From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

You could tell from the prelims the final was going to be close. But this close? Nobody could have imagined that.

It was the 55-meter dash at the South Jersey Group 2 meet at the Bubble on Friday, and it resulted in the closest four-man finish anybody can remember.

In the 55 prelims, Haddonfield soph Luke Colehower ran 6.73 in the first of six heats and then the first five finishers in the final heat of the trials all ran between 6.68 and 6.79.

Each 100th of a second is worth a little less than 0.1 meters, so seven qualifiers in the span of 0.11 seconds projects to about a 30-inch difference between first and seventh.

But the final was even closer than that.

First of all, here’s how the trials shaped up:

6.68 … Mar-Quel Davis [Deptford]
6.72 … Myles Davis [Deptford]
6.73 … **Luke Colehower [Haddonfield]
6.76 … **Tyriq Bundy [Deptford]
6.77 … ***Hakeem Evans [Camden]
6.78 … **Marques Miller [Oakcrest]
6.79 … *Nicolo Adorno [Barnegat Twp.]
6.84 … Tariq Ali [Manchester Twp.]

In the final, the Deptford duo ran to their top two seeds, but Camden freshman Hakeem Evans – fifth in qualifying – moved up to third, edging ace Haddonfield quarter-miler Luke Colehower.

And all three finished in the span of 3-100ths of a second. That means about 11 inches separated four sprinters at the finish line.

Here’s what the final looked like:

6.66 … Mar-Quel Davis [Deptford]
6.67 … Myles Davis [Deptford]
6.68 … ***Hakeem Evans [Camden]
6.68 … **Luke Colehower [Haddonfield]
6.76 … Tyriq Bundy [Deptford]
6.78 … *Marques Miller [Oakcrest]
6.81 … *Nicolo Adorno [Barnegat Twp.]
6.82 … Tariq Ali [Manchester Twp.]

 

Junior Flora Ahiarakwe’s sub-57 second leg gave Winslow the lead for good and the Eagles won the suburban girls 1,600-meter relay Saturday at the 110th annual Millrose Games at the 168th Street Armory.

Senior  Iyianna Williams led off for Winslow with a 59.34 leg and handed off to Ahiarakwe about two steps behind North Rockland. But Ahiarakwe took the lead, and freshman Janeya and junior Shakira Dancy held it with carries of 58.92 and 57.08.

North Rockland finished second in 3:53.92.

Winslow’s time is No. 10 in the U.S. this year and North Rockland is No. 12. The former indoor school record was a 3:57.05 last year at New Balance nationals.

Overall, Winslow’s time from Millrose is No. 14 in state history and No. 4 in South Jersey history, fastest by a South Jersey school in 14 years — since Willingboro ran 3:45.57 in 2003. That stood as the state record for 10 years.

Winslow’s time also breaks the Camden County record of 3:52.55, set by Woodrow Wilson in 2006.

Here’s the all-time indoor state performance list for the 1,600-meter relay:

3:40.28 … Union Catholic, 2016
3:42.03 … Columbia, 2013
3:45.57 … Willingboro, 2003
3:46.42 … Columbia, 2014
3:47.03 … Union Catholic, 2015
3:47.95 … Willingboro, 2002
3:48.9h … Plainfield, 1980
3:49.07 … Camden, 1995
3:49.50 … East Orange, 2006
3:49.9h … Plainfield, 1981
3:50.8h … Snyder, 1981
3:51.17 … Columbia, 2015
3:51.37 … Columbia, 2010
3:52.17 … Winslow, 2017
3:52.2h … Columbia, 1982
3:52.37 … Willingboro, 2000
3:52.48 … Columbia, 2011
3:52.55 … Wilson, 2006
3:53.46 … Columbia, 1995
3:53.51 … Franklin, 2004
3:53.6h … Willingboro, 1999
3:53.61 … Willingboro, 1998
3:53.9h … Shabazz, 1986
3:53.99 … Columbia, 2009

After 10 events and a full day of Winslow and Timber Creek battling on the track and in the field, it came down to one point.

