From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Duke’s Aliya Garozzo from Paul VI and Howard’s Arianna Smith from Pennsville both advanced to the 400-meter hurdles quarterfinals at the NCAA Championships East Prelims Thursday in Jacksonville.

Garozzo won the 5^th of seven heats in 56.16, her 2^nd-fastest time ever. Smith placed 2^nd in the 3^rd heat in 57.11, her 2^nd-fastest time as well. Both are seniors. Garozzo started out at Penn, Smith competed previously at Princeton and Rutgers.

Both advanced automatically to the NCAA quarterfinals, scheduled for 7:25 p.m. Saturday at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium.

The top 12 in those three races – the top three from each heat and the next three-fastest – will move on to the NCAA Championships semifinals at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., at 6:14 p.m. June 2. The top 12 from the West Regionals in College Station, Texas, will also compete in the semis in Eugene.

Garozzo’s time was 4^thfastest of the 48 runners who qualified for East Prelims, and Smith was 11^th-fastest. Garozzo is ranked 8^th in NCAA Division 1 with her 55.77 at a meet in Durham, N.C., in April, and Smith is ranked 12^th with her 56.11 two weeks ago when she won the MEAC title in Norfolk, Va.

Garozzo is the 2^nd-fastest intermediate hurdler New Jersey has ever produced, behind four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin, who set a world-record 50.37 when she won the Olympic gold medal last summer in Paris. Smith is 4^th on that list, behind McLaughlin, Garozzo and Rancocas Valley’s Tonya Lee [55.78 in 1996].

Delsea’s Nico Morales, a Rutgers senior, cleared 17-5 ¾ on his 1^st attempt in the pole vault at NCAA East prelims to earn a trip to the NCAA Championships in Eugene next month.

The top 12 vaulters at East prelims in Jacksonville Thursday morning plus the top 12 from West prelims in College Station, Texas, qualified to compete at NCAAs at Hayward Field on June 11.

The competition, delayed by thunderstorms Wednesday night, was rescheduled for early Thursday morning before the first day of women’s action began at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium.

Five vaulters cleared 17-9 ¾ Thursday and ten vaulters cleared 17-5 ¾, seven of whom advanced and three who didn’t. The vaulters who had multiple misses but cleared 17-5 ¾ did not advance.

Morales cleared 17-0 on his 2^nd attempt and 17-5 ¾ on his first.

Morales is the South Jersey alumni record holder with his 18-foot clearance at the Big Ten Championships in Eugene earlier this month (although the official results show him [and every other vaulter] no-heighting).

It’s been a remarkable year for Morales, who cleared 17 feet for the first time just four months ago – in January in Akron, Ohio – and is now ranked 18^th among U.S. men.

https://www.tfrrs.org/results/92594/5664508/Big_Ten_Outdoor_Track__Field_Championships/Mens-Pole-Vault

The 24 competitors will jump in Eugene at 4:35 p.m. on June 11.

Kevin Burr, a Tennessee sophomore from Rancocas Valley, advanced to the NCAA Championships in Eugene with a top-12 finish in NCAA East Prelims Wednesday night in Jacksonville.

Burr threw 221-1 and snagged the 12^th and final qualifying spot.

But he needed to come up huge on his final attempt to keep his season going.

After a long rain delay, Burr threw 207-4 and 200-5 on his 1^st two throws and was sitting 21^stgoing into his final throw, well out of qualifying range. But he managed that 221-1 on his last attempt and wound up qualifying by three inches. Reuben Booysen of South Alabama was 13^th at 220-9 but with a superior 2^nd-best throw to Burr at 214-5. So Burr had to throw 220-10 to advance, and he did … by three inches.

Burr placed 11^th at NCAAs last year in only his 2^nd year throwing the javelin with a throw of 231-8 after a lifetime-best 234-6 in East Prelims in Lexington, Ky.

He PR’d in April in Knoxville with a 240-1 and stretched that to 246-8 in another meet in Knoxville two weeks ago. That’s 6^th-best ever by a South Jersey javelin thrower.

Burr’s 1^st lifetime javelin competition was the Deptford Spartan Relays on April 8, 2023. He threw 132-1. By the Olympic Conference meet six weeks later he threw 187-7 and he hit his 1^st200-foot throw in June of 2023 at the Meet of Champions. HE popped a 225-0 in his college debut in Orlando in March of 2024 and has been steadily improving ever since.

