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The NJSIAA Track and Field Meet of Champions will celebrate its 51st year on Saturday when the state's best converge at Northern Burlington High School
During the half century of competition, there have been countless memorable moments provided by NJ's best.
NJ MileSplit figured that it's the perfect time to take a jog down memory lane and rewind the clock and relive some of the best boys performances, greatest highlights, and most indelible moments in meet history.
It was very difficult to not have this list go on forever because there are so many great moments to choose from. We tried to focus on the history making, record breaking performances, and the multiple event winners.
This list is in chronological order starting with the most recent back to the oldest
Here goes!!
Devin Hart, Point Pleasant Boro
Hart completed one of the most amazing true distance doubles in state history at the 2018 Meet of Champions.
At 8 p.m. on Friday night (Eastern Time) he ran 8:53.56, No. 6 in state history, for two miles in Seattle, Washington to place fourth at the Brooks PR Invit, and then at 5 p.m. today (Eastern time) the next day he dropped an 8:58.58, No. 8 in meet history, to win his second straight 3,200 title at the M of C.
That's two sub 9:00 minute races on two different coasts in 21 hours!! How crazy is that??
There has never been anyone in NJ history to ever run two races under 9:00 in back-to-back days, which makes Hart's accomplishment something that legends are made of. It will go down as one of the greatest feats in state history.
Nick Mirabelli, Rancocas Valley
On his first throw in the finals at the 2018 M of C, Mirabelli launched the javelin 227-10 to break the state and meet record of 224-10 set in 2014 by Curtis Thompson of Florence.
Cory Poole, East Orange
Poole ran a meet record 50.72 to win his second straight 400m hurdles title, repeated as 110m hurdle champs, and anchored the winning 4x400 at the 2017 M of C. Poole is the fourth boy to win three golds at the same M of C.
Martin Booker Sr. and Martin Booker Jr.
Thirty-four years after Martin Booker Sr. won the 400m hurdles in 52.2 at the 1983 M of C for Camden, his son, Martin Jr., captured the 200 for Pennsauken at the 2017 meet in 21.57. They are the only father-son combination in state history to each win an individual events at the M of C. To take the legacy of greatness in the Booker bloodlines even deeper, Dominique Booker, Booker's daughter, won an indoor M of C title in the 55m dash for Montclair Immaculate in 2009.
Myles Hartsfield of Sayreville
As a junior in 2014, Hartsfield won the triple jump with a still existing meet record of 49-11.75 and was third in the LJ with a 23-2.
Ishmael Muhammad, Oakcrest
At the 2014 M of C, Muhammad ran 1:48.52 to break the meet record of 1:48.66 set by Robby Andrews of Manalapan in 2009.
Curtis Thompson, Florence
At the 2014 M of C, Thompson let loose with a throw of 224-10 on his final attempt to break the state record of 224-1 set in 2010 by Kaleb Zuidema of Midland Park. Thompson's meet and state record stood for four years.
Jabrill Peppers, Paramus Catholic
As a junior in 2013, Peppers won the 100 in 10.55 and the 200 in 21.13. He also won the 100 and 200 in 2014.
Zyaire Clemes, Trenton
Clemes became just the second sprinter in meet history to run under 21.30 in the 200 and under 47.00 in the 400 at the 2013 meet (Dennis Mitchell of Edgewood is the other). Clemes won the 400 in 46.50, No. 2 in meet history, and ran 21.29 to place second to Jabrill Peppers of Paramus Catholic in the 200.
Chris Marco, Toms River South
Marco, a junior, won 1,600 at the 2012 meet in a meet record 4:07.31.
Sam Mattis, East Brunnswick
Mattis, the state record holder in the discus with a 218-1, became the second boy in meet history to win three straight discus titles when he unloaed a throw of 206-0 in 2012.
Joe "Thunder'' Rosa, West Windsor-North
Joe Rosa of West Windsor-Plainsboro North was on meet record pace (7:38 with one lap to go) in the 3,200 at the 2011 M of C when the race was stopped due to lightning. There is little doubt Rosa was going to smash the meet record of 8:46.08 that Livingston's Jeramy Elkaim ran the year before.
The race was re-run in its entirety four days later, but Rosa, his two brother Jim, Elkaim, and many others didn't compete in the re-run. Morgan Pearson of Delbarton ran 9:02.48 to win the re-run and capture the title.
