From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Bordentown graduate Genesis Walker, now a sophomore at Rider, ran a lifetime best in the 100 and a collegiate best in the 200 Saturday at the MAAC Championships in Lawrenceville.

Walker ran 12.29 in the 100 trials and 25.40 in the 200 trials, qualifying for both finals on Sunday. Her 12.29 led all qualifiers in the 100. Her 25.40 was 4th-fastest among 200 qualifiers. There was no wind information listed for either race on the official results.

Walker moves into the No. 6 spot in Rider history in the 100 and the No. 8 spot in the 200.

Walker’s previous collegiate PRs were 12.44 in the 100 and 25.51 in the 200. She ran the 12.44 at the 2019 Rider Invitational on the same track and the 25.51 at the 2019 Metro Atlantic Athletic Championships in West Long Branch.

Her previous lifetime best in the 100 was a 12.30 at the South Jersey Group 2 sectionals at Delsea in May of 2018. Her high school 200 best was a 25.29 the same weekend, when she won the sectional title. 

The 100 final is scheduled for 1:20 p.m. Sunday at Rider and the 200 at 2:15 p.m.

Missed this one but Olympic shot put hopefuly Josh Awotunde, a Delsea graduate, uncorked the second-biggest throw of his life late last month in a meet in Columbia, S.C.

Awotunde threw 68-2 3/4, second outdoors only to his 69-3 3/4 from April of 2019 in Los Angeles. He currently ranks No. 16 in the world according to the IAAF international performance list and No. 6 among Americans. 

One of the problems with track in the U.S. is tracking down post-graduate results. The USATF is a disgrace when it comes to results and performance lists (and pretty much everything else), so you have to rely on the IAAF lists, which don’t give much meet information. So all we know is that Awotunde’s 68-2 3/4 came in Columbia, S.C., but no idea what meet he did it at or who he was competing against.

The 25-year-old Awotunde, a four-time All-America during his years at South Carolina, ranks No. 41 in U.S. history with his 69-3 3/4 (and No. 131 in world history). 

He’s also thrown 69-11 3/4 indoors, No. 27 on the all-time U.S. indoor list.

The intermediate hurdles final will have a heavy South Jersey flavor Sunday at the MAAC Championships in Lawrenceville.

Three of the top five seeds are South Jersey natives, and all three are freshmen. The eight-runner final is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. Sunday at Rider.

Rancocas Valley grad Micah Wood, a Monmouth freshman, posted the fastest qualifying time, winning the second of two qualifying rounds in 54.53.

Teammate Daniel Fenton, a freshman from Millville, ran 55.50 in the second heat and earned an auto qualifier as the second-place finisher.

And Willingboro graduate Jayaire King, a freshman at St. Peter’s, ran 55.94, the fastest non-auto qualifying time and also advanced.

The top two runners in each of two heats plus the next four-best times qualified for Sunday’s final.

Wood’s PR is 53.14, Fenton’s is 54.04 and King’s is 54.72 with a collegiate-best of 54.77.

Monmouth freshmen Stone Caraccio of Kingsway and Ian Moore of Monmouth easily advanced iced to Sunday’s 800 finals at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships in Lawrenceville.

Caraccio, running in the first of five heats, ran 1:53.39, and Moore, running in the second heat, ran 1:54.12.

Damien Dilcher of Iona was the top qualifier, running 1:52.93 in the first heat.

The winner of each heat and the next three fastest runners advanced to the eight-runner final, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Moore is considered the No. 2 seed as the second-fastest auto qualifier. Caraccio is the No. 6 seed although he had the second-fastest qualifying time since he was the fastest non-winning qualifier.

Overall, Dilcher, Caraccio and Moore were the three-fastest of the 34 entries.

Other finalists are Nick Soldevere of Iona, Louis DiLaurenzio of Monmouth and Kevin Heredia, Tamrat Snyder and Mike Mazzei of Rider.

So the field consists of three half-milers from Rider, three from Monmouth and two from Iona.

Heredia, DiLaurenzio, Snyder and Moore have all run under 1:52 this year. Caraccio has run 1:52.32.

Snyder, Moore, Dilcher, Caraccio and Soldevere are all freshmen.

Two South Jersey natives who are now college freshmen hooked up in a titanic long jump battle Saturday at the MAAC Championships in Lawrenceville.

Haddon Heights graduate Jabari Higgs -Salaam, a freshman at St. Peter’s, won the competition by less than an inch over Pennsville graduate Zach Manorowitz, a freshman at Rider.

Both soared over 24 feet for the first in their lives – on back-to-back jumps – and both left the long jump pit with huge PRs.

This is legendary stuff.

Manorowitz has had an incredible freshman year considering his best high school jump was 21-6 at 2019 Group 1 states at Franklin Township. He’s been over 23 feet in every meet he’s entered and brought a PR of 23-5 3/4 into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships Saturday afternoon.

