From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Until last weekend, Hunter Daly’s high jump PR was 6-2. He’s now added four inches to it in eight days and shares the New Jersey lead at 6-6.

Daly, a Florence senior, cleared 6-6 at the Moorestown Invitational Saturday a week after setting a PR of 6-4 at the Don Danser Relays a few miles away in Maple Shade.

According to the NJ Milesplit database, Daly now shares the New Jersey lead with Stephen Saklinski of Freehold Township, who has cleared 6-6 twice this year, including Saturday at the Metuchen Relays.

But Staklinski has a PR of 6-8 1/4, is defending state Group 4 champ and was a Meet of Champions medalist a year ago.

Daly had a PR of 6-2 until a few days ago, has  never won a county, conference or sectional title and no-heighted at Meet of Champs a year ago.

This year is clearly different. Daly broke the Florence record of 6-4, set in 1996 by Shane Gainer and became the first South Jersey Group 1 jumper to clear 6-6 since Jared Roberts of Woodbury at states in 2010. The last Group 1 jumpers from South Jersey to do better than 6-6 came in 2007, when Anthony Butler of Salem and Ken Wise of Haddon Township both cleared 6-8.

Crazy but Daly’s PR might not be the most impressive one by a Florence jumper on Saturday.

Teammate LaDarius McNeil cleared 6-3 after having no known form in the event other than a 5-6 clearance at the Don Danser Relays last weekend.

McNeil many have attempted the high jump in a dual meet last year, but he only competed in the long jump, triple jump and 200-meter dash as a junior last year.

So that’s an apparent nine-inch PR and one Group 1 school with a 6-6 high jumper and a 6-3 high jumper.

 

Michael also PR’d Saturday in the long jump, going 20-2 1/2. His previous long jump PR was 19-8 1/2 when he was second at last year’s BCSL Freedom Division meet at Northern Burlington.

Widener sophomore Allison Reuter went into the Danny Curran Invitational at her home track in Chester with a lifetime hammer throw PR of 127-2.

By the time she was done, she had earned a national top-20 ranking and PR’d by more than 30 feet!

Reuter, a 2015 Clayton High School graduate, threw 158-6 to place second and increase her hammer PR by 31 feet, four inches.

Her mark is No. 18 in NCAA Division 3 and No. 3 among sophomores.

Reuter’s mark is less than 10 feet off the Widener school record of 168-4, set in 2015 by Rachel Heisler.

According to her Track and Field Reporting System results, Reuter competed in the hammer in four meets as a freshman last year, with her best throws ranging from 104-5 to the 127-2.

Reuter focused on the discus at Clayton, where she won a South Jersey Group 1 sectional title as a junior and placed second to Palmyra’s Tamara Carmichael at Group 1 states as a senior with a PR of 123-10.

 

Opening day of track season in New Jersey is typically cold, windy, raw and rainy, and so it was again this year. Some meets were cancelled, other meets were postponed, others ran on a limited schedule.

And at Buena, the Egg Harbor sprinters opened the season with an 800-meter relay performance that belied the conditions.

The quartet of Alex Dessoye, Shaquille Boyd, Hunter Barber and Amir Brock ran 1:31.21 in the large-school race at the Jim Camburn Relays at Buena.

EHT won the race by 30 meters over St. Augustine, which placed second in 1:34.59.

The Eagles’ time is No. 1 this year in New Jersey, which means it was faster than anybody else ran state-wide on opening weekend.

That 1:31.21 is actually faster than EHT ran all last year. Their best time last year was a 1:31.62 last May at the South Jersey Relays.

The Eagles ran 1:28.96 in 2015, fifth-fastest in the state, when they placed 13th at nationals. That stands as the school record.

So their time unchallenged in the cold and wind at Buena on the first weekend of the season was only 2.25 seconds slower than their time at nationals two years ago. That’s about half a second per leg. Which means in two months, watch out – EHT is going to be flying.

Egg Harbor also won the 400-meter relay in 44.69, with Dessoye, Boyd, Devon Covington and Brock. That time is No. 3 in the state early on. The Eagles also won the shuttle hurdles in 1:08.88 with Joseph Del Conte, Boyde, Vernon Swain and Covington.

