From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Rowan senior James Coleman from Audubon ran a couple massive PRs Saturday in Chester, Pa.

Racing at the Danny Curran Invitational at Widener, Coleman dropped his 200 PR from 21.90 down to 21.57 and lowered his 400 PR from 49.39 to 48.68.

Let’s start with the 200.

His time is top 20 in NCAA Division 3 so far this year – No. 18 to be exact – and No. 2 in the NJAC, behind TCNJ freshman Maxim Rychkov, a double All-America indoors, who ran 21.40 Saturday in San Antonio, Texas.

Coleman ran 21.90 last May on the same track in Chester, Pa. That was actually his last outdoor meet. He also had a wind-aided [2.3] 21.87 when he placed 4th at the NJAC Championships last May in Galloway Township.

Coleman is the 7th current Rowan sprinter who’s run under 21.70 with legal wind.

Freshman Rajahn Dixon of Eastern ran 21.34 indoors, sophomore Eli Hendricks from Penns Grove ran 21.45 in May, senior Robert McKinney of Highland ran 21.47 in May, junior Evan Corcoran from Kingsway ran 21.59 last April, senior Shamar Love of Bridgeton ran 21.64 in May and senior Nana Agyamang from Parsippany ran 21.68 in May.

Coleman never broke 23 seconds in high school, PR’ing with a 23.09 at an indoor meet at Ocean Breeze. His outdoor PR was 23.79 at 2019 Group 1 sectionals at Washington Township.

He started his college career at Rowan College Gloucester County, where he broke 23 seconds for the first time in the spring of 2022 in a meet at Elizabethtown, Pa. He lowered his PR to 22.41 at Widener in the spring of 2023 and then to a wind-aided 22.15 at JUCO nationals in Utica, N.Y., where he earned his second All-America honor.

Last April, he broke through with two PRs in a meet at Widener, running 22.13 and 49.85, his first time under 50. He broke 22 for the first time when he placed 4th at outdoor NJACs in Galloway Township last May, but that was wind-aided at plus-2.3.

He finally ran wind-legal sub-22 at Widener last May with a 21.90 and that remained his PR until he dropped that 21.57 this weekend.

So he’s now run more than two seconds faster for an outdoor 200 in college than he did in high school. He PR’d at 400 with a 49..39 at the AARTFC Championships in Cortland, N.Y., last May and placed 6th in the 400 at the indoor NJAC meet last month at the Ott Center.

And onto the 400!

Coleman ran 52.17 in high school, PR’ing at indoor states at the Bubble in 2020, in his last race before the shutdown. That remained his PR until he ran 51.72 at that same meet at Elizabethtown in April 2022. He dropped to 51.51 in April of 2023 at a meet in Newark and then 50.93 at Widener a week later. In his final JUCO race, he broke 50 for the first time, running 49.78 at JUCO Nationals in Utica and placing 3rd.

He dropped to 49.50 at TCNJ last April and 49.39 at few weeks later at Cortland, N.Y. That remained his PR until this past weekend.

His 48.68 is No. 1 in the NJAC so far this year, just ahead of teammate freshman teammate Luke Halbruner from Ocean City, who PR’d at 48.73. Halbruner’s previous PR was a 49.46 at Delsea last May.

Also under 50 for the Profs were Jarquil Young of Sterling [49.51] and Nicholas Garmin of Cedar Crest High in Lebanon, Pa. [PR 49.79].

Bridgeton senior Zamir Chance got the outdoor season off to an impressive start by smashing the Cumberland County triple jump record at the Delsea Crusader Field Meet.

Chance popped a more than 1 ½-foot PR on his 6th and final attempt, leaping 47-0 to break the county outdoor record of 45-4 set by Markquese Bell of Bridgton (and the Dallas Cowboys) at the 2016 Cumberland County Championships in Upper Deerfield.

Chance’s previous outdoor PR was a 43-7 ½ last spring at the state Group 4 meet in Somerset, but he did jump 45-4 indoors in January in a meet at Ocean Breeze.

Chance also PR’d in the long jump, winning with a 21-10 ½ on his 5th attempt. That’s a nearly two-foot improvement over his PR of 19-11 PR from South Jersey Group 4 sectionals at Pennsauken last spring. He didn’t long jump at all this indoor season.

