Glassboro's Chance delivers clutch leap

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. - Winning the South Jersey Group 1 title was one thing.

Winning the state Group 1 title was another.

But Glassboro's Ryan Chance took on the entire state last night and emerged as the best triple jumper in New Jersey.

With a clutch leap on his final attempt, Chance won the triple jump at the boys' Meet of Champions track and field competition at Frank Jost Field at South Plainfield High School.

"I'm spreading the news," said Chance, a senior.

Egg Harbor Township junior Tejay Johnson won the 100 meters, edging Glassboro's James Brown in a photo finish. Both runners were timed in 10.67 seconds.

Johnson came back and finished second in the 200 meters in 21.41.

"Winning the 100 was big because I false-started here last year," Johnson said. "That was a big motivation for me."

Chance won the triple jump with a jump of 47 feet, 7 inches. He captured first place in an event dominated by South Jersey athletes.

Haddon Heights' Chris Roundtree was second in 47-6, while Penns Grove's Steve Brown took fourth (46-4) and Timber Creek's Eric Smith took fifth (45-3).

Haddonfield junior Colin Baker set a school record, running 4 minutes. 9.30 seconds to finish second in the 1,600 meters.

Baker has cut 11 seconds off his time in the last two weeks. He popped a 4:15.07 to win the state Group 2 meet and lowered by nearly six seconds last night.

Baker shattered the school record of 4:14.5, set in 2002 by Chris Platt. The 1,600 field in cool, damp conditions was so fast that Haddonfield sophomore Ben Potts finished 10th in 4:14.14, which also broke the previous school record.

Seneca's Drew Kanz was third in long jump with a leap of 22-3 inches and third in the high jump at 6-6.

"I was thinking before my last jump that if I miss this I have no regrets," said Kanz, who said last night he will attend the University of Connecticut on a track scholarship. "I have to be happy with the year I've had."

Cumberland's Andrew Pierce set a personal best in the javelin, finishing second with a throw of 191 feet, 5 inches. Timber Creek's Montez Blair took second in the high jump with 6 feet, 8 inches.

Timber Creek's Matt Huckabee took third in the discus with a throw of 170 feet, 10 inches. Bordentown's Daequan Kim finished fourth in both the 100 and 200 in times of 10.86 and 21.68, respectively.

Boys' results

100: 1. Tejay Johnson, Egg Harbor, 10.67; 2. James Brown, Glassboro, 10.67; 3. Miles Shuler-Foster, Long Branch, 10.72; 4. Daequan Kim, Bordentown, 10.86; 5. Jashuan Spady, Pemberton, 10.94; 6. Daniel Woods, Plainfield, 10.99.

200: 1. Clayton Parros, Seton Hall, 21.31; 2. Tejay Johnson, 21.41; 3. Isaiah Gill, Plainfield, 21.54; 4. Daequan Kim, Bordentown, 21.68; 5. Geoff Stewart, West Side, 21.98; 6. Jashuan Spady, Pemberton, 22.05.

400: 1. Clayton Parros, Seton Hall, 46.79; 2. Isaiah Gill, Plainfield, 47.80; Najee Glass, St. Peter's, 48.57; 4. Corey Caidenhead, Bergenfield, 48.65; 5. John Alesi, Ocean Twp., 48.96; 6. Ben Raskin, Summit, 48.96.

800: 1. Rob Andrews, Manalapan, 1:48.66 (meet record; old John Marshall, Plainfield, 1:49.5, 1981); 2. Mamadou Niang, West Essex, 1:52.01; 3. Ford Palmer, Absegami, 1:52.24; 4. Keith Griffith, Florence, 1:52.94; 5. Lucas Clyne, Morris Hills, 1:53.29; 6. Kevin Byrne, Red Bank Catholic, 1:53.51.

1,600: 1. Liam Tansey, Morris Hills, 4:08.11 (meet record; old 4:09.03, Brett Johnson, Ocean City, 2008); 2. Colin Baker, Haddonfield, 4:09.30; 3. Pat Schellberg, Delbarton, 4:10.07; 4. Curtis Richburg, West Orange, 4:11.07; 5. Xavier Fraction, Washington Twp., 4:11.07; 6. Ryan Garvin, Lenape, 4:11.15.

