From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

It was a mixed bag for Hurdle U in the 110-meter hurdles semifinals Friday at the NCAA Division 3 Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

Junior Jason Agyemang and freshman Jamir Brown won their heats and advanced to the final as the two-fastest qualifiers, but junior Kwaku Nkrumah, the defending champion, didn’t finish the race and won’t advance to the final.

Brown, Agyemang and Nkrumah are ranked 1^st, 3^rd and 4^th on the all-time NCAA Division 3 performance list at 13.60, 13.74 and 13.77.

Agyemang ran 13.93 in the first heat and Brown – the Division 3 record holder at 13.60 – ran 14.00 to win the 2^nd heat. They were the two-fastest in the trials.

Another Rowan hurdler, junior Anaias Hughes from Willingboro, ran 14.34 in the 1^st heat and advanced to the final as the No. 7 seed. That’s only 5-100ths of a second off his PR of 14.29.

So Rowan has three of the top-seven seeds in the final without the defending national champion.

The final is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. Saturday at SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio.

Is there an event Natalie Dumas can’t run?

Dumas, who so far this year has run 12.23 for 100 meters, 24.02 for 200, 51.87 for 400, 2:13.37 in the 800 and 58.37 in the intermediates, became South Jersey’s fastest miler Thursday night.

Dumas, a junior at Eastern, ran 4:55.66 in her first outdoor 1,600 ever at the 1,600 Night at the Nest at Allentown.

That’s 7^th-fastest in New Jersey this year, 18^th-fastest in South Jersey history and No. 7 on the all-time Camden County list.

Dumas was out in 69.34 and came through 800 in 2:28.78 and 1,200 in 3:45.63 before closing in 70.02.

Nobody in state history has ever run as fast as Dumas in every event from 200 meters to the 1,600.

She goes into the state Group 4 meet in Somerset with the fastest times out of all sectionals in the 400 and intermediates, 3^rd-fastest in the 200 and 8^th-fastest in the 800.

Dumas has run a couple indoor 1,600s with a PR of 5:05.92 at Ocean Breeze this past February.

All-Time South Jersey Sub-5 List
4:41.16 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2000
4:41.5y … Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1982
4:45.91 … Shaelan McNally [Paul VI], 2024
4:45.97 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2014
4:48.73y … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2010
4:48.82y … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
4:49.11 … Renee Tomlin [Ocean City], 2005
4:49.26 … Rachel Vick [Kingsway], 2017
4:51.43 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2017
4:51.84 … Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2024
4:52.95 … Caitlin Orr [Lenape], 2009
4:54.25 … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2021
4:54.71 … Megan Hartman [Ocean City], 1994
4:54.76 … Allison Colflesh [Haddonfield], 2021
4:54.88 … Bridget Flynn [Holy Spirit], 2012
4:55.41 … Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2004
4:55.45 … Julianna Catania [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2016
4:55.66 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012
4:55.66 … Natalie Dumas [Eastern], 2025
4:55.70 … Dina Iacone [Washington Twp.], 2012
4:55.90 … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2019

 

Top-seeded long jumper Greg Foster from Lumberton leads a large contingent of 18 South Jersey athletes into the NCAA Division 1 track championships, which open with preliminary round competition at two sites next weekend.

Foster, a Princeton junior, is the No. 1 long jumper in the East Region with his 26-7 ¼ from a meet in Charlottesville, Va., last month. The mark was wind-aided, but the NCAA does not consider wind readings when determining the NCAA fields.

Overall, Foster is ranked 3^rd in the NCAA Division 1 behind Lokesh Sathyanathan of Tarleton State of Stephenville, Texas [26-8 ½] and Charles Godfrey of Minnesota [26-8 ¼].

The East prelims will be held in Jacksonville, Fla., with the West prelims in College Station, Texas. Both meets are scheduled to run May 28-13.

The top 12 placers in each event from each region advance to the NCAA Championships June 11-14 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Note that Washington Township’s Ajani Dwyer, a Penn State freshman ranked 12^th in the East Region in the 100 at 10.05, was not entered.