Timber Creek had edged Winslow in the Group 3 state relays last month, but this time it was Winslow coming out in front by a 66.2-65.2 score with Seneca 20 points behind at 46.2.

So dominant were Timber Creek and Winslow that they combined for 131.4 of a possible 310 points. In other words, these two schools combined for 42 percent of all available points in the meet.

Timber Creek scored in every track race and matched Winslow’s scoring in the field and still fell a point shy.

What a tremendous rivalry! These two Camden County high schools, located about eight miles apart from each other, just hammer each other every time they’re on the track together!

While Timber Creek scored almost everywhere at sectionals, the Eagles piled up tons of points in a smaller number of events.

Juniors Shakira Dancy and Flora Ahiarakwe went 1-2 in the 400 and then reversed that finish with another 1-2 in the 55. Dancy and Ahiarakwe teamed up with senior Iyianna Williams and freshman Janeya Hammond to win the 1,600-meter relay with a 3:58.18.

That’s 46 points in three events.

Junior Ciarra Johnson added 10 big points with a nearly four-foot win in the shot put, and the rest of Winslow’s points came courtesy of sophomore Tionna Tobias, who was third in the 55 hurdles and tied for second with four other girls in the high jump, which is why everybody’s team score ends in .2. (Five girls sharing 21 points = 4.2 points per person).

Timber Creek got big scoring from freshman Tierra Hooker, who won the high jump and was fifth in the hurdles, and senior Alyssa Condell, who was second in 1,600 with an indoor PR 5:04.69 and third in 3,200.

Senior Janiyah Davis-Hines ran second in the high hurdles, Kia Starnes was part of that high jump tie and also ran fifth in the 400, senior Adia Starnes picked up a third in the 400 and a fourth in the 55, freshman Alexandra Hauer ran fourth in the 3,200 and senior Alexa Clark added a fifth in the 1,600 and a sixth in the 800.

Timber Creek was also second in the 1,600 relay, with the Starnes twins, Hooker and Davis-Hines.

This rivalry isn’t over yet. We’ll see everybody at states. And outdoors!

Two years ago, Haddonfield and Lenape locked up in a historic distance medley at the Varsity Classic, with the Bulldogs and Indians recording the No. 7 and No. 9 DMR times in South Jersey indoor history.

Haddonfield and Lenape met up again at this year’s Varsity Classic this week, and although the times weren’t quite as fast, they were certainly fast enough to take notice – No. 8 and No. 14 nationally.

Haddonfield ran 12:11.7 and Lenape 12:17.4, the top two times by South Jersey schools this year and No. 2 and 3 performances by New Jersey schools so far this season. As you can see by the all-time South Jersey indoor DMR list below, the times are No. 10 and No. 15 in South Jersey history indoors.

North Rockland won in 11:51.0 with North Hunterdon second in 12:09.1, fastest by a New Jersey school this year.

The race produced the No. 2, 6, 8, 14, 20, 22, 23, 27 times in the country this year.

For Haddonfield, Kaitlyn Bonnet, Gianna Cucinotta, Lauren Lynch and Briana Gess ran, and for Lenape it was Alexa Woltjen, Dana Duffield, Shannon Lambert and Megan Quimby.

• 11:43.94 … Haddonfield, 2014
• 11:54.63 … Lenape, 2013, Easterns
• 11:55.90 … Lenape, 2012, Varsity Classic
• 11:58.92 … Lenape, 2010, Easterns
• 12:02.51 … Ocean City, 2014, New Balance Indoors
• 12:03.4 ….. Haddonfield, 2015, Varsity Classic
• 12:04.45 … Haddonfield, 2009, National Scholastic Indoors
• 12:04.9 ….. Lenape, 2015, Varsity Classic
• 12:11.7 ….. Haddonfield, 2017, Varsity Classic
• 12:12.22 … Ocean City, 2005, Nike Indoor Nationals
• 12:13.46 … Washington Twp., 2011, Easterns
• 12:14.48 … Haddonfield, 2013, Easterns
• 12:15.60 … Lenape, 2014, Varsity Classic
• 12:17.4 ….. Lenape, 2017, Varsity Classic
• 12:19.81 … Lenape, 2009, Nike Indoor Nationals

As you can see from the list, Lenape and Haddonfield have dominated the DMR indoors for years.

