From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Over the next few weeks, we’ll spotlight 30 athletes who excelled during the outdoor track season that we didn’t have a chance to write about extensively. We’d love to write about every athlete in South Jersey, but that’s not practical. But we will try to spotlight some who may have gotten overlooked over the past few months. We apologize in advance if we don’t get to you or your son or daughter or an athlete you coach.

 Today: Xavier Sabb, Glassboro

Xavier Sabb had quite a freshman year for Glassboro, and since he plays basketball for the Bulldogs the spring season was actually his first try at high school track.

Sabb didn’t take long to make a name for himself. At his first major meet – Delsea Crusader Field Meet – he won the long jump with a 20-7 1/2. Two weeks later at the Gloucester County Championships at Deptford, he ran 10.97 and placed 2nd to All-America Ajani Dwyer in the 100, ran 22.23 for 3rd in the 200 and high jumped 6-0 to take 2nd.

Championship season brought out the best in Sabb, who ran a PR 10.79 for 3rd in the 100 at the South Jersey Group 1 meet and 22.50 for 5th in the 200. He went on to place 3rd in the 100 at states and 7th in the 200.

And at West Philly Nationals, he ran 10.83 and set a high jump PR of 6-2 ¾, taking 3rd and 6th in the country in the freshman division.

Sabb was the No. 1 freshman in New Jersey in the 100, No. 2 in the 200 (Neptune’s Essien Plummer ran 22.02 at Group 3 states), No. 3 in the high jump and No. 14 in the long jump.

His 10.79 is 2nd-fastest ever by a South Jersey freshman, behind Malachi James’ 10.76 for Willingboro at the 2021 Meet of Champions. His 100 and high jump marks are best ever by Gloucester County freshmen.

Amari Sabb, Xavier’s brother, was Gloucester County high jump champ at 6-2 this spring as a sophomore.

Kaitlyn Dermen, a 2014 Millville High School graduate and NCAA Division 3 All-America at Stockton, became the No. 1 woman pole vaulter in New Jersey history earlier this month with a massive PR at an indoor meet in Basking Ridge.

Dermen cleared 14-4 at the Vault Factory Independence Day Pole Vault Meet. The previous New Jersey alumni record was 14-0 ½ by Shawnee graduate Stephanie Maugham as a University of Rhode Island senior at a meet in Fresno, Calif., on April 6, 2002.

Dermen’s previous PR looks like a 13-8 ¼ from a Vault Factory meet last summer, also in Basking Ridge.

Dermen’s mark makes her the No. 32 woman in the U.S. this year. No progression information is available in the results.

Dermen first vaulted as a sophomore at Millville, clearing 8-6 indoors and 9-0 outdoors. She improved to 9-6 as a junior indoors and placed at Group 4 states and then took 8th at the Meet of Champions outdoors with a 10-6 clearance. She was a state runner-up and Meet of Champions 6th-place finisher indoors as a senior and improved to 11-1 and had a series of 11-6 clearances outdoors.

At Stockton, she won NJAC titles indoors [11-9 ¾] and outdoors [12-3 ¾] as a junior in 2017 and indoors [12-1 ¾] and outdoors [12-1 ¾] as a senior in 2018. She earned All-America honors by clearing 12-3 ¾ for 4th place at NCAA Division 3 Championships in May of 2018 in La Crosse, Wisc. She was also a conference medalist at Stockton in the 100-meter high hurdles and 400-meter intermediates.

Here’s a look at her pole vault year-by-year PRs:

2012: 9-0
2013: 10-6
2014: 11-5 ¾
2015: 11-2 ½
2016: 11-10
2017: 12-7 ½
2018: 12-5 ½
2019: 11-11 ¾
2020: 11-9 ¾
2021: 13-7 ¼
2022: 13-6
2023: 12-10 ¼
2024: 14-4

Here are the known 13-footers in South Jersey alumni history:

14-0 ¾ … Stephanie Maugham [Shawnee], April 6, 2002, Fresno, Calif.
13-8 ¼ … Kaitlyn Dermen [Millville], July 29, 2023, Basking Ridge
13-8 … Anna Heim [Moorestown], May 13, 2010, Springfield, Mass.
13-5i … Danielle O’Reilly [Shawnee], Feb. 9, 2004, New York
13-3 ¾ … Ashley Preston [Delsea], April 17, 2021, Philadelphia

Tionna Tobias recorded an absolutely unbelievable long jump PR Friday at the American Track League Holloway Pro Classic at James G. Pressley Stadium in Gainesville.

