From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Penns Grove enior Kylee Goodson ran the 3^rd-fastest 400 in Salem County history Saturday at the Moorestown Invitational.

What makes the race unique is that it was his first lifetime outdoor 400.

Goodson won the race in 48.88, fastest by a Penns Grove runner in 13 years, since Jaymes Dennison ran 48.33 at 2013 Group 1 states at Egg Harbor.  Penns Grove school record of 47.94 was set by Tim Reed at the old Delaware Valley Meet of Champions at Franklin Field in 1984.

Pending other meets on Saturday, Goodson’s time is fastest in New Jersey this year.

Goodson ran 49.39 indoors at Virginia Beach Nationals, but he had never run an outdoor 400 in his first three years at Penns Grove.

Willingboro senior Christopher Jones ran a PR 49.15 for 2^nd and Eastern senior Ashton Gage also broke 50 with a 49.73.

All-Time Salem County 400-Meter Mini-List
47.94 … Tim Reed [Penns Grove], 1984
48.33 … Jaymes Dennison [Penns Grove], 2013
48.88 … Kylee Goodson [Penns Grove], 2026
49.01 … James Crawford [Woodstown], 2025
49.10 … David Stewart [Schalick], 2025

In her 1^st lifetime 3,000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Michaela Schlemo from Egg Harbor Township ran the 9^th-fastest time in Rutgers history.

Schlemo ran 11:45.67 and placed 2^nd Saturday at the Rutgers Relays in Piscataway.  Rutgers senior Emma Baeyans from Watchung Hills won the race in 11:31.16 in her 1^st steeplechase.

Schlemo’s steeple is fastest by a Rutgers woman from South Jersey since Lindsay Bertulis of Millville ran 11:26.50 at Princeton in 2010.

Schlemo ran a 5,000 PR 18:04.41 in her only previous race this outdoor season.

Greg Foster popped an outdoor long jump Friday in his 2026 outdoor opener in Athens, Ga., breaking the overall Ivy League outdoor record and extending his own Princeton school record.

Foster, who smashed both records indoors with his 27-0 ½ at the Armory, jumped 26-2 ¾ twice, on his 1^st and 5^th jumps at the Spec Towns Invitational at the University of Georgia.

The previous Ivy League outdoor record was 26-2 set in 1985 by both Chris Chrysostomou of Cornell and Eugene Profit of Yale. Chrysostomou and Profit both jumped 26-2 at IC4As in Cambridge on May 4, 1985, with Chrysostomou winning on a superior 2^nd-best jump.

Foster’s previous outdoor best was 26-1 ¾ at 2023 Heps at Franklin Field.

Foster, a Lawrenceville Prep graduate from Lumberton, is No. 3 in NCAA Division 1 outdoors. He’s already the No. 3 American and No. 8 in the world with his 27-0 ½ on Feb. 28.

Germantown Academy’s Kyle Garland, the decathlon bronze medalist at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, placed 2^nd on his home track from college with a 25-2 ¾.

Alabama freshman Alexander Osayemi from Clayton ran the 5^th-fastest 400 ever by a South Jersey runner Friday at the Crimson Tide Invitational at Sam Bailey Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

Osayemi lowered his PR from 46.08 from last year’s Meet of Champions at Pennsauken to 45.85. He placed 2^ndto post-graduate Corde Long, a three-time 400 hurdles All-America at Alabama.

Osayemi’s time is 5^th-fastest this year among NCAA Division 1 freshmen and No. 19 overall in Division 1. It’s No. 41 among U.S. men.

Osayemi’s birthday is now listed on his World Athletics profile as June 16, 2007, which means he doesn’t turn 20 this year. That means he’s eligible for the U.S. Under-20 team. And his 45.85 currently ranks 6^th among U.S. men in the Under-20 division and 14^th in the world.

Osayemi ran a PR 51.09 in the 400 hurdles earlier this month in Baton Rouge, fastest by an Alabama freshman as far back as available recoreds go, which is 2010.

His 45.85 makes Osayemi 5^th-fastest South Jersey quarter-miler, behind Olympic gold medalists Lamont Smith [44.30] and Dennis Mitchell [45.26] as well as 2025 South Florida graduate Gabriel Moronta of Pleasantville [45.01 in May] and Woodbury’s Darrell Bush [45.49 in Tucson in 2015].

On the all-time New Jersey Under-20 list, Osayemi now trails only Najee Glass [45.71 in Gainesville in 2013].

The previous fastest 400 by a South Jersey runner in the Under-20 age group was Mitchell’s 45.99 in Tallahassee on April 20, 1985.

