From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Bobby Poplau, a sophomore from Cherokee, ran the 4th-fastest 1,000 in Rutgers history Saturday at the Ott Center.

Poplau ran 2:25.43 in his first collegiate 1,000. That’s 1:56.35 pace for 800 meters with an additional lap tacked on at the end.

Jim Westman set the school record of 2:23.03 at the IC4A Championships at Jadwin Gym in 1983, and Penn transfer Justin Cornetta ran 2:24.56 in 2023 at the Armory. The only other faster time by a Rutgers middle-distance runner is the 2:24.38 that Gabriel Rodriguez from Union High ran in the same race Saturday.

The South Jersey alumni record over 1,000 meters is 2:22.53 set by Bordentown’s Rob Novak at the Armory in 2009. Others under 2:24: Absegami’s Ford Palmer [2:23.65 in Boston in 2012] and Cinnaminson’s Brian Tetrault [2:23.74 in New York in 2011].

Poplau, who has an 800 PR of 1:51.02 from last spring in Eugene, came through 400 in 56.82 and 800 in 1:54.56.

Rutgers senior Kyle Rakitis ran 2:27.24 in the same race, which is 10th on the all-time Rutgers list. It was his also first collegiate 1,000.

Senior Jasiah Gibbons and junior Ian Israel Jr. ran on two winning relay teams, and Willliamstown placed 3rd in team scoring Saturday at the stat Group 4 Relays at the Bubble.

North Brunswick won the team title with 39 points and South Brunswick was 2nd with 32. Williamstown scored 26 in 3rd place.

Juniors Joshua George-Oyewole and Nasir Buchanan joined Gibbons and Israel Jr. on the winning 4-by-200, which ran 1:32.21, and seniors Brandon Brown and Dominic Burgio ran on the sprint medley with Gibbons and Israel Jr., winning at 3:40.59.

Williamstown also placed 3rd in the shuttle hurdles in 31.49 with George-Oyewole, junior Chance Gibbons, Jasiah Gibbons and junior Samir Fontilus.

Cherry Hill East placed 2nd in the distance medley, with senior Alvin Lin, junior Timothy Lightson, senior Will Nelson and junior Cian Sherlock running 10:53.33, and Egg Harbor Township was 2nd in the shuttle hurdles in 31.48 with junior Xavier Aucule, junior DeSean Bolden, junior Taj Jackson and senior Ari Bell.

Riverside’s Jamir Brown, a Penn State sophomore, ran the 6^th-fastest 60-meter hurdles race ever by a New Jersey athlete Saturday on his home track in State College.

After a near-PR 7.72 in the trials, Brown ran 7.63 in the final at the Nittany Lion Challenge, 3^rd-fastest in school history and 3^rd-fastest in NCAA Division 1 this year.

The only faster hurdlers South Jersey has produced are Anwar Moore of Camden, who ran 7.50 in Boston in 2008, and Olympic bronze medalist Jack Pierce of Woodbury, who ran 7.52 in Fairfax, Va., in 1995.

Brown set an NCAA Division 3 record of 7.72 last year at Ocean Breeze while competing for Rowan and also set a D-3 outdoor record with his 13.60 in the trials of the NJAC Championships in Ewing.

He lowered his PR to 7.71 at a meet in Ithaca last month in his Syracuse debut. This was his 2^nd meet competing for the Orangemen.

Almost simultaneously with Brown’s race, Rutgers sophomore Chris Serrao from East Brunswick ran 7.68 at the Ott Center, which is now 9^th-fastest in state history.

7.49 … Jarret Eaton, 2012
7.61 … Jaheem Hayes, 2023
7.65 … Freddie Crittenden, 2017
7.69 … Angelo Goss, 2018
7.71 … Jamir Brown, 2025
7.74 … Matt Moore, 2018
7.75 … Donald Pollitt II, 2014
7.81 … Amadou Gueye, 2013
7.82 … Emanuel Joseph, 2025
7.85 … Richard Floyd, 2018
7.86 … Tyler Garland, 2020
7.87 … David Gilstrap, 2017
7.91 … Anthony Vazquez, 2024
7.93 … Brevin Sims, 2021
7.94 … David Peters, 2025

All-Time New Jersey Alumni 60-Meter Hurdles List
7.46 … Jeff Porter [Franklin Twp.], Feb. 1, 2014, Mondeville, France
7.50 … Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], March 10, 1989, Madrid, Spain
7.50 … Anwar Moore [Camden], Feb. 24, 2008, Boston
7.52 … Jack Pierce [Woodbury], Feb. 25, 1995, Fairfax, Va.
7.55 … Devon Hill [Trenton], March 10, 2012, Nampa, Idaho
7.63 … Jamir Brown [Riverside], Jan. 16, 2026, State College
7.64 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], Jan. 25, 2025, Lubbock, Texas
7.66 … Cory Poole [East Orange], Feb. 14, 2020, Clemson, S.C.
7.68 … Chris Serrao [East Brunswick], Jan. 16, 2026, Philadelphia
7.69 … Guy Rose [Wayne Hills], Feb. 24, 2001, State College, Pa.
7.71 … Jamir Brown [Riverside], Dec. 6, 2024, Staten Island
7.72 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], Jan. 9, 2015, Houston
7.73 … Todd Matthews [Notre Dame], Feb. 17, 2001, Blacksburg, Va.

