From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Derek Gess split 1:54.81 to anchor Haddonfield to the fourth-fastest 4-by-800 time in the country this year.

Greg Eisenhower ran 2:02.71 out of the hole, followed by Ethan Spellmeyer (1:59.64) and Martin Riddell (2:00.42), who set up Gess’s hot anchor leg.

The Bulldogs ran 7:57.56 to finish first at the Varsity Classic at the 168th Street Armory. That’s No. 4 on the 2019 U.S. list according to the MileSplit data base.

The official results don’t list who ran for Haddonfield, but Riddell, Eisenhower, Spellmeyer and Gess were the legs when the Bulldogs ran 8:06.47 to easily win the 4-by-8 at the Group 2 State relays in mid-January.

If anyone can provide us with the order – and the correct lineup if this isn’t it – please step forward because we want to credit someone for the 1:54.8 anchor!

Haddonfield’s time is only two seconds off the indoor school record of 7:55.44 set by the 2010 Haddonfield team.

It appears to be No. 14 on the all-time South Jersey list, although some times from the 1970s and 1980s could be missing.

It’s also No. 2 in New Jersey this year, behind only St. Benedict’s of Newark, which ran a U.S.-leading 7:47.60 at the N.J. Catholic Track Conference Relays at the Armory in December.

Haddonfield was third behind Rahway after the leadoff legs and a close second to Rahway on the second and third handoffs. Rahway wound up second in 8:01.18.

Surprising but it looks Haddonfield’s time is actually No. 4 in Camden County history indoors behind only two Washington Township performances and Haddonfield’s own race in 2010.

ALL-TIME S.J. 3,200-METER RELAY LIST
7:43.64 … Cherokee, 2012
7:45.55 … Pleasantville, 2013
7:48.92 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2017
7:51.43 … Washington Twp., 2009
7:51.78 … Cherokee, 2000
7:52.77 … Pleasantville, 2006
7:52.95 … Willingboro, 2003
7:53.64 … Willingboro, 2002
7:54.76 … Pleasantville, 2007
7:55.40 … Washington Twp., 2008
7:55.44 … Haddonfield, 2010
7:57.28 … Rancocas Valley, 2018
7:57.29 … Oakrest, 2009
7;57.56 … Haddonfield, 2019
7:57.5h … Willingboro, 1983
7:58.08 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2016
7:59.05 … Pleasantville, 2015
7:59.51 … Pleasantville, 2012
7:59.84 … Kingsway, 2014
7:59.91 … Kingsway, 2013

Sophomores Lauren Princz and Jailya Ash locked up in a titanic 55-meter dash battle at Group 4 sectionals, with Princz edging Ash by 1-100th of a second at the Bennett Center.

Princz ran 7.16 and Ash a personal-best 7.17. Princz’s PR is 7.09 from Eastern’s last year and her season-best is 7.12 from the Marine Corps Classic in December at the Armory.

Ash’s previous PR was 7.24, which she ran three times last winter — in the finals at sectionals, in the prelims at states and in the prelims at Easterns.

Princz and Ash now rank No. 1 and No. 5 in the state this year and No. 1 and No. 2 in South Jersey.

Ash has a ways to go for her school record, which is 6.91, set by Olympic gold medalist English Gardner in 2010. Princz is only 2-100ths of a second off the EHT school record of 7.07 set in 1991 by Angela Clyburn.