Here’s my best effort at an all-time New Jersey Under-20 400-meter dash list:

45.71 … Najee Glass [St. Peter’s Prep], Gainesville, Fla., April 5, 2013
45.85 … Alexander Osayemi [Clayton], Tuscaloosa, April 10, 2026
45.95 … Charles Cox [Monmouth Reg.], Atlanta, April 19, 2008
45.99 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], Tallahassee, April 20, 1985
46.21 … Kevin Lyles [Franklin], Dedham, Mass., May 24, 1992
46.23 … Xavier Donaldson [], Eugene, June 13, 2024
46.28 … Zyaire Clemes [Trenton], Greensboro, June 16, 2013
46.34 … Lamont Smith [Willingboro], Blaine, Minn., June 23, 1991
46.42 … Taylor McLaughlin [Union Catholic], Geneva, Ohio, Feb. 27, 2016
46.45 … Willie McLaughlin [East Orange], Princeton, May 23, 1982

Curtis Thompson bombed the No. 2 javelin throw in the world this year Friday at the Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational.

Thompson threw 279-11 on his 1^st attempt at Millican Field at Throw Town in Ramona, Okla.

The only longer throw in the world this year is a 89.37 by Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage of Sri Lanka in Diyagama, Sri Lanka, last month.

The 279-11 is Thompson’s 6^th-best throw ever and his 2^nd-best 1^st throw ever, behind his historic 284-4 at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo, where he placed 3^rd. It was his 21st all-time throw of at least 270 feet [82.30 meters].

With his PR 287-11 at last year’s Texas Relays in Austin, Thompson is No. 53 in world history and No. 3 in U.S. history.

This was only Thompson’s 2^nd meet this year. He threw a pedestrian [for him] 244-4 in his 2026 opener in Tucson two weeks ago.

Eight of Thompson’s nine-best lifetime throws have come since March of 2025.

Thompson added a throw of 271-11 on his final attempt. He now has 22 career throws of at least 270 feet. This was his 6th lifetime meet with multiple 270-foot throws.

Thompson, a 2014 Florence graduate, four-time All-America and 2016 national champion at Mississippi State, is a five-time U.S. champion, one of only five javelin throwers in meet history to win five national titles.

Curtis Thompson All-Time 270-Foot Throws
287-11 … Texas Relays, Austin, Texas, March 28, 2025 [2^nd throw]
287-9 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 9, 2022 [2^nd throw]
286-2 … NACAC, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Freeport, Bahamas, Aug. 17, 2025 [2^nd throw]
284-4 … World Championships, Tokyo, Sept. 18, 2025 [1^st throw]
282-8 … NACAC, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Bahamas, Aug. 20, 2025 [3^rd throw]
279-11 … Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational, Ramona, Okla., April 10, 2026 [1^st throw]
279-10 … World Championships, Tokyo, Sept. 18, 2025 [3^rd throw]
277-11 … World Championships qualifying, Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 17, 2025 [2^nd throw]
276-11 … Texas Relays, Austin, Texas, March 28, 2025 [3^rd throw]
276-4 … NACAC, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Bahamas, Aug. 20, 2022 [3^rd throw]
275-2 … USATF Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 31, 2025 [4^th throw]
274-11 … Athletissima, La Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland, Aug. 26, 2022 [1^st throw]
273-4 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 9, 2022 [1^st throw]
272-5 … Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, June 23, 2024 [1^st throw]
271-11… Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, July 4, 2016 [1^st throw]
271-10 … Spitzen Leichtathletik, Luzern, Switzerland, Aug. 30, 2022 [3^rd throw]
271-9 … Texas Relays, Austin, Texas, March 28, 2025 [4^th throw]
271-7 … Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, June 21, 2021 [6th throw]
271-0 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 13, 2024 [1st throw]
270-6 … USATF Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 31, 2025 [6th throw]
270-3 … Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Invitational, Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland, Aug. 6, 2022 [2nd throw]

Sophomore Jayden Johnson from Woodbury raced his way into the all-time East Stroudsburg top 10 in the 400-meter dash Friday afternoon in Newark, Del.

Johnson ran a huge PR 48.13 running solo and unpressed in a non-seeded race after three quarter-milers broke 48 seconds in the first race.

Johnson’s previous PR was a 49.19 in a home meet last April. He only ran two 400s indoors but ran a near-PR 49.25 two weeks ago at Widener before Friday’s breakthrough race.