Here’s a glance at the South Jersey athletes headed to either Jacksonville or College Station.

East Men
Gabriel Moronta [Pleasantville], South Florida: Moronta is the 9^th seed in the 400 with his PR 45.31 in Gainesville last month. Moronta, a transfer from Mississippi State, won the Amerian Conference 400 this past weekend in 45.55. He’s also expected to anchor South Florida’s 4-by-4, which is seeded 3^rd at 3:02.13. That quartet is ranked 21^st in the world.

Nico Morales [Delsea], Rutgers: Morales continued his record-breaking season by clearing an all-time South Jersey-record 18 feet at the Big 10 Championships in Eugene. For some reason, every clearance in that meet is listed as a “no-height” in the TFRRS database, so in the NCAA seedings Morales is listed with his 17-9 from a meet in Piscataway in April, which makes him officially the 15^th seed. But he should be the No. 12 seed. It doesn’t really matter, but it’s annoying.

Greg Foster [Lumberton/Lawrenceville School], Princeton: This is Foster’s 4^th trip to NCAAs. His best finish so far is 10^th indoors this past March in Virginia Beach. He actually ran fast enough in the hurdles [13.78] to qualify but wasn’t entered and will focus solely on the long jump in Jacksonville.

Premier Wynn [Pennsauken], Norfolk State: Wynn qualified in both the 400-meter hurdles, where he’s the 27^th seed with a 50.70, and with Norfolk State’s 4-by-4 team, seeded 18^th with its 3:05.07.

Bryce Tucker [Pennsauken], Rutgers: Wynn’s training partner and high school teammate is also entered in the intermediates and is the No. 30 seed with his 50.79 season best.

Jason Nwosu [Delsea], South Florida: Moronta and Nwosu both set school records at South Florida this spring, with Nwosu PR’ing in the shot put at 58-8 ¾ in Gainesville last month. Nwosu is a transfer from William and Mary.

Kevin Burr [Rancocas Valley], Tennessee
Burr is one of the top javelin throwers in the country and PR’d with a 246-8 earlier this month in Knoxville. That’s the No. 6 mark by a South Jersey high school graduate and makes him the No. 6 seed.

Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], Rutgers
Good news seeing Brown’s name on the declared list. He hasn’t raced in over a month and hasn’t run a hurdles race since PR’ing at 13.82 in Tampa five weeks ago. But he made the field as the 35^th seed in the 110 highs and hopefully is over the hamstring injury that sidelined him for a chunk of the season.

Ahmad Brock [Egg Haror Twp.], Monmouth
Brock made the field with a wind-legal 25-3 ½ in a meet at Rutgers last month. That’s the best jump ever by an Atlantic County native, just ahead of a 25-2 by Paul Klemic of Mainland in Waverly, Iowa, in 2005.

East Women
Alyssa Garozzo [Paul VI], Duke
Garozzo, a Duke grad student, is the 8^th seed in the 400-meter hurdles with her 55.77 on her home track in Durham in April. She competed at NCAA East prelims last spring as a senior at Penn. She’s also a likely leg on Duke’s 4-by-4, which is the 4^th seed at 3:27.77. She’s also listed as an alternate on Duke’s 4-by-1, the 6^th seed at 43.42.

Arianna Smith [Pennsville], Howard
Smith PR’d with a 56.11 when she won the MEAC Championships earlier this month in Norfolk. That’s 3^rd-fastest all-time by a South Jersey athlete, behind Rancocas Valley’s Tonya Lee [55.78 in 1997] and Garozzo. She’s the 7^th seed in the intermediates and is also in the field as the 24^th seed for the highs with her 13.19 in the prelims at MEACs. That’s also No. 3 all-time on the South Jersey performance list [behind Nia Ali’s 12.34 in Doha in 2019 and Tionna Tobias’s 13.11 in 2023 in Bloomington, Ind.]. Snith is also on Howard’s 4-by-4, the 14^th seed at 3:30.88.

