From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Haddon Heights junior Cydney Thomas PR’d in the shot put Tuesday night in her season-opening meet.

Thomas threw 40-8 at the South Jersey Track Coaches Association meet at the Bennett Center in Toms River. Thomas won by more than six feet.

Thomas added half an inch to her indoor PR of 40-7 1/2, which she threw last year at the Meet of Champions, where she placed fourth. Her outdoor PR is 39-10 1/4, set at Group 1 sectionals last spring.

Thomas’s best event is probably the discus. She won a state title in the disc last year and placed third in the Meet of Champions with a 130-4, which made her South Jersey’s top thrower last spring.

But she’s pretty good chucking the shot as well, and her 40-8 is the No. 4 throw by a New Jersey girl so far early in this indoor season and No. 1 by a South Jersey thrower. She’s the only South Jersey girl over 40 feet so far this winter.

Delsea junior Nico Morales tied the South Jersey indoor pole vault record Tuesday evening when he cleared 15-6 at a S.J. Track Coaches Association meet at the Bennett Center.

Morales tied the South Jersey and Gloucester County records set at the 2008 Meet of Champions also at the Bennett Center by Dan Batdorf of West Deptford.

His mark is No. 6 in state history indoors and No. 3 in South Jersey history under any conditions and matches the best in 26 years. It’s also No. 14 overall in state history indoors and out combined.

Morales’ previous PR was 14-10 last May at the Tri-County Conference meet at Delsea. His indoor PR was 14-0, which he cleared three times last winter.

Morales went out after three attempts at 16-0.

Let’s take a look at some lists!

ALL-TIME N.J. INDOOR POLE VAULT LIST
17-0 … Bill Lange [Bridgewater East], 1980
16-3 1/4 … Adam Sarafian [Ocean Twp.], 2004
16-2 1/4 … Don Heyburn [Cranford], 1980
16-1 1/4 … Craig Hunter [Robbinsville], 2013
15-10 … Bill Hartley [Southern Reg.], 1976
15-6 … Casey DiCesare [Irvington], 2006
15-6 … Dan Batdorf [West Deptford], 2008
15-6 … Luke Annichiarico [Northern Valley], 2014
15-6 … Nico Morales [Delsea], 2019
15-6 … Vince Reilly [St. Joe’s-Metuchen], 1977
15-6 … Eric Richard [Bridgewater East], 1981
15-4 … Nick Eckett [Jackson Liberty], 2013
15-3 1/2 … Tyler Hrbek [Northern Valley], 2018
15-3 1/2 … David Bausmith [Hunterdon Central], 2018
15-3 … Eric Geider [Northern Valley], 2013
15-3 … Bruce Wodder [Northern Hunterdon], 1975
15-3 … Dan Bertolami [Woodbridge], 1984

ALL-TIME S.J. OVERALL POLE VAULT LIST
16-0 … Bob Green [Haddon Heights], 1992 [o]
15-7 … Brandon Kurtz [Absegami], 1991 [o]
15-6 … Dan Batdorf [West Deptford], 2008 [i]
15-6 … Nico Morales [Delsea], 2019 [i]
15-5 … Devon Purves [Haddonfield], 2006 [o]
15-5 … Mike Davis [Haddonfield], 2004 [o]
15-4 … Jason King [Lenape], 1993 [o]
15-0 1/2 … Danny Lamp [Willingboro], 1977 [o]
15-0 … Mark Murphy [Haddonfield], 1985 [o]
15-0 … Ricky Clemons [Willingboro], 1989 [o]
15-0 … Dave Murname [West Deptford], 2000 [o]
15-0 … Josh Moline [Gateway], 2000 [o]
15-0 … Mike Hulme [Eastern], 2003 [o]
15-0 … Mike Maira [Seneca], 2010 [o]
15-0 … Mike Rivard [Haddonfield], 2010 [o]

Incredibly, Delsea had three vaulters over 13 feet, with junior Marco Morales third with a personal-best 13-6 and senior Ryan Jillard fourth with an indoor PR 13-0 (he’s cleared 13-6 outdoors). Deptford’s James Lynch placed second with a PR 14-0 clearance, which ties his indoor PR (he’s gone 14-6 outdoors).

