From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Schalick senior Jordan Hadfield raced to the Salem County 1,600 record Wednesday and fastest time by a New Jersey Group 1 girl in 10 years at the Tri-County Showcase at Delsea.

Hadfield ran a big eight-second PR and solo’d 4:59.06, winning by about 130 meters with negative splits of 2:30.01 and 2:29.05, closing in 72.35.

She broke her own county record of 5:07.66 that she ran last June when she won the state Group 1 title in Somerset. Her time is 8th-fastest in the state this year and fastest by a South Jersey runner, just ahead of Ocean City’s Maeve Smith, who ran 4:59.17 at South Jersey Elite on the same track earlier this month.

Hadfield’s time is fastest this year in Group 1 and looks like the fastest ever run by a South Jersey Group 1 girl. The previous record was a hand-timed 4:59.6 by Glassboro’s Ruth Lockbaum at the 1985 Gloucester County Championships in Deptford. Haddonfield has had a few girls run faster but they were always in Group 2 in those years.

The last New Jersey Group 1 girl to run faster was Rachel Suss of Metuchen, who ran 4:57.05 to win the 2015 state Group 1 title at Egg Harbor.

Egg Harbor’s Ahmad Fogg, a sophomore at Stockton, moved into the NCAA Division 3 top-10 when he won the long jump Saturday at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships.

Fogg jumped a wind-legal 24-1 on his final attempt and won by two inches over Rowan’s Nana Agyemang, who was 2nd with a season-best 23-11.

That’s tied for 8th-best in NCAA Division 3 this year. The top 20 qualify for D-3 Nationals, scheduled for

Fogg’s 24-1 is best by a Stockton jumper with legal wind since before 2013, which is as far back as the TFRRS database goes. It’s probably best by a Stockton jumper since 2006, when Mainland’s Paul Klemic jumped 24-9 ¾ (with -0.2 wind) to win the D-3 title in Lisle, Ill.

Stockton’s Jared Lewis, the 2017 and 2018 Division 3 triple jump champ from Deptford, had a 24-4 at a meet in Glassboro in 2016 but it was wind aided at 2.9.

Fogg’s previous legal long jump was a 23-6 ¼ indoors in Rochester in January.

Fogg also placed 3rd in the triple jump with a lifetime-best 47-8 ½. His previous PR was a 47-1 ½ at Widener last month.

So far this spring, four South Jersey long jumpers have surpassed 24 feet: Princeton junior Greg Foster from Lumberton [25-8 ½], Monmouth senior Ahmad Brock – Fogg’s one-time teammate at Egg Harbor – [24-7 ½] Monmouth junior Aaron Brooks from Eastern [24-0] and Fogg [24-1]

Fogg spent last season at Penn State, where he long jumped 23-6 ¾ in an indoor meet in Ann Arbor, Mich.

David Stewart ran the 8th-fastest intermediate hurdles time in Salem County history Wednesday and the fastest time by a New Jersey sophomore.

That’s impressive. What makes it more impressive is that – at least according to MileSplit – it’s the first time he’s ever run a 400-meter hurdles race.

Stewart, the versatile Schalick sophomore, won the intermediates and triple jump at the Tri-County Showcase at Delsea, and his hurdles performance is remarkable because while he may have run the event in a dual meet, it’s apparently his first try in a big meet.

Stewart ran 54.60 in the intermediates, 11th-fastest in the state this year, 3rd-fastest in South Jersey, fastest by a New Jersey sophomore this year, fastest ever by a Salem County sophomore and fastest by any Salem County athlete in nine years, since Jason Stefanski of Penns Grove ran 54.15 to win the state Group 1 title at Egg Harbor in 2016.

It’s tricky to figure out where Stewart’s time ranks all-time among South Jersey sophomores without going through stacks of dusty old New Jersey Track annuals, but the only faster times in the last 10 years are Bryce Tucker’s 52.17 in 2021 and Jamir Brown’s 54.52 in 2022 (for Delran, not Riverside).