Kami Joi Hickson [Washington Twp.], Maryland
Hickson, who PR’d in the 800 this month with a 2:07.25, will race at NCAAs on Maryland’s 4-by-4, which qualified with a 3:35.38.

Jenovia Logan [Sterling], Rutgers
Logan is the No. 8 seed in the high jump with her lifetime-best 5-11 ½ in March in Tampa. That’s No. 4 on the all-time South Jersey alumni list.

Helene Usher [Haddonfield], La Salle
Usher had an outstanding sophomore year with PRs of 16:35.77 and 34:13.65, and it’s in the 10,000 that she qualified for NCAAs.

West Women
Leah Howard [Millville], Texas Tech
Howard is the 24^th seed in the javelin with a PR 163-10 from a meet last month in College Station, where she’ll throw in NCAA prelims.

Jewel Ash [Eastern], Fresno State
Another of South Jersey’s battery of fast women intermediate hurdlers this spring along with Garozzo and Smith in the East. Ash, a transfer from Charleston Southern, ran a season-best 57.63 in Clovis, Calif., and is the 19^th seed in the West.

West Men
Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], Texas Tech
Rhea returns to NCAAs as the 14^th seed in the 110-meter highs with his 13.48, which he’s run twice this year. Rhea placed 14^th in the 2021 indoor NCAAs in the 60-meter highs and and also ran the 110 highs at East Prelims that spring and again in 2023 competing for Miami. He advanced out of NCAA Prelims in the spring of 2023 but was DQ’d in the national semifinals.

Floyd Whitaker [Highland], Oklahoma
Whitaker, a transfer from Minnesota, is the No. 8 triple jumper in Division 1 and seeded 5^th in the West with his 53-1 ½ in Lexington, Ky., last week.

Rowan’s freshman Rajahn Dixon from Eastern and sophomore Eli Hendricks from Penns Grove advanced to the 200-meter dash finals at the NCAA Division 3 Championships Thursday in Geneva, Ohio.

Racing in the second of three semifinals, Dixon clocked a lifetime-best 21.13 with a legal 0.0 wind, the 2^nd-fastest time in Rowan history behind school record holder Jah’mere Beasley from Sterling, who ran 20.91 on the same track at SPIRE Academy in both the semis and finals at 2022 NCAA Division 3 Nationals.

Dixon’s previous PR was a 21.22 in a last-chance meet last week at Widener University in Chester, Pa. His high school PR was 21.40 last May at the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township, and his wind-legal high school PR was 21.57 at West Philly Nationals in June of 2023. So he’s nearly half a second faster now than in high school.

Dixon was the 3^rd-fastest qualifier into the final, behind only Samuel Blaskowski of Wisconsin La Crosse, the Division 3 record holder at 100 meters and No. 2 all-time in the 200, who ran 20.56 in the first heat, and Kevin Arthur of St. John’s of Collegeville, Minn., who ran 21.07 in the third.

Hendricks was 2^nd to Blaskowski in the first heat in 21.22, making him the 6^th-fastest in the trials and 3^rd-fastest “small-q” qualifier. He also ran with a 0.0 wind reading and raced within 1-100^th of a second of his lifetime-best 21.21, also from the last-chance meet at Widener last week.

Earlier in the day, Hendricks ran on Rowan’s school-record 400-meter relay team, which advanced to Sunday’s final with the 11th-fastest time in NCAA Division 3 history. That story is here.

The 200 final is scheduled for 3:40 p.m. on Saturday.