Tobias, a 2019 Winslow Township graduate who finished her University of Iowa career this spring, popped a massive 22-9 ¼ on her final attempt with legal wind to win the event.

Tobias’s previous lifetime best was 21-4 ¼ at the Pepsi Florida Relays at the same facility in March, so that’s a nearly 1 ½-foot PR.

Her jump is 5th-best in the world this year and 3rd-best by an American woman, behind only Tara Davis-Woodhall [23-6 ½ in Rome in June] and Jasmine Moore [22-10 ¾]. Davis-Woodhall, Moore and Monae’ Nichols made the U.S. Olympic Team headed to Paris, but Tobias’s 22-9 ¼ would have placed her 3rd in the Trials.

Tobias’s jump is No. 20 on the all-time U.S. list.

Tobias, 23, opened with a 20-1 ¾, 19-11 and 20-3 ½ before jumping 19-2 ¾ and 19-9 ½ before her monster PR on her final jump with a legal 0.9 meters-per-second tailwind.

She won by nearly two feet over Trinidad-Tobago Olympian Tyra Gittens, who jumped 20-10 ¾ on her final attempt.

It’s also No. 3 in New Jersey history, behind Olympians Carol Lewis of Willingboro [23-1 ¼ in 1985] and Shana Williams of Bridgeton [23-0 in 1996].

It’s the best jump by a New Jersey woman since Williams jumped 22-10 at the 1998 Penn Relays – 26 years ago.

Tobias, a two-time All-America at Iowa, split her time among the long jump, high hurdles and heptathlon in college. She ran 13.11 and reached the NCAA Championships in the 100-meter highs in 2023 and won the Big Ten Conference heptathlon with 5,640 points last year.

But with one huge jump Friday, she showed that her best opportunity to be in elite could very well be in the long jump.

Tobias was listed as a senior at Iowa this past spring and has apparently exhausted her NCAA eligibility. She competed Friday with a “USA” affiliation.

All-Time South Jersey Alumni Long Jump List
23-1 … Carol Lewis [Willingboro], Aug. 21, 1985, Zurich
23-0 … Shana Williams [Bridgeton], June 21, 1996, Atlanta
22-9 ¼ … Tionna Tobias [Winslow Twp.], July 19, 2024, Gainesville, Fla.
22-1 … Shameka Marshall [Oakcrest], June 26, 2010, Des Moines, Iowa
21-6 ¾ … Tisifenee Taylor [Woodbury], April 21, 2007, Bethlehem, Pa.
21-5 ½ … Gabrielle Farquharson [Williamstown], April 15, 2016, Tallahassee, Fla.
21-0 … Cidae’a Woods [Winslow Twp.], May 12, 2017, Columbia, S.C.
20-9 … Kristina Tossas [Rancocas Valley], Feb. 24, 2023, Geneva, Ohio
20-6 … Asia Young [Holy Spirit], April 6, 2019, Tucson, Ariz.
20-5 ½ … Tina Johnson [Burlington Twp.],  May 22, 1999, West Lafayette, Ind. [+1.2]

 

Over the next few weeks, we’ll spotlight 30 athletes who excelled during the outdoor track season that we didn’t have a chance to write about extensively. We’d love to write about every athlete in South Jersey, but that’s not practical. But we will try to spotlight some who may have gotten overlooked over the past few months. We apologize in advance if we don’t get to you or your son or daughter or an athlete you coach.

Today: Brianna Growalt, Atlantic County Tech

You name the event, Brianna Growalt was one of the top freshmen in New Jersey this year.

Growalt, a freshman at Atlantic County Tech in Hamilton Township, ran 12.43 at sectionals, 25.60 at the Cape Atlantic County Championships and 15.16 at sectionals and long jumped 17-2 ½ at the Atlantic County Championships.

Wow.

Growalt was the No. 6 freshman in New Jersey in the 100 and No. 2 in New Jersey [behind Willingboro’s Maya Bolden, 12.07], No. 5 in the 200 [and No. 3 in South Jersey behind Bolden, 24.54, and Timber Creek’s Amaya Jones, 25.38], No. 3 in the 100-meter hurdles and No. 1 in South Jersey and No. 3 in the long jump and again No. 1 in South Jersey.

