From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Another 400 PR for Norfolk State sophomore Premier Wynn from Pennsauken Saturday at the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C.

Wynn ran 46.38 and finished 2nd among 85 runners, behind only Virginia Tech senior and UCLA transfer Samuel Herenton, who PR’d at 46.13.

Wynn’s time is 10th-fastest all-time by a South Jersey high school graduate and fastest by a Camden County high school graduate since Olympic gold medalist Denmis Mitchell of Edgewood ran 45.26 in Tampa in 1986 in one of his last 400s before be began focusing on the 100 and 200.

It was Wynn’s first outdoor 400 since he ran 47.25 at the same meet last year. His previous PR was 46.64 when he took 2nd at the indoor MEAC Championships in February in Virginia Beach. His previous outdoor PR was that 47.25 a year ago.

Wynn’s primary event is the 400-meter hurdles, and his 50.58 PR is 6th-fastest on the all-time South Jersey alumni list. He ran 50.70 in Tampa last month and that’s No. 18 in NCAA Division 1 this year. On the NCAA Eastern Region list Wynn is No. 9 in the 400IH.

In the MEAC, Wynn is No. 3 in the 200 at 20.91, No. 3 in the 400 with Saturday’s 46.38 and No. 1 by more than a second in the intermediates.

Here’s the updated all-time South Jersey alumni 400-meter dash list:

44.30 … Lamont Smith [Willingboro], June 19, 1996, Atlanta
45.26 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], April 12, 1986, Tampa, Fla.
45.49 … Darrell Bush [Woodbury], April 11, 2015, Tucson, Ariz.
45.81 … Gabriel Moronta [Pleasantville], May 10, 2024, San Antonio, Texas
45.98 … Antonio Abney [Willingboro], May 29, 2010, Charlotte, N.C.
46.05 … Schefer Sherrer [Vineland], May 18, 2005, Levelland, Texas
46.13 … Brandon Outlaw [Moorestown], May 15, 2021, Raleigh, N.C.
46.19 … Maurice Ransome [Vineland], May 23-25, 1990, Naperville, Ill.
46.26 … Marvin Lewis [Willingboro], July 29, 2010, Nairobi, Kenya
46.38 … Premier Wynn [Pennsauken], April 12, 2025, Durham, N.C.

Millville’s Leah Howard, a sophomore at Texas Tech, threw a season-best and near-PR 163-10 in the javelin late Saturday night at the Texas A&M 44 Farms Invitational in College Station.

Her mark is No. 17 among U.S. women this year, according to the World Athletics database.

Her throw is 4th-best in the Big 12 Conference this year and just six inches off her PR of 164-4 set at last year’s Big 12 meet in Waco.

Howard is bidding to beome the first-ever 170-foot thrower from South Jersey. Kelly Yanucil from Bordentown and Mount St. Mary’s is the alumni record holder with a 169-9 at the 2017 Penn Relays.

On Saturday, Howard threw 155-10 on her 3rd and final throw of the trials and secured the 9th and final spot in the finals by about 2 ½ feet.

She hit her 163-10 on her first throw of the finals before finishing with two fouls.

Interesting that the final results convert 49.93 to 163-9, but TFRRS – the Track and Field Race Reporting System, which is the official database for NCAA qualifying – converts her mark to 163-10.

A 49.93 converts to 163.81234, which equals 163-9.74808, which should be 163-9, since there are no inches in javelin, hammer or discus marks and you always round down to determine an official mark. But the throw shows up officially as 163-10, so we’ll go with that for now.

Howard was the 2023 Meet of Champions winner at 159-4, the No. 2 mark in MoC history. She’s No. 2 in state history with her 163-1 at the 2023 Woodbury Relays. a

Aliya Garozzo on Saturday became the fastest intermediate hurdler ever from South Jersey and fastest other than Sydney McLaughlin from New Jersey with a historic race on her home track in Durham, N.C.

Garozzo, a Sicklerville resident and Paul VI graduate, ran 55.77 to win the Duke Invitational on her home track.

That’s 1-100th of a second faster than Rancocas Valley graduatee and Tennessee All-America Tonya Lee ran at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., on April 21, 1996.

The only faster intermediate hurdler New Jersey has produced is McLaughlin, the world record holder with her 50.37 to win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics this past August.