Here’s the current all-time Rowan top-5, with three of the top four coming this month:

20.91 … Jah’mere Beasley [Sterling], NCAA Division 3, Geneva, Ohio, May 28, 2022 [+1.9]
21.13 … Rajahn Dixon [Eastern], NCAA Division 3 prelims, Geneva, Ohio., May 22, 2025 [+0.0]
21.18 … Shamar Love [Bridgeton], NJAC Championships, Ewing, May 3, 2025 [+1.4]
21.21 … Eli Hendricks [Penns Grove], Widener Final Qualifier, Chester, Pa., May 12, 2025 [+0.5]
21.28 … Charles Cooper [Paulsboro], NCAA Division 3, Berea, Ohio, May 26, 1979 [N/A]

Rowan’s all-South Jersey 400-meter relay team of Shamar Love, Robert McKinney, Eli Hendricks and Evan Corcoran ran the 11^th-fastest time in NCAA Division 3 history Thursday in the prelims of the Division 3 National Championships in Genevam, Ohio.

Rowan ran 39.97 and broke the school record of 40.03 they set last week in Chester, Pa., with the same lineup. They came into nationals as the No. 3 seed behind two Wisconsin powerhouses – La Crosse at 39.53 and Oshkosh at 39.81. La Crosse was fastest qualifier with a meet-record 39.77, and Oshkosh did not finish the race. The previous meet record was 39.82 by La Crosse last year.

Other than La Crosse and Oshkosh, the only other school to run faster in Division 3 history is New Jersey City of Jersey City [39.95 at the 2006 Penn RElays]. Winslow graduate Anthony Miles led off that New Jersey City relay team.

Love is a senior from Bridgeton, McKinney a senior from Highland, Hendricks a sophomore from Penns Grove and Corcoran a junior from Kingsway.

The final is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Saturday.

Here’s a look at the sub-40 NCAA Division 3 400-meter relay performance list:

39.53 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2025 [La Crosse, Wisc.]
39.72 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2024 [Rock Island, Ill.]
39.77 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2025 [Geneva, Ohio]
39.81 … Wisconsin Oshkosh, 2025 [Oshkosh, Wisc.]
39.82 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2024 [Myrtle Beach, S.C.]
39.86 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2023 [Rochester, N.Y.]
39.87 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2025 [Oshkosh, Wisc.]
39.92 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2024 [Myrtle Beach, S.C.]
39.95 … Jersey City State, 2006 [Philadelphia]
39.96 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2023 [Rochester, N.Y.]
39.97 … Rowan, 2025 [Geneva, Ohio]

Sophomore Brianna Growalt became the first double sectional winner in the young history of the Atlantic County Tech track program this past weekend, taking 1^st in both the 100-meter hurdles and long jump at the South Jersey Group 4 meet at Pennsauken.

Growalt is now top-10 in Atlantic County history in three events.

At sectionals, she won the hurdles in a slightly windy [2.2] 14.22, finishing 2-100ths of a second over Pennsauken junior Olivia Dupree, who ran 14.24. Rancocas Valley senior Cecilia King [14.32] and Washington Township senior Dakota Jones [14.41] also ran PRs in the final.

Growalt’s previous hurdles PR was a 14.44 at the Atlantic County Championships earlier this month at Egg Harbor. She goes into the state meet as the No. 1 seed, with Dupree, King and Jones No. 2 and 3 and 4.

Growalt had a consistent long jump series, with six jumps of 17-4 or better and a winning mark of 17-11 ½ on her 5^th attempt. She had the six-best jumps of the competition and won by over a foot.

She has a PR of 18-9 ¼ from the Atlantic County meet and was also over 18-6 at the South Jersey Elite and Cape Atlantic meet. She has sprint PRs of 12.43 and 24.79 but skipped them to focus on the long jump and hurdles at sectionals.

At states, she’ll be the No. 3 seed in the long jump, behind senior Tatiana Camilo of Woodbridge, who jumped 18-8 ½ at North 2 Group 4 sectionals in Basking Ridge, and freshman Daphne Georgiades of Ridge, who jumped 18-7 ¼ also in North 2 Group 4.But her 18-9 ¼ is the best PR in the field and the top jump in New Jersey Group 4 this year.

Atlantic County Tech has had one previous sectional champion, and that was Tey’ana Ames, who won the shot put in 2021 at Washington Township and is now at Rutgers, where she PR’d at 46-1 ¼ earlier this month at Princeton. That’s No. 8 in school history. The versatile Ames has also high jumped 5-7 for Rutgers.