Rutgers junior Chris Mirabelli got his 2017 season off to a terrific start with a javelin PR at the University of South Florida Invitational in Tampa.

Mirabelli, a Lumberton native and Holy Cross graduate, threw 241-7 on his final attempt of the day, breaking his PR of 240-3 1/2, set last May when he won the Big 10 Championships in Lincoln, Neb.

Mirabelli also had a throw of 238-2 1/2 at South Florida, giving him two of his four-longest career throws in his first meet of the spring. He also had a 238-10 at the Big East meet.

Last year, Mirabelli competed in the NCAA Championships and U.S. Olympic Trials. His 241-7 is third-best in NCAA Division 1 so far this spring, behind only Matti Mortimore of North Dakota State (253-1) and Michael Shuey of Penn State (247-2).

Mirabelli is also ranked No. 3 among all U.S. men, behind Shuey and Cyrus Hostetler (243-7). (Mortimore is British.)

Curtis Thompson of Mississippi State, Mirabelli’s rival since their days in the BCSL Patriot Division, is ranked No. 5 in Division 1 with a 238-0 in a meet in Jacksonville, Fla. Thompson has a PR of 271-11 from his second-place finish at the Olympic Trials.

Mirabelli was scheduled to throw this weekend in the Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Va., but the javelin was cancelled due to bad weather.

Mirabelli is only about three feet off the Rutgers school record of 244-10 set 21 years ago by Chris Sagnella in a meet on Rutgers’ campus in Piscataway.

Mirabelli’s high school PR was 216-6 set at the 2014 South Jersey Invitational at Buena, where he beat Thompson by one inch. Thompson’s high school PR was 224-10 at the 2014 Meet of Champions in South Plainfield, where he and Mirabelli finished 1-2.

 

 

Glenn Kohles opened his senior year at Rowan in a big way, with a PR in the discus and the No. 1 throw this year in NCAA Division 3.

Kohl’s, a senior at Rowan, heaved the discus 165-3 to win the Emory Invitational in Atlanta and break his PR of 164-7 from last year’s ECAC meet in Westfield, Mass. The PR came on his fifth of six throws.

Kohles actually had the three best throws of the meet. His 162-8 was the second-best throw of the meet, and he also had a 159-7 3/4 that was good enough to beat second-place Brennan Cole of Indiana Wesleyan, who threw 158-4 3/4.

The Toms River East graduate is now just five feet short of the Rowan discus record of 173-3 set in 2007 by All-America Aaron Braxton, who is now a Rowan University throws coach.

Kohles is also ranked 12th in NCAA Division 3 in the shot put with a 50-11 1/2. His PR is 54-1 1/4, also from last year’s ECAC meet.

Kohles is the only thrower in NCAA Division who has already surpassed both 50 feet in the shot put and 165 feet in the discus.

 

Kevin Veltre’s steeplechase debut didn’t go too badly. The Rowan junior ran 9:11.76 — the No. 2 time so far this year in NCAA Division 3 — and won the 3,000-meter steeple at the 22nd annual Monmouth Season Opener this weekend in West Long Branch.

Not bad for a novice!

Veltre’s time is No. 2 in Division 3 behind Luke O’Connor of Tufts, who ran 9:11.70 at the Point Loma Nazarene Invitational in San Diego on Saturday. O’Connor ran 9:04 last year and placed fourth in the NCAA Championships

His time is also only about 11 seconds off the Rowan school record of 9:00.13 set by former Oakcrest star Don Deckert in 1980.

According to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, Veltre’s 9:11 was the eighth-fastest steeplechase run by any college runner regardless of division this past weekend.

Veltre, a graduate of Brick Memorial High School, has PRs of 1:56.36 for 800 meters and 3:53.55 for 1,500 meters. But he had never completed a steeplechase, so this was one heck of a debut.

Indoors, Veltre ran on Rowan’s first-place 4-by-8 and DMR teams at the NJAC championships and placed second in the 1,000 at the Division 3 ECAC meet.

Josh Awotunde got right to work this spring, opening his junior year at South Carolina with a mammoth personal-best 64-10 3/4 at the Weems Baskin Invitational at South Carolina’s new home track facility in Columbia, S.C.