Pleasantville’s Gabriel Moronta easily advanced to the 2nd round in the 400 at NCAA East Prelims Wednesday night in Jacksonville.

Moronta, a South Florida senior and one of the top-ranked quarter-milers in college track, ran 45.95 and placed 3rd in the 3rd of six heats late Wednesday evening following a long rain delay.

The top three in each race plus the next six-fastest advanced to the quarterfinals at 6:50 p.m. Friday. The top three from each of three heats Friday and the next three-fastest advance to the NCAA semifinals in Eugene, Ore., on June 11.

Moronta ranks 16th in Division 1 with his 45.31 at the Florida Relays last month. His 45.95 placed him 14th of 48 qualifiers in the first round. He’ll be in Lane 4 in the first semifinal on Friday along with sub-45 quarter-milers Samuel Ogazi of Alabama and Jenoah McKiver of Florida.

Moronta is the 3rd-fastest 400 runner from South Jersey, behind Olympic gold medalists Lamont Smith [44.30] and Dennis Mitchell [45.26]. He’s 8th-fastest on the all-time New Jersey alumni list, 1-100th of a second behind Willie McLaughlin of East Orange, who ran 45.30 in 1983. His daughter is four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin.

Moronta competed in the 400 hurdles and 800 at NCAA East Prelims while attending Southern Mississippi but since transferring to South Florida he’s been exclusively a 400 runner, and he’s become one of the best in the country.

Pennsauken’s Bryce Tucker ran an intermediate hurdles PR and advanced to the quarterfinals at the NCAA Championships Wednesday night.

Tucker, a Rutgers sophomore, ran 50.52 and posted the 10th-fastest time among 48 qualifiers at the East Prelims in Jacksonville.

Tucker won the 4th of six heats to earn an auto qualifier into the second round. The top three finishers in each heat plus the next six-fastest times advanced to Friday and will race at 7:25 p.m. The top three from each of three heats and the next three-fastest advance to the NCAA Championship finals at Hayward Field in Eugene June 11-14.

Tucker will be in Lane 7 Friday in the second of the three quarterfinal races. The top 12 from the East prelims and the top 12 from the West prelims in College Station, Texas, will race in the semis in Eugene at 6:14 p.m. on June 11.

His previous PR was a 50.61 when he won last year’s Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. He ran close to his PR at both the Penn Relays and Big Ten prelims with a season-best 50.79 in both races.

Tucker’s 50.52 is No. 2 in Rutgers history, behind 49.82 by Hunterdon Central’s Jameson Woodell in the 2022 NCAA East prelims in Bloomington, Ind.

He moved up to a tie for the No. 5 spot on the all-time South Jersey alumni list, tied with Martin Booker. His time is fastest by a South Jersey intermediate hurdler since 50.07 at the Clermont (Calif.) Star Athletics Sprint Meet on June 7, 2014.

Tucker is under the B standard of 50.75 for U.S. Nationals this summer. He’s now ranked 45th among U.S. hurdlers. The A standard is 49.75.

Tucker’s high school teammate, Premier Wynn, who also qualified with a 50.70 scratched. He won the MEAC Championships earlier this month in the 400 and PR’d with a 46.00 in the trials but hasn’t run a 400IH race since March. He’s also listed as one of the legs on Norfolk’s 4-by-4 team, which races on Friday.

All-Time 400-Meter Hurdles South Jersey Alumni List
48.37 … Reuben McCoy [Winslow Twp.], June 28, 2008, Eugene, Ore.
48.86 … Fred Sharpe [Paulsboro], May 18, 2003, Knoxville, Tenn.
49.50 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], June 12, 2003, Sacramento
50.04 … Mike Brown [Lenape], June 12, 2002, Holmdel, N.J.
50.52 … Martin Booker [Camden], May 12, 1984, Philadelphia
50.52 … Bryce Tucker [Pennsauken], May 28, 2025, Jacksonville, Fla.
50.58 … Premier Wynn [Pennsauken], June 13, 2024, Eugene, Ore.
50.65 … Aaron Younger [Delsea], May 28, 2010, Greensboro, N.C.
50.69 … Danyne Brown [Camden], May 30, 2003, Fairfax, Va.
50.84 … Nick Brown [Bridgeton], July 16, 2005, New York

Lumberton’s Greg Foster, a Princeton junior, advanced to the second round of the long jump at the NCAA Championships Wednesday evening.

