From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Washington Township grad Isabelle Deal, a junior at Ursinus, earned All-America honors for the second year in a row at the NCAA Division 3 Track Championships.

Deal threw 137-0 and placed 6th in the javelin at the D-3 nationals at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. She was 8th last year with a throw of 135-1.

Deal’s PR and the school record is 144-10 from the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton last month.

Deal threw 133-2 on her first attempt and 131-9 on her third and fouled on her second and fourth. She threw 126-8 on her fifth attempt and was sitting in 9th place – outside All-America range – before popping the 137-0 on her final attempt.

Ava Nelson of Pacific Lutheran in Parkland, Wash., won the event with a PR 150-8 on her first throw. The College of New Jersey’s Amanda Murillo, a senior from Middlesex High, placed 8th at 135-6, giving New Jersey two All-America selections in the event.

Jewel Ash advanced to the second round in the intermediate hurdles Thursday at the NCAA Eastern Preliminary meet in Bloomington, Ind.

Ash, an Eastern grad and sophomore at Charleston Southern, ran 58.29 and comfortably advanced to the quarterfinals.The top three finishers in each of six heats along with the next six-fastest runners from all the heats advanced to the next round.

Ash placed second in the fifth race, behind only Uniondale, N.Y., native Asia Jinks of Auburn, who ran 58.09.

The quarterfinals are scheduled for 7:25 p.m. Saturday, and the 12-fastest from those races will advance to the NCAA Championships along with the top 12 from the West Regional in Fayetteville.

Ash’s time was 11th-best Thursday. Her PR is 57.16 from the semifinals of the Big South Championships earlier this month in High Point, N.C.

If Ash is one of the top 12 on Saturday, she’ll race at 7:30 p.m. June 9 in the semifinals at the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The final is scheduled for 3:57 p.m. June 11.

Ash’s younger sister, Jailya, a freshman at UConn, ran 13.73 in the first round of the 100-meter hurdles at the same meet. She missed qualifying for the second round by 18-100ths of a second. She was the 5th-fastest freshman in the field.

Delsea graduate Elisia Lancaster, a senior at Southern Illinois, advanced to the NCAA Championships in Eugene with a top-12 finish at the West Preliminary meet Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark.

Lancaster threw 214-6 and placed 9th among the 48 qualifiers who competed Thursday. The top 12 finishers from each of two NCAA preliminary meets – the East Prelim in Indianapolis and the West meet in Fayetteville – advance to the NCAA Championships next month in Eugene, Ore.

The cutoff to qualify for nationals in the West Regional was 207-0, so Lancaster got through comfortably.

She opened with a 212-4 and followed that with her 214-6 and finished with a 214-5 for a very consistent three-throw series averaging 213-10.

Lancaster has a PR of 220-4 from her win in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships two weeks ago in Des Moines, Iowa. She’s thrown 214 or better in four straight meets .

Lancaster began her collegiate career in the spring of 2018 at Rowan Gloucester County. She won the shot, disc and hammer at the NJCAA Championships in Utica, N.Y., in both 2018 and 2019. She competed in the spring of 2020 for Towson before finding a home at Southern Illinois.

Lancaster throws next at the NCAA Championships at 6 p.m. EST June 9 at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus.

Big double for Williamstown junior Ciara Demarest at Delsea Tuesday night with personal bests and South Jersey No. 1 marks in both the shot and discus.

Competing at the Delsea Crusader Field No. 1 Invitational, Demarest won the shot put with a 41-¼ and the discus at 138-3. Both marks came on her final attempt of the competition.

She’s now No. 3 in New Jersey in the shot put behind Northern Valley-Demarest senior Casey Sullivan, who threw 45-8 at the Bergen County Championships in Old Tappan, earlier this month, and Columbia sophomore Madison Stevens, who threw 42-7 at the Essex County meet last week at Montclair, and she’s No. 2 in the state in the disc, behind only Union Catholic senior Jada Mia Puryear, who threw 139-1 at the Union County Championships in Berkeley Heights earlier this month.

In the discus, Demarest moved up to No. 8 in Gloucester County history with the best throw in nine years, and in the shot she’s No. 13 in county history.

