From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Seniors Leila Ortiz, Miyana Johnson and Rainelle Blocker combined for 74 points and led the Clayton girls to their fourth sectional title in five years.

Clayton outscored 2nd-place Haddon Township 86-74 at Pennsauken, with Schalick a close 3rd with 72 points and defending-champion Audubon 4th with 65 ½.

The Clipper won South Jersey Group 1 titles in 2021, 2022 and 2023 before Audubon ended their streak last year.

Oritz won the 200 in 25.24 and 400 in 56.39 and took 2nd in the 100 in 12.42 (after a 12.39 in the trials), Johnson won the 100 in 12.40 and placed 3rd in both the 200 in 25.77 and high jump at 4-10, and Blocker won the javelin with a 114-7, took 3rd in the discus also with a 114-7 and was 2nd in the shot put at 37-8 ¼. Clayton freshman Destinee Williams placed 5th in the discus with a 110-0 throw.

The rest of Clayton’s points came in the relays. Miyana Johnson, sophomore Gabrielle Pernell-Lipsey, Ortiz and junior Deondria Simon ran 4:06.72 and placed 2nd in the 4-by-4, and freshman India Bryant, Pernell-Lipsey, sophomore Amor Stevens-Gaines and Simon ran 52.05 and placed 5th in the 4-by-1.

Schalick senior Jordan Hadfield doubled the 1,600 and 3,200 in 5:04.93 and 11:16.14 and ran 2:18.67 and placed 2nd to Audubon junior Riley Fayer’s 2:17.09 in the 800.

Glassboro sophomore Sunsarai Moore threw 137-1 to win the discus, Woodbury senior Antonia Federici hit 38-4 to win the shot put, Maple Shade sophomore Ciani Floyd ran 15.93 to win the 100-meter hurdles, Buena junior Emily Madden won the intermdiates in 1:07.74, Woodstown junior Kami Casino cleared 5-2 to win the high jump, Woodbury senior Denirah Jones won the long jump with a 17-4 ½, Pennsville senior Megan Morris won the pole vault at 10-6 and Burlington sophomore Nyima Burley went 35-9 to win the triple jump.

Woodbury won the 400-meter relay in 49.70 with junior KaChar Woods, sophomore Yuri Yates, junior Mirly Saintsulne and Jones, Haddon Township won the 1,600-meter relay in 4:06.29 with junior Casey Birdwell, sophomore Abby Wiedeman, freshman Aubrey Carson and sophomore Reagan Maher and Audubon was 1st in the 4-by-8 with sophomore Isabella Legatie, sophomore Lydia Gravante, Fayer and sophomore Sophia Rizzo running 9:55.24.

Pleasantville’s Gabriel Moronta won the 400-meter dash Saturday at the American Conference Championships with a meet-record performance.

Moronta, a senior at South Florida, ran 45.55 at the Irwin Belk Track and Field Center in Charlotte, breaking the record of 45.57 set in 2022 by Steven McElroy of Cincinnati.

Moronta ranks 16th in NCAA Division 1 with his PR of 45.31 from the Florida Relays in Gainesville last month.

He led all qualifiers in the trials in 45.68 before winning the final decisively, finishing three meters ahead of 2nd-place Michael Roth of USC, who ran a personal-best 45.89.

This is Moronta’s 2nd conference title. He won indoors in 46.24 in Birmingham, Ala.

Moronta was almost exclusively a half-miler and intermediate hurdler at Mississippi State, where he ran 1:49.33 and 51.38 and ran only one open 400 in two years. At South Florida, he’s run only one outdoor 800 and hasn’t run the intermediates.

South Florida won the team title 173 1/2-155 over Wichita State, the Bulls’ 4th straight conference championship.

Moronta is the 7th-fastest 400 runner New Jersey has produced and 3rd-fastest from South Jersey, behind Olympic gold medalists Lamont Smith and Dennis Mitchell.

44.30 … Lamont Smith [Willingboro], June 19, 1996, Atlanta
44.79 … Najee Glass [St. Peter’s Prep], April 24, 2015, Gainesville, Fla.
45.01 … Kevin Lyles [Franklin Twp.], April 7, 1995, Knoxville, Tenn.
45.25 … Clayton Parros [Seton Hall Prep], June 26, 2015, Eugene, Ore.
45.26 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], April 12, 1986, Tampa, Fla.
45.30 … Willie McLaughlin [East Orange], June 18, 1983, Indianapolis
45.31 … Gabriel Moronta [Pleasantville], April 5, 2025, Gainesville, Fla.
45.40 … Erison Hurtault [Matawan], June 9, 2007, Sacramento, Calif.
45.49 … Darrell Bush [Woodbury], April 11, 2015, Tucson, Ariz.
45.55 … Taj Burgess [Carteret], May 26, 2021, Jacksonville, Fla.