Higgs-Salaam, who had a high school-best of 22-11 from the 2019 Woodbury Relays, brought a PR of 23-7 1/4 into the conference meet from a meet at his home track in Jersey City in early April. He jumped 23-1 1/2 indoors when he placed third at the conference meet at the Armory. (Manorowitz didn’t jump indoors).

On Saturday, the two South Jersey jumpers took their games to another level in a riveting back-and-forth battle for conference honors.

Higgs-Salaam led after the first round with a 23-5 1/2, but Manorowitz took the lead with a 23-6 on his second jump and then improved to 23-7 1/2 on his third jump.

Higgs-Salaam came within three-quarters of an inch of Manorowitz with a 23-6 3/4 on his first jump of the finals and then took the lead with a 24-5 3/4 on his next attempt. Manorowitz, on the very next jump, hit 24-5, this time missing Higgs-Salaam by three-quarters of an inch.

On his sixth and final attempt, Higgs-Salaam hit 24-5 and Manorowitz closed with another 24-foot jump at 24-1 1/2.

So two jumpers who never went 24 feet before both surpassed 24 feet on each of their two final attempts!

Each jumper had five legal jumps of at least 23-5!

Higgs-Salaam averaged 24-0 on his five legal jumps and Manorowitz averaged 23-7 1/2 on his six legal jumps.

What a competition!

I’d love to be able to tell you the last time a MAAC long jump competiti0n was this close or the top two places were both over 24-5, but the conference’s lame web site has no record of previous winners or previous meet results. (Seriously, what do these SIDs do all day?)

Higgs-Salaam came within 2 1/4 inches of the school record of 24-8 1/4 set in 2012 by someone listed on the school’s web site as “A Lucas” in 2012. A few Google clicks revealed that to be Aaron Lucas, who hit 24-8 1/4 at the 2012 IC4A meet at Princeton.

Manorowitz’s 24-5 is No. 2 in Rider history, behind only Desmond Hamilton’s 25-8 1/4 when he placed fifth in the 2007 NCAA Championships.

The previous best long jump by a South Jersey jumper at Rider was 23-10 by Pemberton graduate Tony Johnson in 1988.

Higgs-Salaam 24-5 3/4 was wind-legal at 1.1, and his 24-5 was listed with no wind information. 

Manorowitz’s 24-5 was 2.8, but his 24-1 1/2 was wind-legal at exactly 2.0.

Bishop Eustace graduate Montel Johnson won the hammer throw Saturday at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships in Lawrenceville.

Johnson’s day began inauspiciously with fouls on his first two attempts. In jeopardy of missing the finals, he threw 161-2 on his final attempt of the trials, moving into third place.

In the finals, he fouled again two more times and was still in third place and down to his final attempt when he threw the hammer 188-0 to win his second lifetime conference title. He won the 35-pound weight throw at the 2020 indoor conference meet at the Armory in New York.

Johnson came into this season with a hammer PR of 190-4 but hit 197-7 at a meet last month at Lehigh University in Bethlehem. That’s No. 5 in Monmouth history.

Johnson is Monmouth’s first conference champion in the hammer throw since Monmouth joined the MAAC in 2014 and first conference champ overall in the hammer since Vincent Elardo won the event in 2012 at the Northeast Conference Championships.

Johnson, a native of Gibbstown, is one of three South Jersey natives over 190 feet this spring in the hammer throw. Cherry Hill East graduate Jude Misko of Rutgers-Camden ranks No. 1 in NCAA Division 1 at 200-9 and Egg Harbor Township’s Darren Wan of Stockton University is No. 7 in D-3 at 190-10.

Rancocas Valley ran the fastest 400-meter relay in the state this year and the No. 3 time in Burlington County history Friday night at the Cherokee Relays in Marlton.

The Red Devils ran 42.11, only a fraction of a second off the school record of 42.03 from when they won the 2015 Meet of Champions 4-by-100 at South Plainfield.

Junior Masai Byrd led off for R.V., followed by junior Herb Quarterman, senior James McGhee and senior Isaiah Arzu.

Rancocas Valley’s time is more than a full second faster than any other New Jersey school so far this year. Elizabeth is No. 2 at 43.29. Pennsauken, which was second in the race at Cherokee, is No. 3 with its 43.44.

RV’s time is No. 38 in South Jersey history.

Here’s a look at the all-time Burlington County top-10: 

41.69 … Willingboro, 1982
42.03 … Rancocas Valley, 2015
42.11 … Rancocas Valley, 2021
42.12 … Rancocas Valley, 2017
42.24 … Willingboro, 1988
42.1h …. Kennedy, 1988
42.31 … Moorestown, 2010
42.34 … Willingboro, 2000
42.44 … Willingboro, 2001
42.49 … Cherokee, 2008

Tiny Clayton, one of the smallest schools in the state, took over the top of the South Jersey performance list in the girls sprint medley Friday night with a 4:09.46 at Cherokee.

The time is No. 3 in the state this year, behind powerhouse programs Colts Neck [4:06.03] and Union Catholic [4:08.12].