After a long rain delay, Foster jumped 25-0 ¼ on his 2^nd of three attempts, the 4^th-best mark out of 48 qualifiers at the first round of NCAA East Prelims in Jacksonville.

The top 12 jumpers advanced to NCAAs June 11-14 in Eugene. Foster will jump next at Hayward Field on 5:40 p.m. June 11. The top 12 from East prelims in Jacksonville and West prelims in College Station, Texas, will compete in Eugene.

Foster jumped 24-1 ¾ on his 1^st attempt before the 25-0 ¼ and then finished with a foul. The cutoff to advance was 24-6 ¼. It was 24-11 3/4 in the West prelims.

Foster has a legal PR of 26-1 ¾ from the 2023 Ivy League Championships at Franklin Field. His legal season best is a 25-8 ¾ at Princeton in April. Foster missed nearly a year from February 2024 through this past January after undergoing foot surgery.

This is Foster’s 4^th trip to NCAAs. He placed 10^th in Virginia Beach this past indoor season.

Texas A&M senior Sincere Rhea advanced to the 110-meter hurdles quarterfinals at the NCAA Championships Wednesday in College Station, Texas.

Rhea ran 13.66 with a legal 1.7 tailwind and placed 3^rd in the 5^th of six qualifying heats at the NCAA West First Round.

The top three from each heat and the next six-fastest advanced to a three-race quarterfinal on Friday. So Rhea advanced automatically. His time was 16th-fastest among the 48 entrants.

The top 12 – three from each heat and the next three-fastst – advance to the NCAA semifinals at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., June 11-14.

The time equals Rhea’s 2^nd-fastest ever with legal wind and ties his fastest in more than two years.

Everyone who ran 13.83 or faster advanced. The next round is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Friday back at College Station.

Here’s a look at Rhea’s fastest wind-legal times over the 42-inch barriers:

13.48 … ACC Championships, Raleigh, N.C., May 12, 2023 [+1.2] (2)
13.66 … NCAA Championships West Prelims, College Station, Texas, May 28, 2025 [+1.7] (3)
13.66q … Clyde Littlefield Relays, Austin, March 29, 2025 [+1.5] (3)
13.70 … Texas Invitational, Austin, April 25, 2025 [-1.7] (3)
13.72 … Norhtern Florida East Coast Relays, April 29, 2023 [+1.8] (2)
13.74 … Texas Tech Corky Shootout, May 2, 2025 [+2.0] (3)
13.74 … Hurricane Alumni Invitational, Miami, April 8, 2023 [-1.2] (2)
13.79 … ACC Championships, Raleigh, N.C., May 13 [-0.3] (2)

1 – Competing for Penn State
2 – Competing for Miami
3 – Competing for Texas A&M

Rhea, a graduate of St. Augustine in Buena Vista Township, Atlantic County, from Maurice River Township, Cumberland County,

Cinnaminson senior Ed Frey moved into the No. 6 spot on the all-time South Jersey pole vault list Tuesday at Cherokee and No. 5 on the outdoor list.

Frey cleared 15-6 at the Cherokee Final Countdown Last Chance meet, joining Deptford senior Marcus Hood as the second 15-6 vaulter in South Jersey this year. Hood has cleared 15-6 four times, at the Bubble in February indoors and at Woodbury, South Jersey Elite and sectionals outdoors.

Including Haddon Township senior Jacob George, who cleared 15-3 earlier this month at the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township, and Delsea senior Henry Cifaloglio, who cleared 15-3 in a meet at Delsea last week, four out of 14 vaulters to clear 15-3 or better in South Jersey history have done it in the past few weeks.

Frey and Hood are tied for No. 3 in New Jersey going into states and Cifaloglio and George are tied at No. 5. So four of the top six vaulters in the state are from South Jersey.

Frey broke the Burlington County record of 15-4 set by Jason King at the 1993 Meet of Champions, where Lenape went 1-2 with King at 15-4 and Chris Wise at 13-6, and Burlington County went 1-2-3 with Palmyra’s Brian Horne placing 3^rd at 13-3.

