From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Senior Humberto Cuellar smashed the Eastern indoor shot put record Saturday at the Ott Center at the SJTCA season opener.

Cuellar, who came into the meet with a PR of 48-10 ½, PR’d at 50-5 ¼ on his 1st attempt and then bombed a Vikings-record 53-3 ¾ on his 2nd throw before closing with a foul.

He broke the Eastern indoor record of 52-9 ½ set by Jarred Williams at 2010 South Jersey Group 4 Sectionals at the Bubble. Williams also holds Eastern’s outdoor record at 55-1 from 2010 outdoor Group 4 States at South Plainfield.

Cuellar’s previous overall PR was a 48-10 ½ at Group 4 States last May in Somerset. His indoor PR was a 43-10 ½ at the Ott Center last December. So he topped that by nearly 10 feet.

Cuellar is an offensive lineman and captain for Eastern’s football team.

Overbrook junior Jaiden Mitchell popped the first two 22-foot jumps of his life Saturday morning at the Ott Center.

Mitchell, who came into the SJTCA season opener in West Philly with a PR of 21-9 and an indoor PR 20-3 ¼, jumped 19-2 ¼ on his 1^st attempt before hitting 22-2 on his 2^nd and 22-4 ¼ on his 3^rd.

He jumped within 2 ¼ inches of the Overbrook school record of 22-6 ½ set by Damon Matthews at 2017 South Jersey Group 4 Sectionals at Egg Harbor. Mitchell moved past Brian Young [21-6 ¾ at the 1991 South Jersey Large-School Championships at Widener] for the No. 2 spot on the all-time Overbrook indoor list.

Mitchell was the No. 2 sophomore in South Jersey and No. 12 soph in the state last spring.

Rancocas Valley senior Rudolph Glover had three jumps over 21 feet – 21-7 ½, 21-0 and 21-6 ¾. Glover PR’d last spring at 22-1 ¼ to win the Burlington County Open at Lenape. This appears to be his first indoor meet ever.

Rancocas Valley senior Damanique Johnston PR’d by more than eight inches in the long jump Saturday morning with a 17-5 at the season-opening SJTCA meet at the Ott Center.

Johnston came into the season with a 16-8 ¼ PR from a meet in January at the Ott Center. She jumped an outdoor PR 16-7 at Delsea last spring on May 1 but that was her last meet of the year.

After a foul on her first jump, Johnston hit 17-5 on her 2^nd and then 16-11 ½, her 2^nd-best jump ever, on her 3^rd attempt. Athletes only got three jumps Saturday.

Johnson is the 5^th R.V. girl to jump 17-5 or better indoors.

Winslow senior Leeya Joseph also hit 17 feet, and she actually did it twice with a 17-4 on her 2^nd jump and then a 17-2 ¾. Joseph jumped 18-8 ½ for 2^ndat Easterns last winter at the Armory. She had a wind-legal 19-0 last June at the Met of Champions at Pennsauken.

All-Time Rancocas Valley Indoor Long Jump List
18-4 ¾ … Tonya Lee, 1988
17-10 … Kristina Tossas, 2020
17-7 ½ … Lauren Fadairo, 2024
17-6 ¼ … Anaya Young, 2020
17-5 … Damanique Johnston, 2026

The Winslow girls opened the 2025-26 season with a hot 800-meter relay Saturday morning at the Ott Center.

Junior Jordyn Cato, junior Amaya Jones, senior Olivia Okaro and sophomore Jasmine Jackson ran 1:41.31, 9^th-fastest in South Jersey history at the SJTCA season-opener.

Winslow ran 1:39.66 last year, No. 2 in South Jersey history, with only Cato and Okaro in the lineup from this race. Winslow’s time is No. 20 on the all-time New Jersey indoor list. Jackson anchored in 24.53.

Winslow ran unpressed, with Pennsauken – minus Sianni Wynn – 2^nd in 1:47.75. senior Sanaya Dupree, junior Abigayle John, junior Jade Georges-Reyes and senior Olivia Dupree ran for Pennsauken.

Winslow has run faster only in 2017, 2018 and 2025.