Although Rosa was robbed of his final chance to win an outdoor M of C title, he still holds the state 2-mile record of 8:44.06, which he ran as a junior to finish first at the 2010 New Balance National Championships.
Nick Vena, Morristown
On the final throw of his legendary high school career, Vena launched the shot put 75-10.25 to break his own state record at the 2011 Meet of Champions. That was 96th time Vena surpassed 70 feet in the shot and was the ninth M of C title of Vena's career. The 75-10.25 still stands as the state record.
Najee Glass, St. Peter's Prep
Glass won his second straight 400 as a junior in 2011 in a meet record 47.43. He appeared on his way to being the only three-peat winner, but a hamstring injury cut his senior season short.
Jeramy Elkaim, Livingston
In the greatest 3,200 duel in meet history, Elkaim made a huge move with 250 to go to upset Joe Rosa of West Windsor-Plainsboro South to win the 2010 race. Elkaim stopped the clock at 8:46.08, which sliced more than six seconds off the meet record. Rosa's runner-up time of 8:48.55 was also well under the old record. Those are still the two fastest times in meet history.
Robby Andrews, Manalapan
Andrews, a U.S. Olympian, ran 1:48.66 in the 800 at the 2009 M of C to break John Marshall's meet record of 1:49.5 that was set in 1981. Andrews outkicked Olympic gold medalist Matt Centrowitz to win the U.S. National Championship in the 1,500 in 2017, and was a member of the U.S. Olympic team in the 1500 in 2016.
Devon Bond, Trenton
At the 2007 Meet of Champions, Bond cleared 6-8 and went 48-10 in the triple jump to become the only boy to ever win both of those events. He also won the HJ at the 2007 meet.
Craig Forys, Colts Neck
At the 2007 M of C, Forys won the 1,600 in 4:09.59, No. 2 in meet history at the time, and came back to capture the 3,200 in a then meet record 8:52.58, breaking his own record from the year before. Forys finished his career with four outdoor titles, three indoors titles, and two in XC for a grand total of nine M of C titles.
Justin Gaymon, Phillipsburg
At the 2005 M of C, Gaymon won the 400 hurdles in 51.55, No. 4 in meet history, and captured the 110m hurdles in 14.09 to become the second boy to ever pull off that double at the M of C.
Tiquan Underwood, Notre Dame
At the 2005 meet, Underwood won the triple jump for the second straight year with a 49-4.75, the meet record for five years, placed second in the 400m hurdles in 52.27, and was third in the LJ at 23-1.75.
Reuben McCoy, Winslow
In arguably the greatest performance in meet history, McCoy won the 400m hurdles in 51.39, captured the 200m in 21.51, and won the 400 in 47.42 at the 2004 meet to become the only boy to ever win three individual golds at the same M of C.
And it was almost even better!!
McCoy was chasing his fourth gold of the meet when he was anchoring the 4x400, but he got tangled up with Piscataway's Spencer McRimmon on the first turn and went down and couldn't finish.
Anthony Miles, Winslow
In 2003, Miles won his second straight long jump title and ran on the winning 4x400 that blasted a meet record 3:10.70, which is still the meet record and No. 2 in state history.
Mike Morrison, Willingboro
At the 2003 meet, Morrison made 7-0 to win his second straight HJ title and soared 24-0 in the LJ to place second, just 1/4 inches behind the winner, Anthony Miles of Winslow.
John Richardson, Ocean City
Richardson became the first boy to ever win both the 800 and 1,600 at the same M of C when he ran 1:51.62 and 4:09.20 at the 2003 meet. The 4:09.20 stood as the meet record for five years.
Glenn DiGiorgio, Bayonne
At the 2002 M of C, DiGiorgio won the shot put with a 68-0.25 and the discus with a 197-0 for the third straight year to finish his career with a meet record six individual titles. He also won three indoor M of C titles in the shot put to give him nine in his legendary career.
Ray Williams, Scotch Plains-Fanwood
At the 2002 M of C, Williams won his second straight 400 title with a time of 46.55, breaking the 11-year-old meet record of 46.62 set in 1991 by Lamont Smith of Willingboro. The 46.55 by Williams stood as the meet record for nine years.
Dwight Ruff, Camden
At the 2001 M of C, Ruff won the 400 hurdles in 51.14, which remained the meet record for 16 years.