She’s No. 2 in Williamstown history in both throws behind Typhanie Bates, who threw 44-2 ½ to win the 1995 state Group 3 meet and 140-6 a week earlier at sectionals. Bates went on to win the Meet of Champions in the shot that spring.

Demarest’s previous PRs were 40-0¾ at the South Jersey Elite meet at Delsea and 129-3 at the Woodbury Relays.

Demarest actually PR’d twice Tuesday in the shot put, hitting 40-1 ½ on her 5th throw before 40-0 ¾ on her final attempt. She had a near-PR 127-4 on her 4th attempt in the disc before bombing the 138-3 on her sixth attempt.

All-Time Gloucester County discus 129-foot club
172-2 … Jocelyn White [Delsea], 2004
161- 1 … Jamine Moton [Delsea], 1997
149- 3 … Tara Daniels [Kingsway], 2013
140- 6 … Typhanie Bates [Williamstown], 1995
139-7 … Victoria Imbesi [Our Lady of Mercy], 2009
139- 5 … Taylor Johnson [Kingsway], 2011
138¬-11 … Jen Frank (Delsea], 2006
138-3 … Ciara Demarest [Williamstown], 2022
131-5 … Chelsea Cioffi [Pitman], 2010
129-7 … Emily Hilt [Kingsway], 2015
129-3 … Stacie Belzer [Glassboro], 2002
129-2 … Brinae Thompson [Delsea], 2019

All-Time Gloucester County shot put 40-foot club
46-4 ……… Janiece Rose [Delsea], 2011
44-5 ……… Jamine Moton [Delsea], 1997
44-3 …. Jocelyn White [Delsea], 2004
44-2 ½ …. Typhanie Bates [Williamstown], 1995
43-8 ¾…. Janet Morris [Kingsway], 1991
43-7 …..… Shamire Rothmiller [Glassboro], 2008
42-7 ¼ … Tara Daniels [Kingsway], 2013
42-3 …… Tessie Allen [Kingsway], 2007
41-7 ¾ … Genevieve Rybicki [Our Lady of Mercy], 2007
41-5 ½ … Victoria Imbesi [Our Lady of Mercy], 2009
41-5 ½ … Amaya Reed-Clark [Paulsboro], 2019
41-0 ¾ … Emma Painter [Clayton], 1980
41-0 ¼ … Ciara Demarest [Williamstown], 2022
40-11 …… Lavon Childress [Paulsboro], 2011
40-3 … Angela Polino [Paulsboro], 2005

Mainland senior Camryn Dirks recorded another triple jump PR Tuesday, leaping into the No. 13 all-time spot in South Jersey history.

Dirks improved from 37-9 from a meet last month at Central Regional to 38-5 ½ at the Cape-Atlantic League Championships at Bridgeton.

That’s No. 5 in Atlantic County history and No. 2 in the state this year, behind only Faith Bethea of Snyder High of Jersey City, who went 40-5 ½ last month to win the Penn Relays.

Her full series is unavailable on the results site, but she won by more than two feet over versatile Ocean City junior Elaina Styer, who went 36-0 ¼ and also won the long jump with a PR 17-5 ½.

Here’s the all-time South Jersey 38-foot list:
42-2 … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2018
40-10 ¼ … Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2014
39-7 ½ … Zenee Gadson [Glassboro], 2012
39-7 ¼ … Shaya Wilkerson [Lenape], 2012
39-6 … Jessica Mills [Deptford], 2005
39-5 ½ … Elizabeth Montague [Cherokee], 2014
39-3 … Genevieve Okoro [Eastern Reg.], 2010
39-2 ¼ … Mariah Hubbard [Absegami Reg.], 2016
38-11 … Rachel Montague [Cherokee], 2008
38-8 … Shameka Marshall [Oakcrest], 2001
38-8 … Javona Ford [Millville], 2010
38-6 … Monet Gist [Atlantic City], 2013
38-5 ½ … Camryn Dirkes [Mainland Reg.], 2022
38-1 … Cidae’a Woods [Winslow Twp.], 2014
38-0 ¼ … Janell Rowe [Sterling], 2017
38-0 ¼ … Nalah Abul-Qasim [Williamstown], 2019
38-0 ¼ … Caleah Allen [Williamstown], 2012

Paulsboro junior Jamile Gantt became the first Gloucester County high jumper to clear 6-8 in seven years Wednesday at the Delsea Crusader Field #1 meet.