Growalt now ranks No. 4 in Atlantic County history in the long jump, No. 6 in the hurdles and No. 7 in the 200. She’s the No. 1 sophomore in New Jersey this year in both the hurdles and long jump and No. 5 in the 200

The state Group 4 meet is scheduled for May 30-31 in Somerset. Growalt ran 8.23 for the 55 highs indoors and placed 2nd in the Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze.

It appears that Atlantic County Tech, located in Hamilton Township, has had a girls track program since 2019.

23.90 … Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2018
24.12 … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], 2006
24.23 … Nichole Hill [Oakcrest], 1997
24.50 … Laia Mortimore [Atlantic City], 1998
24.59 … Jaidah Garrett [Absegami], 2025
24.76 … Andrea Olsen [Buena], 2013
24.79 … Brianna Growalt [Atlantic County Tech], 2025
24.83 … Ajae Alvarez-Tyler [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2018
24.84 … Claire Pedrick [Mainland Reg.], 2018
24.92 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], 2009

13.65 … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], 2006
13.67 … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2019
13.72 … Nichole Hill [Oakcrest], 1997
13.85 … Sherese Price [Pleasantville], 1998
14.17 … Andrea Olsen [Buena], 2013
14.22 … Brianna Growalt [Atlantic County Tech], 2025
14.25 … Joshonda Johnson [Absegami], 2017
14.29 … Shameka Marshall [Oakcrest], 2001
14.32 … Chereyse Hepburn [Oakcrest], 2000
14.41 … Isabella Alvarez [Pleasantville], 2025

19-2 ¾ …….Asia Young [Holy Spirit], 2016
18-10 ¾ … Shameeka Marshall [Oakcrest], 2001
18-9 1/2 … Frances Bundy [Pleasantville], 1999
18-9 ¼ … Brianna Growalt [Atlantic County Tech], 2025
18-7 …….. Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2018
18-6 … Emma Crozier-Carole [Mainland Reg.], 2023
18-4 ¼ … Kierston Johnson [Oakcrest], 2017
18-3 ¼ … Frances Bundy [Pleasantville], 1999
18-3 …… Felicia Graham [Oakcrest], 1990
18-3 …… Brittany Clybourn [Oakcrest], 2006

Top-10 seeds freshman Jamir Brown from Riverside, senior Izzy Deal of Washington Township and freshman Nyla Jones of Timber Creek lead the large Rowan contingent at the NCAA Division 3 Championships, which begin Thursday in Geneva, Ohio.

The Rowan men, ranked 6^th in the latest USTCCCA NCAA Division 3 poll, are seeking their 5^th consecutive top-5 finish. The Profs were 4^th in 2021, 5^th in 2022 and tied for 3^rd in 2023 and 2024.

The Rowan women, ranked 20^th in the USTCCCA poll, last scored at nationals in 2019. Their best finish ever was 10^th in 1994.

Brown leads the Rowan men to Northeaster Ohio on the heels of his NCAA Division 3-record 13.60 in the 110-meter hurdles in the prelims of the NJAC Championships in Ewing. He slightly tweaked his hip in that race and hasn’t competed since. Brown is the top seed, and he’s bidding to become Rowan’s first national hurdles champ since Gary Moore won in 1981 and 1982 and Stanley Moore won in 1983.

Junior Jason Agyemang of North Plainfield is the No. 2 seed at 13.74, junior Kwaku Nkrumah from Teaneck, the indoor national champ, is No. 5 seed at 13.91 and junior Anaias Hughes from Willingboro is No. 20 at 14.29. Nkrumah is defending champ after running 13.77 last year in Myrtle Beach. Brown, Agyemang and Nkrumah are No. 1, 3 and 4 in NCAA Division 3 history.

