From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Stockton’s Bryant Nelson from Millville had a career day in the triple jump Sunday, posting the No. 13 triple jump in NCAA Division 3 this year and 2nd-best by a freshman.

Nelson came into the meet with a PR of 47-3 from a home meet in Galloway Township last month. After a 46-8 ¾ on his first attempt at the New Jersey Athleti Conference Championships in Mahwah, he PR’d at 48-2 ½ on his 2nd jump. He finished with a 47-10 and a 48-0 ¾ separated by two fouls, so he recorded the three-best jumps of his life in his first outdoor conference meet.

Nelson led the event until Rowan All-America Joshua Justin, 2nd at indoor Nationals, hit 48-6 on his final attempt. All jumps were wind legal.

At Millville, Nelson jumped 44 1 ½, PR’ing last April in a meet at Buena, so he’s extended his PR by more than four feet since high school. His indoor PR was 44-6 at the NJAC Championships at the Ott Center, where he placed 6th.

He extended it 45-9 in March at Widener and then had a breakthrough with a 47-3 at the Osprey Open at Stockton the first weekend of April.

Dametrius Hester, competing in his hometown of Mahwah, bombed the 5th-best javelin throw in NCAA Division 3 history Saturday at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at Ramapo.

Hester graduated from Mahwah High School, located about two miles up Rte. 202 from Ramapo University, just south of the New York State border.

Hester won the javelin with a meet-record 240-9, the best throw by a Division 3 athlete in eight years, since Seth Nonnenmacher of George Fox University in Newberg, Ore., threw 241-11 at the 2018 NCAA Championships in LaCrosse, Wisc. The national record of 247-10 was set by Deptford’s Tim VanLiew of Rutgers-Camden at the 2013 D-3 meet, also in LaCrosse.

Hester broke the meet record of 226-8 set by VanLiew at the 2013 meet at Rowan. His 240-9 is No. 11 among all U.S. men this year and better than all but 14 NCAA Division 1 throwers.

Hester broke his own school record of 240-5 that he set in Daytona Beach last month. His throw is No. 1 this year in Division 3 by more than 12 feet.

Rowan sophomores Angel Gonzalez from Triton and Samuel Agbessi from Sterling finished 1-2 in the 400-meter hurdles Saturday at the NJAC Championships with two of the fastest times in the country this year and two of the fastest times in Rowan history.

Racing at Ramapo University in Mahwah, Gonzalez won the race in 51.26, and Agbessi was just behind in 2nd place in 51.70.

Those times are No. 2 and 3 in NCAA Division 3 this year, behind only Blake Postler of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, who ran 50.85 in Des Moines, Iowa, last month. They’re also No. 3 and 5 in Rowan history

Gonzalez dropped his PR all the way down from 54.02, which he ran last month in Collegeville, Pa. Agbessi dropped his PR from 52.93 from last month in Daytona Beach to 51.70.

Their times are fastest by a Rowan 400-meter hurdler in eight years, since Anthony Salemo of Ramsey ran 51.06 to win the 2018 NCAA Championships.

Incredibly, neither Gonzalez nor Agbessi broke 55 seconds in high school.

Gonzalez had a PR of 55.31 from the 2024 Tri-County Championships at Delsea, and Agbessi ran 55.06 at the 2023 state Group 2 Championship at Delsea.

Their times are No. 12 and No. 16 on the all-time South Jersey alumni list. Gonzalez is No. 41 on the all-time Division 3 list. Agbessi is 36-100ths outside the all-time D-3 top-50.

Rowan freshman Ashraf Maklache from Eastern, in his 2nd college race, ran a lifetime-best 53.07. His previous PR was 53.38 in a meet at Delsea last May as a Sterling senior. His time is 2nd-fastest in Division 3 this year by a freshman.

Maklache’s time is only 24-100ths of a second off the Rowan freshman 400 hurdles record of 52.83 set by Jamir Brown of Riverside in Atlanta last April. That’s the only 400 hurdles race Brown has ever run.

All-Time Rowan 400 Hurdles Top-5
51.06 …Anthony Salemo [Ramsey], NCAA Division 3 Championships, La Crosse, Wisc., May 26, 2018
51.25 … Demetrius Rooks [Absegami], NCAA Division 3 Championships, Claremont, Calif., May 26, 2012
51.26 … Angel Gonzalez [Triton], New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships, Mahwah, May 3, 2026
51.67 … William Cruz [Penns Grove], NCAA Championships, LaCrosse, Wisc., May 23, 1997
51.70 … Samuel Agbessi [Sterling], New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships, Mahwah, May 3, 2026

Glassboro High’s Dallas Hohney, a Rowan senior, destroyed the meet record and the school record in winning the 800 at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships in Mahwah.

Hohney won the race in 1:49.26, breaking the school record of 1:49.54 set by Pemberton’s Tavo Rivera at the 1980 NCAA Championships in Naperville, Ill.

Rowan’s Teddy Wilson, a junior from Toms River North, also ran under the previous record with a 1:49.80, and junior Blaik Slavinski wasn’t far off with a 1:50.25. Those times are No. 1, 2 and 5 in Rowan history.

