From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

With all five scorers in the top 14, the Cherokee boys posted the lowest team score at the Burlington County Open in 11 years Friday, outscoring second-place Lenape 33-85.

The 33 points are the lowest winning score since Cherokee scored 22 to win the 2004 title by more than 100 points over Lenape. That team was led by Tom Yersak, Greg Bredeck, Sean McLaughlin and Vinny Marziano, who finished second through fifth. Paul McFadden and Matt Dolan gave the Chiefs six of the first nine finishers. That Chiefs group had a trim 27-second span from first through fifth.

This team didn’t pack quite so tightly, but it was certainly an impressive performance by a team with just one senior in its top five and just two in the varsity race.

Junior Nick Falk won his second consecutive individual title, covering the 5,000-meter Mill Creek Park course in 16:15, some 27 seconds faster than his winning time last year.

Falk became the first repeat winner since Shawnee’s David Forward in 2008 and 2009 and Cherokee’s first repeat winner since Alex Yersak in 2006 and 2007.

Cherokee’s next four finishers were junior Jack Shea [third in 16:21], sophomore Justin Kelly [sixth in 16:44], senior Michael Zurzolo [ninth in 17:00] and sophomore Brandon Marks [14th in 17:06].

The team title was Cherokee’s second in a row, the first time the Chiefs have won consecutive County Open team titles since they won three straight from 2007 through 2009.

In all. the Chiefs have won 17 team titles –1988, 1989, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2015. Since 1995, they’ve won 15 of a possible 21.

Here’s a look at the repeat winners in meet history:

Eric Lorenz [Holy Cross]
1986 – 16:07
1987 – 16:08

Jason Capelli [Rancocas Valley]
1992 – 16:25
1993 – 16:45

Brad Bisinger [Lenape]
1996 – 16:53
1997 – 16:15

Adam Ambrus [Shawnee]
1999 – 16:19
2000 – 16:42

Alex Yersak [Cherokee]
2006 – 16:36
2007 – 16:47

David Forward [Shawnee]
2008 – 16:04
2009 – 16:12

Nick Falk [Cherokee]
2014 – 16:42
2015 – 16:15

Of all her insane accomplishments running for Haddonfield, this one might be the most insane.

Briana Gess, a Foot Locker qualifier and a Meet of Champions winner both on the track and on the trails, destroyed the New Jersey record on the historic 2.5-mile Van Cortland Park cross country course when she won the Eastern race at the 43rd annual Manhattan Invitational.

Gess covered the hilly course near the Bronx Zoo in an astonishing 14:10.4, placing third in the fastest race ever run at Vanny.

Jessica Lawson of Corning East won the race in a course-record 13:53.9, breaking the record of 13:55.3 set in 2007 by Carley Seymour of Central Cambria. Kaitlyn Neal  of Fayetteville-Manlius in New York was second in 14:04.6, seventh-fastest time in course history, and Gess was third with the 13th-fastest time in course history.

Gess broke a state record at Van Cortland that had stood for three decades!

In 1985, Karen Ahearn of Bernards ran 14:12.8, and that stood as the New Jersey course record until this past weekend.

Gess also broke her own South Jersey course record of 14:25.6. The top three South Jersey times ever run on the 2.5-mile Vanny course belong to Haddonfield Bulldogs. Vanessa Wright ran 14:30.4 in 2004, and Olympian Erin Donohue ran 14:42.2 in 1998.

Here is a look at the updated all-time New Jersey list at Van Cortland. The list is culled from the all-time list maintained by Kyle Brazeil and posted on the MileSplit New York web site: http://ny.milesplit.com/articles/133682?page=1