She’s now 2nd all-time on the Duke performance list behind Lauren Hoffman, who ran 55.47 in June 2022 at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Garozzo’s previous PR was 56.34 from her win at Heps this past May at Princeton while competing for Penn. Her previous-best time for Duke was 56.54 in Tucson last weekend.

Her 55.77 is 5th-fastest in NCAA Division 1 so far this year and No. 11 in the world, according to the World Athletics database. It’s No. 6 among U.S. women.

Garozzo, who began her collegiate track career at Penn, broke the meet record of 57.24 set in 2022 by Duke’s Lauren Hoffman and the facility record of 56.00 set by Hoffman at 2022 ACCs.

Runner-up in the race with a time of 57.14 was Pennsville’s Arianna Smith, a senior at Howard. That’s 3rd-fastest in Howard history and 14th-fastest in NCAA Division 1. She lowered her PR from 57.85, which she ran while at Princeton at Heps at Franklin Field in 2023. She finished one place ahead of Garozzo in that race.

Jewel Ash of Fresno State, an Eastern grad, ran 58.08 at Stanford last weekend, and she currently ranks 25th in Division 1. That means three of the top 25 intermediate hurdlers in college track are from South Jersey.

50.68 … Sydney McLaughlin [Union Catholic], July 22, 2022, Eugene, Ore.
55.77 … Aliya Garozzo [Paul VI], April 12, 2025, Durham, N.C.
55.78 … Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], April 21, 1996, Walnut, Calif.
56.21 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], May 26, 2007, Gainesville, Fla.
56.87 … Erin Crawford [Hillsborough], June 10, 2006, Sacramento, Calif.
56.87 … Evann Thompson [Lenape], May 30, 2014, Jacksonville, Fla.
56.91 … Angela Lee [Franklin Twp,.], May 24, 1998, Fairfax, Va.
57.14 … Leslie Njoku [McNair Academic], June 8, 2011, Des Moines, Iowa
57.16 … Jewel Ash [Eastern], May 9, 2022, High Point, N.C.
57.14 … Arianna Smith [Pennsville], April 12, 2025, Durham, N.C.
57.31 … Danielle Myricks [Willingboro], May 19, 2002, Columbia, Mo.
57.31 … Eusheka Bartley [Highland], May 29, 1996, Atlanta

Freshman Kerry O’Day from Cherokee ran the 9th-fastest 5,000 in Bucknell history Saturday night in her first lifetime 5K on the track.

O’Day ran 16:55.53 at the Bucknell Bison Classic in Lewisburg, Pa., 2nd-fastest all-time time by a Bucknell freshman and fastest since Lauren Gronbeck ran 16:52.68 at the same meet in 2017.

Her time is 4th-fastest this year in the Patriot League and fastest by a conference freshman.

O’Day has previously run 4:56.44 for a full mile, 9:57.06 for 3,000 meters and 10:58.56 in the steeplechase this year.

Former Kingsway runner and Edinboro All-America Kylie Anicic, racing unattached, won the race in 16:32.51 on a 69.40 final lap. She ran her final 800 in 2:27.27.

Payton Falkenstein, an East Stroudsburg sophomore from Burlington Township, ran 17:27.78, dropping her PR from 17:36.93 from this meet last year. Her time is 8th-fastest in school history and fastest by an East Stroudsburg woman since Northern Burlington graduate Laura Mason ran 17:23.24 in 1985.

Here’s my best attempt at an all-time Burlington County alumni 5,000-meter list:

15:10.10 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], May 29, 2021, Attleboro, Mass.
16:34.70 … Jenna Darcy [Shawnee], Feb. 19, 2005, Kingston, R.I.
16:36.18 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], June 5, 2021, Nashville, Tenn.
16:48.89 … Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], March 16, 2025, Boston
16:54.03 … Isabella Turner [Shawnee], March 28, 2025, Raleigh, N.C.
16:55.53 … Kerry O’Day [Cherokee], April 12, 2025, Lewisburg, Pa.
16:56.62 … Keira Mansure [Northern Burlington], March 3, 2024, Boston
17:02.20 … Lisa Syvertson [Shawnee], 1991, N/A
17:03.30 … Laura Mason [Northern Burlington], June 15, 1996, Atlanta
17:08.79 … Isabella Leak [Egg Harbor Twp.], May 6, 2023, Williamsburg, Va.
17:12.71 … Colleen Sunderland [Northern Burlington], N/A

La Salle freshman Gillian Lovett from Mainland Regional and Catholic senior Kate Inglis from Moorestown both ran big steeplechase PRs Saturda in Lewisburg, Pa.