Stewart is one of the most versatile athletes you’ll ever see. He’s run 11.22 in the 100, 22.00 in the 200, 49.10 for 400 meters and 54.60 in the intermediates, long jumped 22-3 and triple jumped 45-7 and he’s halfway through his sophomore year.

Among Group 1 runners in New Jersey, he’s currently No. 1 in the 200, intermediates and triple jump, No. 2 in the long jump, No. 3 in the 400 and No. 14 in the 100.

And among New Jersey sophomores, he’s No. 1 in the 200, 400 and intermediates, No. 3 in the triple jump, No. 4 in the long jump and No. 19 in the 100.

Absegami senior Josephine Buxton popped the 6th-best javelin throw in Atlantic County history Tuesday at the Atlantic County Championships.

Buxton uncorked a 133-10 throw on her 1st attempt at Egg Harbor, surpassing her lifetime-best 129-1 from Nike Elite last week at Delsea. That was her first throw ever over 120 feet.

Buxton also had throws of 127-8 and 128-8 and averaged 127-4 on her five legal throws. Her winning throw is best at the Atlantic County meet since 2018, when Brielle Smith set the South Jersey record of 168-6 at Buena.

Buxton’s throw is No. 2 in Absegami history behind Ayana Culhane, who threw 143-11 to win the 2016 state Group 3 title in Columbus.

She’s now No. 2 in New Jersey this year, behind only Sparta senior Isabella Frattura, who threw 134-10 earlier this month in a meet in Hardyston Township, Sussex County.

168-6 … Brielle Smith [Oakcrest], 2019

152-4 … Jill Shaner [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2009
143-11 … Ayana Culhane [Absegami], 2016

142-1 … Alexa Gardner [Hammonton], 2018

137-1 … Ayana Culhane [Absegami], 2016
133-10 … Josephine Buxton [Absegami], 2025

131-11 … Mya Pomatto [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2019

131-7 … Emily Higbee [Holy Spirit], 2013
1
30-9 … Lynn Brown [Buena], 2015
130-6 … Kylee Alvarez [Absegami], 2021

130-0 … Angela Garofalo [Mainland Reg.], 2006

129-2 … Kristy Costa [Absegami], 2002

128-1 … Chelsea Salisbury [Buena], 2002

127-0 … Jeanne DePasquale [Hammonton], 2005

For the record, here are the Atlantic County 130-meter throwers with the old javelin:

139-6 … Chelsea Salisbury [Buena], 2001

136-1 … Vicki McCardle [Absegami], 1998

133-1 … Juliette Stack [Atlantic City], 1982

132-10 … Karen Vance [Holy Spirit], 1985


What an inpressive meet for Absegami senior Jaidah Garrett Tuesday at the Atlantic County Championships.

Garrett won the 100 in 12.19, the 200 in 24.59, the long jump at 19-4 and the triple jump with a 37-5 ¾.

She’s now No. 4 in South Jersey in the 100, No. 5 in the 200, No. 2 in the long jump and No. 2 in the triple jump. On the 2025 state list, she’s No. 2 in the long jump, No. 6 in the 200, 11th in the triple and 13th in the 100.

She PR’d in the 100 and 200 and was close in both horizontal jumps. She’s now No. 5 in Atlantic County history in the 100 and 200 and No. 4 in the triple in addition holding the county record in the long jump.

Atlantic County Tech sophomore Brianna Growalt had quite a meet as well with PR 2nd-places in the 200 in 24.79, hurdles in 14.44 and long jump with an 18-9 ¼. She was 2nd to Garrett in the 200 and long jump and 2nd to Pleasantville freshman Isabella Alvarez’s PR 14.41 in the hurdles. Growalt is now No. 7 in Atlantic County history in the 200 and 5th in the long jump. She’s 6th in South Jersey in the 200, 3rd in the hurdles and 3rd in the long jump. She’s the top sophomore in New Jersey in the hurdles and long jump and 3rd in the 200.