Growalt’s first big meet was the Atlantic County Championships at Buena, where she won the 200 in 26.09, won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.71 and placed 2nd in the 100 [1-100th of a second behind Pleasantville soph Sunya Powell] and long jump [behind Absegami’s Jaidah Garrett].

At the Cape-Atlantic Championships at Bridgeton, she won the 200 with a PR 25.60 and hurdles in 15.43 and placed 3rd in the 100 in 12.69 and long jump at 16-6 ¼.

Then it was off to South Jersey Group 4 sectionals at Pennsauken, where she placed in the 100 [PR 12.43], 200 [25.62] and hurdles [PR 15.16].

Growalt’s 15.16 is fastest ever by an Atlantic County freshman. Her 12.43 is 3rd-fastest, 25.60 is 4th-fastest and her 17-2 ½ is 4th-best.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll spotlight 30 athletes who excelled during the outdoor track season that we didn’t have a chance to write about extensively. We’d love to write about every athlete in South Jersey, but that’s not practical. But we will try to spotlight some who may have gotten overlooked over the past few months. We apologize in advance if we don’t get to you or your son or daughter or an athlete you coach.

Today: Matthew Littlehales, Delsea

Delsea sophomore Matthew Littlehales followed an auspicious indoor season with a terrific outdoor season.

Indoors, Littlehales was the No. 2 sophomore in New Jersey at 4:21.71 at the state Group 3 meet [behind only Manalapan’s Clay Stevens, who ran 4:20.82], No. 4 in the 800 at 1:59.93 and No. 5 in the 3,200 [9:40.15]. He was fastest sophomore in South Jersey at all three distances.

This spring, Littlehales was the No. 2 sophomore half-miler in the state with his 1:54.93 to place 2nd at South Jersey Group 3 sectionals to Winslow junior Dominic Bassey.

That was fastest by a South Jersey sophomore since Rancocas Valley’s Jacob Tyndale ran 1:54.33 at 2016 Group 4 states at Egg Harbor and fastest ever by a Gloucester County sophomore.

Littlehales ran within about 1 ½ seconds of the Delsea school record of 1:53.49 set at Group 3 states at South Plainfield in 2011 by Steve Butenewicz.

Overall, Littlehales will be the 11th-fastest returner at 800 meters in the state and No. 2 in South Jersey, behind only Bassey.

In cross country last fall, Littlehales placed 4^th at South Jersey Group 3 sectionals with a 16:07.51, fastest last year by a sophomore at DREAM Park.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll spotlight 30 athletes who excelled during the outdoor track season that we didn’t have a chance to write about extensively. We’d love to write about every athlete in South Jersey, but that’s not practical. But we will try to spotlight some who may have gotten overlooked over the past few months. We apologize in advance if we don’t get to you or your son or daughter or an athlete you coach.

Today: I’Mara Ford, Moorestown

Moorestown’s I’Mara Ford enjoyed a huge junior year, long jumping 17-11, triple jumping 37-4 and high jumping 5-6.

She’s the No. 3 returner in South Jersey in the long jump [behind Winslow’s Ma’Syiah Brawner and Absegami’s Jaidah Garrett], No. 3 in the triple jump [behind Brawner and Garrett] and tied for No. 1 in the high jump [along with Williamstown’s Addison Inge].

At the South Jersey Elite at Delsea, Ford was 2nd in the long jump [behind Garrett], 3rd in the triple jump [behind Sophia Curtis and Garrett] and 3rd in the high jump [behind Clayton’s Alanna Woolfolk and Egypt Bolan of Lindenwold].

At the Burlington County Open at Northern Burlington, she won the high jump and took 2nd in both horizontal jumps [behind R.V.’s Lauren Fadairo].

And at the Olympic Conference Championships at R.V., she was 2nd to Brawner in the high jump, 3rd in the long jump [behind Brawner and Shawnee’s Sakiyah Horsley] and 4th in the triple jump.

Ford had a big weekend at South Jersey Group 3 sectionals, placing 2nd [to Brawner] in the high jump, 4th [behind Garrett, Brawner and Curtis] in the long jump and 6th in the triple jump.

At states, she was top 10 in all three jumps, and at Meet of Champions she placed 2nd in the high jump with her 5-6 PR. Inge also cleared 5-6, getting the win with one fewer miss at 5-6 than Ford.