Led by junior Alyssa Siriano, senior Megan Niglio, junior Madeline Meder and juniuor Sofia Recinto, who piled up 50 points in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200, the Cherokee girls won their first sectional title in 12 years this weekend at Pennsauken.

Siriano won the 1,600 in 5:05.62 and 3,200 in 11:01.63 and took 2nd in the 800 in 2:14.75, Niglio ran 3rd in both the 1,600 [5:07.97] and 3,200 [11:11.98], Meder was 5th in the 1,600 [5:15.07] and 3,200 [11:23.69] (and ran 2:17.85 in the 800), and Recinto placed 3rd in the 800 [2:14.97].

Cherokee added eight points with a 2nd-place in the 3,200-meter relay with freshman Erin Healy, Recinto, senior Grace Wojciechowski and junior Maya Kumar running 9:39.57.

So that’s 58 of 68 points from the Cherokee distance team.

Junior ddison Lore contributed eight points with a 2nd-place finish in the javelin with a 116-6 throw, and Addison Wright was 5th in the pole vault at 10-0. So all 68 of Cherokee’s points came from distance runners or someone named Addison.

Cherokee came out on top of a wild race that saw six schools finish within 20 points of each other. Pennsauken, led by the amazing Sianni Wynn, was 2nd with 61 points, a number that might not go down very much at states, defending champion Washington Township was 3rd with 58, Rancocas Valley scored 57, Eastern 52 and Williamstown 49.

The team title is Cherokee’s second. The Chiefs won South Jersey Group 4 also in 2013. A different school has won SJ-4 in each of the last four years – Rancocas Valley in 2022, Eastern in 2023, Washington Township last year and Cherokee this year. In all, seven schools have won SJ-4 the last nine times it’s been contested.

Wynn ran 11.61 to win the 100, the 200 in 23.86 ahead of Natalie Dumas’s 24.02, 53.20 for 2nd behind Natalie Dumas in the 400

We wrote on Saturday about Dumas tying Sydney McLaughlin’s state record in the 400 [] and running a U.S. No. 2 58.37 in the intermediates. In addition to her 2nd in the 200 she also won the 800 in 2:14.30, edging the Cherokee tandem of Suriano and Recinto.

The hurdles race produced four of the eight-fastest times in New Jersey this year, with Atlantic County Tech sophomore Brianna Growalt coming out ahead with a PR 14.22, edging Pennsauken junior Olivia Dupree in 14.24.Rancocas Valley senior Cecilia King [14.32] and Washington Township senior Dakota Jones [14.41] all under 14.50. Growalt also won the long jump with a 17-11 ½.

That 800 had a ridiculous eight girls under 2:18, with Vineland seniors Ashlynn Newton [2:15.50] and Georgina Chalow [2:15.61] in 4th and 5th, Eastern senior Samantha Osei-Kyei 6th [2:16.85], Cherry Hill East freshman Maya Morgan 7th [2:17.77] and Meder 8th [2:17.85].

Pennsauken ran hot in the 400-meter relay, with junior Sanaya Dupree, junior Olivia Dupree, sophomore Abigayle John and Wynn winning in 47.03, leading Rancocas Valley [47.87] and Kingsway [47.99] under 48. Pennsauken’s time is No. 6 in South Jersey history, Rancocas Valley is No. 10 in Burlington County history and Kingsway is No. 3 in Gloucester County history.

Kingsway got a 55.27 anchor leg from freshman Noemi Haller and won the 4-by-4 in 3:56.85. Junior Savannah Aulich, sophomore Norah Brown and senior Camryn Stanard also ran.

Washington Township senior Ella Karp had a nice throws double, winning the discus at 133-6 and the shot at 42-0 ½. Last year’s Meet of Champions winner Addison Inge won the high jump at 5-6, Rancocas Valley junior La’el Yates cleared 10-6 to win the pole vault and Williamstown senior Milla Pihlava jumped 36-4 on her 1st attempt to win the triple jump.