All-Time Atlantic County 100-Meter Dash List
11.81 … Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2018
11.98 … Royanah Farmer [Oakcrest], 2023
12.08 … Angie Clybourn [Egg Harbor Twp.], 1991
12.10 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], 2008
12.19 … Jaidah Garrett [Absegami], 2025
12.19 … Sherese Price [Pleasantville], 1998
12.22 … Nichole Hill [Oakcrest], 1997
12.24 … Sunya Powell [Pleasantville], 2024
12.24 … Rebekah Clark [Pleasantville], 2027
12.29 … Joslynn Whaley [Atlantic County Tech], 2019

All-Time Atlantic County 200-Meter Dash List
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 Reg.], 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

All-Time Atlantic County Long Jump List
19-7 … Jaidah Garrett [Absegami], 2024
19-2 ¾ …….Asia Young [Holy Spirit], 2016
18-10 ¾ … Shameeka Marshall [Oakcrest], 2001

18-9 ½ … 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


All-Time Atlantic County Triple Jump List
42-2 … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2018

39-2 ¼ … Mariah Hubbard [Absegami], 2016

38-8 … Shameka Marshall [Oakcrest], 2001

38-6 … Monet Gist [Atlantic City], 2013
38-6 … Jaidah Garrett [Absegami], 2025
38-5 1/2 … Camryn Dirkes [Mainland Reg.], 2022
38-4 … Mariah Stephens [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2021

37-7 ¼ … Alex Romanelli [Absegami], 2009

37-7 ¼ … Kyla Edwards [Oakcrest], 2018

37-2 …… Shamyra Brown [Oakcrest], 2006


St. Augustine senior Julian Onesti ran within 4-100ths of a second of the Atlantic County 100-meter dash record Tuesday at the Atlantic County Championships.

Onesti ran 10.58 in the 100 trials at Egg Harbor.

There is no wind reading listed in the results, so the performance isn’t eligible for record purposes, but regardless of conditions it’s tied for No. 15 in South Jersey history and just 4-100ths out of the top 10.

Fabian Santiago of Oakcrest set the Atlantic County record of 10.54 at 2012 South Jersey Group 3 Sectionals, also at Egg Harbor. The fastest wind-legal time in county history is Santiago’s 10.59 at 2012 Meet of Champions at Old Bridge.

Onesti’s previous PR was 10.79 from FAT Wednesday at Cherokee in April. Indoors, he ran 6.42 and placed 4^th at the Meet of Champions in the 55. That’s 12^th-fastest in South Jersey history and fastest ever by any Cape-Atlantic Conference sprinter.

Onesti’s 10.58 is No. 3 in New Jersey this year and fastest by any South Jersey sprinter.

I have no clue when the final is coming up (thanks, “Elitefeats”), and I don’t know if I’ll be around to write about it if and when it does happen. Hopefully, he runs faster and we can write about it late tonight or tomorrow!

South Jersey All-Time 100-Meter Dash List
10.18 … Malachi James [Burlington City], 2024
10.22 … Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp.], 2024
10.35 … Jamar Ervin [Camden], 2000
10.36 … Damiere Byrd [Timber Creek], 2010
10.45 … James Townsend [Holy Cross], 2003
10.47 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 1983
10.47 … James Brown [Glassboro], 2009
10.49 … Jonathan Taylor [Salem], 2017
10.53 … Todd Dutch [Washington Twp.], 2001
10.54 … Fabian Santiago [Oakrest], 2010
10.55 … Todd Dutch [Washington Twp.], 2002
10.56 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2025
10.57 … Jamil Benjamin [Cumberland Regional], 2006
10.57 … Geoff Navaro [Absegami], 2008
10.58 … Anthony Miles [Winslow Twp.], 2003
10.58 … James Burris [Moorestown], 2022
10.58 … Julian Onesti [St. Augustine], 2025
10.59 … Lloyd Shambry [Gateway], 2025
10.60 … Robert Page [Kingsway], 2008
10.60 … Marquis Bonds [Millville], 2007
10.60 … Shawney Kersey [Woodbury], 2009
10.60 … Thomas Hampton [Clayton], 2019

She never placed in a sectional meet. She never placed in the Burlington County Open. She never broke 28 seconds in the 200, long jumped 15 feet or threw the shot put 23 feet. She never even picked up a javelin and never ran the high hurdles.