Moorestown hadn’t had a girl place in the top three at Meet of Champions since Jessica Kloss took 2nd in the pole vault at the 2005 meet in South Plainfield, but both Ford and junior Hannah Byrd-Leitner – who won the pole vault – did it this year.

The last Moorestown girl to place in the high jump at Meet of Champions was Sandy Tokoto, who tied for 2nd at the 1991 meet in South Plainfield with a 5-4 clearance.

Dylan Fitzpatrick was the top underclass javelin thrower in South Jersey and No. 5 in the state and became the first Burlington Township boy to ever win a sectional javelin title.

Fitzpatrick’s progression is eye-opening. He threw 125-0 as a freshman in 2022 and 145-3 as a sophomore.

But in his first meet of his junior year, he threw a school-record 170-5 at the Don Danser Relays at Rancocas Valley – a quick 25-foot PR to open the season. At the Central Jersey Group 3 meet at Jackson Liberty, he improved 177-4, winning by 17 feet.

Teammate Dylan Zerillo, a senior, was 3rd with a 159-0, and junior Anthony Barber took 5th with a 151-10. Those 18 points helped Burlington Township place 4th in team scoring with 52 points.

Fitzpatrick  became Burlington Township’s first thrower to win a sectional title since Jaehlan Joyner won the shot at the 2016 CJ-3 meet at Northern Burlington with a 52-5 ½ and the Falcons’ first underclassman to win a sectional title since junior Eriq Morris won the Central Jersey Group 2 800 in 2009 at Monmouth Regional in 1:58.71.

Fitzpatrick then placed 2nd at states at Delsea, less than 2 ½ feet behind senior Evan Brooks of Old Tappan. He was the No. 2 South Jersey finisher at the Meet of Champions at Pennsauken, behind only runner-up Miles Acchione of Lenape.

His 177-4 is the best throw by a Burlington County underclassman since Nick Mirabelli of Rancocas Valley threw 213-5 to win the Burlington County Open in 2017 at R.V.

Burlington County 175-Foot Javelin Club [new javelin since 2003]
227-10 … Nick Mirabelli [Rancocas Valley], 2017
224-10 … Curtis Thompson [Florence], 2014
216-6 … Chris Mirabelli [Holy Cross], 2014
204-4 … Kevin Burr Jr. [Rancocas Valley], 2023
201-1 … Sean Biehn [Burlington City], 2006
195-10 … Miles Acchione [Lenape], 2024
192-6 … Matt Rafferty [Northern Burlington], 2012
192-3 … Shane McDevitt [Cinnaminson], 2014
191-6 … Robert Marks [Rancocas Valley], 2016
187-8 … Jerry Fusco [Holy Cross], 2016
187-0 … Jeremy Wilbur [Moorestown], 2013
181-3 … Matthew Dash [Willingboro], 2011
180-1 … Justin Nykiel [Cherokee], 2010
178-5 … Shaun Schaeffer [Cinnaminson], 2011
177-9 … Matthew Gross [Cherokee], 2016
177-4 … Dylan Fitzpatrick [Burlington Twp.], 2024
177-0 … Warren Oliver [Palmyra], 2009
176-2 … Jarrett Braitwaite [Willingboro], 2014
175-8 … John Szymanek [Seneca], 2010
175-2 … Kyle McDevitt [Cinnaminson], 2011
175-2 … Adam Rotsides [Northern Burlington], 2008

Over the next few weeks, we’ll spotlight 30 athletes who excelled during the outdoor track season that we didn’t have a chance to write about extensively. We’d love to write about every athlete in South Jersey, but that’s not practical. But we will try to spotlight some who may have gotten overlooked over the past few months. We apologize in advance if we don’t get to you or your son or daughter or an athlete you coach.

Today: Laurel Conway, Sterling

Laurel Conway brought a javelin PR of 104-4 into her senior year at Sterling, but by the end of the season she was one of the top throwers in New Jersey.

As a sophomore, Conway threw 104-4 at 2022 South Jersey Group 2 sectionals at Delsea, where she placed 3rd. She won sectionals as a junior but her best throw was a 103-4 at the Haddonfield Invitational.

But on her second throw of senior year she hit a lifetime-best 108-0 when she won the Don Danser Relays at Rancocas Valley and after a win at the West Deptford Relays with a small PR of 108-10 she broke through at Woodbury with a 122-8 and 2nd place behind eventual Meet of Champions runner-up Zoe Goldberg of Eastern.