Lovett ran 10:48.24 and placed 5th in the Bucknell Bison Classic at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium, and Inglis finished just a few steps behind her, 7th in 10:49.69, a school record.

La Salle is one of the few Division 1 schools that doesn’t have an all-time top-10, but Inglis broke her own school record.

Lovett’s previous PR was a 10:59.98 in her last race last weekend at Princeton. Inglis lowered her PR and school record from 11:07.96 from a meet in Fairfax, Va., also last week.

Lovett’s time is No. 4 in the Atlantic 10 this year. Inglis’s time is fastest in the Landmark Conference this year and also fastest in NCAA Division 3 South Region. It’s No. 7 overall in NCAA Division 3.

There isn’t an extensive history of South Jersey women running a 3,000-meter steeplechase with a water jump, but Julianna Catania from Egg Harbor and Penn looks like the fastest from South Jersey with her 10:28.23 at the 2018 Penn Relays.

Also in the race was Lafayette sophomore Ava Severino from Haddon Heights, who ran 11:32.43.

Here’s a look at the sub-10:50 performers I found. I’m probably missing a couple. Feel free to message me with any omissions or errors.

10:28.23 … Julianna Catania [Egg Harbor Twp.], April 26, 2018, Philadelphia
10:29.27 … Natalia Ocasio [Lenape], April 22, 2016, Charlottesville, Va.
10:37.20 … Jena Peacock [Our Lady of Mercy], May 26, 2012, Claremont, Calif.
10:45.30 … Alicia Belko [Rancocas Valley], May 25-27, 2017, Alliance, Ohio
10:46.47 … Alyssa Condell [Timber Creek], Princeton, May 11, 2019
10:48.24 … Gillian Lovett [Mainland Reg.], Lewisburg, Pa., April 12, 2025
10:48.66 … Anna Sasse [Williamstown], Chester, Pa., May 13, 2024
10:49.69 … Kate Inglis [Moorestown], Lewisburg, Pa., April 12, 2025

Rancocas Valley’s Kevin Burr Jr., a sophomore at Tennessee, opened his 2025 season with a javelin PR and the 6th-best mark ever by a South Jersey high school alum.

Competing at his home track in Knoxville, Burr fouled on his first attempt before unloading a 240-1 on his 2nd throw.

That’s No. 6 in Tennessee history and best in 11 years, since Kyle Quinn threw 256-10 at the 2014 Tennessee Relays.

His previous PR was a 234-6 last May in the NCAA East Prelims in Lexington, Ky. That earned him a spot at the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., where he placed 11th, was the only freshman in the field of 24 throwers and became the Vols’ first javelin All-America since Quinn placed 10th in 2013.

Burr’s mark puts him 11th in NCAA Division 1 so far this year, No. 4 in the SEC, 5th in the NCAA Division 1 South Region and No. 7 among U.S. men, according to the World Athletics database. No. 1 on that list is Curtis Thompson from Florence with a world-leading 287-11.

Here’s my best attempt at an all-time New Jersey 240-foot list:

287-11 … Curtis Thompson [Florence], March 28, 2025, Austin
261-2 … Vince Labosky [Holy Cross], June 15, 1990, Norwalk, Calif.
261-2 … Tim VanLiew [Deptford], May 21, 2016, Tucson, Ariz.
259-7 … Bob Roggy [Holmdel], June 7, 1986, Eugene, Ore.
251-6 … Chris Mirabelli [Holy Cross], April 29, 2017, Philadelphia
250-11 … John Amabile [Wall Twp.], May 31, 1987, Piscataway
260-2 … Gerard Langlois [Madison Central], June 10, 1995, Piscataway
249-6 … Bobby Smith [Hopatcong], July 6, 2008, Eugene, Ore.
249-9 … Cade Antonucci [Holy Spirit], June 9, 2021, Eugene, Ore.
241-4 … Brandon Anthony Heroux [Westfield], June 7, 2012, Des Moines, Iowa
240-1 … Kevin Burr [Rancocas Valley], April 5, 2025, Knoxville, Tenn.

In his second lifetime race over the 110-meter 42-inch hurdles, Rutgers freshman Yashahya Brown from Washington Township matched the fastest time by a Rutgers hurdler in 41 years Friday.