Of the 15 sub-12:20 times, seven belong to Lenape, five belong to Haddonfield with Ocean City appearing twice and Washington Township once.

Texas senior Derrell Manhertz, a former state champion at Kingsway, ran an indoor PR of 1:50.49 recently at the Rod McCravy Memorial Invitational at Kentucky Nutter Fieldhouse in Lexington, Ky.

Manhertz’s previous college indoor PR was a 1:52.22 in the Power Five Invite last January in Birmingham Ala. His overall indoor PR was 1:51.80 when he placed second to Isaac Clark of Pleasantville in the 2013 Meet of Champions at the Bubble.

Manhertz ran 1:49.38 at the Texas Invitational in April of 2015, which stands as his overall PR.

Next for Manhertz is the Tyson Invitational this weekend in Fayetteville.

TCNJ’s Jake Lindacher won the 55-meter high hurdles in a dual meet with Rider on Friday with the No. 3 time in the country this year in NCAA Division 3.

Lindacher, a graduate of Egg Harbor Township and now a senior at The College of New Jersey, ran 7.48, finishing 7-100ths of a second ahead of Rider freshman Nate Bowie.

Lindacher’s 7.48 breaks Lindacher’s 55 PR set in the same dual meet two years ago and converts to a 8.06 for the more conventional college distance of 60 meters. Lindacher’s 60-meter hurdles PR is an 8.21 from the Villanova Open at the Ocean Breeze track in Staten Island earlier this month.

On the 2017 Division 3 list, Lindacher now ranks third, behind only Bobby Cooks of Aurora (Ill.) with a 7.95 from the Grand Valley State Invitational in Allendale, Mich., in December, and an 8.03 by Rowan’s David Benjamin at the Gotham Cup at Ocean Breeze last month. Benjamin is a graduate of Freehold High School.

So two of the top three Division 3 hurdlers in the country have South Jersey ties.

Lindacher also ran a personal-best 7.11 for the 60-meter dash in that Rider dual meet, which was held at the Lavino Fieldhouse in Lawrenceville.

At EHT, Lindacher was DQ’d in the finals of the 110-meter highs at the South Jersey Group 4 sectionals his senior year, but he was the sectional champ indoors at 7.69, helping EHT win the team title.

 

Woodstown sophomore India Norman had quite a sectional meet Friday, recording two firsts and a second in the South Jersey Group 1 girls meet at the Bubble in Toms River and also anchoring a third-place relay team.

Norman PR’d in winning both the 55 and 55 hurdles and ran a near-PR in placing second in the 400.

She’s the first double-winner from Woodstown in indoor sectional history. This was the 10th year for indoor sectionals.

The Wolverines’ last outdoor sectional double winner was horizontal jumper Alexa DiGregorio, who won the long jump and triple jump in 2014.

In the 55, Norman ran 7.61 to lead all qualifiers then 7.56 to win by one step over junior Gabrielle Dillard of Clayton, who ran 7.61. Her previous PR was a 7.60 at a SJTCA meet last winter as a freshman, also at the Bubble.

In the 55 hurdles, Norman ran 9.11 in the trials and 8.75 in the final, winning by three steps over Rachel Leyrer of Buena, who was second in 9.06. Her previous PR was an 8.77 at an Olympic Conference meet at the Bubble last January. Norman won the event last year at sectionals in 8.84.

Norman registered her third indoor PR in the 400, where she ran 61.69, finishing just behind Audubon junior Bailie Rizzo, who ran 61.29. Norman’s previous indoor 400 PR was 1:02.39 at an Olympic Conference meet at the Bubble last month.