Agyemang is also the No. 18 seed in the intermediates at 52.69. Brown ran 52.83 in what will wind up being his only lifetime intermediate hurdles race for Rowan and sophomore Samuel Agbessi from Sterling ran 52.82 last week at Widener. The qualifying cutoff was 52.74, and Brown and Agbessi were the two-fastest non-qualifiers.

The Profs do have three qualifiers in the high jump, with sophomore Jamile Gantt from Paulsboro as well as junior Noah Wampole from Radnor, Pa., and  sophomore Arrington Rhym from Hamilton West all sharing the No. 12 seed with 6-9. Gantt earned All-America honors as a freshman last spring when he placed 7^th at 6-9 ¾. He PR’d with a 6-10 ¼ indoors at Ocean Breeze.

Three South Jersey sprinters qualified for nationals. Sophomore Eli Hendricks from Penns Grove is the No. 18 seed in the 200 at 21.21, freshman Rajahn Dixon from Eastern is No. 19 at 21.22 and senior Shamar Love from Bridgeton is No. 20 seed in the 100 at 10.46.

Love, McKinney, Hendricks and junior Evan Corcoran from Kingsway will run the 4-by-1 for Rowan, seeded 3^rd at 40.03, the 11^th-fastest time in NCAA Division 3 history.

Rowan is seeded 14^th in the 4-by-4 with senior James Coleman from Audubon, senior Nana Agyemang from Parsippany and freshmen Lorentzky Ambroise of Toms River North and Luke Halbruner of Ocean City the likely lineup.

In the field, sophomore Damitrius Hester from Mahwah is the No. 6 seed in the javelin at 217-1, and Agyemang is the No. 16 seed with his 23-11 at the conference meet.

Also competing in Geneva will be MIT sophomore Jacob Cobb from West Deptford and Stockton sophomore Ahmad Fogg from Egg Harbor Township.

Cobb is the No. 10 seed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with his PR 8:53.62 from last week, which elevated him out of the field into the top 10. Fogg is the No. 12 seed in the long jump with his 14-1 at the NJAC meet.

For the Rowan women, Jones is the No. 4 seed in the 400 hurdles with her meet-record 1:00.42 at the NJAC championships. She missed the field in the 100-meter highs by 2-100ths of a second after running 14.27 in Daytona Beach in April. Woodstown’s Molly Lodge, a Rowan senior, will also race in the 400 hurdles with her 1:01.29, also in Daytona Beach. She’s the No. 13 seed.

Washington Township’s Izzy Deal, a Rowan senior, is the No. 9 seed in the shot put at 46-4 and the No. 17 seed in the javelin at 135-5.

Rowan also qualified its 4-by-4 team, which is expected to include Jones, Lodge, freshman Ava Reilly of Toms River East and senior Nevaeh Lorjuste from Triton. They’re the No. 6 seed at 3:44.72. Lorjuste ran 55.44 this year and missed qualifying for the individual 400 by 3-100ths of a second.

Also from Stockton, junior Kayla Kass from Bayonne is the No. 5 seed in the 800 with her 2:07.13, and Emma Petrolia is the No. 9 seed in the 400-meter hurdles at 1:01.32.

Live results will be posted here. Here’s when everyone will compete:

Thursday
2:30 p.m.: Nana Agyemang, Ahmad Fogg, Long Jump final
3:30 p.m.: Izzy Deal, Javelin final
5:15 p.m.: Rowan, Men’s 400-Meter Relay trials
5:45 p.m.: Dametrius Hester, Javelin final
6:10 p.m.: Jason Agyemang, 400-Meter Hurdles trials
6:25 p.m.: Nyla Jones, Molly Lodge, 400-Meter Hurdles trials
6:40 p.m.: Eli Hendricks, Rajahn Dixon, 200-Meter Dash trials
7:10 p.m.: Jacob Cobb, 3,000-Meter Steeplechase trials
8 p.m.: Rowan, Men’s 1,600-Meter Relay trials
8:15 p.m.: Rowan, Women’s 1,600-Meter trials