All-Time Top 20 New Jersey Van Cortland List

• 14:10.4 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2015
• 14:12.8 … Karen Ahearn [Bernards], 1985
• 14:12.8 … Melanie Thompson [Voorhees], 2008
• 14:13.1 … Janet Smith [J.P. Stevens], 1983
• 14:16.0 … Ashley Higginson [Colts Neck], 2006
• 14:20.7 … Jodie Bilotta [North Hunterdon], 1986
• 14:23.2 … Meg Waldron [Bernards], 1982
• 14:25.5 … Mackenzie Barry [Mendham], 2012
• 14:30.4 … Vanessa Wright [Haddonfield], 2004
• 14:35.8 … Marin Warner [Holmdel], 2014
• 14:37.2 … Anne Marie Letko [North Hunterdon], 1986
• 14:37.3 … Anna Murphy [Oak Knoll], 2007
• 14:37.5 … Cate Guiney [Middletown South], 1998
• 14:37.9 … Megan Curham [Villa Walsh],  2012
• 14:39.0 … Stacy Bilotta [North Hunterdon], 1983
• 14:39.9 … Jill Smith [Southern Regional], 2008
• 14:41.2 … Theresa Gschwind [Summit], 1981
• 14:42.2 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 1998
• 14:42.5 … Devin Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2014
• 14:42.7 … Sarah Pagano [Immaculate Heart], 2008
• 14:43.3 … Jesse Mizzone [Passaic Valley], 2001

6

Pennsville packed its five scorers within 36 seconds of each other Saturday on the way to a commanding team title at the South Jersey Open over the 5,000-meter sectional course at Delsea.

Pennsville is proving it’s not just one of the best South Jersey Group 1 schools but one of the best teams in South Jersey period.

The Eagles were one of just five schools — in any division – to average sub-17. They outscored second-place second-place Schalick 35-86 to win the Division 1 title.

Schalick went 1-2 behind Sam Gerstenbacher and Cosmo Pirozzi, who ran 16:27 and 16:36, but Pennsville had five of the next nine finishers — and actually six of the next 11.

Adam Quann led Pennsville in third place in 16:36, with Justin Smith fifth [16:54], Zak Carpenter sixth [17:01], Zachary Pope 10th [17:12] and Timothy Shields 11th [17:12].

Thomas Bardon was a non-scoring but bumping 12th [17:23], and the Eagles’ seventh runner, Austin Green, also finished in the top 25.

Scoring Pennsville against the field, it’s a fairly close meet, with the field winning by a 22-35 margin.

Here are all the individuals who ran 16:30 or faster today at Delsea:

15:38.16, Nicholas Pschunder (Eastern), 1st, Division 3
15:44.66,JP. Flavin (Toms River North), 2nd, Division 3
15:49.75, Isaiah Corbelo (Rancocas Valley), 3rd, Division 3
15:56.61, Nick Falk (Cherokee), 4th, Division 3
16:02.95, Jack Shea (Cherokee), 5th, Division 3
16:11.10, Joe Grandizio (Kingsway), 6th, Division 3
16:13.33, Justin Farley (Toms River North), 7th, Division 3
16:14.66, Joseph Dougherty (Hammonton), 8th, Division 3
16:26.66, Justin Kelly (Cherokee), 9th, Division 3
16:29.25, Vipul Bhat (Eastern), 10th, Division 3
16:26.00, Mitchell Wileczek (West Deptford), 1st, Division 2
16:27.00, Decin Hart Point Pleasant Boro), 2nd, Division 2
16:28.00, Jimmy Macpherson (Sterling), 3rd, Division 2
16:28.00, A.J. Kilpatrick (West Deptford), 4th, Division 2
16:27.91, Sam Gerstenbacher, (Schalick), 1st, Division 1

and all the teams that averaged 17:30 or faster:

16:19.80, Cherokee [1st, Division 3]
16:34.21, Kingsway, [2nd, Division 3]
16:38.67, Toms River North [3rd, Division 3]
16:57.60, West Deptford [2nd, Division 2]
16:59.50, Pennsville [1st, Division 1]
17:02.60, Delsea [1st, Division 2]
17:03.40, Hammonton [4th in Division 3]
17:13.64, Eastern [8th in Division 3]
17:18.85, Lenape [5th in Division 3]
17:21.85, Shawnee [6th in Division 3]
17:21.29, Hammonton [7th in Division 3]
17:22.80, Paul VI, [3rd, Division 2]
17:23.08, Rancocas Valley [10h, Division 3]
17:28.13, Moorestown [9th, Division 3]
17:30.60, Point Pleasant Borough [5th in Division 1]

And, as always, click over to Tomahawk for complete results, including the freshmen and JV races: http://tomahawktiming.com/910-sj-open-div-2-boys/

It had been almost a quarter of a century since a Mainland Regional girl won a race at the Shore Coaches Invitational.