That’s No. 6 in Gloucester County history.

Gantt, whose previous PR was 6-6, cleared 5-8, 5-10, 6-0 and 6-2 on his first attempt, 6-4 on his second, then 6-6 on his first.

But when the bar went up to 6-8, Gantt was actually in second place because Delsea senior Enrico Barnett was clean through 6-6, tying his PR of 6-6 on his first attempt, while Gantt had that miss at 6-4.

Gantt and Barnett each missed their first two attempts at 6-8, but Gantt cleared the bar on his final attempt and Barnett missed, giving Gantt the win.

The Paulsboro school record is also tied for the Gloucester County record, and that’s 6-10 by Spencer Irvin at the 1993 Haddonfield Invitational. So Gantt then took three attempts at 6-10 ¼, which would have broken both marks, but after 10 jumps just to get to 6-10 ¼ he missed all three.

Irvin shares the Gloucester County record with Williamstown’s Devin Bradham in 2005, Delsea’s Josh Butler in 2006 and Delsea’s Ameer Banks in 2015.

The ridiculously versatile Gantt ran 1:59.30 for 800 meters at the Haddonfield Invitational last week, which may make him the only athlete in South Jersey history to run sub-2 for the 800 and clear 6-8 in the high jump. I’m sure Mike Morrison could have, but he never did run an open 800.

Gantt’s 6-8 clearance puts him in a tie for the No. 1 mark in the state this year. Jeffery Cianfrocca of Delbarton School in Morris Township cleared 6-8 on Tuesday at the East Coast Relays in Randolph.

Gantt is the first South Jersey junior to clear 6-8 since Markquese Bell of Bridgeton cleared 7-0 as a junior at the 2016 Cape-Atlantic Championships at Bridgeton. Bell is now an undrafted rookie safety with the Coiwboys.

All-Time Gloucester County Top-10 (or 9)
6-10 …….. Spencer Irvin [Paulsboro], 1993
6-10 ….….. Josh Butler [Delsea], 2006
6-10 …….. Devin Bradham [Williamstown], 2005
6-10 …….. Ameer Banks [Delsea], 2015
6-8 ½ …… Rocky Harrison [Woodbury], 1975
6-8 ……… Greg Collins [Deptford], 1980
6-8 ….…… Craig Howard [Washington Twp.], 1998
6-8 ………. Tim Cook [Glassboro], 2005
6-8 ………. Jamile Gantt [Paulsboro], 2022

Pretty amazing breakthrough Wednesday by Atlantic City senior Darius McClinton.

McClinton, in what appears to be just his third major 400-meter hurdles race, PR’d by nearly 1 ½ seconds and win the intermediates at the Cape-Atlantic Conference Championships at Bridgeton with a time of 56.94.

According to MileSplit, McClinton’s PR going into the meet was 58.25 at the Atlantic County Championships last week at Buena. Before that it was 59.21 at the South Jersey Elite earlier this month at Delsea. And before that it was 1:06.14 from a dual meet last year at Seneca.

That means he’s dropped his time nearly 10 seconds this month.

McClinton won the race by more than 2 ½ seconds, and his time is No. 8 this spring in South Jersey and No. 3 in South Jersey Group 4, behind only Toms River North junior Jacob Kiyler (55.53) and Washington Township’s Kanye Mills (55.81).

McClinton also placed 6th in the 200 in 23.48.

Some hot sprinting Tuesday at the Olympic Conference Championships, with Winslow senior Jaia James and Washington Township sophomore Dylan Giloley recording the two-fastest 100 times by South Jersey girls this spring.

Giloley led all qualifiers in the prelims with a PR 12.04 on her home track, a huge drop from her PR of 12.38 from Fast Times at Cherokee back in mid-April. James was second in qualifying with a 12.27 in a different heat, not far off her PR of 12.22 that she set last spring when she won the South Jersey Group 3 sectional race at Delsea.

In the final, James edged Giloley with a PR of 12.02, with Giloley less than a 10th of a second behind at 12.10. All three races had legal wind.