Here’s the all-time South Jersey list:
6.73 … Michelle Glover (Willingboro), 1981
6.88 … Patti Dunlap (Camden), 1979
6.91 … English Gardner (Eastern), 2010
6.95 … Bria Mack (Williamstown), 2017
6.95 … Torie Robinson (Winslow Twp.), 2014
6.95 … Denise Mitchell (Edgewood), 1983
7.00 … Amandi Rhett (Moorestown), 2000
7.00 … Iyanli Kollock (Our Lady of Mercy), 2017
7.01 … Aliyah Taylor (Rancocas Valley), 2017
7.05 … Dana Burnett (Williamstown), 1996
7.07 … Aliya Harrison (Sterling), 2018
7.07 … Annie Johnson (Shawnee), 2012
7.07 … Audrey Wilson (Deptford), 2009
7.07 … Magenta Taylor (Willingboro), 1999
7.07 … Angela Clyburn (Egg Harbor Twp.), 1991
7.09 … Ste’yce McNeil (Winslow Twp.), 2012
7.09 … Emily Carson (Haddonfield), 2013
7.09 … Lauren Princz (Egg Harbor Twp.), 2018
7.11 … Jamie Walker (Haddon Hts.), 2006
7.12 … Assante Johnson (Camden), 2009
7.14 … Shonda Burroughs (Vineland), 1999
7.16 … Dennisha Page (Woodrow Wilson), 2018
7.17 … Nia Lawrence (Pemberton), 2013
7.17 … Kiara Lester (Deptford), 2014
7.17 … Krystal Cantey (Winslow Twp.), 2006
7.17 … Jailya Ash (Eastern), 2019
7.18 … Sherese Price (Pleasantville), 1997
7.19 … Latoya Benson (Washington Twp.), 2001
7.19 … Adia Starnes (Timber Creek), 2017
7.20 … Medina Salaam (Camden), 1974
7.20 … Nia Ali (Pleasantville), 2006
7.20 … Fametta Lewis (Wilson), 2007
7.20 … Tacquaya Tobias (Our Lady of Mercy), 2010
7.20 … Cidae’a Woods (Winslow Twp.), 2013
7.20 … Gabrielle Farquharson (Williamstown), 2011

Ash was also second by 1-100th of a second in the 55-meter high hurdles in another big PR 8.10, just behind Atlantic City’s Claudine Smith.

Haddon Heights junior Cydney Thomas moved all the way up to No. 3 in South Jersey history in the shot put with a mammoth PR performance at sectionals this weekend.

Thomas extended her PR from 42-4 all the way to 46-1 with her win in the South Jersey Group 1 sectional championships Saturday at the Toms River Intermediate School adjacent to the Bennett Center.

That’s an improvement of three feet, 9 inches, in an event where improvement is generally measured in inches or fractions of an inch.

Thomas broke the Camden County indoor record of 43-11 3/4 set by Bishop Eustace’s Stephanie Scaramella at 2007 states.

Her throw is also best in Camden County history indoors or out. The outdoor county shot put mark was 43-2 1/2 by Lacole Fields of Camden in 1996.

She broke the S.J. Group 1 meet record of 42-11 set last year by Zyra Thomas of Schalick and broke the overall South Jersey indoor sectional record of 44-9 3/4 set in 2017 by Vineland’s Najeaya Singleton.

Including both indoor and outdoor throws, it’s No. 6 in South Jersey history. It’s also No. 3 in the U.S. this year according to the MileSplit database and No. 1 among juniors.

Thomas also just missed the South Jersey junior class record. Vineland’s Singleton threw 46- 1 1/2 at states as a junior in 2017.

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR GIRLS SHOT PUT LIST
47-5 3/4 … Zyra Thomas [Schalick], 2018
46-1 1/2 … Najeaya Singleton [Vineland], 2017
46-1 … Cydney Thomas [Haddon Heights], 2019
45-3 … Nacole Moore [Bridgeton], 2000
44-6 1/2 … Sylvia Galarza [Millville], 2004
44-3 1/2 … Jocelyn White [Delsea], 2004
44-0 1/2 … Melinda Boykin [Bridgeton], 1996
43-11 3/4 … Stephanie Scaramella [Bishop Eustace], 2007
43-10 1/4 … Mercedes Hicks [Atlantic City], 2006
43-10 … Rosetta Hunter [Burlington Twp.], 2015
43-4 3/4 … Jessica Woodard [Cherokee], 2012
43-4 1/2 … Victoria Imbesi [Our Lady of Mercy], 2009
43-3 … Janice Rose [Delsea], 2011
42-7 3/4 … Typhanie Bates [Williamstown], 1995
42-5 1/2 … Genevieve Tybicki [Our Lady of Mercy], 2007
42-4 … Sophia Coleburn [Haddon Heights], 2007
42-0 1/2 … Lisa Stuto [Winslow Twp.], 2009
42-0 1/4 … Lola Agabalogun [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2013