Alyssa Aldridge ended that streak on Saturday.

Aldridge, a Mainland Regional soph, ran a personal-best 18:20.0 over the hilly and historic Holmdel County Park 5,000-meter layout, winning by about 250 meters over Katie Delidow of Millburn in the Girls B race at the Shore Coaches Invite.

Aldridge’s time is fastest by a South Jersey girl at Shore Coaches since Megan Lacy of Cherokee, now running for Stanford, ran 18:19 in the Girls A race in 2011.

The only other Mainland girl to ever win a Shore Coaches race was Julie Schick, who ran 20:15 to win the Girls B race in 1991.

Aldridge beat her previous Holmdel PR by under two seconds. She ran 18:21.94 for second to Ocean City’s Devin Grisbaum last year in the Meet of Champions.

Also under 20 minutes from South Jersey at the largest non-championship meet of the year were Kara Bonner of Shawnee [19:41], Ashley Dunteman of Northern Burlington [19:46], Alexis Mullarkey of Kingsway [19:48], Julia Rothstein of Clearview [19:50], Briana Roberts of Pennsauken [19:53] and Claire Rankin of Shawnee [19:56].

Aldridge’s time is No. 11 in South Jersey history at Holmdel County Park. Here’s a look at every South Jersey who’s run 19:00 minutes or faster at Holmdel, either at Shore Coaches, states or Meet of Champs [or at Central Jersey sectionals, when they were held there]:

• 17:40 …… Michelle Rowan [Washington Twp.], 1982
• 17:43.1 … Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 2008
• 17:44.78 .. Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2013
• 17:50.0 … Megan Venables [Highland], 2010
• 18:11.6 … Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2004
• 18:12.0 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2010
• 18:12.02 .. Holly Bischof [Bishop Eustace], 2011
• 18:16.5 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2009
• 18:18.2 … Theresa Catunna [Cherry Hill East], 2006
• 18:19.26 .. Devin Grisbaum [Ocean City], 2014
• 18:20.0 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2015
• 18:22.0 … Vanessa Wright [Haddonfield], 2004
• 18:28.0 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2000
• 18:38.2 … Casey Doyle [Shawnee], 2007
• 18:40 …… Mindy Rowand [Sterling], 1984
• 18:40 …… Dina Iacone [Washington Twp.], 2011
• 18:40.22 .. Shelby Cain [Haddonfield], 2011
• 18:43.1 … Amanda Goetschius [Delsea], 2005
• 18:44.4 … Arianna McKinney [Highland], 2003
• 18:48.79 .. Mara Schiffhauer [Seneca], 2013
• 18:49.87 .. Meghan Malloy [Haddonfield], 2011
• 18:50 …… Dawn Cody [Paul VI], 1982
• 18:50 …… Jamie Wiesgerber [Woodstown], 1994
• 18:52.2 … Renee Tomlin [Ocean City], 2005
• 18:52.3 … Lisa Burkholder [Cherokee], 2004
• 18:58 …… Lori Watson [Cherry Hill East], 1983
• 18:58 …… Abbey Hartman [Ocean City], 1996
• 18:59 …… Wendy Westphal [Highland], 1982
• 19:00.2 … Caitlin Orr [Lenape], 2009
• 19:00.9 … Katie Van Horn [Triton], 2004

The Clearview and Shawnee girls were head and shoulders above the rest of the pack Saturday at the South Jersey Shootout.

Both averaged under 20:30, with no other team averaging under 21 minutes.

The South Jersey Shootout is comprised of three varsity races, one matching everybody’s top two runners, another pitting their third and fourth runners and a third with each school’s fifth, sixth and seventh runners.

Top five times are added up, and in the merged results, Clearview, ranked No. 14 in the state, finishes with a 56-68 win over Shawnee, ranked No. 12.

It’s an incredible sign of Clearview’s depth that Shawnee would have had its third girl ahead of Clearview’s first if everybody were in one race, but Clearview still would have defeated Shawnee.