His time is 3^rd-fastest in the PSAC so far this year behind Jacy Willis of Seton Hill [47.62 in Pittsburgh last month] and teammate Mark Jackson [47.73 last month at Shippensburg].

Johnson’s high school PR at Woodbury was 49.66 at the 2024 Gloucester County Championships at Deptford.

Click to access ESU_Track_Field_Men_s_History-progress_converted.pdf

46.64 … Negus Graham, 2011
47.66 … Damien Boham, 2013
47.72 … Derrick Washington, 2015
47.73 … Manuel Ferreira, 1990
47.73 … Mark Jackson, 2026
47.90 … Chris Reddick, 2010
48.07 … Tyler Boone, 2025
48.13 … Jayden Johnson, 2026
48.29 … Jon Reid, 2006
48.62 … Ryan Ditty, 2025

Stockton sophomore Elaina Styer, competing in her first heptathlon, recorded three PRs on her way to one of the highest scores in NCAA Division 3 history.

Competing on Thursday and Friday at the TCNJ Invitational in Ewing, Styer won the event with 5,050 points, the 38^th-highest score in NCAA Division 3 history.

https://web4.ustfccca.org/iz/records-lists/atb-lists/36?view=full&gender=2

Styer earned All-America honors in the indoor pentathlon and had the top score in Division 3 and 6^th-highest in D-3 history, but this was her first full two-day outdoor multi-event competition.

Styer went into the 800, the final event, with 4,246 points and needed to run 2:25.25 to reach 5,000 points. She responded by finishing first in 2:21.43 for 804 points.

On Thursday, Styer ran a big PR and school-record 14.23 in the 100-meter hurdles, the 5^th-fastest time this year in NCAA Division 3 and good for 946 points. She high jumped 5-1 ¾ for 701 points, threw the shot a near-PR 35-8 for 587 points and finished Day 1 by running a 200 PR of 25.69 for 824 points.

On Friday, she long jumped 18-1 ½ for 706 points, then in her first javelin competition since a high school dual meet, she threw a 20-foot lifetime-best 99-4 for 482 points.

That led to the 800, where she ran 2:21.43 for 804 points and a final score of 5,050 points in her heptathlon debut.

Her score is 2^nd-highest this year in NCAA Division 3. Olivia Bohlen of Central College in Pella, Iowa, scored 5,136 points in a heptathlon at her home track this weekend. Styer and Bohlen finished 2^nd and 3^rd at indoor NCAA Division 3’s.

Styer is the 6^th South Jersey woman to score 5,000 or more points and the second to score over 5,000 this month in a heptathlon debut. Washington Township’s Dahlia Beasley, a sophomore at Kentucky, 5,143 last weekend in a multi-event in Austin.

5,870 … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], April 14, 2016, Azusa, Calif.

5,640 … Tionna Tobias [Winslow Twp.], May 12-13, 2023, Bloomington, Ind.
5,565 … Shana Williams [Bridgeton], 1993, Buffalo

5,460 … Brianna Craig [Millville], May 12-13, 2023, Bloomington, Ind.

5,143 … Dahlia Beasley [Washington Twp.], April 1-2, 2026, Austin, Texas
5,050 … Elaina Styer [Ocean City], April 9-10, 2026, Ewing

Ocean City’s Elaina Styer ran a huge hurdles PR and smashed the Stockton record again on a strong Day 1 of her first heptathlon Thursday at the TCNJ Invitational in Ewing.

Styer ran 14.23 with a legal 2.0 meters-per-second tailwind for a whopping 946 points, lowering her PR and school record from a 14.50 from the Osprey Open last week in Galloway Township.

Styer, 2^nd in the pentathlon at indoor NCAA Division 3 Nationals, scord 3,058 points on Day 1 of the heptathlon at TCNJ. This is her outdoor multi.

After her 14.23, which is No. 5 in NCAA Division 3 this year, Styer scored 701 points with a 5-1 in the high jump, 587 points with a near-PR 35-8 in the shot [she threw 35-9 ¼ at indoor nationals] and finished Day 1 by running a big PR 25.69 in the 200. Her previous 200 PR was a 26.43 last week at Stockton.

On Friday, she’ll contest the long jump, javelin and 800. Her PRs are 18-5 ¾ and 2:19.96 in the long jump and 800. She threw the javelin twice in high school with a PR of 79-2 in a dual meet at Egg Harbor.

Lisa Chatman of Eastern Regional set the Stockton school record of 4,418 points at 2006 Penn Relays.