Here’s the overall South Jersey list, with every 45-foot thrower either indoors or outdoors:
ALL-TIME S.J. OVERALL LIST
47-5 3/4 … Zyra Thomas [Schalick], 2018 [indoors]
47-1 1/4 … Jessica Woodard [Cherokee], 2013 [outdoors]
46-4 ……… Janiece Rose [Delsea], 2011 [outdoors]
46-1 1/2 … Nacole Moore [Bridgeton], 2000 [outdoors]
46-1 1/2 … Najeaya Singleton [Vineland], 2017 [indoors]
46-1 … Cydney Thomas [Haddon Heights], 2019 [indoors]
45-7 1/2 … Ronetta Hunter [Burlington Twp.], 2015 [outdoors]
45-5 ……… Sylvia Galarza [Millville], 2004 [outdoors]

Thomas is also a 130-foot discus thrower outdoors and was the state Group 1 champ in the discus this past spring.

Her outdoor shot put PR is 39-10 1/4 at sectionals last spring at Washington Township.

La Salle senior Ariel Mitchell continued her terrific indoor season with a PR at the Villanova Invitational Saturday at the Ocean Breeze track in Staten Island.

Mitchell, a Lenape graduate, ran 7.60 to place third in the 60-meter dash after a 7.66 in the trials.

This is actually the third straight meet she’s PR’d in the 60. She came into the season with a 7.70 PR  from a meet early last season at Haverford, but she ran 7.66 and then 7.63 in her 2019 debut at Fordham and then 7.62 at a meet last weekend at Penn State.

Mitchell broke her own school record of 7.62.

Junior Emily Wallace set a Collingswood school record of 7.42 in the 55-meter dash, sophomore Sophie Steidle recorded two wins, and the Collingswood girls scored a ridiculous 110 points Saturday in winning their second straight sectional title.

Collingswood outscored neighboring high school Audubon 110-51 to win the South Jersey Group 1 title at the Bennett Center.

Wallace won the 55 in 7.46 after her 7.42 in the trials. She was also second in the 400 in 61.18 and fourth in the high hurdles in 9.33.

Steidle won the 1,600 in 5:28.45 and the 3,200 in 11:58.27 and was also fifth in the 800 in 2:31.39. The 800 and 3,200 times were PRs and the 1,600 time was half a second off her PR.

Senior Samantha Hamrick won the 800 in 2:28.18 and was fifth in the high hurdles in 9.33 — an interesting double!

Senior Dash Cruz scored in both the 55 (third in 7.68) and 400 (fourth in 61.37).

And senior Quinn Basewitz scored 20 points on her own with second-place finishes in the 1,600 (5:40.86) and 3,200 (12:27.87) and a fourth in the 800 (2:30.96)

Collingswood also won the 1,600-meter relay in 4:15.86 and got points from senior Deriana Bryant (second in shot, 31-3), senior Josie Cook (fifth in pole vault, 7-6), freshman Emily Waldron (sixth in pole vault, 7-0) and sophomore Hailey Spencer (fifth in shot, 28-2 1/2).

Trey Henry, Anthony Vasquez, Ruben Momodu and Joshua Cohen all won their events, and all but Vasquez PR’d, to lead Egg Harbor to its sixth sectional title in the last eight years.

Egg Harbor outscored Cherokee 47-42 Saturday to win the South Jersey Group 4 meet at the Bennett Center.

Henry won the 55-meter dash in 6.62, reducing his PR from 6.68 from the trials at Eastern’s last year. Vasquez won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.81. Momodu cleared 6-2 in the high jump for the first time. And Cohen cleared 14-1 in the pole vault, an inch higher than his previous PR.

