Rancocas Valley graduate Erika Kemp, now a senior at North Carolina State, ran a lifetime-best 4:17.93 for 1,500 meters this past weekend at the Raleigh Relays on the North Carolina State campus.

Kemp placed fifth behind two other Division 1 runners, a post-collegiate and record-setting Division 3 star Emily Richards of Ohio Northern.

Kemp’s time is seventh-fastest in NCAA Division 1 this year and No. 12 among all U.S. Women, according to the IAAF database.

Kemp’s previous PR at 1,500 meters was a 4:18.38 last April at the Charlotte Invitational. Her primary event is the 5,000, in which she has a PR of 15:41.23 from last April and which she’s raced at NCAAs three times.

At R.V., Kemp was the state Group 4 champ at 3,200 meters indoors and outdoors in 2013 and ran as fast as 10:40.95.

Winslow Township grad Torie Robinson ran the fastest 100 of her life over the weekend, clocking a wind-aided 11.16 at the Texas Relays.

Robinson, a senior at Clemson, has a legal-wind PR of 11.31 from last year’s ACC championships at Georgia Tech. She matched that 11.31 in the trials at the Texas Relays.

Every 100 heat and final at this year’s Texas Relays was added by an illegal wind. Robinson’s 11.31 was aided by a 3.4 meters-per-second wind, and her 11.16 in the final was assisted by a 3.7 mps wind. Anything over 2.0 is considered wind-aided and is ineligible for all-time lists or record consideration.

Nonetheless, Robinson’s time equals the eighth-fastest under any conditions in NCAA Division 1 this year, according to the DirectAthletics data base, and is the fastest under any conditions in Clemson history. The official school record is 11.20, set in 2013 by Dezerea Bryant.

Including marks made in legal and wind-aided conditions, Robinson’s time is tied for 17th-fastest in the world this year and eighth-fastest among U.S. women.

Robinson was a Meet of Champions winner in the 55, 100 and intermediate hurdles during her brilliant career at Winslow.

Hammonton graduate Lou Corgliano, now a Maryland senior, PR’d in the steeplechase this weekend, running 9:05.48 at the Florida Relays.

Corgliano placed third behind a post-grad who ran 8:55 and a Florida A&M runner who finished about half a second ahead of him.

Corgliano’s previous steeple PR was a 9:10.55 from the same meet last year. This was his first steeple this spring.

His time is fastest by a Maryland runner since Greg Kelsey ran 8:55.80 at the 2010 NCAA East Regionals in Greensboro, N.C.

Corgliano moved into the all-time Maryland top-10, displacing Rob Bedell, who ran 9:07.93 in 1990.

At Hammonton, Corgliano ran 9:04.94 for 3,200 meters on the track and was a Foot Locker finalist and third in the XC Meet of Champions as as senior in the fall of 2013.

Rowan intermediate hurdlers Chris Mesiano and Anthony Salemo are in midyear form.

Mesiano, a junior from Schalick, ran 53.02 and Salemo, a senior from Ramsey, clocked 53.04 over the weekend at the Danny Curran Invitational at Widener’s track in Chester, Pa.

They were the only runners to break 56 seconds in the meet, and Mesiano’s margin of victory over his teammate and the defending NCAA Division 3 champion was about six inches.

Mesiano’s time was only 13-100ths off his PR of 52.89, set last May at a meet at Swarthmore. Salemo’s PR is 51.06 , set last May when he won the national title at Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio.

Mesiano and Salemo now rank fourth and fifth in NCAA Division 3.

Mesiano and Salemo also ran on the first-place 1,600-meter relay team along with senior Jamil Jackson of Highland and freshman Justin Bishop of Mainland Regional. Their 3:17.43 is the fastest in NCAA Division 3 this year.

Rowan, ranked No. 2 nationally by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, won the team title at the Danny Curran Invitational by a 194-128 score over Cortland State of New York.

Javon Sanders didn’t waste any time destroying his intermediate hurdles PR.

Sanders, a junior at Deptford, ran 56.77 for the 400 intermediates at the Rebel Relays Saturday at Howell High School.

Sanders’ previous PR was a 59.97 at last year’s South Jersey Invitational at Delsea. That was the only time he was under a minute last year.