1:39.55 … Winslow Twp., 2018
1:39.66 … Winslow Twp., 2025
1:39.94 … Winslow Twp., 2017
1:40.77 … Moorestown, 2000
1:41.19 … Camden, 2008
1:41.14 … Woodrow Wilson, 2006
1:41.19 … Camden, 2008
1:41.28 … Woodrow Wilson, 2005
1:41.31 … Winslow Twp., 2026
1:41.42 … Moorestown, 1999
1:41.70 … Willingboro, 2002
1:41.78 … Winslow Twp., 2014
1:41.80 … Winslow Twp., 2019

1:38.03 … Union Catholic, 2024
1:38.60 … Union Catholic, 2023
1:38.99 … Columbia, 2014
1:39.29 … Union Catholic, 2016
1:39.37 … Columbia, 2011
1:39.55 … Winslow Twp., 2018
1:39.66 … Winslow Twp., 2025
1:39.74 … Franklin, 2003
1:39.94 … Winslow Twp., 2017
1:39.94 … East Orange Campus, 2007
1:40.51 … Union Catholic, 2014
1:40.67 … Union Catholic, 2017
1:40.76 … Union Catholic, 2022
1:40.77 … Moorestown, 2000
1:41.07 … Union Catholic, 2015
1:41.14 … Woodrow Wilson, 2006
1:41.19 … Camden, 2008
1:41.28 … Woodrow Wilson, 2005
1:41.30 … Union Catholic, 2025
1:41.31 … Winslow Twp., 2026

In her first meet since winning a national title, Lindenwold senior Egypt Bolan cleared 5-6 in the high jump Friday at the Bubble.

Bolan cleared 5-10 ¾ in June at Franklin Field Nationals, a South Jersey record and No. 3 in New Jersey history.

Bolan cleared 5-0 on her 2^nd attempt and 5-2 on her 3^rd before getting over the bar at 5-4 on her 1^st attempt. She cleared 5-6 on her 2^nd before taking three tries at 5-8.

That would have matched her indoor PR, which she cleared four times last year, all four also at the Bubble.

Bolan also long jumped 15-11 ½ and ran 7.68 in the hurdles in the season-opening South Jersey Track Coaches Association meet.

Timber Creek’s Darien Cade, a junior at Fairleigh Dickinson, recorded his first 50-foot shot put with the 16-pound ball Friday at Ocean Breeze.

Cade improved his PR from 49-8 ½ from the Northeast Conference Championships in May in Easton, Mass., to 50-8 ¼ on his 2^nd attempt at the Seahawk Shootout.

His previous indoor PR was a 49-9 ¾ Saturday, also at Ocean Breeze.

His throw Friday is the best by an FDU shot putter indoors in four years, since Benjamin Clay threw 58-0 ½ in a meet at the Armory in 2022.

Cade’s high school PR was 49-0 at the 2023 Tri-County Conference Championships at Delsea, so he’s thrown farther with the 16-pound shot than the 12-pounder.

Action begins at the spectacular new Ott Center Saturday with a South Jersey Track Coaches Association meet starting at 8 a.m.

The 73,000-square foot, $69.3 million Ott Center, which opened last year, is a state-of-the-arm indoor track facility with a banked track  located on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in West Philly.

The track is tucked between the Northeast Corridor railroad tracks and the Schuylkill Expressway just south of South Street. and just north of Rhodes Field, where Penn’s soccer team plays.

Here’s a look at the complete Ott Center schedule for the 2025-26 indoor track season!

Dec. 13, SJTCA #2, 8 a.m.
Dec. 20, SJTCA #4, 8 a.m.
Dec. 27, SJTCA #7, 8 a.m.
Jan. 2, La Salle Winter Series, 1:30 p.m.
Jan. 3, SJTCA #8, 8 a.m.
Jan. 3, Upper Dublin Winter Series, 1:30 p.m.
Jan. 4, UAGTCA [United Age Group Track Coaches Association], 7:30 a.m.
Jan. 7, La Salle Boys Distance Meet, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 9, DVGTCA [Delaware Valley Girls Track Coaches Association], 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 10, Penn Select, Noon
Jan. 11, UAGTCA, 7:30 a.m.
Jan. 14, Upper Dublin Girls Meet, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 16, T&FCAGP [Track and Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 17, Quaker Invitational, 4 p.m.
Jan. 21, SJTCA #14, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 22, Penn Elite Multi Day 1, 3 p.m.
Jan. 23, Penn Elite Day 1, 10 a.m.
Jan. 24, Penn Elite Day 2, 11 a.m.
Jan. 28, Germantown Friends Invitational, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 30, Penn Invitational, Noon
Jan. 31, Penn Relays Winter Showcase, 9 a.m.
Feb. 1, Widener Meet #1, 1 p.m.
Feb. 2, SJTCA #17, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 4, La Salle Boys Relays, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 6, Penn Classic Day 1, 10 a.m.
Feb. 7, Penn Classic Day 2, 10 a.m.
Feb. 11, Upper Dublin Girls Relays, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 13, DVGTCA, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 14, Widener Invite, 1 p.m.
Feb. 15, PAISAA [Pennsylvania Independent School Athletic Association] Championship, 4:30 p.m.
Feb. 16, T&FCAGP Meet of Champions, 6:30 p.m.|
Feb. 20, Philly Metro, 11 a.m.
Feb. 21, New Jersey Athletic Conference, 4:30 p.m.
Feb. 22, New Jersey Athletic Conference, 2:30 p.m.
March 1, TCNJ Last-Chance Meet, Noon
March 7, PRTC [Philadelphia Runner Track Club] Indoor Classic, 9 a.m.