She set her overall PR of 1:00.74 outdoors at last year’s Salem County Championships at Schalick, when she placed second to Schalick’s Amanda Chomo.

Norman also anchored Woodstown’s third-place 1,600-meter relay team.

Woodstown placed third with 43 points, behind only Schalick (72) and Audubon (57).

Christin Bettis’s high school 1,600 PR at Hammonton was 5:13.01, which converts to about a 5:14.83 for a full mile. Her mile PR at Rowan was 5:15.89.

Then she raced at Lehigh a few days ago and five years after the last time she PR’d in the mile, she PR’d again.

Bettis ran 5:02.33 to win the fast section of the mile and wound up the overall winner in a field of 35 runners at the John Covert Classic at Rauch Fieldhouse.

That is a PR of about 13 1/2 seconds for Bettis, a 2012 graduate of Hammonton High School and now a senior at Rowan.

Bettis generally runs longer stuff — she won the 10,000 at the ECAC Division 3 meet last spring at Springfield (Mass.) College and reached the NCAA Division 3 nationals last spring. But she also has 2:19 wheels in the 800.

In fact, at the New Jersey Athletic Conference meet at Ramapo College in Mahwah last spring, she won the 10,000 and was third in the 800! Talk about crazy range!

So the mile should be a natural event for her, and at Lehigh she beat the field by 25 meters, finishing about 4 1/2 seconds ahead of second-place Cassandra Hrusko of Stockton via Manchester Township High School.

That should augur well once Bettis gets back to racing her specialties, the 5,000 and 10,000!

 

Rancocas Valley junior Aliyah Taylor broke 25 seconds in the 200 for the first time and ran an indoor 400 PR in a monster sprint double at the Ocean Breeze Invitational on Staten Island.

Taylor ran 24.93 in the 200 and placed second to Kouri Peace of Pennridge High in Perkasie, Pa., who ran 24.62.

Taylor also ran 56.32 to place third in the 400 behind two girls from Cheltenham (Pa.) High  – Alexis Crosby (56.13) and Bria Barnes (56.23).

Her 200 time is No. 8 in South Jersey indoor history, and her 400 time is No. 9 on the all-time S.J. indoor list.

Taylor is one of only four girls that’s now on both all-time South Jersey lists — the 200 and 400. She joins Dana Burnett of Williamstown in 1997, Krystal Cantey of Winslow Township in 2006 and Kiara Lester of Deptford in 2016.

Last year, Taylor was the indoor Meet of Champs winner in the 55 while competing for Pemberton.

Taylor’s previous 200 PR was a 25.24 in the 200 trials Sunday. Before this weekend, her 200 PR was a 25.40 to win the Central Jersey Group 3 sectionals last spring. Her indoor 200 PR was a 25.90 at one of the SJTCA meets at the Bennett Center.

In the 400, Taylor had an indoor PR of 56.81 from a SJTCA meet last week. Her outdoor 400 PR is a 57.29 for third at last spring’s Meet of Champions.

Taylor is No. 1 in New Jersey in both the 200 and 400 this winter. Her 200 time is No. 41 nationally and her 400 time is No. 17.

Let’s take a look at the all-time South Jersey top-10 lists in both events. I included all 200 times under 25 seconds and all 400 times under 57 seconds.

200-METER DASH
24.38 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
24.46 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], 2000
24.61 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
24.73 … Cecelia Gerstenbecher [Delsea], 2016
24.5h … Jennifer Jackson [Eastern], 2003
24.78 … Dana Burnett [Williamstown], 1996
24.83 … Kiara Lester [Deptford], 2014
24.93 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
24.94 … Shardae Anderson [Paulsboro], 2005