Thirty-one women in NCAA Division 3 have scored 5,000 points in the heptathlon. The NJAC web site lists Katie Holmgren of Montclair State as the NJAC record holder with 5,200 points in 1997 but doesn’t list a meet, and that mark doesn’t appear on the all-time Division 3 performance list and I can’t find any record of it ever happening. An article in the April 20, 1997, Star-Ledger says she set a school record of 4,398 at the Panther Invitational in Pittsburgh to qualify for NCAA D-3 Nationals, but she finished last night at Nationals with 4,031 points. The NJAC meet record is 4,231 points and she did not finish at Penn. Needless to say I’m skeptical of that 5,200-point mark.

Samir Fontilus , a Williamstown junior, recorded a huge long jump PR Wednesday, leaping 22-0 ¼ in a tri-meet at Clearview. [I apologize for calling him Fontilus Samir, but that’s how he was listed in the results!]

No wind guage of course, but Fontilus’ previous PR was a 20-0 ½ in December at the Ott Center, so this is a two-foot lifetime best. Samir’s previous outdoor PR was a 19-6 ¾ from last May at Delsea.

That’s the No. 7 jump in New Jersey this year and No. 3 in South Jersey, behind Schalick junior David Stewart [22-6 last week at Schalick] and Bishop Eustace’s Noah Glenn [22-1 ¾ in Ewing].

Teammate Chance Gibbons also had a big jump, placing 2^nd at 21-8 (listed on MileSplit as Gibbons Chance, but I’m pretty sure his name is actually Chance Gibbons. If I’m wrong, my apologies and please let me know!).

Also over 21 feet if these results are correct on what may have been a slightly breezey day in Harrison Township were Clearview senior Gavin Seaver [21-4], Timber Creek sophomore Landon Graves [21-3 ¼, three-foot PR], Timber Creek sophomore Devin Perry [21-2 ¼, five-foot PR] and Williamstown senior Bamba Jayden [21-1, 14-inch PR].

No series information available.

Dazzling quad win Wednesday for Williamstown junior Timia Waters in a tri-meet at Clearview.

In what looks like her 1^st meet this year, Waters won the 200 in 25.84, the 100-meter hurdles in 14.78, the long jump with an 18-3 and the triple jump at 38-0.

Wow!

The 200, 100-meter highs and long jump are all PRs.

Waters triple jumped 38-8 ¾ indoors at the Armory in January, but her previous PRs in the three other events were 17-10 ½ in the long jump at the Ott Center in February, 26.00 at the Ott also in February and 15.00 at South Jersey Group 4 Sectionals last May at Pennsauken.

Looks like Waters is No. 1 in New Jerey so far in the triple jump, No. 2 in the hurdles, No. 2 in the long jump and No. 2 in the 200. The long jump mark is No. 9 in Gloucester County history. She’s already No. 3 all-time Gloucester County in the triple jump.

All-Time Gloucester County Long Jump
19-4 ¾ …… Gabrielle Farquharson [Williamstown], 2011
19¬2 ………. Robin Taylor [Deptford], 1980
18-11 ½ … Tisifenee Taylor [Woodbury], 2002
18-10 ½… Karissa Watson [Williamstown], 2019
18-10 … Dahlia Beasley [Washington Twp.], 2024
18-10 ¼ … Anna Stewart [Glassboro], 1977
18-8 ¾ … Tacqyaya Tobias [Our Lady of Mercy], 2011
18-8 ½ … Tina Walls [Williamstown], 1982
18-3 … Timia Waters [Williamstown], 2026
18-2 ½ … Sabrina Burrell [Delsea Reg.], 2012
18-2 …… Jessica [West Deptford], 2005
18-1 ½ … Angel Roots [Kingsway], 1985
18-1 ½ … Kiara Lester [Deptford], 2014
18-1 …… Jasmin Jones [Kingsway], 2015
18-0 …… Maya Yiadon [Glassboro], 1994
18-0 … Denirah Jones [Woodbury], 2025

All-Time Gloucester County Long Jump
39-7 ½ … Zenee Gadson [Glassboro], 2012
39-6 … Jessica Mills [Deptford], 2005
38-8 ¾i … Timia Waters [Williamstown], 2026
38-0 ¼ … Nalah Abul-Qasim [Williamstown], 2019
38-0 ¼ … Caleah Allen [Williamstown], 2012
37-5 …… Jewel Brown [Clayton], 2011
37-4 ½ … Della Sartore [Glassboro], 2008
37-2 …… Jasmin Jones [Kingsway], 2016
36-10 … Lauren Kilson [Clearview], 2006
36-9 ¼i … Jasmin Jones [Kingsway], 2016