At Cherokee, Frey passed the first 12 heights before entering at 13-6, which he cleared on his 1^stattempt. Trevor Farrell of Kingsway also cleared 13-6, which tied his PR. But Frey got over the bar at 14 feet on his 3^rdattempt and Farrell went out at 14 feet, so with the win secured Frey moved on to shoot for a PR. He had the bar moved up to 15-6, which he cleared on his 1^st attempt.

He took three shots at 16-1, which would have broken the South Jersey record set by Haddon Heights’ Bob Green at the South Jersey Invitational at Eastern in 1992 and tied by Oakcrest’s Ryan Merlino at last year’s state Group 3 meet at Delsea.

Frey’s previous PR was a 15-0 1/4 in a batch meet at Pennsauken. His previous big-meet PR was 14-7 when he became the first Cinnaminson vaulter to win the Burlington County Open since Matt Mancini won his 3rd in a row in 2006.

All-time S.J. outdoor PV list

16-0 … Bob Green [Haddon Heights], 1992
16-0 … Ryan Merlino [Oakcrest], 2024
15-7 … Brandon Kurtz [Absegami], 1991
15-7 … Nico Morales [Delsea], 2019
15-6 … Marco Morales [Delsea], 2020
15-6 … Dylan Altland [Kingsway], 2014
15-6 … Marcus Hood [Deptford], 2025
15-6 … Ed Frey [Cinnaminson], 2025
15-5 … Mike Davis [Haddonfield], 2004
15-5 … Devon Purves [Haddonfield], 2006
15-4 … Jason King [Lenape], 1993
15-3 ¼ … Dan Lamp [Willingboro], 1977
15-3 … Henry Cifaloglio [Delsea], 2025
15-3 … Jacob George [Haddon Twp.], 2025
15-2 … Dan Batdorf [West Deptford], 2008
15-0 ¼ … Mike Hulme [Eastern], 2003
15-0 … Josh Moline [Gateway], 2000
15-0 … Mike Rivard [Haddonfield], 2010
15-0 … Daniel Couse [Clearview], 2023
15-0 … Mike Maira [Seneca], 2010
15-0 … Michael Hulme [Eastern], 2003
15-0 … David Murname [West Deptford], 2000
15-0 … James Lynch [Deptford], 2019
15-0 … Noah Kriesman [Cherry Hill East], 2022

All-time S.J. combined indoor/outdoor PV list

16-0 … Bob Green [Haddon Heights], 1992 [o]
16-0 … Marco Morales [Delsea], 2020 [i]
16-0 … Ryan Merlino [Oakcrest], 2024 [i, o]
15-7 … Brandon Kurtz [Absegami], 1991 [o]
15-7 … Nico Morales [Delsea Reg.], 2019 [o]
15-6 … Dylan Altland [Kingsway], 2014 [o]
15-6 … Dan Batdorf [West Deptford], 2008 [i]
15-6 … Marcus Hood [Deptford], 2025 [i, o]
15-6 … Ed Frey [Cinnaminson], 2025 [o]
15-5 … Mike Davis [Haddonfield], 2004 [o]
15-5 … Devon Purves [Haddonfield], 2006 [o]
15-4 … Jason King [Lenape], 1993 [o]
15-3 ¼ … Dan Lamp [Willingboro], 1977 [o]
15-3 … Marcus Hood [Deptford], 2024 [o]
15-3 … Henry Cifaloglio [Delsea], 2025 [o]
15-3 … Jacob George [Haddon Twp.], 2025 [o]
15-0 ¼ … Mike Hulme [Eastern], 2003 [o]
15-0 … Josh Moline [Gateway], 2000
15-0 … Mike Rivard [Haddonfield], 2010
15-0 … Daniel Couse [Clearview], 2023
15-0 … Mike Maira [Seneca], 2010
15-0 … Michael Hulme [Eastern], 2003
15-0 … David Murname [West Deptford], 2000
15-0 … James Lynch [Deptford], 2019
15-0 … Noah Kriesman [Cherry Hill East], 2022

An important notice to all South Jersey track coaches: The nomination process for the 2025 All South Jersey teams is being done electronically this year.

If you have not received the email about this, please email sjtrack@yahoo.com.

Thanks!

Natalie Dumas’s 51.87 at sectionals isn’t just tied for the fastest 400 in New Jersey history, it’s one of the fastest in U.S. scholastic track history.