Indoors, Sanders focused on the high hurdles and was third at Group 3 states at Toms River in 7.79 and had a PR of 7.68 from a SJTCA meet on the same track.

But his 56.77 puts him in an entirely new category. The only faster Deptford intermediate hurdler we found who ran faster as a junior is Shaquille Dixon, who ran 55.97 as a junior in 2014 — but he didn’t break 57 seconds until sectionals. Dixon went on to place second at states in 54.03 as a senior.

Sanders’ 56.77 is the fastest time in New Jersey after the first weekend of competition this spring.

This past winter, Sanders ran the third leg on Deptford’s 800-meter relay team, which ran 1:29.92 at the Ocean Breeze Invitational to tie the Gloucester County record.

Pennsville graduate Megan SaxvanderWeyden is off to a great start to her junior year at Baylor, with the three biggest meets of her career to open the outdoor season.

SaxvanderWeyden opened at the TCU Invitational in Forth Worth with a personal-best 158-7 and then followed that with a 152-10 at the Roadrunner Invitational in San Antonio and then this weekend threw 154-4 at the Texas Relays in Austin.

Coming into the season, SaxvanderWeyden’s PR was a 152-2 from last year’s Michael Johnson Invitational on her home track at Baylor in Waco, Texas.

So she has already surpassed her lifetime PR in all three meets this spring!

SaxvanderWeyden ranks 29th in NCAA Division 1, according to the Direct Athletics database, and 30th among all U.S. women, according to the IAAF database.

At Pennsville, SaxvanderWeyden had a PR of 138-4 from the 2015 Woodbury Relays and threw one inch short of that to win the Meet of Champions.

She has improved every year since her freshman year at Pennsville:

9th – 100-0

10th – 118-1

11th – 134-0

12th – 138-4

Fr – 145-1

So – 152-2

Jr. – 158-7

 

Cherokee graduate Jessica Woodard broke her own Oklahoma school discus record Saturday with a 190-9 at the Home Depot Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the University of Texas campus in Austin.

Woodard’s throw is No. 46 in the world this year and No. 6 among collegians. Her previous PR was 187-5 last weekend in San Diego. Coming into the year her PR was 185-9 at NCAA West Regionals last spring in Austin. Her mark is No. 3 among American women, according to the IAAF data base.

Woodard began her series with a 171-9 throw followed by a 179-9 before her first career 190-foot attempt. She finished with a foul, a 178-9 and a 172-10.

Woodard also won the shot put with a 56-6 1/2. She ranks No. 2 among collegians with her 57-9 from a meet last weekend in San Diego. Her PR is 60-2 3/4 from the Big 12 outdoor championships last year.

Woodard, a Marlton native and former Cherokee High School athlete, is a five-time All-America in the shot put but has never earned All-America status in the discus. Yet.

Pennsauken High graduate Antwan Dickerson, a senior at Houston, opened the season with a wind-aided 25-5 1/4 at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin. That’s No. 14 in NCAA Division 1 in the early going.

Dickerson’s wind-legal PR is a 24-7 3/4 indoors at the Charlie Thomas Invitational last month, and his outdoor wind-legal PR is a 24-6 1/2 back in 2014 as a freshman at the J. Fred Duckett Twilight Invitational at Rice University in Houston. He also had a wind-aided 25-9 1/2 last spring (2.9 meters per second).

Dickerson hit the 25-5 1/4 on his first jump Saturday with a wind of 2.4 meters per second. Anything over 2.0 meters per second is considered wind-aided.

He followed with a 24-7 3/4 (aided by a 3.0 mps wind) and then fouled three times before finishing with a 25-0 aided by a 3.2 mps wind. His only jump with a legal wind was his fifth, his final foul, which had a reading of 0.8 when he took off.

Dickerson had a PR of 23-6 at Pennsauken, ironically achieved at the 2013 Carl Lewis Invitational. Lewis is the school record holder in the long jump at Houston. His indoor PR was 22-11 1/2 at 2013 Easterns.

Dickerson was a state champ and Meet of Champions runner-up in the high jump at Pennsauken and a Meet of Champions and Easterns long jump champ indoors. He also won two sectional titles in the triple jump and a conference title in the high hurdles.

