From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

The Rancocas Valley boys ran 8:06.64 and placed second in the Millrose Games 3,200-meter relay trials at the 168th Street Armory in New York.

That earned R.V. a lane in the Millrose scholastic 4-by-800. The 112th annual Millrose Games is scheduled for Feb. 9 back at the Armory.

Northport (N.Y.) won the race in 8:04.67, with R.V. and Rye [8:06.76] fighting for third.

R.V.’s time is No. 3 in the state so far this year and No. 1 by a South Jersey school and the only S.J. time under 8:10.

This is the second straight year Rancocas Valley has qualified for Millrose. The Red Devils placed fifth last year at Millrose in 8:02.54 and went on to run a school-indoor-record 7:57.28 for third at Eastern’s. They got down as fast as 7:55.63 outdoors.

Micah Wood led off with a 1:59.6 split, with Kamau Sudlow splitting 2:04.9, Ian Moore 1:58.0 and Jonathan Womack 2:04.2.

RV’s outdoor school record is 7:48.70 with the 2016 team.

Here’s a look at the all-time Burlington County indoor 3,200-meter top-10:

7:43.64 … Cherokee, 2012
7:51.78 … Cherokee, 2000
7:52.95 … Willingboro, 2003
7:53.64 … Willingboro, 2002
7:57.28 … Rancocas Valley, 2018
7:57.5y … Willingboro, 1983
8:02.47 … Cherokee, 2011
8:04.10 … Rancocas Valley, 2015
8:06.58 … Cherokee, 2009
8:06.64 … Rancocas Valley, 2019

Haddon Heights senior Cydney Thomas reached the 42-foot plateau for the first time Tuesday night, winning the first 2019 Cherokee Throwdown by more than five feet.

Thomas threw a personal-best 42-0, coming up just four inches short of the 12-year-old school record of 42-4, set in 2007 by Sophia Coleburn. She’s the 18th 42-footer in South Jersey history but only the fourth from Camden County, following Stephanie Scaramella of Bishop Eustace [43-11 3/4 in 2007], Coleburn and Lisa Stuto of Winslow Township [42-0 1/2 in 2009].

Thomas averaged 41-8 1/2 on her three throws Tuesday. She opened with a 41-6, hit the 42-footer on her second throw and then closed with a 41-7 1/2.

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR SHOT PUT LIST
47-5 3/4 … Zyra Thomas [Schalick], 2018
46-1 1/2 … Najeaya Singleton [Vineland], 2017
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
42-0 … Cydney Thomas [Haddon Heights], 2019

Rancocas Valley senior Ian Moore won the 1,000 meters over a field of 79 runners Saturday at the Ocean Breeze Freedom Games on Staten Island.

Moore ran 2:34.68, which held up as the fastest time over a 2:35.17 by Edward Cerne of Lake Braddock (Va.) in another section of the seven-race final.

Moore’s previous PR was a 2:39.97 at the Bishop Loughlin Games on the same Ocean Breeze track last year.

He missed the school record of 2:34.05 set four years ago by Isaiah Curbelo by just over half a second.

ALL-TIME S.J. 1,000-METER TOP 10
2:27.71 … Jacob Clarke [Pleasantville], 2012
2:32.79 … Larry Ramirez [Pleasantville], 2009
2:30.81 … Andrew Riviello [Eastern], 2003
2:31.20 … Roger Lawyer [Willingboro], 1988
2:31.90 … Duke Mack [Pleasantville], 2007
2:33.27 … Nate Miller [Highland], 1999
2:34.05 … Isaiah Curbelo [Rancocas Valley], 2015
2:34.16 … Xavier Fraction [Washington Twp.], 2007
2:34.68 … Ian Moore [Rancocas Valley], 2019
2:34.95 … Michael Keebler [Holy Spirit], 2007

Cinnaminson junior Meredith Updike broke her own school record and moved into the all-time Burlington County top-10 in the 55-meter high hurdles Saturday, running 8.46 for second place at the Ocean Breeze Holiday Festival in Staten Island.

Upike had set the record of 8.62 in the trials. She held the previous mark at 8.75 from a meet at the Bennett Center last month.