Chris Jones of Willingboro was 2nd just 1 ½ inches back with a a lifetime-best 21-9. He jumped 21-4 ¾ at this meet last year.

All-Time South Jersey Triple Jump 47-Foot List
50-9 ¼ … Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], 2018
50-6 ¾ …. Dominique Irons [Haddon Heights], 2013
50-2 ½ … Floyd Whitaker [Highland], 2019
48-10 ½ … Larry Russell [Timber Creek], 2015
48-4 ½ … Rece Englehart [Moorestown], 2024
48-3 ¼ … Ryan Chance [Glassboro], 2009
48-1 ½ … Mubeen Momodu [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2019
48-1 ¼ ……Orion Joyner [Kingsway], 2019
48-0 ………. Josh Butler [Delsea], 2006
47-9 ¼ … Marcus Edghilll [Pemberton], 1981
47-7 ½ … Mikhail Micheaux [Eastern], 2014
47-7 ½ … Jaden Johnson [Timber Creek], 2022
47-6 ½ … Chris Roundtree [Haddon Hts.], 2009
47-5 ½ … Khaliel Burnett [Delsea], 2017
47-5 ¼ … Kevin Kevelier [Collingswood], 2019
47-5 ……… Steven Brown [Penns Grove], 2009
47-4 ¾ … Cheo King [Woodbury], 2017
47-4 ½ … Zakiyy Williams [Rancocas Valley], 2017
47-4 ……… Tristan Wilson [Delsea], 2014
47-3 ¼ … Antwan Dickerson [Pennsauken], 2013
47-3 ……… Mike Baker [Cherry Hill West], 1976
47-0 ½ … Mawali Osunnyi [Mainland Reg.], 2003
47-0 ¼ … Earnest Daniel [Kingsway], 2017
47-0 … Zamir Chance [Bridgeton], 2025

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In his first outdoor college race, Rutgers freshman Yashahya Brown from Washington Township moved into the all-time Rutgers top-10 in the 110-meter hurdles.

Brown ran 14.13 and placed 3rd at the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational at the University of Miami’s Cobb Stadium in Coral Gables, Fla.

It was Brown’s first-ever outdoor race over the 42-inch barriers.

Brown’s 14.13 is No. 9 in Rutgers history and not far off the fastest time by a South Jersey hurdler at Rutgers. Chais Hill of Highland ran 14.08 at the 2016 Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta.

This was Brown’s first outdoor high hurdles race since he won West Philly Nationals in June in 13.52 over the 39-inch hurdles.

He only competed in one meet indoors, running 7.86 for the 60-meter highs at the Armory in early December, 3rd-fastest in Rutgers history. He didn’t race again until last weekend, when he ran a PR 55.91 in the intermediates in a meet in Tampa.

So Saturday was his first shot at his specialty, and his time is 8th-fastest in NCAA Division 1 by a freshman so far this outdoor season. It’s also 7th-fastest in the Big Ten Conference and fastest by a Big Ten freshman.

Rutgers junior Eric Foster Jr. of Willingboro was 6th in the race in 14.83.

Lumberton’s Greg Foster ran a huge hurdles PR and the 2nd-fastest time in Princeton history Saturday at the Monmouth University Season Opener in West Long Branch.

Foster won the 110-meter highs in 13.93, leading a 1-2-3 Princeton sweep with Easton Tan [14.07] and Albert Kruetzer [14.28]. The race was held with a legal 1.5 meters-per-second tailwind.

Foster’s previous PR was a 14.23 at the 2023 Heps at Franklin Field. He missed the outdoor season last year after undergoing ankle surgery, and this was only his 2nd race over the 110 highs since 2023 Heps. He ran 14.44 last week at Franklin Field.

The only faster time in Princeton history is a 13.70 by Joey Daniels in the prelims of the 2019 NCAA Championships in Austin. Daniels went on to run 13.57 in 2021 in a meet at Bloomington, Ind., after transferring to Nebraska. He won the 2022 Canadian championships in Langley, British Columbia.

Foster, who has horizontal jump PRs of 26-1 3/4 and 51-0 1/2, only hurdled this weekend at Monmouth.

Monmouth’s A.J. Brooks from Eastern placed 6th and PR’d with a 14.64, a major drop from his 14.90 at this meet last year. His time is just 1-100th of a second outside the all-time Monmouth top 10. School record of 14.15 was set by Burlington Township’s Jalen Walker at 2015 NCAA East Prelims in Jacksonville.