Samantha Magin’s track career at Cinnaminson may not have been the best ever, but she had one thing a lot of other athletes don’t have. The determination to keep going.

Magin is now a sophomore at The College of New Jersey and this weekend she placed 2nd in the heptathlon at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at her home facility in Ewing.

Magin scored 3,757 points in her 2nd lifetime attempt at a multi and placed 2nd to teammate Sarah Scepkowski, who won the event with 4,048 points. Magin’s score is 6th-highest in TCNJ history.

How important was Magin to TCNJ this weekend? She scored eight points in the heptathlon, and TCNJ won the team title by 3 ½ points.

This is all new for Magin, who didn’t even enter the pentathlon at the NJAC Indoor Championships in February at the Ott Center.

But she gave multis a chance a couple weeks ago and scored 3,332 in her first try at a home meet. She tried again this weekend and PR’d by more than 400 points.

Magin had the top marks in the competition in the 200 [25.75] and concluding 800 [2:27.97] and also ran 17.80 in the hurdles, high jumped 4-4 ¼, threw the shot 28-8 ¼, long jumped 15-3 ½ and threw the javelin 77-3.

She recorded six PRs along the way, setting lifetime bests in every event but the hurdles. She ran 2-100ths of a second faster in her first multi last month. Considering her total score is also a PR, that’s seven PRs in two days.

That’s not all. Magin also anchored TCNJ’s winning 400-meter relay team, which ran a season-best 48.54. Mackenzie Burke from Bergen Tech, Rukky Daranijo from Trenton and Petra Doherty from Lawrence ran the first three legs.

Other TCNJ scorers from South Jersey:

 Sophomore Maya Scannell from Absegami placed 2nd in the pole vault with a 10-11 ¾ clearance. Stockton junior Eva Morrison from Mainland Regional won at 11-1 ¾, making it a 1-2 Atlantic County finish.

 Freshman Ella Feehan from Brigantine and Atlantic County Tech placed 8th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 13:34.70.

Freshmen Hope Edwards and Payton Derer ran the fastest 800s by Moorestown girls in 38 years Monday evening at Haddonfield Distance Night. And Paul VI sophomore Grace Gutowski finished in between them.

Edwards won the 800 in 2:15.00 and Derer was 3rd in 2:15.92, the two fastest Moorestown times since Becky Wells ran 2:14.3 when she placed 2nd to Jasmin Jones of Hackensack in the 1987 Meet of Champions. Wells went on to run for Princeton.

Edwards broke the Burlington County freshman record by 1-100th of a second. Shawnee’s Julia Despirito ran 2:15.01 at the 2011 state Group 4 meet at Old Bridge. Derer’s time is 3rd-fastest all-time among Burlington County freshmen.

They’re the two-fastest freshman times in New Jersey this year and fastest by any freshman from South Jersey since Washington Township’s Kami Joi Hickson – now competing for Maryland – ran 2:12.04 at the 2017 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.

Gutowski  finished in between the two Quakers, taking second in 2:15.39, a big lifetime best for her as well.

Edwards’ previous PR was 2:20.38 from South Jersey Elite last week at Delsea. Derer’s previous PR was 2:18.39 at FAT Wednesday at Cherokee last month. And Gutowski’s was 2:17.58 indoors in March in Boston.

All three negative-split the race. Edwards was out in 68.15 and came back in 66.85, Gutowski ws out in 68.03 and back in 67.36 and Derer was out in 68.24 and back in 67.68.

Edwards, Gutowski and Derer are now No. 2, 3 and 4 in South Jersey this year, behind only Eastern junior Natalie Dumas, who ran 2:14.47 at Delsea last week.

It was quite a weekend at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships for Rowan freshman Nyla Jones from Timber Creek, with three wins, a meet record, a school record and a top-3 national ranking.

On a breezy, rainy day at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, Jones won the 100-meter hurdles in 14.35 and came back to win the 400-meter intermediates in a meet-record 1:00.42 and then lead off Rowan’s winning 4-by-4.