Dumas won the South Jersey Group 4 race Saturday at Pennsauken and tied the state record set by four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin, who ran 51.87 at the 2016 Meet of Champions at Central Regional in Berkeley Township.

I put together what I believe is a complete list of all sub-52 performances made by U.S. high school athletes in competitions held during the high school season or in meets that are an extension of the high school season. So that includes various national meets or U.S. or World Under 20 but not summer track competitions or Junior Olympics or AAU meets (even if they’re earlier than World Juniors, for example).

Dumas’s time is tied for 20^th-fastest in U.S. scholastic history and makes her the 26^th sub-52 performer.

Of those 23, four were in the 1970s, three in the 1980s, none in the 1990s, five in the 2000s, eight in the 2010s and six so far in the 2020s.

Dumas will be racing next month at West Philly Nationals instead of USATF Under-20s – they’re on the same weekend this year – but she does have a chance to qualify for USATF Senior Nationals, scheduled for July 31-Aug. 3 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Dumas has run 51.87 in the 400 and 58.37 in the intermediates so far. The A standards in her primary events are 51.00 for the 400 and 56.00 for the intermediates, and the B standards are 52.50 and 58.00. The way it works is everyone with the A standard gets in and if there are fewer than 32 entries with the A standard, the field is filled with the next-fastest entrants until the field fills up.

USATF only accepts qualifying marks from specific USATF-approved meets: “All entry performances must be legal marks that have been achieved at a USATF-sanctioned meet or at a meet listed on the World Athletics Calendar,” according to the meet regs.

So if she can find the right meets before the midnight July 22 deadline, Dumas has a chance to qualify for the U.S. Championships, especially in the 400, where she’s already well under the B standard.

One other note: Without going really deep into old Track and Field News copies from the 1970s and 1980s, there’s no way to determine where Dumas ranks all-time among high school juniors. But her time Saturday is fastest by a U.S. 11^th-grader since 2016, when Lynna Irby of Pike High in Indianapolis ran 51.39 at the World Under-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, and McLaughlin ran her 51.87. The only other 11^th-grader to run that fast in the last 20 years is Kadecia Baird of Medgar Evers Prep in Brooklyn ran ran 51.04 at World Juniors in Barcelona in 2012.

Here’s my best attempt at an all-time U.S. sub-52 400-meter dash list! To come up with this list, I used the MileSplit database and my library of Jack Sheppard old U.S. High School Annuals.

All-Time U.S. 400-Meter Dash List
50.69 … Sanya Richards [St. Thomas Aquinas, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.], 2002
50.74 … Monique Henderson [Morse, San Diego], 2000
50.87 … Denean Howard [Granada Hills, Calif.], 1982
50.90 … Sheila Ingram [Washington, D.C.], 1976
51.04 … Kadecia Baird [Medgar Evers Prep, Brooklyn], 2012
51.17 … Lauren Lewis [Prosper (Texas)], 2023
51.17 … Kayla Davis [William A. Hough, Cornelius, N.C.], 2019
51.21 … Alexis Holmes [Cheshire (Ct.) Academy], 2018
51.39 … Lynna Irby [Pike, Indianapolis], 2016
51.44 … Tyra Cox [Northwestern, Miami], 2025
51.57 … Skyler Franklin [Monteverde (Fla.) Academy], 2024
51.57 … Jan’taijah Ford [Northeast, Oakland Park, Fla.], 2019
51.63 … Jessica Beard [Euclid, Ohio], 2007
51.09 … Sherri Howard [San Bernadino], 1979
51.45 … Ericka Harris [Gig Harbor, Wash.], 1981
51.63 … Jessica Beard [Euclid, Ohio], 2007
51.75 … Diane Dixon [Brooklyn], 1982
51.77 … Jameesia Ford [Jack Britt, Fayetteville, N.C.], 2023
51.87 … Sydney McLaughlin [Union Catholic, Scotch Plains], 2016
51.87 … Natalie Dumas [Eastern, Voorhees, N.J.], 2025
51.91 … Mabie Ferguson [Pomona, Calif.], 1972
51.92 … Arria Minor [East, Denver], 2018
51.94 … Jennie Gorham [Kansas City], 1979
51.96 … Brandi Cross [Fort Bend, Texas], 2006
51.98 … Athing Mu [Trenton, N.J.], 2020
51.99 … Shae Anderson [Norco (Calilf.)], 2017