Rowan senior Masai Byrd from Rancocas Valley ran within 6-100ths of a second of his own school record in the 60 Saturday in the season-opening Fastrack Season Opener at Ocean Breeze.

Byrd ran 6.88 in the prelims before a 6.92 in the final. The 6.88 is just off his school record of the 6.82 he ran at the AARTFC Championships at Ithaca last March. His time is currently No. 13 on the TFRRS Division 3 list.

Rowan’s school record in the 60 has changed hands several times in recent years.

Justyce Pollitt from Sicklerville and St. Augustine was the first to break 7.00, which he did with a 6.98 in the trials of the Malloy Lions Invitational in South Huntington, N.Y., in February of 2015.

Dave Benjamin from Freehold lowered the record to 6.95 in the finals of the 2017 NJAC Championships at Ocean Breeze and then Camden’s Julian Pratt ran 6.93 at the 2020 NJAC Championships at Ocean Breeze.

Nana Agyemang from Parsippany lowered the mark to 6.87 in the prelims of the 2022 NJAC meet, also at Ocean Breeze, and then Bridgeton’s Shamar Love dropped it to 6.85 in the trials of the 2023 AARTFC meet at the Armory.

The record remained at 6.85 until Byrd ran 6.84 in the 2024 Fastrack Invite at Ocean Breeze. He ran 6.84 again in the trials of last year’s NJAC meet at the Ott Center, then dropped it to 6.83 in the final.

I’mara Ford of Moorestown moved into the James Madison all-time top 10 in the high jump Saturday in her first collegiate meet.

Ford cleared an indoor-PR 5-5 at the Colonel Bev Read Opener at VMI’s Corps Physical Training Facility in Lexington, Va.

Ford cleared 5-1 and 5-3 on her first attempts and 5-5 on her 3^rd and took 2^nd to junior teammate Aiden Faith on fewer misses at 5-5. Both went out at 5-6 ¾.

Ford’s previous indoor PR was a 5-4 at the 2024 Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze. Her lifetime best is 5-6 when she placed 2^nd at the 2024 outdoor Meet of Champions.

Ford also long jumped 17-11 and triple jumped 38-1 ¼ during her time at Moorestown. She only high jumped Saturday.

On the all-time JMU performance list, Ford is tied for 9^th. No. 8 on the list at 5-5 ¾ is Bethany Biggi from Rancocas Valley in 2021.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/jmusports.com/documents/2025/12/7/TF_Record_Book_Updated_120625_Edit.pdf?timestamp=20251207034029

https://x.com/CFBTalkDaily/status/1997789508524229081

It was a very impressive – and very busy – season debut for Stockton sophomore Elaina Styer from Ocean City.

Competing at the Fastrack Season Opener at Ocean Breeze, Styer tied her own school record in the 60-meter hurdles, PR’d in the long jump, placed 2^nd in the high jump and ran a leg on the 4^th-place 1,600-meter relay team.

Styer, from Estell Manor, placed 4^th in the hurdles in 9.03, which tied her PR and school record that she set at Tufts in Medford, Mass., this past March.

Her 18-0 ½ long jump was a PR by nearly a foot. She jumped 17-1 ¼ as part of her pentathlon win at the NJAC Championships this past February at the Ott Center. That’s also only 3 ¾ inches off the school record of 18-4 ¼ set by Jassina Surles of Williamstown in March 2016 at the ECAC Division 3 Championships, also at Ocean Breeze. Styer had two other jumps over 17 – a 17-1 ½ on her 1^st attempt that actually set a PR and a 17-0 ¼ on her 2^nd attempt before the 18-footer on her 3^rd.

Styer cleared 5-1 on her 2^nd attempt in the high jump before missing three tries at 5-3. She cleared 5-5 ¼ as part of her NJAC pentathlon win.

Styer teamed up with senior Emma Conroy of Matawan, senior Emma Petrolia from New Milford and sophomore Marlie DiPalma from Pope John XXIII in Sparta to run 4:03.01 in the 4-by-4.

On the first NCAA Division 3 rankings, Styer is 11^th in the long jump and 15^th in the hurdles, and Stockton is 13^th in the 4-by-4.