Brown placed 4th in the 110-meter highs in 13.82 with a (barely) legal 2.0 meters-per-second tailwind at the South Florida Invitational at the USF Soccer and Track Stadium in Tampa.

His time is 3rd-fastest in Rutgers history and fastest since May of 1984, when Rutgers Hall of Famer Boris Prendergrass from Kennedy High in the Bronx, the 1982 U.S. junior national champion, ran 13.75 in a meet at Villanova. The only other hurdler in school history faster than Brown is Eugene Norman, who ran 13.64 in a meet in Tilsonburg, Ontario, in July of 1983.

Brown’s time is also tied for 9th-fastest ever by a South Jersey high school alum over the 42-inch barriers.

He’s now 6th-fastest in the Big Ten Conference and fastest among Big Ten freshmen.

In his only previous college race Brown ran 14.13 last weekend in Coral Gables, Fla. His time is 34th currently in NCAA Division 1 and 3rd-fastest among freshmen, behind only Francisco Marques of Grand Canyon [13.69 in Long Beach last weekend] and Jayden Keys of Georgia [13.73 in Gainesville last weekend].

All-Time South Jersey Alumni List
12.94 … Jack Pierce [Woodbury], June 22, 1996, Atlanta
13.12 … Anwar Moore [Camden], May 5, 2007, Modesto, Calif.
13.43 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], April 16, 2016, Walnut, Calif.
13.48 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], May 12, 2023, Raleigh, N.C.
13.51 … Martin Booker [Camden], June 7, 1986, Indianapolis
13.54 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], May 22, 2004, St-Martin, France
13.77 … Jeffrey Young [Camden], May 11, 2022, Bloomington, Ind.
13.81 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], May 13, 2005, Cedar Falls, Iowa
13.82 … John Sease [Willingboro], March 26, 1982, El Paso, Texas
13.82 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], April 11, 2025, Tampa
13.84 … Jusson Boyd [Willingboro], April 15, 2011, Greensboro, N.C.

Delsea junior Matt Littlehales ran the 6th-fastest 3,200 time in Gloucester County history Thursday night at Cherokee.

Littlehales ran a huge negative-split 9:12.43 in the 23rd and final section at Cherokee’s Night of 3200s and edged junior Brody Watt of Bernards, who ran 9:13.99.

Cherokee sophomore Ben Realley and Haddonfield junior Benjamin Andrus also broke 9:20, Realley with a PR 9:15.93 and Andrus with a PR 9:17.23.

Littlehales fell just about two seconds short of older brother Andrew Littlehales’ school record of 9:10.39, which he ran at 2022 South Jersey Group 3 sectionals at Delsea. The only faster juniors on the all-time Gloucester County list are Peyton Shute of Woodbury [9:11.11 in 2023] and Kyle Rakitis of Kingsway [9:14.93 in 2021].

Littlehales came through 1,600 meters in 4:46.21 but then split 68.39, 69.85 and 68.48 before splitting 59.52 on his final lap to out-kick Watt, a 1:52 half-miler. Watt closed in 61.32.

So Littlehales was out in 4:46.21 and back in 4:26.24!

Realley’s 9:15.93 is fastest by a Burlington County sophomore since Shawnee’s David Forward ran 9:10.28 at the 2008 Meet of Champions at South Plainfield and 3rd-fastest among all South Jersey sophomores. He also had big negative splits – out in 4:45.25, back in 4:30.70, closing in 62.47. And Andrus was out in 4:45.51 and back in 4:31.73, closing in 63.25.

Littlehales’ previous PR was 9:26.75 indoors at the Ott Center in January. Realley’s previous PR was 9:21.01 from last April at Holmdel. That’s the South Jersey freshman record. Andrus’s previous PR was 9:31.31 at Delsea last May.

Other South Jersey runners under 9:30: Haddonfield junior Luke Andressen [9:24.49], Haddonfield junior Peter Simpson [9:26.23], Cinnaminson junior Jacob Wickersham [9:26.79] and Cherokee senior Liam Tindall [9:29.87].

The event produced the 43-fastest times in New Jersey this year.

The top female finisher was Northern Burlington senior and Foot Locker finalist Liliah Gordon, who ran 10:25.86. Ocean City senior Maeve Smith ran a PR 10:39.76, just missing the school and Cape May County record of 10:39.15, set at the 2014 Meet of Champions in South Plainfield. Her time is No. 19 in South Jersey history. Her previous PR was 10:50.72 at this meet last year.