Awotunde’s previous PR came in his previous meet, a 64-6 on his final throw at the NCAA indoor championships at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, where he placed fifth for his second career All-America honor.

Early on, Awotunde’s 64-10 3/4 is the No. 1 mark in NCAA Division 1.

Awotunde, a Franklinville native and Delsea graduate, actually placed second to professional thrower Kurtis Roberts, who popped a 68-0 1/4 on his second throw at the Sheila and Morris Craggier Track.

Awotunde opened with a 60-11 1/4, improved to 61-11 1/2 on his second throw, 62-5 1/4 on his third and then popped his 64-10 3/4 on his first throw of the finals. He backed it up with two more big throws — 63-4 1/4 and 64-6 3/4.

So the top three throws of his life have come within his last seven throws.

Awotunde’s previous outdoor PR was a 63-9 from last year’s NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Awotunde’s mark is No. 2 in South Carolina history and best in 18 years. Brad Snyder set the school record of 67-3 1/2 in 1999.

Awotunde is No. 5 in Gamecocks history in the discus at 191-5 from the 2015 Penn Relays but hasn’t thrown the discus yet this spring.

 

 

Cherokee graduate Jessica Woodard closed out indoor season with another shot put PR and fifth place at the NCAA track championships at Gilliam Indoor Stadium on the Texas A&M campus in College Station, Texas.

Woodard had only one legal throw in the competition, but bombed a 57-7 on her first throw to earn indoor All-America honors for the second straight year. She’s also been an outdoor All-America once.

Woodard fouled on each successive throw, but the 57-7 stood up for fifth.

“There’s not much more you can ask out of somebody than to come and set a PR in the first round,” Oklahoma head coach Jim VanHootegem said. “It means that she was ready to go. I’m not going to say that I’m disappointed, but I’m sure she’s going to say that she’s disappointed that she couldn’t correct her foul issue after that. I think she felt that she had a special one in her.

“Still, a year ago we were ecstatic for her to come to this meet and not throw close to that far. She’s come a long way. She continues to set high standards for herself. She’s probably a little disappointed, but in the big picture, she’s still progressing all of the time. We’re pleased with Jess and how she’s done.”

Woodard ranks 13th among Americans and 29th in the world this indoor season, according to the IAAF list.

The 57-7 is an indoor PR for Woodard, who has thrown as far as 58-8 outdoors. Her previous indoor PR was 57-4 1/4, set at the J.D. Martin Invitational in Norman, Okla., in January.

Woodard’s mark is No. 3 in Oklahoma indoor history, behind Olympian Tia Brooks (63-0 3/4 in 2013) and Karen Shump (58-11 1/2 in 2011).

Woodard placed eighth at indoor nationals last year with a throw of 55-11. She was third at outdoor nationals this past spring with that 58-8 bomb.

She made the finals of the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, finishing tied for 11th.

Oklahoma is scheduled to open its outdoor season next weekend at the Baldy Castillo Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.

The Sooners are scheduled to come to Philly for the Penn Relays at Franklin Field the final weekend of April. The women’s college shot put championship is generally one of the first events contested at Penn, with the final scheduled for Thursday morning.

Woodard is also a two-time top-three finisher in the discus at the Big 12 Conference championships. She has a PR of 177-10.

 

With three legs under 1:57, Egg Harbor won the 3,200-meter relay at the New Balance National Championships at the Armory with a time of 7:48.92.

Senior anchor Eric Barnes held off St. Benedict’s anchor Alfred Chawonza, who split 1:51.16, and moved St. Benedict’s up from ninth to second in the 12-team seeded section.

Barnes split 1:56.58 after carries by seniors Robert Dessoye (2:00.05), Alex Dessoye (1:56.40) and Aidin Hendriks (1:55.89).

St. Benedict’s finished second in 7:50.48, 10 meters behind Egg Harbor. Second through sixth place all finished less than a second apart – from 7:50.48 through 7:51.41.

The Eagles are the first New Jersey school ever to win the 3,200-meter relay in the meet’s 19-year history.