Here’s a look at every hurdler I could think of from South Jersey who’s run sub-14 over the 42-inch barriers.

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. [+1.2]
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 [+2.0]
13.82 … John Sease [Willingboro], March 26, 1982, El Paso, Texas
13.84 … Jusson Boyd [Willingboro], April 15, 2011, Greensboro, N.C. [+0.6]
13.90 … Garry Moore [Overbrook], May 29, 1982, Naperville, Ill.
13.90 … Danyne Brown [Camden], May 30, 2003, Fairfax, Va.
13.91 … Devon Carter [Washington Twp.], May 30, 2014, Jacksonville, Fla.
13.92 … Dave Still [Pennsauken], April 1, 1978, Tucson, Ariz.
13.93 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], June 8, 2005, Sacramento, Calif.
13.93 … Greg Foster [Lumberton / Lawrenceville Prep], March 29, West Long Branch [1.5]
13.96 … Stanley Moore [Overbrook], May 26, 1983, Naperville, Ill.
13.97 … Naseem Smith [Deptford], May 10, 2024, Atlanta [+0.01]

Senior Shamar Love from Bridgeton, senior Dominic George from Cheltenham, senior Robert McKinney from Highland and junior Evan Corcoran from Kingsway ran the fastest 400-meter relay in NCAA Division 3 Saturday morning at a meet at Widener University in Chester, Pa.

Rowan ran 40.80 and I’m actually just guessing on the lineup since the horrible “Pioneer Timing” results site doesn’t differentiate between two Rowan teams in the race and doesn’t list runners in the results. Who hired these guys? This is awful.

Anyway, it was the first race since last spring for Love and Corcoran, who did not compete indoors.

Rowan ran within 17-100ths of a second of its fastest time from last year, a 40.63 with Nana Agyemang, Eli Hendricks, Love and McKinney at NCAA Division 3 Nationals in Myrtle Beach.

In her first lifetime 10,000, Haddonfield’s Helene Usher ran the 8th-fastest time on record by a South Jersey runner.

Usher, a sophomore at La Salle, made her debut over 10,000 meters late Friday night at the Raleigh Relays and placed 10th in 34:13.65.

Usher had just run 16:30.14 indoors for 5,000 meters in Boston last month and then placed 3rd in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

But on Friday on a warm evening at Frank Derr Stadium, she came through 5,000 meters in about 17:10 and closed in 17:03.

Her time is No. 2 in the A-10 so far this year, behind Fordham senior and A-10 indoor 5,000 champion Katarina Birimac, who ran 33:59.59 in the same race.

On the all-time South Jersey list, is 2nd-fastest from Haddonfield, behind only Marielle Hall, who ran 31:05.71 when she placed 8th at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. Hall never ran a track 10,000 when she was at Texas.

In a different section of the 10,000, Kingsway and Edinboro graduate Kylie Anicic ran 34:08.45. She ran 33:25.55 last year in the same meet.

All-Time South Jersey 10,000 Performance List
31:05.71 … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], Sept. 28, 2019, Doha, Qatar
31:35.63 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley], Dec. 5, 2020, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
33:07.10 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], May 28, 2021, Portland, Ore.
33:15.95 … Meghan McGlinchey [West Deptford], April 4, 2014, Palo Alto, Calif.
33:23.12 … Amanda Goetschius [Delsea], March 26, 2010, Palo Alto, Calif.
33:25.55 … Kylie Anicic [Kingsway], March 29, 2024, Raleigh, N.C.
33:27.41 … Laura Mason [Northern Burlington], April 27, 1995, Philadelphia
34:13.65 … Helene Usher [Haddonfield], March 28, 2025, Raleigh, N.C.
34:27.85 … Jenna Darcy [Shawnee], March 31, 2006, Palo Alto, Calif.
34:30.63 … Kylie Anicic [Kingsway], March 23, 2023, Raleigh, N.C.
34:34.91 … Katie Van Horn [Triton], March 20, 2007, Palo Alto, Calif.

Rowan senior Joshua Cason from Sicklerville ran a huge 5,000 PR Friday evening at Widener University in Chester.

Cason lowered his PR from 14:54.78 in a meet last April on the same track to 14:30.66 and won the 5,000 at the Danny Curran Invitational.