Clearview had its five scorers run between 20:11 and 20:41.

In the 1-2 race, Julia Rothstein was seventh in 20:11 and Kaitlin Donohue 10th in 20:31. The Pioneers came up big in the 3-4 race, with Emily Schaeffer [20:22] and Kate Woolam [20:41] placing second and third. Clearview then went 1-3-7 in the 5-6-7 race behind Megan Jones, who won it in 20:28, Ava Fritz, third in 21:12, and Rachel Doring, seventh in 21:48.

So Clearview’s scorers were Rothstein [8th place overall], Schaeffer [11th], Jones [12th], Donahue [13th] and Woolam [17th]. Subtract one point each because a runner in the top five wasn’t running for a full team and you have 56 points.

Shawnee wasn’t far behind.

The Renegades went 3-4 in the 1-2 race with Kara Bonner and Claire Rankin both breaking 20 minutes, they went 1-5 in the 3-4 race behind Grace Kearns [20:10] and Georgia Larzeler [20:50] and then they finished 4-8 in the 5-6-7 race with Laura Mavracic running 21:31 and Cara Keevey 22:24.

In team scoring, that came out to 3-4-6-19-36 for 68 points.

Rounding out the top five girls teams were Haddon Township [127], Ocean City 165] and Morristown [203].

Mainland’s Alyssa Aldridge blasted an 18:22 over the 5,000-meter course at Gloucester County College in Deptford Township, the fastest overall time by nearly a minute. Alex Weber of Ocean City ran 19:18 for second overall.

The rest of the individual top 10 was Bonner, Rankin, Kelsey Cummings of Triton [20:00], Annika Merkh of Haddon Township [20:01], Kearns, Rothstein, Ocean City’s Emma Bergman [20:17] and Alexis Mullarkey of Kingsway [20:20].

They’ve been battling since they were sophomores in high school, Thompson at Florence and Mirabelli just down Rte. 130 at Holy Cross.

They’re still battling, and at the USATF Junior National Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., long-time rivals Curtis Thompson and Chris Mirabelli finished first and second in the javelin, Thompson with a 237-4 bomb and Mirabelli with a throw of 225-5.

Thompson recently finished his freshman year at Mississippi State and Mirabelli finished his first season at Rutgers.

Seth Zuidema of U. Conn and Midland Park High School placed third at 197-02, giving New Jersey a sweep of the top three spots. Thompson, Mirabelli and Zuidema were New Jersey’s top three-ranked javelin throwers last year

Thompson, who was third at NCAAs, also placed sixth in the senior men’s javelin event with a throw of 237-8.

Thompson’s PR is a 248-1 at the SEC Championships, and Mirabelli’s is 227-6 from the Penn Relays. Zuidema’s career-best is a 207-5 at the Florida Relays.

Thompson ranks No. 7 on this year’s world junior list and No. 3 on the all-time United States junior list:

255-4 .… Sam Crouser (Gresham [Ore.] High School), 2010
253-0 .… Sean Keller (Heritage [Washington] High School), 2012
248-1 .… Curtis Thompson (Mississippi State), 2015
246-10 .. Bill Stanley (Ohio State), 2013
244-10 .. Joe Zimmerman (Washington), 2010
239-7 … Justin Carter (Auburn), 2014
238-10 .. Chris Hill (McNeese State), 2007
238-8 … Troy Burkholder (Washington), 1996
236-1 …. Devin Bogert (Texas A&M), 2012
235-10 .. Delyle Woods (San Jacinto Junior College), 1993

Eastern High School graduate English Gardner continued her resurgent 2015 season in Eugene this weekend, lowering her PR from 10.84 to 10.79 and moving up from No. 12 in U.S. history all the way to a tie for No. 7.

Gardner’s is now fastest in the world this year, tied with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who ran the same time in Kingston, Jamaica, on the same day.

This is the second PR in three weeks for Gardner, who lowered her lifetime best from 10.85, set at the 2013 nationals in Des Moines to 10.84 three weeks ago on the same track at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene where USATF nationals are being held this weekend.