400-METER DASH
54.24 … Okechi Ogbuokiri [Willingboro], 2003
54.91 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], 2008
55.16 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2006
55.19 … Michelle Brown [Seneca], 2008
55.4h … English Gardner [Eastern], 2008
55.6h … Denise Mitchell [Edgewood], 1984
55.83 … Kiara Lester [Deptford], 2016
56.21 … Dana Burnett [Williamstown], 1997
56.32 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
56.34 … Katrina Sye [Buena], 1997
56.44 … Avionne Sloan [Camden], 2006
56.62 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
56.65 … Britney Kott [Millville], 2009
56.76 … Simone Thomas [Willingboro], 2003
56.85 … Emily Duffey [Lenape], 2912
56.88 … Marcene Jack [Mainland Reg.], 2004
56.90 … Nadia Davy [Bridgeton], 1999

Luke Colehower raced his way into the all-time South Jersey indoor 400-meter dash top-10 this weekend with a blazing 48.75 to win the featured “Varsity Red” 400 at the Ocean Breeze Invitational at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island.

Colehower also blazed his way onto the all-time South Jersey indoor 200 list and now leads the state in both sprints. More on that below.

Colehower, a Haddonfield sophomore, lowered his indoor PR from 49.44, which he ran at last year’s Meet of Champions, where he placed a close second to Mike Zupko of CBA. His overall PR is a 48.31 to win the Camden County Championships small-school race at Haddon Township last May.

His time is No. 7 in South Jersey history and fastest since Alex Reber of Cherry Hill East ran 48.50 in 2013. Taylor McLaughlin of Union Catholic ran 48.75 as a sophomore in 2011.

Colehower edged South Brunswick senior Harmodio Cruz, who was second in 48.82. Those are the top two times in New Jersey this year.

Here is the updated all-time South Jersey indoor 400 list:

48.27 … Jade Smith [Camden], 2002
48.36 … Mohammad Kanu [Lenape], 2000
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
48.84h … Curt Mcintyre [Bridgeton], 1992
48.84h … John Morris [Camden], 2001
48.91 … Marlin Gross [Bridgeton], 2001
48.91 … Rob Gary [Lenape], 1998

The last New Jersey sophomore to run faster was Reber, whose 48.50 came his sophomore year at New Balance Indoors at the Armory.

According to the MileSplit USA database, Colehower is the No. 3 sophomore in the country, behind only Brian Herron of Lakeside High in DeKalb, Ga., who ran 48.08 at the Hoover Alumni Invitational in Birmingham, Ala., in December; and James Flournoy of Michigan, who ran 48.44 at a meet at Saginaw Valley State last week.

Flournoy is listed as unattached, so he apparently does not run for his high school program. It’s unclear what high school he actually attends.

Colehower also ran 22.02 for fifth in the 200-meter dash final (after a 22.03 in the trials). Colehower’s 200 time is No. 2 in New Jersey this year, behind Semaj Willis of Trenton, who ran 21.97 at the Mercer County Championships at the Lavino Fieldhouse in Lawrenceville.

The 200 isn’t run very often indoors because of lane inequities, but here is a look at the South Jersey indoor top-10:

21.53 … Darrell Bush [Woodbury], 2012
21.62 … Todd Dutch [Washington Twp.], 2001
21.7h … A.J. Burton [West Deptford], 2006
21.85 … Lamont Smith [Willingboro], 1991
21.86 … Antonio Abney [Willingboro], 2007
21.89 … Reuben McCoy [Winslow Twp.], 2004
21.91 … Sterling Pierce [Rancocas Valley], 2015
21.96 … Mike Bolling [Willingboro], 2001
22.02 … Luke Colehower [Haddonfield], 2017

Looks like Colehower and Lamont Smith, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist, are the only guys who are on both the 200 and 400 lists.

The last New Jersey soph to run faster at 200 meters indoors was Zamir Thomas of Snyder, who ran 21.90 in 2009.

Colehower is also No. 3 soph nationally behind Herron and Charles Lewis of Sparkman High in in Alabama, who went 1-2 at the Hoover Invite in 21.22 and 21.31.

Before Saturday, Colehower’s indoor 200 PR was a 23.43 from a SJTCA meet last year at the Bennett Center. The 22.02 is an overall PR. His outdoor best time is a 22.27 from the Haddonfield Invite last May.