South Jersey’s last winner on the boys side at indoor nationals is from another Cape-Atlantic school — Braheme Days of Bridgeton won the shot put in 2012 and 2013.

The last South Jersey school to win any relay at indoor nationals was Winslow, which won the 1,600-meter relay in 2004 — some 13 years ago.

Egg Harbor ran 7:47.27 last spring and had run 7:52.12 earlier this year, which was No. 6 in South Jersey indoor history. EHT moved up to No. 3 behind teams from Cherokee and Pleasantville. Here’s the all-time South Jersey indoor 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

The Eagles’ time is also No. 10 on the all-time South Jersey list, including marks achieved both indoors and outdoors. Here are all the times of 7:55 or faster. The list include just one time per year per school, whichever is faster:

7:40.71 … Pleasantville, 2013 [outdoors]
7:43.57 … Haddonfield, 2015 [outdoors]
7:43.64 … Cherokee, 2012 [indoors]
7:47.27 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2016 [outdoors]
7:47.66 … Kingsway, 2011 [outdoors]
7:47.96 … Haddonfield, 2016 [outdoors]
7:48.16 … Kingsway, 2013 [outdoors]
7:48.25 … Vineland, 2012 [outdoors]
7:48.70 … Rancocas Valley, 2016 [outdoors]
7:48.92 … Egg Harbor Twp., 2017 [indoors]
7:49.67 … Washington Twp., 2009 [outdoors]
7:49.85 … Cherokee, 2012 [outdoors]
7:50.87 … Haddonfield, 2014 [outdoors]
7:51.43 … Washington Twp., 2009 [indoors]
7:51.52 … Vineland, 2010 [outdoors]
7:51.78 … Cherokee, 2000 [indoors]
7:52.60 … Cherokee, 2011 [outdoors]
7:52.95 … Willingboro, 2003 [indoors]
7:52.77 … Pleasantville, 2006 [indoors]
7:53.64 … Willingboro, 2002 [indoors]
7:54.16 … Woodrow Wilson, 2011 [outdoors]
7:54.76 … Pleasantville, 2007 [indoors]
7:54.94 … Kingsway, 2014 [outdoors]
7:55.40 … Washington Twp., 2008 [indoors]
7:55.44 … Haddonfield, 2010 [indoors]

On the all-time state indoor list, Old Bridge moved into the No. 12 spot:

7:41.53 … Christian Brothers Academy, 2012
7:43.64 … Cherokee, 2012
7:43.91 … Morris Hills, 2009
7:44.07 … Pope John XXIII, 2012
7:44.5h … Roselle Catholic, 1969
7:45.55 … Pleasantville, 2013
7:47.69 … Colts Neck, 2005
7:48.10 … Morris Hills, 2016
7:48.55 … Christian Brothers Academy, 2001
7:48.6h … Roselle Catholic, 1970
7:48.82 … Ridgewood, 2014
7:48.92 … Egg Harbor, 2017
7:49.23 … Christian Brothers Academy, 2013
7:49.31 … Old Bridge, 2015
7:49.70 … West Windsor-Plainsboro South, 2013
7:49.89 … South Brunswick, 2014
7:49.96 … Old Bridge, 2017

Here’s a list of all the 4-by-8 winners at indoor nationals:

1999 T.C. Williams, Alexandria, Va., 7:55.33
2000 John F. Kennedy, Bellmore, N.Y., 7:57.25
2001 North Penn, Lansdale, Pa., 7:56.55
2002 North Penn, Lansdale, Pa., 7:54.96
2003 West Springfield, Springfield, Va., 7:50.25
2004 Carmel, Ind., 7:54.20
2005 Syosset, N.Y., 7:53.80
2006 Mountain Brook, Ala., 7:53.32
2007 Eleanor Roosevelt, Greenbelt, Md., 7:55.66
2008 New Bern, N.C., 7:58.18
2009 Alebemarle, Charlottesville, Va., 7:36.99
2010 Shaker, Latham, N.Y., 7:48.45
2011 Abington, Pa., 7:45.21
2012 Boys and Girls, Brooklyn, N.Y., 7:41.10
2013 Bishop Kellenberg, Uniondale, N.Y., 7:45.24
2014 Chaminade, Mineola, N.Y., 7:40.80
2015 Davis, Kaysville, Utah, 7:42.19
2016 Coffman, Dublin, Ohio, 7:45.27
2017 Egg Harbor Twp., N.J., 7:48.92