James and Giloley now rank 1-2 in South Jersey this year and 3-4 in the state. Christiana Nwachuku of Kent Place School in Summit is No. 1 in New Jersey with an 11.85 at the Union County Championships in Plainfield over the weekend, and Julia Jackson of Scotch Plains-Fanwood is second at 11.90 from the same race.

James and Giloley both moved into the all-time South Jersey top-50 (see below). Giloley broke the school record of 12.10 set by Jackie Dim at the 2008 Gloucester County Championships at Washington Township. James is No. 3 in Winslow history behind Shakira Dancy, who ran 11.71 in the trials at the 2017 Group 3 sectionals at Delsea and Torie Robinson, who ran 11.73 when she won the 2014 Meet of Champions at South Plainfield.

Their times are 3rd- and 4th-fastest fat times in meet history behind Olympian English Gardner of Eastern [12.01 in 2010] and Dancy [11.89 in 2017]. The only faster converted hand time is LaToya Benson’s 11.6 (equivalent to 11.84fat) in 2002.

James also won the 200 in 25.89 and placed 2nd in the 100-meter hurdles in a personal-best 15.54. Eastern junior Johnny Stilley won the hurdles in a PR 15.32.

11.42 … Michele Glover [Willingboro], 1981
11.49 … English Gardner [Eastern], 2008
11.57 … Patti Dunlap [Camden], 1979
11.58 … Bria Mack [Williamstown], 2017
11.61 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], 2000
11.63 … Dennisha Page [Woodrow Wilson], 2019
11.66 … Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2021
11.71 … Shakira Dancy [Winslow Twp.], 2017
11.73 … Torie Robinson [Winslow Twp.], 2014
11.77 … Aisha Morgan [Schalick], 1998
11.78 … Shameka Speed [Bridgeton], 2003
11.81 … Denise Liles [Kingsway], 1984
11.81 … Audrey Wilson [Deptford], 2008
11.82 … Annie Johnson [Shawnee], 2012
11.84 … Robin Taylor [Deptford], 1980
11.85 … Dana Burnett [Willamstown], 1996
11.88 … Denis Mitchell [Edgewood], 1983
11.89 … Cecelia Gerstenbacher [Delsea], 2017
11.91 … Aliya Harrison [Sterling], 2017
11.94 … Emily Carson [Haddonfield], 2013
11.95 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
11.96 … Jamillah Nock [Woodrow Wilson], 2004
11.96 … Jailya Ash [Eastern], 2019
11.98 … Jennifer Jackson [Eastern], 2003
11.98 … Ciera Ismail [Schalick], 2013
11.98 … Kiara Lester [Deptford], 2014
12.00 … Andrea Conway [Bordentown], 1986
12.00 … Aisha Morgan [Schalick], 1998
12.01 … Kylene Bines [Highland], 1998
12.01 … Nadia Davy [Bridgeton], 1999
12.02 … Jaia James [Winslow Twp.], 2022
12.04 … Latoya Carmichael [Woodrow Wilson], 1991
12.04 … Dylan Giloley [Washington Twp.], 2022
12.05 … Anu Ward [Moorestown], 2000
12.06 … Cidae’a Woods [Winslow Twp.], 2014
12.06 … Bryanna Williams [Timber Creek], 2011
12.07 … Jewel Ash [Eastern], 2017
12.08 … Angie Clybourn [Egg Harbor Twp.], 1991
12.08 … Kim Hargrove [Willingboro], 1996
12.08 … Jaye Pollard [Penns Grove], 2013
12.09 … Gabrielle Farquharson [Williamstown], 2011
12.10 … Teneacia Smith [CherryHill East], 1991
12.10 … Jackie Dim [Washington Twp.], 2008
12.10 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], 2008
12.10 … Iyanla Kollock [Our Lady of Mercy], 2017
12.11 … Michelle Brown [Seneca], 2009
12.11 … Nia Lawrence [Pemberton], 2012
12.12 … Maya Drayton [Cherry Hill East], 2019
12.13 … Dominique Merchant [Winslow Twp.], 2003
12.15 … Rageana Marigna [Palmyra], 2008
12.17 … Shardae Anderson [Paulsboro], 2004
12.17 … Aaliyah Vandergrift [Paul VI], 2019
12.17 … Sade Jones [Millville], 2002

Led by seniors Olivia Smith and Anaya Young, Rancocas Valley had a big day in the horizontal jumps at the East Coast Relays Tuesday at Randolph.