The previous meet record was 1:50.94 set in 1972 by Greg Weiss of Montclair State and Butler High School at what was then Trenton State.

Rutgers-Camden senior Jacob Dinerman from Haddon Township placed 2nd in 1:49.75, making it three runners under the old meet record from 54 years ago.

Hohney’s previous PR was a 1:50.71 while competing for Rider in a meet at the Ott Center in January 2025. Dinerman’s prior PR was 1:50.96 from a meet at Widener last month. That was also the previous Rutgers-Camden school record. Wilson’s previous PR was 1:51.80 from the NJAC Indoor Championships, also at the Ott. Slavinski’s 1:50.25 is his fastest competing for Rowan. He ran 1:47.65 in February 2025 while compting for Clemson at Clemson.

Their times are 4th, 5th, 6th and 10th in NCAA Division 3 this year.

Hohney and Dinerman are now No. 10 and 12 on the all-time South Jersey alumni list. Hohney is fastest by a Gloucester County alum since Paulsboro’s Fred Sharpe ran 1:48.26 in Santry, Ireland, in August 2023. Dinerman is fastest by a Camden County half-miler, topping Terrance Armstrong of Camden., who ran 1:50.08 at Princeton in May 1999.

Northern Burlington’s Samuel Thomas ran a huge 100 PR Saturday and the No. 2 time in Ramapo history behind an Olympian.

Thomas, a Ramapo sophomore, dropped his 100 PR from 10.63 from two weeks ago in the trials of a meet at Moravian College in Bethlehem, to 10.54 with a legal 0.9 tailwind at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships on his home track in Mahwah. These are his first two wind-legal races under 11 seconds as a collegian.

At Northern, Thomas ran 10.64 without a wind gauge at 2023 Group 3 states at Delsea. His legal PR was 10.73 at 2023 Central Jersey Group 3 Sectionals at Jackson Liberty running into a 1.1 meters-per-second headwind.

The only faster time by a Ramapo sprinter is the NCAA Division 3 all-time No. 4 10.18 by Chieckna Traore in 2023 at 2023 NCAA Division 3 Nationals in Rochester, N.Y. He went on to become a Division 1 national champ and an Ivory Coast Olympian in the 200.

Thomas placed 2nd to TCNJ All-America Maxim Tychkov, whose winning time of 10.43 missed Traore’s meet record by 2-100ths of a second.

Rowan sophomore Eric Foster Jr. placed 4th with a PR 10.64 after placing 3rd in the hurdles in 14.15, also a lifetime best. His previous PRs were 10.65 and 14.29, both last month.

Timber Creek’s Nyla Jones, a Rowan sophomore, demolished the NJAC Championships 100-meter hurdles record Saturday at Ramapo University in Mahah.

Jones won the race in 13.95, breaking the New Jersey Athletic Conference meet record of 14.03 set in the trials of the 2019 meet in Galloway Township by Darielle Cross from Matawan. The fastest previous time in a final was 14.12 by Delilah Cruz of Ramapo at the 2022 meet in Ewing.

There was a legal 1.2 meters-per-second tailwind in the race.

Jones PR’d with a 13.92 in a meet in Greensboro in April.

Jones has competed in the high hurdles at four NJAC meets and won all four races – 8.95 indoors in 2025 at the Ott, 14.35 last spring in Ewing and 8.87 this winter at the Ott. She also won the 400-meter intermediates last spring and will compete in that race later Saturday, looking for her 6th conference title in two years.

Ocean City’s Elaina Styer, a Stockton junior, placed 2nd in 14.29 after setting a school record of 14.22 with a legal 0.4 tailwind in the trials. That broke her own school reord of 14.23 set last month in Ewing during a heptathlon. Her 14.22 is No. 14 in NCAA Division 3 this year.

Freshman Keira Gibbons from Lenape placed 4th in a PR 14.97. She ran 14.91 at Lenape with no wind gauge.

Natalie Dumas ran the fastest 400-meter hurdles time in the country Saturday at the Insert-Shoe-Company-Name-Here Invitational at Morgan State in Baltimore.

Dumas lowered her season best from 59.35 at last week’s Olympic Conference meet at Rancocas Valley to 58.78, her fastest time since her historic 55.99 at West Philly Nationals in June.

One day earlier, Dumas ran a season-best 2:04.00 to place 3rd in Track Night NYC at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island. That’s also her fastest since West Philly Nationals, where she set a state-record 2:00.11.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Dumas earned a quad win at the Olympic Conference meet, winning the 200, 400, 800 and intermediates.

Stockton freshman Josephine Buxton from Absegami PR’d again Friday, winning the javelin at the New Jersey Athletic Championships in Mahwah.

Buxton threw 145-2 at Ramapo, winning by 14 feet and moving into the No. 3 on the NCAA Division 3 list and best among freshmen.

Her throw is best by any Division 3 freshman since 2023, when Riley Reitchel of Southern Maine threw 149-3 at a meet in Dedham, Mass. And it’s the top throw by an NJAC freshman in at least 17 years. TFRRS lists only go back to 2010.

