track Championships, he continued a tradition that began 112 years ago.

That’s when Almonesson native and four-time Olympic gold mealiMel Sheppard ran 1:55.4 to win the 880-Yard Run at the U.S. Championships in New York. It was the first of five national titles for Sheppard, who grew up in Clayton, moved to what is now Deptford Township when he was 9 and lived later in Haddonfield and Philly.

 

 

MEN
2018
Curtis Thompson [Florence], Javelin [249-3]

1999
Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 100-Meter Dash [9.97w]

1996
Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 100-Meter Dash [9.92]

1993
Jack Pierce [Woodbury], 110-Meter Hurdles [13.19]

1992
Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 100-Meter Dash [10.09]
Jack Pierce [Woodbury], 110-Meter Hurdles [13.13]

1991
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [28-4 1/4]

1990
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash [10.05]
Vince Labosky [Holy Cross], Javelin [261-3]

1987
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 200-Meter Dash [20.12]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [28-4 1/2]

1986
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash [9.91w]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [28-5 1/2w]

1983
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash [10.27]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 200-Meter Dash [19.75]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [28-10 1/4]

1982
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash [10.11]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [27-10]

1981
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], 100-Meter Dash [10.13]
Carl Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [28-3 1/2]

1957
Charles Pratt [Palmyra], Decathlon [7,164]

1956
Charles Pratt [Palmyra], 200-Meter Hurdles [22.8]

1955
Charles Pratt [Palmyra], 220-Yard Hurdles [23.5]

1912
Mel Sheppard [Almonesson], 880-Yard Run [1:57.4]

1911
Mel Sheppard [Almonesson], 880-Yard Run [1:54.9]

1908
Mel Sheppard [Almonesson], 880-Yard Run [1:55.6]

1907
Mel Sheppard [Almonesson], 880-Yard Run [1:55.2]

1906
Mel Sheppard [Almonesson], 880-Yard Run [1:55.4]

WOMEN
2016
English Gardner [Eastern], 100-Meter Dash [10.74]

2013
English Gardner [Eastern], 100-Meter Dash [10.85]

1986
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [22-9w]

1985
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [22-8 1/2w]

1983
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [22-8]

1982
Carol Lewis [Willingboro], Long Jump [22-4 1/4]

What an achievement for Curtis Thompson!!!

In his first meet in nearly a year, the Florence High graduate — finally healthy again — won the javelin Saturday at the USATC Championships in Boise!!!

It’s the first national title for Thompson, who in 2016 was the NCAA champion for Mississippi State and placed a close second in the Olympic Trials, setting the meet record before missing out on a trip to the Olympics because some archaic qualifying rules.

Thompson threw 249-3, beating second-place Capers Williamson by 11 inches.

Thompson opened with a 244-7, which led all throwers after the first round, then improved to 248-7 on his second throw, which continued to lead the pack. He finished the trials with a 236-2.

In the finals, he improved to 249-3 on his first attempt — his best throw in two years, since he threw 260-1 on July 15, 2016, at the NCACAC Under-23 Championships to close out the 2016 season in San Salvadore, El Salvadore.

He closed out with 233-5 and 231-10 but on this day that was enough.

Thompson moved into the No. 3 spot on the 2018 U.S. list behind Michael Shuey (257-7) and Aaron True (254-2), who placed fourth and sixth Saturday.

Thompson became the second South Jersey native to win the national javelin title. In 1990, Holy Cross graduate Vince Labosky of Tabernacle Township threw 261-3 to win the national title with the old implement.

Other New Jersey natives who’ve won the national javelin title are Mark Murro of Essex Catholic (284-3 in 1969), Bob Roggy of Holmdel (289-9 in 1982) and Bobby Smith of Monmouth Regional in 2008 (249-6).

This was Thompson’s first meet since he competed in a low-key meet in Chula Vista, Calif., on July 21, 2017. After throwing 271-11 at the 2016 Trials and ranking No. 2 among U.S. men in 2016, his best throw in 11 meets in 2017 was 249-2.

Thompson, the No. 16 thrower in U.S. history, won the 2016 NCAA title for Mississippi State but red-shirted this past year.

Another South Jersey product, veteran thrower Tim VanLiew of Deptford High School, threw 236-4 for fifth place.

 

Haddonfield’s Marielle Hall placed second in the 10,000-meter run Thursday at the USATF National Championships in Boise.

Hall ran 31:56.68, finishing just 25 meters behind Molly Huddle, who won in 31:52.32. Hall ran less than 20 seconds off her PR of 31:37.45 set two years ago. It was her first 10,000 on the track since May of 2016.

After the initial lap, Hall ran a ridiculously even set of splits through a mile to go, when the race really sped up. From lap 2 through lap 21, she ran every lap between 76.70 and 78.57 and at one point clicked off six straight laps between 77.12 and 77.87.

The top 12 runners stayed packed together for most of the race, with Hall spending the entire race either in second or third, just behind Huddle and Stephanie Bruce. With five laps to go, Hall moved into second, and with four laps to go, Huddle and Hall had gapped the field, building a rapidly growing lead on the rest of the pack.

Hall ran her last 1,600 in 4:42 and her final 800 in 2:17.6, but Huddle closed in 64.5 and gapped Hall on the final lap.

Here are Hall’s splits for the 25-lap race:

400: 81.74 (81.74)
800: 78.62 (2:40.36)
1,600: 78.01 (3:58.36)
2,000: 77.55 (5:15.65)
2,400: 77.31 (7:50.48)
2,800: 77.15 (9:07.37)
3,200: 77.12 (10:24.49)
3,600: 77.24 (11:41.72)
4,000: 77.87 (12:59.58)
4,800: 78.23 (15:35.33)
5,200: 77.47 (16:52.80)
5,600: 78.47 (18:11.26)
6,000: 76.70 (19:27.96)
6,400: 78.14 (20:46.09)
6,800: 77.19 (22:03.23)
7,200: 77.45 (23:20.67)
7,600: 77.64 (24:48.31)
8,000: 77.35 (25:55.66)
8,400: 78.57 (27:14.23)
8,800: 73.09 (28:27.31)
9,200: 71.78 (29:39.08)
9,600: 69.10 (30:48.17)
10,000: 68.51 (31:56.68)

Hall is entered in the 5,000, which is scheduled for Sunday.

Competing in her secondary event, Cherokee graduate Jessica Woodard placed 11th at the USATF Championships in Boise Thursday in the discus with a throw of 183-3.

Woodard opened with throws of 168-11 and 169-4 before hitting the 183-3 on her final throw of the trials. She missed the eight-woman final by just 17 inches.

This is Woodard’s third U.S. championships but her first year qualifying in both the shot and the discus.

Woodard is scheduled to compete in the shot put on Friday. She is the No. 22-ranked U.S. woman in history in the shot at 61-3 1/2.