Lumberton’s Greg Foster hit an indoor long jump PR Saturday morning with the No. 4 jump in NCAA Division 1 this year.

On his final attempt at the Quaker Invitational at the Ott Center, the Princeton senior jumped 25-11, a quarter of an inch beyond his indoor PR of 25-10 ¾ from January 2023 in Annapolis, Md.

That’s No. 2 in Princeton history behind Al Dyer’s 26-3 at the 1990 Manhattan Invitational.

Foster came within three inches of his lifetime legal-wind best of 26-1 ¾ from the 2023 Ivy League Championships at Franklin Field. That’s the Princeton outdoor school record.

Foster opened with a 25-4 ¾ and a 25-8 ¼ before popping his indoor PR, which is the best indoor jump by a South Jersey athlete since Carl Lewis’s final indoor meet, which was the 1992 U.S. Indoor Championships at Madison Square Garden, where he jumped 27-4 ¾.

Foster is also No. 3 in Princeton history in the 60-meter hurdles at 7.85 and No. 9 in the triple jump at 50-7 ½. Outdoors he’s No. 2 in the hurdles at 13.78. He is scheduled to hurdle later today. Foster hasn’t triple jumped since the 2024 Ivy League indoor championships in Cambridge, Mass.

In what looks like his first-ever collegiate triple jump competition, Cartrell Moore from Glassboro moved into the all-time Rider top-10.

Moore, a sophomore, jumped a lifetime-best 47-10 ½ on his 6th and final jump at the NYC Gotham Cup at Ocean Breeze Friday.

Moore jumped 46-6 ½ indoors and 46-10 outdoors in high school. According to his TFRRS profile, he only competed in two meets for Rider as a freshman, both indoors at the Ott Center, and only ran one 60, one 300 and one 4-by-4 leg. It appears Friday was his first meet in over a year, since Penn Select on Jan. 11, 2025.

So it would have been his first triple jump since he placed 3rd in the 2024 outdoor Meet of Champions at Pennsauken with that 46-10 on his final attempt.

Moore’s jump is No. 10 in Rider history indoors but only four inches out of the No. 7 spot. School record indoors is 49-6 ¾ set by Penns Grove’s Steven Brown at Lehigh in 2012.

Stockton junior Ahmad Fogg from Egg Harbor Township jumped an indoor PR 24-0 ½ at the Gotham Cup Friday at Ocean Breeze.

That’s No. 3 this year in NCAA Division 3, behind two Wisconsin-Oshkosh seniors – Joshua Rivera went 25-5 ½ at a meet last month in Oshkosh and Caleb Wright jumped 24-4 ½ at the same meet.

Fogg’s previous indoor PR was 23-6 ¾ in a meet in Ann Arbor, Mich., in January 2024 as a freshman at Penn State. His lifetime best is 24-1 from his win at the NJAC Championships in Ewing in May. Fogg also had a 23-6 ½ in his series on Friday.

Freshman Dylan Hosty and junior Molly Mills ran on the winning distance medley and 3,200-meter relay teams, and the Haddonfield girls won their record 11th state relays title Friday at the Bubble.

Hosty and Mills were joined by senior Riley Austin and junior Madison Kelsey on the DMR, which ran 12:17.03, and by senior Lauren Hamblin and sophomore Natalie Lacroce on the 4-by-8, which ran 9:49.53.

Haddonfield outsored 2nd-place Willingboro and Rumson-Fair Haven, 48-36, to win their 3rd straight Group 2 championship.

Haddonfield won Group 1 in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2014 and 2016 and won Group 2 in 2017, 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025.

Haddonfield tied Willingboro and the Scotch Plains-based all-star program for most state relay titles since the meet’s inception in 1981.

Haddonfield also won the pole vault relay with junior junior Nina Fisicaro clearing 10-6 and junior Ema Lazarova 8-0.

Also for the Bulldogs, Austin, Fisicaro, sophomore Esme Thomas and junior Saya Sood ran 4:20.06 for 2nd in the sprint medley, junior Norah Campbell, junior Ansley Kazmarek, junior Finnley Ritter and Sood ran 35.69 for 3rd in the shuttle hurdles, and Hosty, Mills, senior Edith Green and freshman Scarlet Perry took 4th in the 4-by-4 in 4:13.28.

Willingboro won the shuttle hurdles, 800-meter relay and 1,600-meter relay. Junior Trinity Brapoh, sophomore Annalyse Brown, senior Jaden Murry and senior Aaliyah Robinson ran 33.04 to win the shuttles, freshman Angel Fynn, junior Jade Pinder, Murry and senior Kaila Speight won the 4-by-2 and Pinder, junior Maya Bolden, Robinson and Brapoh won the 4-by-4 in 4:05.00.