Led by an astounding group of freshmen and sophomores – and a senior distance runner – Glassboro won its 3rd straight South Jersey Group 1 title and 4th overall this weekend at Pennsauken.

With freshmen scoring 58 points and sophomores adding 26, Glassboro rolled past Woodstown with the largest South Jersey Group 1 margin of victory in 16 years. The Bulldogs outscored Woodstown 135-66 ½. The 135 points and 68 ½-point margin of victory are both the largest in SJ-1 since the 2009 Glassboro team outscored 2nd-place Haddon Heights by 99 ½ points – 181 ½-82 at Egg Harbor.

So if Glassboro only brought its freshmen, they would have placed 2nd in South Jersey Group 1.

It was a senior, distance runner Ty Blackman, who picked up two wins for Glassboro, taking 1st in the 1,600 in PR 4:27.73 and the 3,200 with a 9:47.48. Freshman Joe Saicic took 2nd in both races with a 4:30.98 and 9:52.38.

Sophomore Xavier Sabb won the 100 in a PR wind-legal 10.69, 12th-fastest in New Jersey this year, and also took 3rd in the 200 [22.07] and high jump [6-2].

Another freshman, Mekhi Parker, ran a legal 15.08 for 2nd in the 110 hurdles, fastest by a South Jersey freshman since St. Augustine’s Sincere Rhea ran 14.99 in 2016. He also took 2nd in the triple jump with a big PR 44-9 ¼ and set a Gloucester County freshman record in the intermediates with a 55.47, fastest by a South Jersey freshman since Alex Reber of Cherry Hill East ran 54.38 in 2010.

All three of Parker’s marks – 15.08, 44-9 ¼ and 55.47 – are best this year by a New Jersey freshman.

And freshman Moses Robles took 3rd in the triple jump with a two-foot PR of 44-5 ½, again best ever by a Gloucester County freshman and best by a South Jersey freshman since Highland’s Floyd Whitaker went 45-10 ¾ in 2018. Robles also placed 4th in the long jump at 20-8 ¼ and 5th in the high jump with a 6-0 clearance.

Yet another freshman, Alex Adeleye took 2nd in the long jump with a 21-9 ¾, best by a New Jersey freshman and best by a South Jersey freshman in seven years, since both Camden’s Corey Palmer [22-2] and Clayton’s Ter-Meir Hill [21-11 ¾] jumped farther.

Senior Kyle Williams took 3rd in the discus [135-1] and 6th in the shot put [44-0], junior Amari Sabb was 4th in the high jump [6-2], sophomore Lucas Kudless ran 5th in the 3,200 [10:08.86], senior Daniel Adams cleared 12-0 for 3rd in the pole vault and sophomore Marty Crowl jumped 42-6 for 5th in the triple jump.

Martin, Johnson, Wesley and Saicic ran 8:24.15 for 2nd in the 4-by-8, and Adeleye, T. Butler, Amari Sabb and Xavier Sabb ran 42.97 for 3rd in the 4-by-1.

Washington Township’s Ajani Dwyer, a freshman at Penn State, raced into the 100-meter dash finals at the Big Ten Championships Saturday with the fastest wind-legal time of his life.

Dwyer ran 10.16 with a legal 0.5 meters-per-second tailwind at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., to lead all qualifiers for the final on Sunday. His previous legal PR was 10.19 in Gainesville last month. He ran a windy 10.05 [+3.9] in Charlottesville last month. He had a PR of 10.21 in high school with a 10.32 legal PR.

His time is No. 25 on the 2025 U.S. list, No. 3 on the U.S. Under-20 list and No. 6 on the World Athletics world Under-20 list.

Dwyer fell 1-100^th of a second short of the Penn State record of 10.15 set last May by Olympian Cheickna Traore in Lexington, Ky. Traore graduated from Innovation High School in Jersey City.

On Sunday, Dwyer is scheduled to race in the 100 final at 4:45 p.m. and the 200 final at 5:26 p.m.