Two other vaulters — Egg Harbor senior Joshua Cohen and Vineland senior William Ramos — cleared an indoor-PR-tying 13-0, making this an incredibly deep early-season pole vault competition. Cohen has cleared 14-0 outdoors and 13-6 indoors.  Ramos has cleared 13-6 outdoors.

Claudine Smith, the No. 2 triple jumper in South Jersey history outdoors, opened her senior year with an indoor PR in her specialty.

Smith jumped 37-11 3/4 to win the triple jump at the 65th annual Bishop Loughlin Games at the Ocean Breeze track in Staten Island, N.Y.

That’s No. 3 in South Jersey history indoors and an Atlantic County indoor record.

Smith took three jumps and surpassed 37 feet on all three. She opened with a 37-5 3/4 and the 37-11 3/4 winner before passing on her third attempt of the trials.

In the finals she passed on her first and third attempts — she was also competing in the 55-meter hurdles rounds and the 55-meter dash — but got a 37-10 3/4 on her second and only attempt in the finals.

Kaylah Britt of William Floyd High in Mastic Beach, N.Y., was second at 36-4 1/4, so Smith had the top three jumps of the entire competition.

Smith’s outdoor PR is 40-1 1/2 from last year’s Rowan Invitational.

The previous Atlantic County indoor triple jump record was 34-6 1/2, set in 2009 by Alex Romanelli of Absegami at the New Balance Games at the Armory.

ALL-TIME S.J. INDOOR TRIPLE JUMP LIST
38-4 … She’quell Higgs [Winslow Twp.], 2013
38-0 1/2 … Shaya Wilkerson [Lenape], 2012
37-11 3/4 … Claudine Smith [Atlantic City], 2019
37-10 … Cidae’a Woods [Winslow Twp.], 2014
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

Smith also placed fifth in the high hurdles in 8.51 and ran 7.70 in the 55-meter dash trials.

Winslow’s Tionna Tobias opened her senior year with a fast hurdles performance at the 65th annual Bishop Loughlin Games Sunday at the Ocean Breeze facility on Staten Island.

Tobias ran 8.26 in the 55-meter highs, placing second to Chibugo Obichere of Valley Stream (N.Y.). South, the two-time New York state champion.

Tobias ran within 1-10th of a second of her lifetime best of 8.16, which she ran in late February when she took third at the Meet of Champions in Toms River. Tobias didn’t run as fast as 8.26 last year until mid-January, so she’s well ahead of where she was a year ago.

Tobias ran 8.32 in the trials, easily winning her heat. She and Obichere were the two-fastest in the trials, so they were next to each other in the finals.

All-America Sincere Rhea opened his senior year by lowering his 55-meter hurdles PR and moving into the all-time New Jersey top-10 with a win at the Armory Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational.

Rhea also proved he’s much more than just a hurdler! More on that below!

Rhea, who set his previous 55 hurdles PR of 7.35 when he won the Meet of Champs at the Bennett Center last Feb. 25, ran 7.32 to win the Small-School hurdles on the 168th Street Armory track in New York.

Rhea led a 1-2-3 South Jersey finish, with Deptford’s Naseem Smith second in 7.62 and Willingboro’s Jayaire King third with a personal-best 7.86.

Rhea’s time is seventh-fastest in South Jersey history and only 3-100ths off the Atlantic County record of 7.29 set in 1996 by Pleasantville’s Nate Harley.

Rhea opened with a 7.47 in the trials.

He also ran a very fast 35.38 to place second to Savion Hebron of Neshaminy High in Bensalem, Pa., in the 300-meter dash. Hebron ran a meet-record 34.27. Hebron’s father Vaughn was an NFL running back and returner for six years and began his career in 1993 with the Eagles.

That 35.38 ranks Rhea ninth all-time in South Jersey history and is second-fastest in Atlantic County history, behind Egg Harbor’s Amir Brock’s 33.94 on the same track last winter.

Rhea’s previous 300 PR was a 36.88 at last year’s Bishop Loughlin Games at the Ocean Breeze track on Staten Island.

Rhea, fourth at nationals last spring in the 110 highs, also ran the second leg on St. Augustine’s 800-meter relay team, where he teamed up with True Robinson, Nkem Ota and Jacob Cobb for a 1:37.66 for fourth place after a 1:35.07 in the trials.