Brapoh cleared 5-0 and senior Briannah Gunning-Brown 4-8 for 3rd place in the high jump.

Lindenwold won the high jump relay with U.S. outdoor champ senior Egypt Bolan clearing 5-6 and senior Whitney Okeke 4-8.

Haddonfield won the 3,200-meter relay and placed 2nd in the distance medley, shuttle hurdles and sprint medley to win its 2nd straight Group 2 state relays title and 8th overall.

Haddonfield outscored 2nd-place Bernards 43-28, at the Bubble in Toms River with Willingboro 3rd with 26 points.

Haddonfield also won Group 1 in 1989, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2010 and 2014 and Group 2 last year.

Haddonfield won the 3,200-meter relay with Peter Simpson, Benjamin Andrus, Owen Snyder and Ryan Gibson running 8:19.84. Andrus, Jack P. Brand, Simpson and Snyder ran 10:39.74 and placed 2nd in the distance medley, and Ryder Bozine, Mark DiMedio, Andrew Brand and Brandon Stoner ran 3:42.32 for 2nd in the sprint medley.

Bozine, DiMedio, Mark Derets and Harrison Berman ran 31.21 and took 2nd in the shuttle hurdles.

Bozine cleared 5-10 and DiMedio 5-8 for a combined 11-6 and 2nd place in the high jump relay.

Haddonfield added a point with a 6th in the pole vault relay with senior Stone Tyson [11-0] and junior Gabe Rubin [8-6].

Willingboro won the pole vault relay with senior Zahir Bryant [11-6] and senior Dayron Neal [10-6] combined for 22 feet. The resulst show Willingboro getting 10 points in the shot put relay with senior Anthony Lim [42-0 ½] and senior Elijah Tolliver [37-9] combining to throw79-9 ½, but that isn’t right. The results don’t show totals, but Montville, Ocean Township and Cranford are well over 90 feet and Mendham is close. I’m not going to add up all the totals, so we’ll have to see once they correct the scoring.

Willingboro got 2nd in the 800-meter relay, with Zahir Bryant, Christopher Jones, Jaylen Taylor and Samir Walker running 1:34.21, and Overbrook was 3rd with Andrew Powell, Jaiden Mitchell, Axcel Bailey and John Froelich.

Pleasantville won the 800-meter relay in 1:34.18 with Qwasim Jackson, Jamaad Washington, Todd Watson and Raliel Wiggins.

Rancocas Valley’s Masai Byrd shattered Rowan’s 60-meter dash record Friday at Ocean Breeze.

Byrd ran 6.79, breaking the school record of 6.82 that Byrd ran in the trials at the AARTFC Championships in Ithaca in March. That broke the record of 6.83 that Byrd ran two weeks earlier at the NJAC Championships at the Ott Center.

Byrd’s time is 5^th-fastest in NCAA Division 3 this year and 2^nd-fastest in the NJAC behind TCNJ’s Maxim Rychkov of Robbinsville, who ran 6.77 at the Armory last month.

Byrd finished 2^nd in the race to post-collegiate Eloy Benitez of Puerto Rico, who ran 6.88. Benitez is the Puerto Rican national record holder at 60 meters with a 6.49 at the 2025 World Indoors in Nanjing, China.

Here’s my best attempt at an all-time South Jersey alumni 60-meter dash list:

6.53 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], Feb. 6, 1994, Stuttgart, Germany
6.54 … Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp.], Feb. 23, 2025, Staten Island, N.Y.
6.60 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], Feb. 10, 1989, San Sebastián, Spain
6.66 … Damiere Byrd [Timber Creek], Jan. 25, 2013, Blacksburg, Va.
6.71 … Malachi James [Burlington City], Feb. 24, 2024, Staten Island, N.Y.
6.72 … Anwar Moore [Camden], Dec. 7, 2003, Newport, England
6.75 … Jamil Benjamin [Cumberland Reg.], Dec. 5, 2008, Ames, Iowa
6.79 … Masai Byrd [Rancocas Valley], Jan. 16, 2026, Staten Island, N.Y.

Bordentown’s Dallas Hohney smashed the NCAA Division 3 record for 500 meters and broke the 42-year-old Rowan record along the way Friday at Oeaan Breeze.

Hohney ran 1:02.33 to win the 2 ½-lap race in the Gotham Cup Invitational. He broke the Division 3 record of 1:02.64 set in March by Basheer Alramahi of John Carroll at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio.

Hohney took down the school record of 1:03.04 set by Willie Lawson at the 1984 IC4A Championships at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym.

Although it’s a D-3 record, it’s not a PR. Hohney ran 1:01.74 last January at the Ott Center as a Rider sophomore.

Teddy Wilson of Toms River North wasn’t far behind Hohney in 2^nd place in 1:03.18. That is now 5^th-fastest on the all-time D-3 list, which is posted on the USTFCCA web site.

Hohney ran 1:50.71 last January, 3rd-fastest in Rider history.