Conway then popped a 131-3 on her 4th and final throw to win the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township by nearly 40 feet. That broke the school record of 128- set by Saraly Gonzalez at the 2018 Haddonfield Invitational.

She won the Nick Baker Invitational and SJ-2 sectionals and then threw well at West Philly Nationals with a 123-11. She’s the only girl from Sterling ever to win a sectional javelin title, and she’s now won two.

Conway finished the year ranked No. 2 in South Jersey behind Goldberg’s 146-1 to win South Jersey Group 4 sectionals and she was ranked No. 5 in all of New Jersey.

All-Time Camden County Javelin List
152-9 … Kate Johnston [Haddonfield], 2012
148 8 … Caitlin Cielo [Eastern], 2002
146-1 … Zoe Goldberg [Eastern], 2024
142-3 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2001
136-6 … Danielle Still [Bishop Eustace], 2002
132-4 … Kelsey Reese [Paul VI], 2011
131-8 … Laurel Conway [Sterling], 2024
129-1 … Aniyah Smith [Eastern], 2024
128-5 … Saraly Gonzalez [Sterling], 2018
127-11 … Pam Watson [Haddon Heights], 2016

Curtis Thompson unloaded the 9th-best throw of his life Saturday to win American JavFest at East Stroudsburg [Pa.] High School.

Thompson, who heads to Paris next month for his second Olympics, threw 271-0 on his 3rd attempt and won by 10 feet over Sindri Gudmundsson, who threw 261-0 on his 2nd attempt. Thompson and Gudmundsson both threw at Mississippi State but not at the same time.

Thompson, a 2014 Florence High School graduate, won the Trials in Eugene last month and his 4th career U.S. title with a 272-5 throw. He’s ranked 23rd in the world this year and No. 2 among U.S. throwers. His 287-9 at 2022 American JavFest is No. 3 in U.S. history.

On Saturday, Thompson opened with a foul and a 261-7 before the winning 271-0. He finished with a 260-7, 256-2 and 260-0.

Deptford graduate Tim VanLiew placed 6th with his best throw in six years in his 2nd meet since 2018. VanLiew threw 232-9, his best throw since a 236-4 in his final meet of 2018 – the U.S. Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa, where he placed 5th.

After that meet, he didn’t compete again until the Lions Invitational at The College of New Jersey in April, where he threw 219-1.

VanLiew’s lifetime best is 261-2 from Tucson [Ariz.] Elite Classic in May 2016.

Curtis Thompson’s 270-Foot Throws
287-9 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 9, 2022 [2nd throw]
276-4 … NACAC, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Bahamas, Aug. 20, 2022 [3rd throw]
274-11 … Athletissima, La Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland, Aug. 26, 2022 [1st throw]
273-4 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 9, 2022 [1st throw]
272-5 … Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, June 23, 2024 [1st throw]
271-11… Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, July 4, 2016 [1st throw]
271-10 … Spitzen Leichtathletik, Luzern, Switzerland, Aug. 30, 2022 [3rd throw]
271-7 … Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, June 21, 2021 [6th throw]
271-0 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 13, 2024 [1st throw]
270-3 … Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Invitational, Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland, Aug. 6, 2022 [2nd throw]

Winslow rising junior Ma’Syiah Brawner won the triple jump Thursday at the AAU National Club Championships in Memphis.

Brawner jumped 39-1 ½ on her final attempt to snag the lead after trailing the entire competition.

Brawner opened with two fouls and facing early elimination she jumped 37-6 ½ to move into 4th place and earn three more jumps.

She improved to 38-0 ¼ on her fourth attempt and then 38-6 ¾ but going into the final round still trailed Nicole Green of Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School in Ladue, Mo., who opened with a 38-9 ¾.

But on her final attempt, Brawner came up huge, sailing 39-1 ¼ to win by 3 ½ inches. Green jumped 37-3 on her final attempt, and the national title belonged to Brawner.

During the high school season, Brawner jumped 40-5 ¾ to win the Meet of Champions and 40-6 ¼ to place 8th at West Philly Nationals and set a South Jersey sophomore class record. She was the 5th-ranked sophomore in the U.S., according to the MileSplit national database.

Brawner also jumped 19-7 ½ in the long jump at Franklin Field and was an All-America in both horizontal jumps.