Finally, here’s a list of all South Jersey winners in indoor nationals’ 19-year history:

BOYS
2001
Jamar Ervin [Camden], 60-Meter Dash, 6.83
Camden, 1,600-Meter Relay, 3:17.26
2002
Haddonfield, Four-Mile Relay, 18:02.51
2003
Vineland, 1,600-Meter Relay, 3:19.21
Vineland, Sprint Medley, 3:29.46
Mike Morrison [Willingboro], High Jump, 7-4 1/4
Mike Morrison [Willingboro], Long Jump, 24-0 3/4
2004
Winslow Twp., 1,600-Meter Relay, 3:22.16
2011
Damiere Byrd [Timber Creek], 60-meter dash, 6.74
2012
Braheme Days [Bridgeton], 68-10 3/4
2013
Braheme Days [Bridgeton], 66-7
2017
Egg Harbor Township, 3,200-Meter Relay, 7:48.92

GIRLS
2001
Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 4:51.15
2004
Danielle O’Reilly [Shawnee], 12-9 1/2
2005
Ocean City, Distance Medley, 12:12.22
2006
Nia Ali [Pleasantville], 8.36
2013
Winslow Township, 220-Meter Shuttle Hurdles, 32.45

Moorestown’s Brandon Outlaw placed fourth in the 400-meter dash at the New Balance Nationals Sunday — out of the first heat — with a monster PR and South Jersey record of 47.90 at the 168th Street Armory.

Outlaw broke the South Jersey record of 48.27, set in 2002, and the Burlington County mark of 48.36, set in 2000 by Lenape’s Mohammad Kanu.

His time is No. 11 on the all-time state list.

Outlaw actually shattered both records with a 48.26 in the trials and then lowered them by another 36-100ths of a second in the final.

Outlaw ran as fast as 47.60 outdoors last spring at the Burlington County Scholastic Division Liberty Division meet at Northern Burlington.

Here’s the all-time South Jersey list:

47.90 … Brandon Outlaw [Moorestown], 47.90
48.27 … Jade Smith [Camden], 2002
48.36 … Mohammad Kanu [Lenape], 2000
48.48 … Amir Brock [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2017
48.50 … Alex Reber [Cherry Hill East], 2013
48.55 … Royce Reed [Bridgeton], 1995
48.64 … Keith Griffith [Florence], 2010
48.68 … Lamont Smith [Willingboro], 1991
48.75 … Luke Colehower [Haddonfield], 2017
48.7h … Curt Mcintyre [Bridgeton], 1992
48.7h … John Morris [Camden], 2001
48.91 … Marlin Gross [Bridgeton], 2001
48.91 … Rob Gary [Lenape], 1998
49.03 … Ian Moore [Lenape], 2001
49.05 … William Mobley [Eastern], 1990
49.11 … Darrell Bush [Woodbury], 2012
49.0h … Eric Chekemian [Washington Twp.], 2001
49.19 … Amir Brock [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2017
49.1h … Antonio Abney [Willingboro], 2007
49.24 … Duke Mack [Pleasantville], 2007
49.26 … Tim Carey [Washington Twp,], 2010

And here’s the all-time state list, with everybody who’s run under 48 seconds:

46.06 … Najee Glass [St. Peter’s Prep], 2012
46.80 … Taylor McLaughlin [Union Catholic], 2015
47.13 … Zaire Clemes [Trenton], 2014
47.20 … Lance Wigfall [East Orange], 2003
47.37 … Bryant McCombs [Old Bridge], 2005
47.45 … Ray Williams [Scotch Plains], 2002
47.58 … Clayton Parros [Seton Hall Prep], 2009
47.75 … Shaquan Brown [JFK Paterson], 2005
47.76 … Adian Sanderson [Ewing], 2004
47.82 … Cory Poole [East Orange], 2017
47.90 … Brandon Outlaw [Moorestown], 2017