Gardner’s best last year was 11.01, so she’s already a ridiculous 22/100ths of a second faster this year than last year.

With her second-place finish, Gardner earned a spot on the U.S. team that will compete in the IAAF World Championships in Beijing Aug. 22-30.

“I had an amazing day,” Gardner said, according to the USATF web site. “If you had asked me two months ago if English Gardner would make the U.S. team, I’d have said, ‘Heck, no.’ The 10.79 is just a plus – the cherry on the cake.”

Gardner ran her 10.79 with a legal 1.5 wind in the trials on Friday. She followed with a 10.84 with 1.5 in the semifinals and a 10.86 with a 1.2 in the final, where she finished just behind Tori Bowie, who ran 10.81.

Gardner is also the fastest Amercan in six years, since Carmelita Jeter ran 10.64 in 2009. Two of the six Americans in history faster than Gardner — Marion Jones and Torri Edwards — were suspended for banned substances. Another, the late Florence Griffith-Joyner, was long suspected but never caught.

Here is the updated all-time U.S. list (the times for Jones and Edwards are their fastest during periods preceding their known use of banned substances, as per IAAF policy):

• 10.49 … Florence Griffith-Joyner (1988)
• 10.64 … Carmelita Jeter (2009)
• 10.65 … Marion Jones (1998)
• 10.76 … Evelyn Ashford (1984)
• 10.78 … Dawn Sowell (1989)
• 10.78 … Torri Edwards (2008)
• 10.79 … Inger Miller (1999)
• 10.79 … English Gardner (2015)
• 10.80 … Tori Bowie (2014)
• 10.82 … Gail Devers (1992)
• 10.82 … Gwen Torence (1994)
• 10.83 … Sheila Echols (1988)
• 10.85 … Muna Lee (2008)
• 10.85 … Tianna Bartoletta (2012)
• 10.85 … Barbara Pierre (2013)

Gardner’s time equals No. 14 in world history, according to the IAAF all-time rankings:

• 10.49 … Florence Griffith-Joyner (1988)
• 10.64 … Carmelita Jeter (2009)
• 10.65 … Marion Jones (1998)
• 10.70 … Shelly-Ann Frasier-Pryce, Jamaica (2012)
• 10.73 … Christine Arron, France (1998)
• 10.74 … Marlene Ottey, Jamaica (1996)
• 10.75 … Kerron Stewart, Jamaica (2009)
• 10.76 … Evelyn Ashford (1984)
• 10.76 … Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaica (2011)
• 10.77 … Irini Privalova, Russia (1994)
• 10.77 … Ivet Lalova, Bulgaria (2004)
• 10.78 … Dawn Sowell (1989)
• 10.78 … Torri Edwards (2008)
• 10.79 … Inger Miller (1999)
• 10.79 … English Gardner (2015)
• 10.79 … Xuemei Li, China (1997)
• 10.79 … Blessing Okagbare, Nigeria (2013)

Lenape graduate Evann Thompson is enjoying a big year at Pitt and was one of the top qualifiers over the weekend for the NCAA Division 1 track championships.

She goes into NCAAs as the No. 6 seed.

At the East Regionals in Jacksonville over the weekend, Thompson advanced easily with a 58.37 in the first round and followed that up with a season-best 57.02 for second place in the next round — the regional final is actually considered the NCAA quarterfinal. Thompson was the third underclassman across the line.

Thompson’s previous season best was a 57.33 from two weeks earlier, when she placed second to Sage Watson of Florida State at the ACC Championships in Tallahassee. Her PR is a 56.87 from East Regionals last year. She did not have a great race at nationals as a sophomore, running 58.89 and placing 17th overall.

That 56.87 is the Pitt school record. She is also the school record holder indoors with a 1:30.98 for 600 meters. She’s also run as fast as 2:10.21 for 800 meters — an event she never ran in high school.

Thompson is the No. 6 seed at the NCAA Championships, which is scheduled for June 10-13 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Thompson had a PR of 1:01.99 during her years at Lenape. She was state champ in the 400IH as a senior in 2012.

A breakdown of Thompson’s season, with her top performances in all her various events is here.

For a complete list of all men’s and women’s NCAA qualifiers, click here.