Those four wins accounted for 40 of EHT’s 47 points, but the Eagles also got points from Ryan Lagroteria, who cleared a PR 12-6 for fourth in the pole vault; Gobi Thurairajah, who took sixth in the 800 in 2:01.83; and the 4-by-4 team, which was fifth in 3:34.16.

Here’s a look at the S.J. Group 4 team winners since the inception of the indoor sectionals in 2008:

2008: Toms River East
2009: Washington Twp.
2010: Toms River North
2011: Washington Twp.
2012: Egg Harbor
2013: Egg Harbor
2014: Lenape
2015: Egg Harbor
2016: Egg Harbor
2017: Trenton
2018: Egg Harbor
2019: Egg Harbor

Cohen’s 14-1 clearance is best by an Atlantic County pole vaulter indoors in 27 years, since Brandon Kurtz went 14-6 1/4 in 1991. It’s No. 2 all-time on the Atlantic County indoor list.

Senior Te’seanna Harris, the state 100-meter hurdles champ last spring, doubled the 55-meter dash and 55-meter hurdles to lead Camden to its first indoor sectional title in 10 years.

Harris led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 55-meter dash with a 7.46 win and ran 8.56 to win the hurdles.

Thanks in large part to 24 points in the 55, Camden outscored Willingboro 59-46 to win the Central Jersey Group 1 sectional championship at the Bennett Center in Toms River.

This is Camden’s third indoor sectional title and first since the 2009 team won South Jersey Group 2 in 2009. Camden also won South Jersey Group 3 in 2008.

Harris, freshman Jakarta Nock (7.65) and junior Simone Hopkins (7.82) swept the 55. Hopkins was the key after posting only the sixth-fastest qualifying time.

Nock and sophomore Braniya Mansfield went 3-4 in the 400, Nock running 63.72 and Mansfield 64.11. They also ran on Camden’s third-place 1,600-meter relay team, which ran 4:18.90.

In the shot, sophomore Makiyah Watson (31-4 3/4) and senior Jahmara Smith (31-0) scored 14 big point, placing second and third.

The Willingboro boys won their fifth straight sectional title and seventh in the last nine years Saturday, outscoring second-place New Providence by a whopping 22 points in the Central Jersey Group 1 meet at the Bennett Center.

The Chimeras out-distanced New Providence 70-48 for their third straight Central Jersey Group 1 title after winning Central Jersey Group 2 in 2011 and 2012, Central Jersey Group 1 in 2015 and South Jersey Group 2 in 2016.

Only Rahway (8) and Morris Hills (7) have won more indoor sectional titles since the meet was introduced in 2008.

Boro scored huge points in the field events, netting 44 of their 70 points in the shot, high jump and pole vault.

Juniors Kameron Smith and Nate Robertson both cleared 6-0 for 18 big points in the high jump, and juniors Jason Dingle (12-0) and Dontavis Wilson (10-6) went 2-3 in the pole vault for 14 more points.

In the shot, sophomore Deonte Allen (42-5 3/4) and senior Emmanuel Lewis III (42-0) and Nyle Thompson (40-10) added 12 points.

Senior Jayaire King won the 400 in 51.39, placed third in the high hurdles in 7.74 and ran on Willingboro’s fourth-place 1,600-meter relay team.

The Chimeras also got points from junior Zaire Clement (fifth in 55 in 6.86) and senior Kevin Peterson (fourth in hurdles in 7.87).

Want a little history?