That’s the fastest 5,000 time by an New Jersey Athletic Conference runner since at least 2013, which is as far back as the TFRRS data base goes. The NJAC web site lists conference results going back to 2004 and nobody has run close to 14:30 during that span.

No splits on the awful “Pioneer Timing” web site, but Cason topped TCNJ’s Brandon Chen by 12 meters. Chen was 2nd in 14:33.15.

Rowan does not have an all-time top-10 list on its web site, but Cason’s time appears to be the fastest by a Rowan runner over 5,000 meters in at least 20 years.

There could be others but the only faster times I found are the school-record 14:13.46 by Oakcrest’s Ron Deckert when he won the 1984 NCAA Division 3 title at Carleton College’s Laird Stadium in Northfield, Minn., and a 14:22.88 by Cherry Hill East’s Jack Kruse when he placed 3rd in 1979 D-3 Nationals at George Finney Stadium at Baldwin-Wallace in Berea, Ohio.

Cason, who attended Camden County Vo-Tech, is a three-time NJAC champion, having won the conference 3,000 indoors in 2024 at Ocean Breeze and 2025 at the Ott Center and the conference XC title this past fall at the Green Lane Fields in Ewing. Cason was a three-time NJAC All-America for Camden County College before Rowan. He also played golf at CCC.

Curtis Thompson opened his 2025 season with the No. 1 javelin throw in the world this year.

Thompson, a 2014 Florence graduate, threw a lifetime-best 287-11 at the Texas Relays Friday afternoon at Mike Myers Stadium in Austin.

That bumps Sumedha Ranasinghe of Sri Lanka out of the No. 1 spot on the World Athletics list. Ranasinghe threw 281-5 earlier this month at Mahinda Rajapaksha Stadium in Diyagama, Sri Lanka.

Thompson’s previous best was a 287-9 at American JavFest in East Stroudsburg, Pa., in July 2022.

His 287-11 is No. 3 in U.S. history behind Breaux Greer [299-6 in Indianapolis in 2007] and Tom Petranoff [292-6 in Potchefstroom, Russia, in 1991].

Thompson is a four-time U.S. champion and two-time Olympic Trials champion. He won U.S. titles in 2018, 2021, 2023 and 2024 and the Trials in 2021 and 2024. He competed in the 2021 Olympics Tokyo and 2024 Games in Paris after missing qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro by 15 inches.

Thompson broke the meet record of 274-2 set by former world record holder Patrik Bodén of Sweden and the University of Texas at the 1990 meet at the University of Texas’s Memorial Stadium, across the street from Mike Myers Stadium.

Thompson, in his first meet since the Olympics seven months ago, opened with a 257-2 before hitting the 287-11 on his 2nd attempt. He added two more throws over 270 feet – 276-11 and 271-9 on his 3rd and 4th throws before finishing with two fouls.

The 276-11 is his 3rd-best throw ever, and the 271-9 is his 10th-best. This is the first time he’s thrown 270 feet or more three times in the same meet and the first time he’s thrown 275 feet twice in the same meet.

Curtis Thompson’s 270-foot throws
287-11 … Texas Relays, Austin, Texas, March 28, 2025 [2nd throw]
287-9 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 9, 2022 [2nd throw]
276-11 … Texas Relays, Austin, Texas, March 28, 2025 [3rd throw]
276-4 … NACAC, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Bahamas, Aug. 20, 2022 [3rd throw]
274-11 … Athletissima, La Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland, Aug. 26, 2022 [1st throw]
273-4 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 9, 2022 [1st throw]
272-5 … Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, June 23, 2024 [1st throw]
271-11… Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, July 4, 2016 [1st throw]
271-10 … Spitzen Leichtathletik, Luzern, Switzerland, Aug. 30, 2022 [3rd throw]
271-9 … Texas Relays, Austin, Texas, March 28, 2025 [4th throw]
271-7 … Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, June 21, 2021 [6th throw]
271-0 … American JavFest, East Stroudsburg [Pa.] South High School, July 13, 2024 [1st throw]
270-3 … Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Invitational, Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland, Aug. 6, 2022 [2nd throw]

In her first outdoor race for Duke, Paul VI’s Aliya Garozzo sped to the 6th-fastest 400 time ever recorded by a South Jersey high school alum.