Dwyer’s time is 5^th-fastest all-time by a New Jersey high school graduate:

9.86 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], Aug. 25, 1991, Tokyo, Japan [+1.2]
9.91 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], Sept. 7, 1996, Milan, Italy  [+1.2]
10.12 … Mario Heslop [Franklin Twp.], April 9, 2022, Atlanta [-1.3]
10.15 … Cheickna Traore [Snyder], May 24, 2024, Lexington, Ky. [+0.7]
10.16 … Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp.], May 17, 2025, Eugene, Ore. [+0.5]
10.19 … Michael Garvin [Don Bosco], April 4, 2009, Austin, Texas [+1.6]
10.21 … Nadále Buntin [J.P. Stevens], May 13, 2023, Bloomington, Ind. [+1.0]
10.23 … Ashhad Agyapong [Trenton], June 7, 2008, Holmdel, N.J. [+0.0]
10.24 … Renaldo Nehemiah [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], June 26, 1979, Västerås, Sweden [+1.0]
10.27 … Barry Douglas [Willingboro], May 4, 1996, Fairfax  [+1.3]

Delsea junior Hannah Nuhfer shattered the South Jersey shot put record Saturday at the South Jersey Group 3 meet at her home track.

Nuhfer, who PR’d with a 46-4 at the Deptford Spartan Relays last month, popped a 47-9 on her 6th and final attempt, breaking the mark of 47-1 ¼ set by Cherokee’s Jessica Woodard when she won the 2013 Meet of Champions in South Plainfield.

That’s No. 11 in state history and only two inches shy of the all-time top-10. It’s No. 5 among underclassmen. It’s No. 17 in the U.S. this year, according to the MileSplit database, and No. 3 among juniors.

She broke the Gloucester County (and school) record of 46-4 that she shared with Delsea’s Janiece Rose from 2011.

Nuhfer also had a 45-1 ½ on her first throw and a 43-10 ½ on her 5^th

Nuhfer broke the South Jersey Group 4 and overall South Jersey sectional meet record of 45-1 set in 2011 by Rose. The overall South Jersey sectional shot put record was Helene Connell’s 46-10 ¼ at the 1977 meet at Toms River South.

.(The NJSIAA’s list of meet records has Rose setting that record in 2017, which was six years after she graduated from high school. It also lists it as “45-27:86,” which tells you everything you need to know about the NJSIAA. They don’t care about track, They don’t care about accuracy.).

Here’s every New Jersey girl that’s thrown 47 feet or more:
58-1 … Alyssa Wilson [Donovan Catholic], 2017
55-11 … Jessica Oji [Livingston], 2025
52-7 ¾ … Nickolette Dunbar [Whippany Park], 2016
50-0 … Layla Giordano [Old Tappan], 2024
49-10 … Shelby Bigsby [Montclair], 2018
49-2 ¾ … Nicole Sims [Plainfield], 1991
48-10 ½ … Amarys Berry [Hackensack], 2016
48-4 ¾ … Jessica Molina [Westwood], 2016
48-0 ½ … Jackie Hudgins [Highstown], 2001
47-11 … Danielle Notarfrancesco [Jackson Liberty], 2016
47-9 … Hannah Nuhfer [Delsea], 2025
47-6 … DeAnne Hahn [Brick Twp.], 2007
47-5 ½ … Theresa Picciallo [Immaculate Heart], 2011
47-2 ¾ … Kim Hicks [Plainfield], 1992
47-1 ¼ … Jessica Woodard [Cherokee], 2013

Nester Wea became the second girl in South Jersey history to record two sectional quad wins with a historic performance that led the Willingboro girls to their 10th sectional championship.

Nea set meet records in winning the 100 in 11.76, the 200 in 24.16 and the 400 in 54.09. Her 14.51 win in the hurdles was just off the meet record of 14.45.

By winning both relays without Wea, Willingboro gave Wea the opportunity to compete in – and win – four individual events, and that went a long way toward the Chimeras topping defending state champion Rumson-Fair Haven by a 120-102 score in the Central Jersey Group 2 meet at Jackson Liberty.

Willingboro won South Jersey Group 4 in 1980, 1981 and 1992, South Jersey Group 3 in 1984, 1985 and 1999, South Jersey Group 2 last year and Central Jersey Group 3 in 2004. They’ve now won outdoor sectional titles in six different groups.

Wea now ranks 13th in South Jersey history in the 100, 6th in the 200 and 10th in the 400. In Burlington County history, she’s No. 2 in the 100 and 400, No. 3 in the 200 and 10th in the hurdles.

Only 11 girls in South Jersey history have ever won four individual events at an individual sectional meet. Wea won the same four events in South Jersey Group 2 as a sophomore in 2023, and the only other girl with multiple South Jersey sectional quad wins is Olympian Erin Donohue, who won the 800, 1,600, 3,200 and javelin in 1999 and 2000.

Of the 13 quad wins, Wea’s is by far the most impressive in terms of where her performances rank in South Jersey history.