Here’s a complete list of every state and sectional title the Willingboro program has produced:

BOYS
State Relays (14)
1982 [Group 4]
1983 [Group 4]
1985 [Group 3]
1986 [Group 3]
1987 [Group 3]
1990 [Group 4]
1996 [Group 4]
2000 [Group 3]
2001 [Group 3]
2002 [Group 3]
2003 [Group 3]
2005 [Group 3]
2012 [Group 3]
2015 [Group 1]
2017 [Group 1]
2018 [Group 1]
2019 [Group 1]

Indoor Sectionals (4)
2011 [CJ-Group 2]
2012 [CJ-Group 2]
2015 [CJ-Group 1]
2016 [Group 2]
2017 [CJ-Group 1]
2018 [CJ-Group 1]
2019 [CJ-Group 1]

Indoor States (12)
1983 [Group 4]
1986 [Group 3]
1987 [Group 3]
1988 [Group 3]
1989 [Group 3]
1990 [Group 4]
1995 [Group 4]
1997 [Group 4]
2000 [Group 3]
2002 [Group 3]
2012 [Group 2]
2018 [Group 1]

Outdoor Sectionals (15)
1977 [Group 4]
1978 [Group 4]
1979 [Group 4]
1980 [Group 4]
1982 [Group 4]
1986 [Group 3]
1988 [Group 3]
1990 [Group 4]
1991 [Group 4]
1993 [Group 4]
2000 [Group 3]
2003 [Group 3]
2004 [CJ-3]
2005 [CJ-3]
2012 [Group 2]
2018 [Group 2]

Outdoor States (12)
1979 [Group 4]
1981 [Group 4]
1982 [Group 4]
1986 [Group 3]
1988 [Group 3]
1989 [Group 3]
1990 [Group 4]
1991 [Group 4]
1993 [Group 4]
1994 [Group 4]
2002 [Group 3]
2003 [Group 3]

GIRLS
State Relays (9)
1992 [Group 4]
1993 [Group 4]
1995 [Group 4]
1997 [Group 4]
2002 [Group 3]
2003 [Group 3]
2004 [Group 3]
2005 [Group 3]
2010 [Group 2]
2019 [Group 1]

Indoor Sectionals (1)
2010 [Group 1]

Indoor States (6)
1980 [All-Groups]
1981 [Group 4]
1998 [Goup 3]
2002 [Group 3]
2003 [Group 3]
2004 [Group 3]

Outdoor Sectionals (6)
1980 [Group 4]
1981 [Group 4]
1985 [Group 3]
1992 [Group 4]
1999 [Group 3]
2003 [Group 3]

Outdoor States (4)
1980 [Group 4]
1981 [Group 4]
1999 [Group 3]
2002 [Group 3]

Samuel Gerstenbacher, a Schalick graduate, broke a 16-year-old Elizabethtown (Pa.) school record Friday night when he ran 3,000 meters in 8:33.17.

Gerstenbacher, racing at the NYU Invitational, placed second to Matt Tuohy of Ramapo, who ran 8:32.59 over the banked 200-meter track at the 168th Street Armory.

Gerstenbacher broke the school record of 8:33.80 set in 2003 by Steve Sanko at a meet at Susquehanna, Pa.

It was the oldest record in the Elizabethtown indoor track record book.

Gerstenbacher’s previous 3,000 PR was 8:40.82 in December at a meet at Franklin & Marshall University in Lancaster, Pa.

Sanko also holds the outdoor record of 8:26.78, which he set on Elizabethtown’s home track in April of 2004. Gerstenbacher’s time is No. 2 in school history indoors or out.

Sanko ran scholastically at Bishop Hafey High in Hazleton, Pa., which has since closed.

Iyanla Kollock, a Rutgers freshman out of Our Lady of Mercy, ran a 60-meter dash PR of 7.69 Friday at the Metropolitan Indoor Championships at the Ocean Breeze track in Staten Island.

She placed third out of 33 sprinters, behind only Fairleigh Dickinson junior Kylia Smith and senior teammate Oniesha Clarke, who ran 7.54 and 7.60.

Kollock entered the meet with a PR of 7.77 from the trials of the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University last weekend. She lowered that to 7.75 in the trials before lowering it again in the finals.

Kollock was state Parochial B champ in the 100 last spring won state titles in the 200 as a sophomore and senior. She was also a two-time state champ in the 55 indoors at the Newfield, Gloucester County, school.