Smith and Young teamed with senior Joyce Adegoke to win the long jump relay and with sophomore Lauren Fadairo to win the triple jump at the 50st annual East Coast Relays, held for the first time since 2019.

Smith PR’d at 16-11 ½ to lead all 24 long jumpers in the competition, Adegoke hit a PR 16-1 ¾ and Young also jumped 16-1 ¾ for a combined 49-3 ½.

In the triple jump, Smith had the 2nd-best jump of the day at 34-6 ½, Young hit 34-4 and Fadairo jumped 34-0 ½ for a combined 102-11.

R.V. last won the long jump relay in 2014 when it was a two-person event. This is the Red Devils’ first ECR triple jump win.

Rancocas Valley also won the 800-meter relay in 1:43.58 with seniors Anabella Chin, Sanai Jenkins and Jya Marshall and junior Kasey White. R.V. is No. 1 in South Jersey with its 1:43.12 at Woodbury.

R.V. was also 2nd in the 400-meter relay with a 50.11 [Chin, Marshall, White, Jenkins], 5th in the sprint medley in 4:43.08 [sophomore Laila Bailey, senior Jianna Benton, senior N’Duwonee Kangar, freshman Cecilia King], 2nd in the 3-by-intermediates [freshman Aniya Wilkins, sophomore Neveah Lott, sophomore Nyla Byrd], 4th in the 1,600-meter relay with. 4:26.95 [Byrd, sophomore Adrienne Austin, Lott, Wilkins] and 3rd in the pole vault relay [senior Mia Paolone, junior Ashlan Williams, sophomore Ava Paolone]. Also, Fadairo PR’d with a 5-0 clearance in the high jump relay.

Remarkable race Tuesday by Washington Township’s Yashahya Brown, who became South Jersey’s fastest sophomore hurdler in at least 20 years.

Brown, whose PR before Tuesday was 14.64, ran 14.08 – with legal wind – to win the 110-meter highs at the Olympic Conference Championships on his home track.

That’s the fastest time by any New Jersey sophomore since 2015 – when Cory Poole of East Orange ran 14.03 at the state Group 4 meet at Egg Harbor. Poole is now ranked 27th in the world in the intermediate hurdles at 49.42.

It’s the fastest time by a South Jersey sophomore as far back as my available records go. I’ll go farther back on Wednesday.

It’s also the fastest time in New Jersey so far this year and fastest at the Olympic Conference meet since Timber Creek’s Kevin Hegamin set the fat meet record of 13.73 in 2014.

The only faster times over the last 30 years are hand times – Danyne Brown of Camden ran a ht 13.5 to win the Olympic in 1999. Scot McCray in 1997 and Anwar Moore in 1998, both also from Camden, ran 13.9, which actually converts to 14.14 fat, which is slower than Brown’s time Tuesday.

And according to the MileSplit national database, it makes Brown the 5th-fastest sophomore in the U.S. so far this spring.

Before Tuesday, Brown’s PR was 14.64 from the trials of the South Jersey Elite at Delsea earlier this month.

In the trials, Brown led all qualifiers in 14.75, with top-seeded A.J. Brooks next at 14.77.

The final was run with a legal tailwind of 1.6 meters per second, and Brown and Brooks both PR’d, with Brooks taking second in 14.27. They’re the two-fastest times in the state so far this year.

Brown’s time is No. 3 in school history, behind Devon Carter, who ran 13.96 at the 2010 state Group 4 meet at Egg Harbor, and Arthur Ashton, who ran 14.01 at the 2012 South Jersey Group 4 sectionals, also at EHT.

Brown also ran the second leg on Washington Township’s 2nd-place 4-by-4 team, which ran 3:29.92.

Brooks had a huge meet, winning the long jump at 20-10 ¾ on his only legal jump, taking second to teammate Jashad Kersey in the triple jump at 42-11 and placing 7th in the 200 in 23.12.