Danny Johnson, Rahway
At the 2001 meet, Johnson won the 200 for the second straight year in a state record 20.93 and captured the 100 in a wind-aided 10.30, the fastest all conditions time in state history. The wind reading in the 100 was 2.2 meters per second. Anything over 2.0 is considered wind-aided. Johnson's 20.93 is still the state record.
Jamar Ervin, Camden
As a freshman at the 2000 Meet of Champions, Ervin pulled off a shocking victory in the 100 dash when he ran a state record 10.35.
Murad Campbell, Overbrook
At the 1998 M of C, Campbell became the only boy to ever win three straight 3,200 titles when he ran 8:58.71, the meet record until 2006.
Todd Matthews, Notre Dame
Matthews ran a still-standing meet record of 13.52 when he won his second straight 110m hurdles title at the 1998 M of C.
Robert Jordan, Millville
As a junior at the 1997 M of C, Jordan became the only boy to win the long jump (22-10) and high jump (7-0) at the same meet. In 1998, he won the HJ by clearing 7-2, which is still tied for the meet record. Jordan cleared a then state record 7-4.25 in 1989.
Fred Sharpe, Paulsboro
Ask anyone who has been around long enough about what Sharpe did at the 1997 M of C and they will just shake their head in awe.
Sharpe openwd the meet by winning the 400m hurdles in a then meet record 51.62. Then he placed third in the 1,600 in 4:15.73, and came back to win the 800 in 1:53.40.
WHAT A TRIPLE!!!
Many wondered why Sharpe attempted to run all three?
"Because I qualified for all three,'' Sharpe said.
Kevin DiGiorgio, Bayonne
When he broke his own state record in the shot put at the state Group 4 meet at South Plainfield in 1997, the 12-pound ball struck one of the wooden railroad ties that bordered the throwing area. Since the M of C was in South Plainfield four days later, crews worked around the clock to extend and rebuild the throwing area to be able to hold DiGiorgio's throws. He won his second straight title in '97 with a a then state record 68-11.
Matt Elmuccio, Westfield
At the 1997 M of C, Elmuccio became the only boy to ever win three straight 1,600 titles when he ran 4:11.25.
Ron Dayne, Overbrook
Dayne, who went on to win a Heisman Trophy as a running back at the University of Wisconsin and played in the NFL, broke the state record when he sent the discus 215-3 into a backyard at the 1996 M of C. The 215-3 still stands as the meet record, and his 216-11 from the Golden West Invit. that year was the state record for 16 years.
Royce Reed, Bridgeton
At the 1995 M of C, Reed became the only boy to ever win a throwing event and a track event when he ran 52.56 to win the 400m hurdles and threw 218-3 to capture the javelin title. He also won the 400 at the '94 meet in 47.75.
Eric Taylor-Perry, Montclair
The first jumper in state history to go 7-3, the late Taylor-Perry cleared a meet record 7-2 to win his second straight HJ title at the 1990 M of C. Twenty-nine years later, two others have matched Taylor-Perry's record, but no one has broken it.
Gerard Reynolds, Willingboro
At the 1990 meet, Reynolds ran 13.59 to win the 110m hurdles, the meet record for eight years, and won the LJ for the second straight year with a 23-5.50.
Dennis Mitchell, Edgewood
Mitchell, a member of the gold medal winning 4x100 relay at the 1992 Olympics, won the 100 in 10.2 and the 200 in 20.7, both state and meet records, at the 1983 M of C. He also won the 400 in 1984 in a then meet record 46.5.
Marshall, the first runner in state history to break 1:50 in the 800, won his third straight M of C 800 in 1:49.5 in 1981.That was the meet record for 28 years. He still owns the state record of 1:48.44, which he ran at the 1980 Pan American Junior Champioinships.
Craig Morris, Monmouth
At the 1980 M of C, Morris became the first boy to ever win both the 110m hurdles (14.4) and 400m hurdles (52.0). He also won the HH and 300m IH in 1979.
Will Nesbitt, Millburn
The first vaulter over 16-0 in meet history, Nesbitt's 16-4 to win the 1980 title is the oldest boys meet record that is still standing.
Carl Lewis, Willingboro
No track and field list is complete without the legendary Lewis, arguably the greatest track and field athlete in U.S. history. Lewis won the 100m in 10.5 and the long jump with a 23-6.50 at the 1979 M of C. Lewis won nine Olympic gold medals in his career!!!!