How about some lists!

Here’s the all-time New Jersey 55-meter hurdles performance list:
7.07 … Cory Poole [East Orange Campus], 2017
7.18 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1996
7.19 … Jermaine Collier [Trenton], 2012
7.22 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
7.22 … Issac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
7.29 … Nate Harley [Pleasantville], 1996
7.29 … Danyne Brown [Camden], 1999
7.29 … Will Brown [Palmyra], 2006
7.31 … Akeem Lindo [East Orange Campus], 2018
7.32 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2018
7.32 … Stephan Fletcher [Princeton], 1983
7.32 … Jon Dickey [Penns Grove], 1985
7.32 … Jeff Porter [Franklin Twp.], 2003
7.32 … Al-Tariq Dunson [East Orange], 2018
7.32 … Isaiah Greene [Newark West Side], 2018
7.34 … Chais Hill [Highland], 2015
7.34 … Barry McClain [Trenton], 1981
7.34 … Devon Hill [Trenton], 2008
7.35 … Todd Walthall [Seton Hall], 1988
7.35 … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 1990
7.35 … Darius Pemberton [Hackensack], 1993
7.35 … Devon Hill [Trenton], 2008
7.36 … Tony Davis [Scotch Plains], 1982
7.36 … Jerome Pemberton [Hackensack], 1986
7.36 … Chris Stephans [Plainfield], 2001
7.36 … Christian Boateng [Old Bridge], 2011
7.36 … Greg Caldwell [West Windsor-Plainsboro North], 2012
7.37 … Ihmir Marsette [Weequahic], 2017
7.37 … Benjamin Aidoo [Sayreville], 2016
7.37 … Basil Campbell [Ewing], 2003
7.37 … Andrew Aguilera [Governor Livingston], 2017
7.38 … Mike Wasko [Sayreville], 1982
7.39 … Rashad Baker [Wilson], 2000

And here’s the all-time South Jersey sub-36 list in the 300:
33.79 … Jade Smith [Camden], 2002
33.94 … Amir Brock [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2017
34.04 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 1984
34.25 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
34.83 … Royce Reed [Bridgeton], 1995
35.08 … Antonio Tarantino [Paul VI], 2017
35.08 … Alex Reber [Cherry Hill East], 2013
35.34 … Dennis Davis [Edgewood], 2000
35.38 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
35.42 … Alex Dessoye [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2017
35.45 … Terrell Lane [Highland], 2009
35.45 … Tarence Walker [Pleasantville], 2017
35.63 … Ahmad Brown [Holy Spirit], 2018
35.67 … Curtis McIntyre [Bridgeton], 1992
35.97 … Brian Brown [Paul VI], 2017

Pleasantville junior Gabriel Moronta opened his 2018-19 indoor season with an impressive second-place performance at the Bishop Loughlin Games in his first career 600-meter run.

Moronta won his section in 1:23.84 and finished second overall to Charlie Serrano of Matawan, who ran 1:23.03. There were 115 runners in 16 sections.

Moronta’s time is No. 8 in South Jersey history and No. 3 in Atlantic County history, behind two other Pleasantville middle-distance runners — Alan Laws in 2007 and Isaac Clark in 2012 (see list below).

Moronta, a medalist in the 800 at sectionals last year, was out in 26.1 and 56.0 and ran his last 200 in 27.9. Serrano, for the sake of comparison, was out in 52.5 but closed in 30.6, so if they were in the same section Moronta would have been closing fast at the end and the result could have been different.

Either way it’s an impressive result for Moronta, who ran 51.71 and 2:02.44 last year. He also ran on both Pleasantville’s 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter relay teams, which placed third and fourth at states, helping P-ville win the state outdoor team title.

The 1:23 shows that Moronta in the right race on the right track is already in 1:57-1:58 shape for 800 meters.