3,200: 1. Jim Rosa, WWP-North, 9:03.69; 2. Mike Mazzaccaro, CBA, 9:07.05; 3. Jeremy Elkaim, Livingston, 9:07.06; 4. Mike Franklin, West Morris Mendham, 9:07.66; 5. Taro Shigenbu, Ridgewood, 9:08.91; 6. Dave Forward, Shawnee, 9:09.27.

110 hurdles: 1. Josh Evans, Irvington, 14.09; 2. Kyle Robinson, Matawan, 14.14; 3. Shaikat Bardhan, Bishop Ahr, 14.21; 4. Kevon Brown, West Deptford, 14.58; 5. Kurt Jones, Manchester, 14.58; 6. Bennett Jackson, Raritan, 14.72.

400 hurdles: 1. Christen Whyte, Rahway, 52.29; 2. Nicoy Hines, Passaic Tech, 53.00; 3. Victor Boonham, Sparta, 53.34; 4. Andrew Burt, Lacey, 53.48; 5. Steve Knox, Plainfield, 53.48; 6. Dave Brown, Ewing, 53.71.

1,600 relay: 1. Plainfield (Daniel Woods, Isaiah Gill, Tristen Simms, Stephen Know), 3:16.35; 2. Rahway, 3:17.01; 3. Egg Harbor Twp., 3:18.60; 4. Absegami, 3:18.67; 5. Irvington, 3:19.60; 6. Pope John XXIII, 3:20.27.

Triple jump: 1. Ryan Chance, Glassboro, 47-7; 2. Chris Roundtree, Haddon Heights, 47-6; 3. Stefon Williams, Bloomfield, 47-2; 4. Steve Brown, Penns Grove, 46-4; 5. Eric Smith, Timber Creek, 45-3; 6. Rob Whitfield, Toms River South, 45-2.

Shot put: Nick Vena, Morristown, 72-8 (meet record; old 68-11, Kevin DiGiorgio, Bayonne, 1997); 2. Chris DiLorenzo, Seton Hall, 61-10; 3. Corey Abernathy, WWP-North, 58-8; 4. Jorge Merino, Old Bridge, 58-5; 5. Tony Stroffolino, Southern, 57-7; 6. Tom Vorhies, Morris Knolls, 55-0.

Javelin: 1. Kevin Steimle, Mahwah, 194-7; 2. Andrew Pierce, Cumberland, 191-5; 3. Kaleb Zuidema, Midland Park, 188-8; 4. Jimmy Tully, CBA, 183-1; 5. Zack Torrell, Lacey, 182-6; 6. Eddie McClain, Morris Hills, 180-1.

Pole vault: Justin Amezquita, Governor Livingston, 15-0; 2. Jordan Subai, TR North, 14-6; 3. Greg Hoffman, Park Ridge, 14-6; 4. Josh Brinkerhoff, Veritas, 14-0; 5. Mike Rivard, Haddonfield, 14-0; 6. Mike Maira, Seneca, 14-0.

Discus: 1. Nick Vena, Morristown, 173-1; 2. Tont Stroffolino, Southern, 171-0; 3. Matt Huckabee, Timber Creek, 170-10; 4. Dominick Padovano, South Brunswick, 166-10; 5. Jorge Merino, Old Bridge, 163-0; 6. Kevin Hebron, Middle Twp., 161-5.

Long jump: 1. Stefon Williams, Bloomfield, 23-0; 2. Ackeme Brown, Dwight Morrow, 22-8.25; 3. Drew Kanz, Seneca, 22-3.25; 4. Archil Matsaberidze, Jonathon Dayton, 22-3.25; 5. Kurt Jones, Manchester Twp., 22-3; 6. Conroy Walker, Hackensack, 22-2.

High jump: 1. Glenn Scheideler, Randolph, 6-8; 2. Montez Blair, Timber Creek, 6-8; 3, Drew Kanz, Seneca, 6-6; 4. Mark Jones, Summit, 6-6; 5. Valdir Mondesir, Montclair, 6-4; 6. Brandon Baskerville, Weequahic, 6-4.