Nick Mirabelli opened his senior year at Rancocas Valley by booming the No. 4 javelin throw in state history Saturday, a 220-10 at the Rebel Relays at Howell High School.

Mirabelli surpassed his personal best of 213-5 from last year’s Burlington County Open and also surpassed older brother Chris’s high school PR of 216-6, set at the 2014 South Jersey Invitational. Chris Mirabelli is now a senior at Rutgers.

Nick Mirabelli opened with a 191-11 throw and then fouled before the huge PR on his third and final attempt.

The only South Jersey throwers ranked ahead of Mirabelli on the all-time list are state record holder Curtis Thompson of Florence, who threw 224-10 at the 2014 Meet of Champions, and Cade Antonucci of Holy Spirit, who threw 220-11 at last year’s Meet of Champions. Thompson is now an NCAA champion at Mississippi State, and Antonucci is a freshman at Auburn.

Mirabelli’s throw on Saturday also moved the Mirabelli brothers ahead of the Zuidema brothers of Midland Park for the New Jersey sibling lead.

Kaleb Zuidema threw 224-1 in 2010 and Seth Zuidema 207-7 in 2014 for a family total of 431-8.

Before Saturday, the Mirabelli brothers had combined for 429-11, but Nick’s PR now gives them a combined total of 437-4.

Mirabelli’s 220-10 is the No. 2 throw nationally in the very early going, according to the MileSplit USA data base, behind a 234-11 thrown this weekend by Tzuriel Pedigo of Parkview Baptist of Baton Rouge, La., at the Texas Relays.

Here’s the all-time state list with the current javelin implement, which went into use in 2002:

224-10 … Curtis Thompson [Florence], 2014

224- 1 … Kaleb Zuidema [Midland Park], 2010

220-11 … Cade Antonucci [Holy Spirit], 2017

220-10 … Nick Mirabelli [Rancocas Valley], 2017

217- 9 … Dean Sullivan [Delbarton], 2011

216- 6 … Chris Mirabelli [Holy Cross], 2014

212-2 … Alexander Georgiou [Timber Creek], 2017

209-11 … Stephen Burk [Parsippany], 2012

209- 5 … Kevin Steimle [Mahwah], 2009

209-4 … Steven Jernee [Ocean City], 2017

209- 0 … Josh Suttmeier [North Hunterdon], 2010

208-11 … Kevin Seery [Hanover Park], 2011

207- 7 … Seth Zuidema [Midland Park], 2014

206- 1 … Mike Brazil [North Arlington], 2014

205-11 … Robert Scales [Middletown South], 2002

204- 3 … Marion Easley [Somerville], 2005

203- 7 … James Malizia [St. Joe’s-Montvale], 2002

203- 6 … Stephen Benigno [Cherry Hill East], 2014

202-10 … Chandler Balter [Livingston], 2014

202- 9 … Brian Florek [Old Bridge], 2007

202- 6 … Jim Tully [Christian Brothers Academy], 2010

202- 0 … Steven Pierce [Ridgewood], 2006

201- 8 … Dajon Chappell [Morris Hills], 2017

201- 5 … Zachary Torrell [Lacey Twp.], 2011

201- 4 … Will Gonzalez [Cedar Grove], 2010

201- 0 … Sean Biehn [Burlington City], 2006

200- 3 … Cody Unger [Jefferson Twp.], 2008

Penn sophomore Julianna Catania from Egg Harbor Township High ran a 3,000-meter PR in her first race of the spring, placing third at the Penn Challenge at Franklin Field in 9:57.22.

Catania finished only four seconds behind winner Katie Wasserman, a Columbia sophomore, who ran 9:53.18.

Catania’s previous college 3,000 PR was an 10:11.39 at the Villanova Invitational at the Ocean Breeze track in Staten Island in February. In high school, she ran 10:03.60 on the same track at the Penn Relays.

A 9:57 converts to roughly a 10:41 for the high school distance of 3,200 meters, and that would also be a PR for Catania by about four seconds.

Catania’s main event is the 3,000 steeplechase, and she ranks sixth in Penn history in the event with a 10:54.51 at Penn last year.