Holy Cross junior Julia Flanagan PR’d with a PR 10:53.75, which is No. 6 in Burlington County history. Flanagan ran 10:57.62 last month at the indoor Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze. Also under 11 were Ocean City senior Chloe Care [10:57.04], Paul VI junior Macy Huber [10:59.94] and Cherokee junior Alyssa Suriano [10:59.99 in her first lifetime 3,200].

There were a total of 544 finishers in 23 races.

Paul VI’s Alyssa Garozzo ran the 9th-fastest intermediate hurdles time in NCAA Division 1 Saturday in her second 400IH race since transferring to Duke.

Garozzo, a Duke senior, ran 56.54 at the Jim Click Shootout in Tucson, the 3rd-fastest time in Duke history and only 20-100ths off her lifetime-best 56.34, which she ran in May as a junior at Penn at Heps in Princeton. That stands as the University of Pennsylvania school record.

Lauren Hoffman, who represented the Phillipines in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, set the Duke record of 55.47 in the prelims of the 2022 NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene. She went on to place 3rd in the final in 55.58. No. 2 on the all-time Duke list is Skyla Wilson, who ran 56.05 when she won last year’s ACC Championships in Atlanta. Wilson and Garozzo were teammates at Penn in 2021 and 2022. In fact, it was Wilson’s Penn school record that Garozzo first broke last March with a 57.97 in Gainesville.

The only New Jersey women to run faster than Garozzo are world record holder and Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin of Union Catholic [50.37 in Paris in 2024], Tonya Lee of Rancocas Valley [55.78 in Walnut, Calif., in 1996] and Winslow Township’s Krystal Cantey [56.21 in Gainesville in 2007].

Garozzo ran 57.16 in Raleigh a week earlier in her first race for Duke. She also PR’d in the flast 400 this spring with a 52.54, which is No. 16 in NCAA Division 1 and 6th-fastest all-time by a South Jersey quarter-miler.

Once in a while, a notable South Jersey runner, jumper or thrower falls through the cracks and I totally whiff on his college accomplishments.

Cody Pierce falls squarely in this category.

Pierce graduated from Mainland Regional in the spring of 2022 after a fine high school career. He won the 200 at the South Jersey Group 3 sectionals at Delsea with a wind-aided 21.71 and was 2nd in the 400 with a 49.12.

His best finish at a state meet was in the indoor 400 in the winter of 2022, where he ran 50.06 and was 2nd to Pennsauken’s Bryce Tucker. His wind-legal 200 PR was a 22.39 at 2021 states at Pennsauken.

Fast forward to college.

Pierce entered Amherst in the fall of 2022 and had PRs of 22.43 and 50.68 indoors as a freshman. He dropped to 49.41 that spring (he didn’t run any wind-legal 200s outdoors as a freshman).

He dropped his 200 PR to 22.02 in January of 2024 and then smashed both PRs at the NESCAC (New England … something … something Athletic Conference?) meet at Tufts in Medford last April, placing 3rd in the 200 with a wind-legal 21.48 and 3rd in the 400 with a 48.44.

This past indoor season he won the New England Division 3 title in Boston at 200 meters with a 21.57 and was 5th in the 400 at 48.48. He followed that by winning the 200 at the NEICAAA Championships in Roxbury, Mass., in 21.75. (No, I have no clue what NEICAAA is and it doesn’t say anywhere … New England Intercollegiate Athletic Something Association?)

Pierce qualified for NCAAs in the 200 and placed 15th in the country, then earned All-America honors by running a 49.34 second leg on Amherst’s 4th-place DMR team, which ran 9:55.70, with Nick Edwards-Levin running 3:04.83 on the 1,200, Ben Davis 1:53.95 on the 800 and Parker Boyle anchoring in 4:07.59.

He hasn’t run any open races this spring yet but he did run a leg on Amherst’s 400-meter relay team that ran 41.49 this past Saturday in a home meet. That’s No. 19 in NCAA Division 3 so far this year.

Pierce is the indoor school record holder in the 200 with that 21.57, and he was on the 400-meter relay team that set a school record of 40.96 last spring in Williamstown, Mass.

Next for Amherst this weekend is the Coffey Invitational in Northampton, Mass., and the Silfen Invitational, in New London, Ct.