Friday
2 p.m.: Jamile Gantt, Noah Wampole, Arrington Rhym, High Jump final
2 p.m.: Izzy Deal, Shot Put final
2:10 p.m.: Jamir Brown, Jason Agyemang, Kwaku Nkrumah, Anaias Hughes, 110 Hurdles trials
3:30 p.m.: Shamar Love, 100-Meter Dash trials
4:15 p.m.: Kayla Kass, 800-Meter Run trials
4:40 p.m.: Jacob Cobb, 3,000-Meter Steeplechase trials

Saturday
1:05 p.m.: Rowan, Men’s 400-Meter Relay final
1:50 p.m.: Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles final
2:30 p.m.: Men’s 100-Meter Dash final
3 p.m.: Women’s 800-Meter Run final
3:15 p.m.: Men’s 400-Meter Hurdles final
3:25 p.m.: Women’s 400-Meter Hurdles final
3:40 p.m.: Men’s 200-Meter Dash final
4:50 p.m.: Men’s 1,600-Meter Relay final
5 p.m.: Women’s 1,600-Meter Relay final

MIT’s Jacob Cobb, a junior from West Deptford, ran the 3^rd-fastest steeplechase ever by a South Jersey high school graduate and qualified for NCAA Division 3 Nationals in a recent last-chance meet in Williamstown, Mass.

Cobb solo’d an 8:53.62 to win the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the F.I.R.E. Meet at Williamson Field. He won the race by 135 meters. F.I.R.E. apparently stands for Farley Inter Regional Extravaganza.

Cobb entered the meet with a lifetime-best and school-record 9:00.17 from a meet on the same track from last May. His season-best was 9:01.16 from a meet in April in Providence, and he also had a 9:01.28 and a 9:05.92 as he tried to get under nine minutes.

With the 8:53.62, Cobb becomes the No. 10 seed at this weekend’s NCAA Division 3 Championships. His 9:01.16 would not have gotten him in.

Shawnee’s Connor Herr set the South Jersey steeplechase record of 8:53.66 at the 2015 Penn Relays. The record then changed hands a few times between San Gerstenbacher of Schalick and Cinnaminson’s Mike Ungvarsky, with Gerstenbacher ultimately holding the mark at 8:38.94 from a meet in New York in May 2022.

Ungbarsky ran 8:46.16 in Durham two days later. Cobb is now 3^rd behind those two, with Herr 4^th. Camden’s Terrance Armstrong is the only other South Jersey steepler under ninte minutes. He ran 8:56.15 in 1994.

New Jersey’s fastest steeplechasers of all-time are Steve Slattery of Mount Olive [8:15.69 in 2007], Travis Mahoney of Old Bridge [8:19.18], Craig Forys of Colts Neck [8:24.09], Mike Roche of Cranford [8:30.17 in 1977] and Colin Daly [8:30.88 in 2024]. Cobb is now No. 15 on that list.

Cobb will race in the 2^nd of two steeplechase semifinals at NCAA Division 3 Champions in Geneva, Ohio. The semifinals are scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Thursday, with 12 advancing – the top four in each race plus the next-four-fastest times. The final is scheduled for the final at 4:40 p.m. on Friday.

Bridgeton senior Zamir Chance broke county, conference and meet triple jump records Saturday at the South Jersey Group 4 meet at Pennsauken.

Chance won his first sectional title with a 48-3 jump on his 5^th attempt, winning the event by more than two feet.

That’s the No. 7 jump in South Jersey history.

Chance broke the Cumberland County record of 47-0 from the Crusader Field Meet in March, the Cape-Atlantic record of 48-1 ½ set by Egg Harbor Township’s Mubeen Momodu at the 2019 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington and the meet record of 47-4 ¼ set by Zakiyy Williams of Rancocas Valley at the 2015 meet at Egg Harbor.

His mark was best of all the sectional meets state-wide last weekend. The only superior jump by a New Jersey athlete this year is a 48-7 by Newark West Side’s Malik Mohammed at the Essex County Relays last month in Newark. Mohammad this year as a sophomore has also high jumped 6-10 and long jumped 23-8. He won the North 2 Group 3 meet at Warren Hills with a 45-5 ¾.