Thompson is also ranked No. 20 among all U.S. women and No. 54 in the world.

She’s also only 13-100ths of a second off the 56.89 qualifying mark for the USATF nationals, June 25-28, also at Hayward Field. Her 56.87 last May came about a month before the qualifying window opened.

Two weeks ago, Tomara Carmichael’s discus PR was 106-5. Not bad for a sophomore.

Now? She’s added more than 20 feet to that PR and finds herself a sectional champion, a state champion and the top Group 1 thrower at states in more than a decade.

Wow!!!

The improbable story of Tomara Carmichael starts last spring. She threw 36-6 1/2 in the shot and 106-5 in the discus, making her the No. 1 freshman in South Jersey in the shot and No. 2 in the disc, behind Gabriel Harris-David of Timber Creek, who threw 114-8.

She even placed fifth at states in the shot, making her the first Palmyra girl to win a medal at the outdoor state meet since 2008, when Rejeana Marigna tripled the 100, 200 and 400.

This year, Carmichael won both throws at the BCSL Freedom meet and was top-three in both at the County Open. She extended her shot PR to 36-6 3/4 with a third at sectionals in the shot and PR’d at 119-5 for second at the Open.

But the big breakthrough came this past weekend at Egg Harbor, when she added another eight feet to her discus PR, hurling the platter 127-9 to win the state Group 1 title. She was also second in the shot, giving Palmyra 18 team points.

Carmichael is the first Palmyra girl ever to win a field event at the state championships.

She missed the meet record of 134-4 — set in 1991 by Karen Schwartz of Mountain Lakes in 1991 — by less than seven feet. And she has two years to go.

Her winning throw of 127-9 is the best in the Group 1 state meet in 12 years, since another BCSL Freedom Division thrower, Rose Perry of Riverside, won with a throw of 128-8.

She’s the first sophomore to win the state Group 1 discus title in at least 20 years. Official results don’t list class before 1996.

Overall, Carmichael goes into the Meet of Champions Wednesday ranked No. 8 among all entries and tops among South Jersey throwers, two inches ahead of shot put state champion Ronetta Hunter of Burlington Township.

 

Eastern High graduate English Gardner, now in her second post-collegiate season, continues to prove she’s one of the best sprinters in the world.

Gardner ran a blistering 10.84 to win the 100-meter dash Saturday at the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where she ran her college track.

Gardner won one of two sections of the 100. At the time she crossed the finish line, her time was No. 1 in the world in 2015. Moments later, Olympic gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won a different section of the 100 in a world-leading 10.81, leading two others also under 10.84.

But the performance was huge for Gardner, whose best time last year was 11.01. She lowered her PR from 10.85, from when she won the 2013 U.S. title in Des Moines.

Gardner, who lost her senior year at Eastern after getting hurt in a Powderpuff Football game, now finds herself No. 4 in the world, with the top six times all coming from Eugene Saturday night. She’s also No. 2 among Americans, behind Tori Bowie, who ran 10.82 for third in the other 100 final at the Prefontaine meet.

Gardner, a two-time NCAA champ at Oregon, moved into the No. 29 spot on the all-time world list and 12 spot on the all-time U.S. list. Her time is fourth-fastest by an American woman since 2000:

• 10.49 … Florence Griffith-Joyner (1988)
• 10.64 … Carmelita Jeter (2009)
• 10.65 … Marion Jones (1998)
• 10.76 … Evelyn Ashford (1984)
• 10.78 … Dawn Sowell (1989)
• 10.78 … Torri Edwards (2008)
• 10.79 … Inger Miller (1999)
• 10.80 … Tori Bowie (2014)
• 10.82 … Gail Devers (1992)
• 10.82 … Gwen Torence (1994)
• 10.83 … Sheila Echols (1988)
• 10.84 … English Gardner (2015)
• 10.85 … Muna Lee (2008)
• 10.85 … Tianna Bartoletta (2012)
• 10.85 … Barbara Pierre (2013)

Here’s a link to the all-time world list, and the 2015 world list is here.

Gardner will be one of the favorites in the 100 at the U.S. Championships back at Hayward Field in Eugene June 25-28.