All-Time South Jersey 600-Meter List
1:19.6h … Rob Novak [Bordentown], 2005
1:20.71 … Keith Griffith [Florence], 2010
1:21.13 … Shannon Sherrer [Vineland], 2003
1:21.20 … Isaac Clark [Pleasantville], 2012
1:21.76 … Alan Laws [Pleasantville], 2007
1:23.34 … Marcus Phillips [Cherry Hill East], 2011
1:23.56 … Tyler Davidson [Willingboro], 2016
1:23.83 … Gabriel Moronta [Pleasantville], 2019

Burlington Township’s Jalen Jones had a successful college 400-meter dash debut Saturday, winning the two-lapper at the Princeton New Year’s Invitational at Jadwin Gym.

Jones, a freshman at Monmouth, out-raced freshman La’Shan White of Rider, a Bloomfield graduate, who was second in 51.80.

Jones also joined Nadale Buntin, Naeem Green and Greg Stickle in easily winning the 1,600-meter relay in 3:22.12, finishing 30 meters ahead of second-place Rider.

Jones ran a PR 48.84 for the Falcons last spring when he placed third at the state Group 3 meet. He also ran 1:55 for the 800.

Kutztown’s Stanley Green closed in on the school record Saturday when he won the 60-meter dash at the Lehigh Fast Times Before Finals invite at Rauch Fieldhouse in Bethlehem.

Green, a graduate of Holy Cross, ran a personal-best 6.98 edging senior Patrick Monahan by 4-100ths of a second.

Green’s 6.98 leaves him only 6-100ths of a second off the school record of 6.92 set by Kareef Wallace in 2005.

Green led all qualifiers with a 7.02 in the prelims, and Monahan was second-fastest with a 7.03 in the same heat.

It looks like Green’s previous PR was a 7.17 in the prelims of the 2016 PSAC indoor championships in Edinboro, Pa.

Green was a state Parochial B runner-up in the high hurdles and long jump his senior year at Holy Cross and was third in both 2014 and 2015 in the 55-meter dash at indoor states.

Moorestown graduate Zion Howard, a sophomore at nearby Moravian College, placed third in the final in 7.03 after a 7.04 in the trials. Howard’s PR is 6.96 from a meet at NYU last February. Howard earned All-America honors as a freshman last spring when he placed fourth at NCAA Division 3 nationals in the 200 in 21.42 in to a 1.7-meters-per-second wind.

Rowan freshman Spencer Jarrett, a graduate of Salem, was sixth with a 7.19 after a PR 7.15 in the trials, giving South Jersey three of the top six finishers.

It appears Green did not race at all during the 2016-17 season, either indoors or outdoors, so this race was his first since the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference outdoor meet in the spring of 2016. He was fifth in the long jump that weekend but didn’t place in the 100.

On Saturday, Green also placed fifth in the long jump with a 22-1, which is a college indoor PR. His previous collegiate PR was 21-4 1/4. He has gone 22-9 outdoors in college, and he jumped 22-6 at Holy Cross. It appears he never competed in the long jump indoors in high school, so the 22-1 is an overall indoor PR.

 

 

Years ago on the old DyeStat New Jersey track message board there was a list of the fastest schools in Holmdel County Park history, using each school’s five-man average.

The DyeStat message boards are long gone, but I saved a copy of that list before they were shut down, and I took a stab at updating the top South Jersey schools on there.

Eventually, I’d love to have a list of all the South Jersey schools with a cross country program and at some point before next fall I’ll put together a girl’s list as well. I know a lot of coaches or alums maintain these lists so if you have one feel free to post it in the comments section here.

And if you see any mistakes or omissions in this initial top-10 list please let me know. Hopefully in the next couple weeks I can expand it to 20 schools and then 30 and keep it going.

Here we go!

1 Cherokee
78:52 Total
15:46.4 Average
15:40 … Shawn Wilson [Group 4], 2012
15:44 … Marc Pelerin [Meet of Champions], 2001
15:46 … Keith Krieger [Group 4], 2002
15:46 … Jack Shea [Meet of Champions], 2015
15:56 … Ethan Wechsler [Meet of Champions], 2018

2 Haddonfield
79:05 Total
15:49.0 Average
15:42 … Jon Vitez [Meet of Champions], 2009
15:43 … Ben Potts [Meet of Champions], 2010
15:49 … Chris Platt [Meet of Champions], 2001
15:55 … Skip Stiles [Meet of Champions], 2001
15:56 … Breton Bonnette [Meet of Champions], 2001