Her time is No. 9 in Burlington County history but only 2-100ths of a second out of the No. 6 spot.

It’s also No. 3 in South Jersey this year, behind only Tionna Tobias of Winslow [8.26] and Claudine Smith of Atlantic City [8.29]. It’s also  going to land somewhere in the top 10 in New Jersey this winter, pending other meets being held this weekend.

BURLINGTON COUNTY ALL-TIME 55 HURDLES TOP 10
7.92 … Carol Lewis [Willingboro], 1981
8.28 … Jasmine Staten [Lenape], 2017
8.35 … Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], 1988
8.38 … Kimberly Allen [Willingboro], 2003
8.42 … Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2015
8.44 … Yvette Murray [Cherokee], 1998
8.45 … Magenta Taylor [Willingboro], 1999
8.45 … Lindsey Walsh [Lenape], 2008
8.46 … Meredith Updike [Cinnaminson], 2019
8.50 … Vanessa Arientyl [Willingboro], 2010
8.50 … Meagan Robinson [Burlington Twp.], 2011

Atlantic City senior Claudine Smith shattered the South Jersey indoor triple jump record in her final meet of 2018.

Smith extended her indoor PR from 37-11 3/4 from the Bishop Loughlin Games earlier this month at the Ocean Breeze facility in Staten Island, N.Y., to 39-1 at the Marine Corps Holiday Classic this weekend at the 168th Street Armory.

That broke the S.J. indoor mark of 38-4, set in 2013 by She’quell Higgs of Winslow Township and broke her own Atlantic County record.

Smith, also one of the state’s top hurdlers and long jumpers, has an outdoor PR of 40-1 1/2 from last year’s Rowan Invitational.

Her 39-1 is No. 1 in New Jersey this year and No. 5 on the early 2019 MileSplit national list. It’s also No. 16 in New Jersey history.

ALL-TIME N.J. INDOOR TRIPLE JUMP LIST
44-2 … Keturah Orji [Mount Olive], 2014
40-11 … Stephanie McIntyre [South Brunswick], 2007
40-9 3/4 … Carlene Cummings [Englewood], 1998
40-4 … Domonique Panton [Freehold Twp.], 2015
40-3 … Iana Amsterdam [Newark Tech], 2013
39-10 1/2 … Jen McDermott [Ridgewood], 1989
39-9 … Bryanna Grant [Cranford], 2012
39-7 3/4 … Adefunke Sonaike [Montgomery], 2012
39-6 3/4 … Ebony Young [Hillsborough], 2009
39-6 1/2 … Kelly Burke [Cranford], 2010
39-5 … Ada Unachukwu [Marlboro], 2009
39-3 … Consandria Walker [Hackensack], 2004
39-2 1/4 … Sharon Allen [Paterson East Side], 1987
39-1 3/4 … Ellie Ewere [Hillsborough], 2011
39-1 1/4 … Tiffany Bautista [Paramus Catholic], 2018
39-1 … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2018
39-1 … Kaitlin Salisbury [Hawthorne], 2016
39-0 1/2 … Bonnie Fosam [Robbinsville], 2017

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR TRIPLE JUMP LIST
39-1 … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2018
38-4 … She’quell Higgs [Winslow Twp.], 2013
38-0 1/2 … Shaya Wilkerson [Lenape], 2012
37-10 … Cidae’a Woods [Winslow Twp.], 2013
37-7 … Elizabeth Montague [Cherokee], 2014
37-1 … Ashley Edwards [Northern Burlington], 2015
36-9 1/4 … Jasmin Jones [Kingsway], 2016
36-6 1/2 … Maryn Hess [Winslow Twp.], 2017
36-6 1/2 … Janell Rowe [Sterling], 2016
36-6 … Javona Ford [Millville], 2010
36-4 … Rachel Montague [Cherokee], 2008

Egg Harbor sophomore Lauren Princz put together a fast early-season 55-200 double at the Marine Corps Holiday Classic this weekend at the the Armory.