Garozzo, a transfer from Penn, opened her outdoor season Friday by running 52.54 and placing 3rd in the 400 at the Raleigh Relays at Paul Derr Stadium. She placed 3rd out of 114 runners.

Garozzo’s previous PR was a 53.47 earlier this month indoors in the prelims of the ACC Championships in Louisville. Because she focuses on the intermediate hurdles outdoors, she didn’t run an outdoor 400 her last two years at Penn. Technically, her previous outdoor 400 PR was a 56.31 in a meet in Fairfax, Va., in April of 2022.

Garozzo hasn’t run a 400IH yet this spring. She PR’d with a 56.34 when she won last year’s Heps in Princeton. That’s 4th-fastest ever by a New Jersey intermediate hurdler.

Duke doesn’t have an all-time top-10 on its web site. It has an all-time top-5 which goes down to 52.30, so presumably Garozzo isn’t far outside that top five.

All-Time New Jersey 400-Meter Dash List
48.74 … Sydney McLaughlin [Union Catholic], July 8, 2023, Eugene, Ore.
49.57… Athing Mu [Trenton], June 12, 2021, Eugene, Ore.
50.63 … Mikele Barber [Montclair], May 13, 2001, Columbia, S.C.
50.66 … Nadia Davy [Bridgeton], 2003, Sacramento
50.87 … Me’Lisa Barber [Montclair], June 1, 2002, Baton Rouge, La.
51.70 … Michelle Brown [Seneca], June 13, 2014, Eugene, Ore.
51.72 … Denise Mitchell [Edgewood], June 27, 1987, San Jose, Calif.
51.94 … Stephanie Saleem [Neptune], May 20, 1989, Knoxville, Tenn.
52.00 … Jenna Harris [Franklin Twp.], May 31, 2008, Fayetteville, Ark.
52.24 … Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], March 16, 1996, Westwood, Calif.
52.36 … Julia Jackson [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], May 12, 2023, Raleigh, N.C.
52.37 … Joetta Clark [Columbia], June 1, 1996, New York
52.42 … Arianna Sharpe [Clayton], Feb. 10, 2023, Clemson, S.C.
52.46 … Olivia Baker [Columbia], July 6, 2014, Eugene, Ore.
52.54 … Aliya Garozzo [Paul VI], March 28, 2025, Raleigh, N.C.
52.77 … Eusheka Bartley [Highland], March 23, 1996, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
52.77 … Ahndraea Allen [Roselle Park], May 15, 2005, Princeton
52.80 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], May 12, 2007, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
52.86 … Tina Johnson [Burlington Twp.], May 20, 2001, Bloomington, Ind.

Austin Gabay, a junior at Butler, PR’d over 5,000 meters Thursday night in Raleigh with the 3rd-fastest time ever run by a South Jersey native.

Gabay ran 13:52.19 at the Raleigh Relays at Paul Derr Stadium in Raleigh, N.C., shaving about 6 ½ seconds off his PR of 13:58.84, set on the same track last year as a sophomore at Duke.

Gabay, in his 2025 outdoor season opener, closed in 4:24.08 for his final 1,600, 2:08.20 for his final 800 and 61.1 for his final 400.

Gabay moved from 4th to 3rd on the all-time South Jersey performance list and broke the Cinnaminson alumni record along the way. Jon Anderson ran 15:58.23 at the 2009 Penn Relays while racing for Army.

All-Time South Jersey 5,000 List
13:44.57 … Jack Shea [Cherokee], April 29, 2022, Palo Alto, Calif.
13:48.61 …Karl Savage [Eastern], April 17, 2003, Walnut, Calif.
13:52.19 … Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], March 28, 2024, Raleigh, N.C.
13:58.23 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], April 23, 2009, Philadelphia
14:03.52 … Kevin McDonnell [Camden Catholic], April 5, 2013, Williamsburg
14:04.8h … Kevin Pumphrey [Highland], 1989
14:06.23 … Sam Gerstenbacher [Schalick], April 29, 2022, Philadelphia
14:08.24 … Kevin Antczak [Mainland Regional], Feb. 22, 2024, Boston
14:09.10 … Andy Arnold [Bishop Eustace], April 4, 2014, San Francisco
14:09.37 … Jon Vitez [Haddonfield], March 30, 2012, Raleigh, N.C.