We’ll start with the intermediates because this was a remarkable performance, especially considering the conditions when she raced Sunday afternoon.

Jones ran her first collegiate intermediates race just two weeks ago and ran 1:02.93 in Baltimore. Her 2nd was the trials on Saturday, and she led all qualifiers with a 1:01.40, just below her high school PR of 1:01.44 from South Jersey Group 3 Sectionals last spring at Delsea.

In the final, she ran away from a very good field, and her 1:00.42 broke the meet record of 1:01.23 set in 2023 by TCNJ’s Eliza Bruncaj in Mahwah.

It’s No. 3 in NCAA Division 3 this year, behind only Ren Brown of the University of Chicago, who ran 59.25 last month in Wheaton, Ill., and Fiona Mejico of Colby, who ran 59.79 in March in Atlanta.

Jones broke the Rowan record of 1:01.33 set by Woodstown’s Molly Lodge last May in Cortland, N.Y.

Lodge won the 200 Sunday in 24.19 (No. 11 in Division 3 this year) and was 2nd in the 400 in this year’s meet and ran the second leg on that winning 4-by-4. She didn’t run the intermediates but she is No. 8 nationally at 1:01.69 from a meet in Daytona Beach, Fla., last month. There’s a chance both will line up for the intermediates at NCAAs later this month in Geneva, Ohio.

There were no trials in the highs because only seven runners entered, and one less race probably didn’t hurt Jones’ bid for a triple win. She ran away with the final, winning by five meters over Mackenzie Burke of TCNJ, who was 2nd in 15.11. Her 14.35 isn’t far off her 14.27 PR in much better conditions in Daytona Beach last month. And well under her 14.55 high school PR. She’s No. 1 in D-3 in the highs and 3rd-fastest freshman.

In the 4-by-4, Jones, Lodge, Rowan freshman Paige Franklin from Williamstown and senior Nevaeh Lorjuste from Triton won in 3:49.32, with Lorjuste anchoring in 55.07. That’s the fastest time at the NJAC meet since the 2015 Rowan team with Jessalynn Wright from Cherokee, Shailah Williams from Pemberton, Tashay Wilson from Hillside and Melirah Searcy from Edison ran 3:48.70.

Rowan is No. 13 nationally this year with its 3:48.10 with Jones, senior Jasmine Broadway from Burlington Township, Ava Reilly from Toms River East and Lodge at Penn.

As for Jones, she’s already a four-time conference champion. She won the 60-meter highs indoors at the Ott Center in 8.95.

She’s also the fastest NJAC freshman in either hurdles race as far back as TFRRS records go, which is the 2013 season.

Eastern junior Natalie Dumas took advantage of the South Jersey Open Saturday to run a rare 200, and she turned in the 11th-fastest time in South Jersey history.

In her first outdoor non-dual-meet 200 in a year, Dumas ran 24.06, missing Olympic gold medalist English Gardner’s school record by only 2-100ths of a second. Gardner ran 24.04 when she won the state Group 4 title at Egg Harbor in 2010.

Dumas’s previous 200 PR was 24.41 indoors at the Ott Center in January. Her outdoor PR was 25.29 at last year’s Camden County Championships at Haddon Township. Her 24.06 is 3rd-fastest in New Jersey this year, behind South Jersey sprinters Ryan Jennings of Timber Creek [23.46 in Walnut, Calif.] and Sianni Wynn [23.57 at Delsea].

She also won the 100 in 12.23 in her first venture ever at that distance. That’s No. 5 in South Jersey this year.

Dumas has quite possibly the greatest elite range of any athlete in South Jersey history. Who else has ever run flat races from 100 to 1,600 in 12.23, 24.06, 53.16, 2:07.68 and 5:05.92? In addition to 58.32 and a national title in the 400 hurdles?

Dumas is now No. 8 in state history in the outdoor 400, 9th-fastest in the indoor 800, 4th-fastest in the indoor 400 and 4th-fastest in state history in the intermediate hurdles.