Buxton’s 145-2 is the best throw at the NJAC meet since 2018, when Lia Negra of Montclair State and Nutley High School won with a 152-4 in Ewing.

Buxton’s previous best was a 143-2 at Widener two weeks ago. Buxton’s high school PR was a 138-8 when she won the state Group 3 title last May in South Plainfield.

Buxton hit her 145-2 on her 1st throw and she had four other throws over 130 feet, including a 137-3 on her 5th throw. She had the three-best throws of the competition.

Rowan junior Ava Reardon from Delsea was 2nd with a 131-6.

Rancocas Valley junior Kristofer Oesterle bombed a more than 15-foot javelin PR Saturday at the South Jersey Invitational at Delsea.

Oesterle, who came into the meet with a PR of 171-6 from the Olympic Conference meet on Friday, won the event with a 187-11 on his 3rd and final attempt. Before the Olympic Conference meet, his PR was 167-1 from a meet in Bensalem last month and before that it was 164-11 from last year’s South Jersey Group 4 meet at Pennsauke. So he’s improved by 23 feet since mid-April.

Oesterle’s mark is No. 1 in South Jersey this year and No. 5 in New Jersey. It’s No. 11 all-time in Burlington County history with the new javelin. It’s the best throw by a South Jersey junior since Nick Mirabelli, also from R.V., threw 213-5 at the 2018 County Open at Rancocas Valley.

R.V. has a heck of a javelin tradition, with Drew Forbes [221-7] and Jason Cowen [202-8] surpassing 200 feet with the old jav, Nick Birabelli setting the South Jersey record with the new jav and Kevin Burr [204-4] also over 200 feet with the implement.

Burr was an NCAA Division 1 All-America last year at Tennessee and is currently at Rice, although he hasn’t competed this spring.

All-Time South Jersey Javelin List
227-10 … Nick Mirabelli [Rancocas Valley], 2017
224-10 … Curtis Thompson [Florence], 2014
220-11 … Cade Antonucci [Holy Spirit], 2016
216-6 … Chris Mirabelli [Holy Cross], 2014
212-2 … Alexander Georgia [Timber Creek], 2017
209-4 … Steve Jernee [Ocean City], 2017
204-4 … Kevin Burr [Rancocas Valley], 2023
203-6 … Stephen Benigno [Cherry Hill East], 2014
201-1 … Sean Biehn [Burlington City], 2006
200-8 … Cade Antonucci [Holy Spirit], 2016
199-10 … Kobe Roberts [Mainland Reg.], 2018
196-9 … Terrence Smith [Oakcrest], 2016
195-11 … Joshua Moore [Middle Twp.], 2017
195-10 … Miles Acchione [Lenape], 2024
194-5 … Austin Hudak [Hammonton], 2022
192-6 … Matt Rafferty [Northern Burlington], 2012
192-6 … Chris Reider [Eastern], 2010
192-3 … Shane McDevitt [Cinnaminson], 2014
192-1 … Nick Cando [Eastern], 2004
191-6 … Robert Marks [Rancocas Valley], 2016
191-5 … Andrew Pierce [Cumberland Reg.], 2009
190-0 … Andrew Forbes [Williamstown], 2011
190-2 … Ian Meneswisch [Highland], 2003
189-11 … Tom Carr [Eastern], 2012
189-8 … Alex Christ [Gloucester Catholic], 2010
189-4 … John Zimmatore [Bishop Eustace], 2007
189-4 … Craig Scarpa [Vineland], 2003
188-3 … Felix Roman [Pennsauken], 2007
188-2 … Edward Evans [Timber Creek], 2008
188-2 … Luke Pease [Haddonfield], 2014
188-1 … Dylan Fitzpatrick [Burlington Twp.], 2025
187-11 … Javier Garcia [Pleasantville], 2009
187-11 … Kristofer Oesterle [Rancocas Valley], 2026
187-11 … Jose Ramos [Vineland], 2008
187-8 … Jerry Fusco [Holy Cross], 2016
187-6 … Dan Frame [Triton], 2002
187-6 … Lane Owens [Ocean City], 2019
187-0 … Jeremy Wilbur [Moorestown], 2013
186-11 … Brian Owens [Woodstown], 2008
185-3 … Kevin Mosley [Glassboro], 2003

Egg Harbor’s Ahmad Fogg, a Stockton junior, won his 4th consecutive NJAC long jump title Saturday in Mahwah.

Fogg jumped 24-4 ½ on his 6th and final jump to set an outdoor PR. His previous outdoor best was 23-11 last weekend at TCNJ. He jumped 24-9 in February when he won the NJAC indoor title at the Ott Center and went on to place 2nd at NCAAs in Birmingham at 24-5 ¾.

Fogg also won the 2025 indoor NJAC long jump at 23-4 and the 2025 outdoor long jump at 24-1.

Fogg had the three-best jumps of the competition, with a 24-4 ¼ on his 3rd attempt and a 23-9 on his 5th.

Rowan freshman Anthony Parker from Salem placed 2nd with a 23-7 ¼.