3 Highland
79:29 Total
15:53.8 Average
15:33 … Joshua Clark [Meet of Champions], 2015
15:41 … Steve Maine [Group 4], 2013
15:57 … Nate Miller [Meet of Champions], 1998
16:03 … Kevin Pumphrey [Shore Coaches], 1985
16:15 … Jay Wassell [Meet of Champions], 1995

4 Ocean City
79:55 Total
15:59.0 Average
15:41 … Brett Johnson [Group 3], 2008
15:44 … Miles Schoedler [Shore Coaches], 2010
16:03 … John Fennekohl [Meet of Champions], 2006
16:10 … Ryan Birchmeier [Group 3], 2007
16:17 … John Richardson [Group 3], 2002

5 Paul VI
80:03 Total
16:00.6 Average
15:17 … Jason DiJoseph [Parochial A], 1988
16:08 … Ron Faith [Meet of Champions], 1984
16:09 … Tom Keefer [Meet of Champions], 1991
16:13 … Joe Cranston [Meet of Champions], 1989
16:16 … Pete Dougherty [Meet of Champions], 1990

6 Cinnaminson
80:10 Total
16:02.0 Average
15:51 … Jon Anderson [Meet of Champions], 2003
15:57 … Michael Ungvarsky [Shore Coaches], 2016
16:01 … Austin Gabay [Shore Coaches], 2018
16:08 … Steve Grabowski [Meet of Champions], 2005
16:13 … Matt Poskus [Meet of Champions], 2006

7 Mainland
80:13 Total
16:02.6 Average
15:39 … Greg Hughes [Meet of Champions], 2003
16:01 … Kevin Antczak [Meet of Champions], 2018
16:06 … Jimmy Wyner [Meet of Champions], 2003
16:07 … Scott Keyser [Meet of Champions], 1995
16:20 … Kurt Wayton [Group 3], 1993

8 Eastern
80:28 Total
16:05.6 Average
15:51 … Mike Myers [Meet of Champions], 2000
16:05 … Dan Deichert [Meet of Champions], 2001
16:06 … Karl Savage [Group 4], 1996
16:10 … Nicholas Pschunder [Group 4], 2014
16:16 … Barry Shea [Shore Coaches], 1984

9 Cherry Hill East
80:41 Total
16:08.2 Average
15:37 … Aaron Groff [Group 4], 2015
16:02 … Bruce Miller [Shore Coaches], 1981
16:18 … Dan Helfand [Group 4], 2014
16:19 … Bill Stewart [Meet of Champions], 1982
16:25 … Ben Dillon [Group 4], 2013

10 Shawnee
80:42 Total
16:08.4 Average
15:57 … David Forward [Shore Coaches], 2008
15:58 … Connor Herr [Meet of Champions], 2010
16:13 … Peter Murray [Shore Coaches], 2010
16:14 … Adam Ambrus [Group 4], 2000
16:20 … Matt Talbot [Group 4], 1984

Junior Martin Riddell placed 11th and senior Greg Eisenhower 18th to lead Haddonfield to an impressive third place in the Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional Saturday.

Riddell ran 16:19 and Eisenhower 16:28 over 5,000 meters at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., and Haddonfield finished behind only Christian Brothers Academy of Lincroft and Bishop Hendricken of Warwick, R.I.

Senior Ethan Spellmeyer ran 16:50 for 32nd and junior Stephen Kasko was four seconds back in 34th place. Derek Gess ran 16:13 for 63rd Senior Griffin Weiner and junior Grayson Fasolo gave the Bulldogs all seven runners in sub-17:30.

No. 6 nationally CBA won with 99 points, just nine more than No. 16 Bishop Hendricken. Haddonfield, ranked No. 22 nationally, scored 134 for third.

Cherokee was 10th with 356 points, with juniors Ethan Wechsler and Chase Miller finishing 15th and 25th in 16:28 and 16:49.

Kingsway also raced and was paced by senior Kieran Burns and junior Ayden Magee in the top 60 in a field of nearly 300 runners.

The Kingsway girls placed 11th, with sophomore Ashlynne Burke and juniors Allison Pierontoni and Emily Pierontoni placing 27th, 50th and 54th.