Her 11.76 in the 100 broke the meet record of 11.98 set by Jay-Deen Batchelor of Hillside last year. Her 24.16 broke the meet record of 24.74 set in
2004 by Lashonda Carter of Rahway. Her 14.51 was 6-100ths of a second off the meet record of 14.45 set in 2012 by Abraham Clarke’s Kaprice James.

Willingboro picked up those two huge relay wins without Wea in the 4-by-1 and 4-by-4.

In the 400-meter relay, sophomore Maya Bolden, junior Kayla Speight, junior Aaliyah Robinson and sophomore Trinity Brapoh won with a meet-record 48.32, breaking the mark of 48.77 set by Point Pleasant Beach in 2023.

And in the 4-by-4, Bolden, Robinson, sophomore Jade Pinder and Speight ran 3:56.78, faling just 7-100ths of a second shy of the meet record of 3:56.70 set in 2019 by Rumson-Fair Haven.

Willingboro swept the hurdles with Wea, Brapoh [14.64] and Robinson [15.15] for 24 points, went 1-2-5 in the 100 with Wea, Bolden [12.25] and Speight [12.39] for 20 points and went 1-3-4 in the 200 with Wea, Speight [24.96] and Bolden [25.10] for 20 more points.

The Chimeras also scored nine points in the long jump, with Pinder taking 2nd at 17-4 ½ and Robinson 6th at 16-7.

Also, senior Sunny Oyibo [1:06.25 in the 400IH], Brapoh [33-7 ¼ in the triple jump] and Pinder [4-10 high jump] each picked up 4th places, Bolden was 5th in the 400 [57.93], senior Yaramari Torres placed 5th in the shot [29-11], and freshman Annalyse Brown, freshman Gabriella Sanabria, senior Janella Sanabria and Oyibo ran 10:22.99 for 6th in the 4-by-8.

South Jersey Individual Quad Winners
Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley, S.J. Group 3, 1986]: 100HH [14.5], 400IH [1:02.2], LJ [17-7 ½], HJ [5-4]
Euride McCormick [Paulsboro, S.J. Group 1, 1987]: 100HH [15.3], 400IH [1:05.7], LJ [16-8], HJ [5-2]
Dana Burnett [Williamstown, S.J. Group 3, 1996]: 100 [11.6], 200 [24.2], 400 [54.4], LJ [17-10 ½]
Nichole Hill [Oakcrest, S.J. Group 3, 1997]: 100 [12.0], 200 [24.6], 100HH [13.9], LJ [17-6]
Kristina Matthews [Bordentown, S.J. Group 1, 1998]: 100HH [15.2], 400IH [1:06.2], HJ [5-4, LJ [18-6 ¼]
Erin Donahue [Haddonfield, S.J. Group 1, 1999]: 800 [2:16.7], 1,600 [5:00.0], 3,200 [10:43.2], Jav [133-1]
Erin Donahue [Haddonfield, S.J. Group 2, 2000]: 800 [2:12.8], 1,600 [4:49.8], 3,200 [10:28.6], Jav [141-7]
Shameka Speed [Bridgeton, S.J. Group 2, 2002]: 100 [12.1], 200 [24.7], 400 [57.5], LJ [18-6 ½]
Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp., S.J., Group 4, 2004] 200 [25.10], 400 [55.73], 100HH [14.33], 400IH [1:00.12]
Rajeanna Marigna [Palmyra, S.J. Group 1, 2008]:100 [12.34], 200 [25.44], 400 [58.06], 100HH [16.11]
Torie Robinson [Winslow Twp., S.J. Group 4, 2013]: 100 [12.18], 200 [25.08], 100HH [14.29], 400IH [1:04.39]
Amirah Sharpe [Clayton, S.J. Group 1, 2021]: 200 [25.37], 400 [56.24], 800 [2:20.54], 400IH [1:04.20]
Nester Wea [Willingboro, S.J. Group 2 2023]: 100 [12.09], 200 [25.52], 400 [58.05], 100HH [16.03]
Nester Wea [Willingboro, C.J. Group 2 2025]: 100 [11.76], 200 [24.16], 400 [54.09], 100HH [14.51]

Eastern junior Natalie Dumas won a sizzling showdown with Pennsauken junior Sianni Wynn Saturday morning and tied the state 400-meter dash record along the way.

Dumas won the South Jersey Group 4 title in 51.87, tying the state record set by four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin at the 2016 Meet of Champions in Berkeley Township.