Princz ran 7.12 for third in a very fast 55-meter dash and 24.92 in the 200 trials before a 24.99 for fourth in the 200 finals.

The Marine Corps Classic brings together some of the fastest sprinters from New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania, and the sprint fields in particular were loaded, so it was a great chance for Princz to mix it up with some of the country’s fastest girls.

In the 55, Princz opened with a 7.16 in the trials before her 7.12, which had her just behind Toshel Goffe of Paul Robeson Campus in Brooklyn, who ran 7.04, and Victoria Perrow of Archbishop Carroll in Washington, D.C., who ran 7.06.

Princz’s 7.12 is No. 1 in New Jersey this year. The three girls are now ranked No. 2, 4 and 7 in the U.S., according to the MileSplit rankings.

Princz, the freshman 100 winner at the New Balance nationals last spring and Meet of Champions 200 champ, ran within 3-100ths of her 55 PR this weekend. She ran 7.09 for third at Easterns last winter.

In the 200, Princz’s 24.92 was fourth-fastest qualifier, and she wound up fourth in the two-section final, which was won by Leah Phillips of the Bullis School in Potomac, Md. Phillips is a multiple national champ in the high hurdles and intermediate hurdles.

But this was a strong result for Princz, whose previous indoor PR in the 200 was a 25.29 for second at last year’s Meet of Champions. Princz ran as fast as 23.90 outdoors, her winning time at the M-of-C.

Princz moved up to No. 9 on the all-time South Jersey indoor 200 list and also broke the Atlantic County record of 25.11 set in 2006 by Pleasantville’s Nia Ali, the Olympic silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

Here’s the all-time South Jersey sub-25 indoor 200 list:
24.38 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
24.39 … Shakira Dancy [Winslow Twp.[, 2017
24.46 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], 2000
24.52 … Cecelia Gerstenbecher [Delsea], 2017
24.61 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
24.5h … Jennifer Jackson [Eastern], 2003
24.78 … Dana Burnett [Williamstown], 1996
24.83 … Kiara Lester [Deptford], 2014
24.92 … Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor], 2019
24.93 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
24.94 … Shardae Anderson [Paulsboro], 2005
24.96 … Toni Glatz [Delsea], 2017

Sixteen years ago, two Willingboro high jumpers — Mike Morrison and Dijon Thomas — went 1-2 in the high jump at the Meet of Champions, Morrison clearing 7-0 and Thomas 6-8 at South Brunswick.

This isn’t quite the same thing, but it’s close.

Boro juniors Kameron Smith and Nate Robertson both cleared 6-6 at the South Jersey Track Coaches Association Winter Meet at the Bennett Center in Toms River this week, the top two jumps by South Jersey high jumpers so far this winter and No. 2 and 3 in the state behind Trenton’s Christian O’Neal, who has a 6-7 to his credit.

It was 2003 when Morrison cleared 7-4 1/4 at the Nike Indoor Classic — at the time the No. 3 jump in U.S. scholastic indoor track history — before going on to a much-decorated career at Florida.

Since then, no Willingboro jumper has gone higher than 6-6 indoors. Isaac Williams, best-known as a hurdler, had a 6-6 at the state relays in 2011.

So Smith and Robertson are now tied for No. 3 and No. 4 in Willingboro indoor history, behind only Morrison and Scott Harrison, who cleared 6-8 in 1984. Another Boro jumper from the 1980s, Pat Collier, cleared 6-6 in 1983. Thomas played basketball indoors and never competed in indoor track at Boro.

Smith’s previous PR was 6-2, which he cleared several times last year, both indoors and out. Robertson’s PR was 6-0, which he at states last winter and again at the Armory earlier this month.

This is the first time in at least 15 years a South Jersey school has had two high jumpers over 6-6 indoors in the same year.

Robertson is a 21-4 long jumper and 42-3 1/2 triple jumper outside but has only high jumped so far this winter.

Bryanna Craig continued the remarkable start to her freshman year with a couple big-time marks this weekend at the Coach Glynn Holiday Carnival at the Sea Breeze Track in Staten Island.

Craig is a national-champion age group multi-eventer and the daughter of former Millville 7-foot high jumper and national decathlon champ Raffael Craig.