It’s the fastest time ever by a South Jersey Group 1 school and the fastest by any New Jersey Group 1 school in at least 20 years and most likely ever. That will take some additional research.

It’s https://sjtrackblog.com/2020/05/30/how-a-south-jersey-record-got-faster-after-the-race-ended-and-the-all-time-girls-sprint-medley-top-50/ and No. 3 in Gloucester County history and less than 1 1/2 seconds off the Gloucester County record.

4:08.08 … Kingsway, 2017 [New Balance Nationals]
4:08.27 … Washington Twp., 2007 [East Coast Relays]
4:09.46 … Clayton, 2021 [Cherokee Relays]
4:10.0h … Williamstown, 1979 [Woodbury Relays]
4:11.76 … Washington Twp., 1999 [East Coast Relays]

The results show Skylah Surran, Rafael Marshall, Tori Millward and Mirrah Perdue running for Clayton but presumably the three Sharpe sisters were actually on the track – Amirah, Arianna and Ariel.

Amirah Sharpe ran 2:15.05 while she was at Paulsboro in 2018, so she was the most likely anchor. Arianna 57.47 earlier this spring so we’re guessing she ran the 400. So our best guess is that Ariel ran one of the 200s, possibly with Surran, Marshall, Millward or Perdue.

If you know who actually ran the four legs, please let us know in the comments section so we can get the names right!

Clayton was the only school in the race under 4:18.

The Clippers’ 400 runner split 56.22 and their anchor was credited with a 2:19.14 off a 62.17 first lap.

Until this race, the fastest sprint medley on record for Clayton in MileSplit’s database – which goes back 20 years – was a 4:45.62 at the 2015 Woodbury Relays.

The three Sharpe sisters attended Paulsboro through the end of last year and transferred to Clayton at some point between the end of the 2020 spring season until the start of this year’s spring season.

Paul VI ran the fastest 800-meter relay in New Jersey this year at the Cherokee Relays Friday night.

Senior Matthew Jenkins and juniors Matthew Mazero, Michael Mazero and Cameron Serafinelli ran 1:28.95, with Pennsauken also running sub-1:30 and finishing second in 1:29.94, which is No. 3 in the state this year. Rancocas Valley ran 1:29.79 last weekend at Deptford.

The time puts Paul VI a fraction of a second outside the all-time South Jersey top-50.

It’s 3rd-fastest in school history, behind the 2016 team, which ran 1:27.38, and the 2018 group, which ran 1:28.38.

The time is also third-fastest in Pennsauken history. Sophomore Bryce Tucker, sophomore Ejani Shakir, freshman Elijah Jennings and sophomore Premier Wynn ran for Pennsauken, which ran 1:30.01 last weekend at Deptford. 

The Haddonfield girls smashed the South Jersey record in the 3,200-meter relay Friday night at the Cherokee Relays in Marlton.

Stoner, Lindsay, Naticchia, Allison

Seniors Olivia Stoner, Lindsay Colflesh, Sarah Naticchia and Allison Colflesh ran 9:04.72, breaking the South Jersey record of 9:06.62 set by Lenape when they placed third at the 2012 New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.

Haddonfield’s time is No. 1 in the country this year.

It’s also No. 14 in state history.

Haddonfield’s previous school record was 9:06.30 from the 2008 Penn Relays, where they placed seventh in the Championship of America race.

Stoner led off with a 2:15.05 split, followed by Lindsay Colflesh at 2:16.27, Naticchia  at 2:17.07 and Colflesh anchoring in 2:16.35.

Here’s a look at the all-tine New Jersey top-20:

8:45.37 … Columbiua, 2014
8:52.80 … Southern Regional, 2009
8:54.88 … Columbia, 1997
8:55.44 … Freehold Township, 2014
8:55.82 … Ridge, 2017
8:56.45 … Pope John XXIII, 2007
8:59.16 … Voorhees, 2002
8:59.78 … Union Catholic, 2019
9:00.38 … Bernards,2010
9:00.43 … Ridgewood, 2012
9:03.74 … Red Bank Catholic, 2012
9:03.4h… Bernards, 1983
9:04.22 … Roxbury, 2008
9:04.72 … Haddonfield, 2021
9:05.62 … Lenape, 2012
9:05.83 … Lenape, 2008
9:06.30 … Haddonfield, 2008
9:06.47 … West Windsor-Plainsboro, 2014
9:06.80 … Voorhees, 2008
9:06.92 … Randolph, 2010
9:07.1h … Columbia, 1983

Cherokee loaded up its first two legs to give Haddonfield a race and wound up placing second in 9:20.44, which is a school record, No. 2 in the state this year, No. 9 nationally on the MileSplit national database and No. 22 in South Jersey history.

For Cherokee, sophomore Kelsey Niglio led off with a 2:16.65 split, followed by junior Nicole Clifford (2:16.80) and seniors Meghan Carroll (2:25.59) and  Erin Jackson (2:21.32).