Her time is No. 2 in the U.S., according to the MileSplit national database. Tyra Cox of Miami Northwestern ran 51.44 last week in a meet in Jacksonville.

She broke the South Jersey record of 52.80 that Wynn set at the BCSL meet, also at Pennsauken, earlier this month. Wynn placed 2^nd Saturday in 53.20.

Dumas’s performance is the fastest ever in a New Jersey sectional meet. McLaughlin had the previous-fastest sectional performance when she ran 52.89 at the 2017 South Jersey Parochial A meet at Egg Harbor.

The previous-fastest public-school 400 performance at sectionals was a 53.49 by Arianna Sharpe to win the South Jersey Group 1 title in 2022.

The overall Group 4 sectional record was Julia Jackson’s 53.69 in 2022 at Ridge, and the South Jersey Group 4 record was Wynn’s 53.80 last year at on her home track at Pennsauken.

Dumas’s time is No. 33 among U.S. women this year. It’s fastest among U.S. women 20 and under, according to World Athletics, and 3^rd-fastest among world juniors, behind Chioma Nwachukwu of Nigeria [51.26 in Gainesville] and Bella Pasquali of Australia [51.84 in Perth].

The race was crazy fast overall, with 10 girls under 60 and six under 58. Behind Dumas and Wynn, Kingsway freshman Noemi Haller was 3^rd in 55.87, Eastern senior Samantha Osei-Kyei placed 4^th in 56.33, Pennsauken junior Sanaya Dupree ran 56.60 for 5^th and Rancocas Valley junior Rhyann Roseboro was 6^th in 57.55.

It’s going to be fairly high on the all-time U.S. scholastic list. Gotta look that up now!

Ajani Dwyer, in only his 2^nd collegiate outdoor 200, ran the 5^th-fastest time in Penn State history Friday in the prelims of the Big Ten Championships.

Dwyer, a freshman from Washington Township,  ran 20.51 with a legal 0.8 tailwind and placed 2^nd in the 2^nd of four heats to USC’s Max Thomas, who’s 7^th-fastest in NCAA Division 1 this year at 20.33.

The only South Jersey natives to ever run faster in a wind-legal 200 are Olympic gold medalists Carl Lewis and Dennis Mitchell.

Dwyer advanced to the final as a small-Q qualifier with the 2nd-fastest non-winning time. The four heat winners and the next five-fastest times advanced to Sunday’s final.

Dwyer trails only Olympian Chieckna Traore [19.93 last year], one-time Eagles receiver Michael Timpson [20.23 in 1986], Terrance Laird [20.41 in 2018] and Malik Moffett [20.49 in 2017] on the all-time Penn State performance list.

Dwyer ran 20.55 in his only previous collegiate 200 in Baton Rouge back in March. His 20.51 is 8^th-fastest ever with legal wind by a New Jersey sprinter.

The 200 final is scheduled for 5:26 p.m. Sunday.

Dwyer is the No. 4 seed in the 100 with his 10.05 last month, with trials scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Saturday and the final at 4:45 p.m. Sunday.

Dwyer’s 10.05 was wind-aided. His legal PR is 10.19 from a meet in Gainesville in April.  That’s No. 2 in Penn State history and 6^th-fastest ever by a New Jersey sprinter with legal wind.

Malachi James turned in the fastest 100 time by a Syracuse sprinter in at least 16 years on Friday.

James, a freshman from Burlington City, ran 10.32 into a 0.6 meters-per-second headwind at the ACC Championbships in Winston-Salem, N.C., and qualified for Saturday’s final.

James set the New Jersey state record at 10.28 last year at the Meet of Champions at Pennsauken but also had a 10.18 at South Jersey Group 1 sectionals that was negated because there was no wind gauge at Pennsauken.

After playing football for Syracuse as a true freshman, he sat out the indoor season and didn’t race outdoors until a meet in Tampa in late March. He ran a wind-aided 10.29 in Albany last month, but his race Friday was a collegiate PR and only 4-100ths of a second off his wind-legal PR of 10.28.

I’d love to tell you where James’ performance ranks in Syracuse history, but Syracuse’s track web site is one of a very few NCAA Division 1 programs that does not have an all-time top-10 performance list. So the best I can do is look back through the TFRRS year by year and that shows nobody running as fast as 10.28 as far back as it goes, which is 2010.

The final is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday back at Kentner Stadium on the Wake Forest campus.