On Friday, she ran 8.64 to win the high hurdles, 58.14 to win the 400 and cleared 5-0 in the high jump.

Let’s take a deeper look at where Craig is two meets into her high school career:

55-METER HURDLES: Craig ran 8.79 in the trials, leading a 1-2-3 Millville sweep going into the finals, with freshman Leah Ellis at 8.76 and senior Malea Broome just behind in 8.86. There were 61 girls in the prelims and the three fastest were from Millville. No wonder they have a great shuttle hurdles team! In the final, Craig and Broome went 1-2 in 8.64 and 8.70, PRs for both. Craig and Broome rank No. 3 and 4 in South Jersey so far this winter and Ellis isn’t far back at No. 6.

400-METER DASH: Craig was out in 27.7 and came back in 30.4 and won the 400 in 58.14, fastest in New Jersey this year and fastest by a Cumberland County girl since Britney Kott of Millville ran 56.65 back at the 2009 Eastern’s. It’s also No. 3 in the U.S. so far this year by a freshman, behind Sanaa Hebron of George School in Middletown, Pa. (she’s the daughter of former Eagle Vaughn Hebron), who ran 55.04, and Kennedi Sanders of Madison (Miss.) Central, who ran 57.59. Lenape’s Shelby Whetstone was second in the 400 in 58.98, an indoor PR.

HIGH JUMP: Although she only jumped 5-0 Friday, she does have a 5-4 to her credit from last week at the Merli Invite at the Bennett Center. That’s tied with Winslow’s Tina Tobias and Willingboro’s Kenady Wilson for tops in South Jersey this year. It’s also an indoor Cumberland County record.

Kingsway senior Orion Joyner PR’d in the indoor triple jump Saturday with a 45-1 1/4 for second place in the Ursinus Holiday High School Open at the Floy Lewis Bakes Center in Collegeville, Pa.

Joyner placed second to Ty Trinh of Calvert Hall of Baltimore, who jumped 45-4 1/4 for the win.

Joyner’s previous indoor PR was 45-1 at the Armory Coaches Hall of Fame meet at the Armory in New York. He holds an outdoor PR of 45-4 1/2 from Group 4 states last spring at Franklin High.

Joyner broke the Kingsway school record of 45-0 set last year by Earnest Daniel earlier this month.

Here’s a look at the nine 45-foot jumpers in South Jersey indoor track history:
49-  1 …..… Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], 2018
48-  9 …..… Dominique Irons [Haddon Heights], 2013
48-  8 1/2 … Tristan Wilson [Delsea], 2014
48-  1 1/4 … Wayne Walls [Camden], 2009
47-  3 …..… Rhodeni Spence [Woodrow Wilson], 2007
46-  3 1/2 … Keon Grady [Delsea], 2018
45-  3 1/2 … Zakiyy Williams [Rancocas Valley], 2015
45- 1 1/4 … Orion Joyner [Kingsway], 2018
45-  0 …….. Earnest Daniel [Kingsway], 2017

Rider junior Nicole Berry ran a big PR in her first 800 of the season, going 2:17.83 at the Princeton New Year’s Invitational at Jadwin Gym.

Berry, a 2016 graduate of Winslow Township, had a previous 800 PR of 2:18.67, which she ran as a freshman.

She won at Princeton out of the unseeded heat, taking the second section by nearly six seconds. Kathleen Jaeger of TCNJ was second with a 2:18.58 in the first section.

Berry was mainly a hurdler at Winslow, where she won the Camden County title in the intermediates in 1:04.10 and finished fourth at Group 3 sectionals and ninth at states. She did run some 800s, with a best of 2:20.44 at sectionals.

Last spring, Berry ran 1:03.74 in the intermediates and was fourth at the Metro Atlantic Championships in Lawrenceville.

Berry’s time converts to a 2:16.26 on the Direct Athletics rankings since her time came on a flat 200-meter track.

Berry will have a chance to run an 800 on a fast banked track in two weeks when Rider competes in the Wagner Invite at the Ocean Breeze facility in Staten Island.