Chance and Mohammed are the only 48-footers in New Jersey this year going into the state Group 4 meet May 30-31 in Somerset. Chance is the No. 1 seed by a foot and a half over sophomore Quincy Pearson of North Brunswick, who jumped 46-6 ¾ at the Central Jersey Group 4 meet in Hillsborough.

Chance at sectionals also placed 4^th in the long jump with a 21-11. He has a season-best and PR 22-6 ¾ from the Cape-Atlantic Championships earlier this month at Buena.

He’s Bridgeton’s first sectional triple jump champion since current Dallas Cowboy Markqueese Bell jumped 44-2 ½ to win the 2016 Group 3 title.

All-Time South Jersey 47-Foot Triple Jump List
50-9 ¼ … Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], 2018
50-6 ¾ …. Dominique Irons [Haddon Heights], 2013
50-2 ½  … Floyd Whitaker [Highland], 2019
48-10 ½ … Larry Russell [Timber Creek], 2015
48-4 ½ … Rece Englehardt [Moorestown], 2024
48-3 ¼ … Ryan Chance [Glassboro], 2009
48-3 … Zamir Chance [Bridgeton], 2025
48-1 ½ … Mubeen Momodu [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2019
48-1 ¼ ……Orion Joyner [Kingsway], 2019
48-0 ………. Josh Butler [Delsea], 2006
47-9 ¼ … Marcus Edghilll [Pemberton], 1981
47-7 ½ … Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2014
47-7 ½ … Jaden Johnson [Timber Creek], 2022
47-6 ½ … Chris Roundtree [Haddon Hts.], 2009
47-5 ½ … Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], 2017
47-5 ¼ … Kevin Kevelier [Collingswood], 2019
47-5 ……… Steven Brown [Penns Grove], 2009
47-4 ¾ … Cheo King [Woodbury], 2017
47-4 ½ … Zakiyy Williams [Rancocas Valley], 2017
47-4 ……… Tristan Wilson [Delsea], 2014
47-3 ¼ … Antwan Dickerson [Pennsauken], 2013
47-3 ……… Mike Baker [Cherry Hill West], 1976
47-2 ¼ … Josiah Williams [Mainland Reg.], 2025
47-0 ½ … Mawali Osunniyi [Mainland Reg.], 2023
47-0 ¼  … Earnest Daniel [Kingsway], 2017

Junior Laila Fairweather became Burlington Township’s fastest 400 runner in 30 years at sectionals Saturday at Jackson Liberty.

Fairweather won the Central Jersey Group 3 race in 57.12, fastest by a Falcon since Tina Johnson ran 56.64 when she place 2^nd at the 1995 state Group 1 meet at South Plainfield. Schalick’s Candyce DeLoatch won that race with the same time and was credited with the win.

(Note that MileSplit lists Nia Hinds with a 56.82, but that was in a summer track meet, not eligible for consideration for high school lists. MileSplit randomly lists some but not all summer track performances. We don’t include any in our lists.)

Fairweather is Township’s first sectional 400 winner since Johnson won the South Jersey Group 1 400 at West Deptford as a senior in 1997 in 58.6.

Fairweather never broke 60 as a sophomore and had a PR of 57.96 going into sectionals. That was from the Burlington County Open the previous weekend at Lenape.

At sectionals, she won by more than a second over Colts Neck junior Mariel Reucroft, who placed 2^nd in 58.25.

She also placed 3^rd in the 200 in a PR 25.97. Her previous best was a 26.34 earlier this month at the BCSL meet at Pennsauken.

Fairweather is the No. 5 seed in the 400 going into the state Group 3 meet May 30-31 at South Plainfield behind Cinniya Robinson [56.24], Skhye Seamon [56.46] and Olivia Okaro [56.91] of Winslow and Ramapo’s Bridget Cannon [56.73].