Brooke Fazio Leads Record Breaking Weekend For NJ Stars


College record books all across the country took a beating this past weekend, and New Jersey athletes did a lot of the damage as several  big stars from the Garden State came up with eye-popping performances.    

Former Ridge High star Brooke Fazio broke a record and anchored a record-breaking relay for Richmond, the Rutgers women's team produced three school records, Rahway's Jordan West took down a school record at Tennessee, and three school records went down in a dual meet between Rider and  Monmouth.

Here's a look at each record breaker and some other big highlights from the weekend.  

The three school records for Rutgers all came in the field events when the Scarlet Knights hosted a tri-meet vs. Penn State and Maryland on Saturday at the Bauer Track and Field Complex in Piscataway.

Ka'Leila Abrille (pole vault), Courteney Campbell (high jump) and Jasmine Van Note (shot put), who all hold Rutgers school records indoors, added outdoor school records to their resumes.

Van Note, a redshirt sophomore from Sayreville High, posted a throw of 15.26m (50-0.75) to finish second and break the school record of 49-7 set in 2001 by Kiara Adams.

Campbell, a redshirt junior out of South Brunswick High, cleared 1.79m (5-10.50) to finish tied for first and equal the school record set in 1999 by Kim Fife, who starred at Lakeland High.

Abrille, a freshman from Georgia, finished second in the pole vault with a school record 11-11.75), shattering the mark of 11-5.75 that was shared by Marsha Day (2001), and Clifton's Karen Langner (2006).

SIGELE, STEFF, RICHES SMASH RECORDS 

In the dual between Rider and Monmouth at Rider in Lawrenceville, Rider's Kristin Siegle and Allie Riches, and Monmouth's Danielle Steff stole the show with school record breaking performances on Saturday.

Steff, a senior from Rancocas Valley High, broke her own school record in the javelin with a winning throw of 50.75m (166-5 feet), smashing the record of 50.05 (164-2 feet) that she set as a sophomore at the NCAA East Regional Championships. Steff won the javelin at the 2018 and 2019 MAAC Championships. 

Riches, a sophomore from Hatboro-Horsham, made 11-10 in the pole vault to place second and break Rider's school record of 11-7.75 set in 2018 by former South Brunswick star Daniella Izzo.

FAZIO BURNS UP THE EIGHT

Richmond's Brooke Fazio, a 2017 graduate of Ridge High, continued her torrid senior year in the 800.

On Thursday, Fazio broke her own school record in the 800m with a winning time of 2:03.86, No. 6 in the NCAA this year, at the 53rd Tennessee Relays at Tom Black Track. Fazio, chasing the Olympic Trials qualifying time of 2:02.50, broke her own record of 2:04.18 that she ran at the Raleigh Relays on March 27.

BOMBS AWAY

Rahway's Jordan West, a redshirt sophomore, unloaded a 65-1.50 to break his own school record at the University of Tennessee when he finished first in the shot put at the Tennessee Relays on Friday. West, who broke his school record by three centimeters, is now No. 4 on the NCAA list for this season.

BOGUES ALREADY BEST EVER AT DAYTON 


Dayton's Casey Bogues, a sophomore out of Middletown North, hasn't wasted any time making her presence felt on the college level .

In just her second outdoor meet ever for the Flyers, Bogues sent the javelin soaring 161-5 to smash the meet and school records at the Cedarville University Yellow Jacket Collegiate Outdoor Open in Cedarville, Ohio. The 161-5 broke the Dayton school record of 160-9 set in 2018 by Lillian Cook, places Bogues 38th on the NCAA Division 1 list this season, was a PR by nearly seven feet, and earned her A-10 Rookie of the Week Honors for the second straight week.

GETTING CLOSER 

Villanova's Sean Dolan, a redshirt freshman out of Hopewell Valley, and North Carolina's Brandon Tubby, a graduate student out of Hillsborough High, keep getting faster and faster and closer and closer to the Olympic Trials qualifying time in the 1500m. Dolan dropped another a PR when he ran 3:38.60 to place seventh at the Joe Walker Invitational at Ole Miss on Saturday night. Tubby ran 3:39.73 to place second at the Tobacco Road Challenge at Duke University in Durham, N.C. on Friday night. The Olympic Trials qualifying standard is 3:37.50.

With the way they are racing, it seems like just a matter of time before Dolan and Tubby get their qualifier. Dolan's previous best was 3:39.45 at the Raleigh Relays in N.C. on March 25. Dolan is now. No. 7 in Villanova history in the 1500m, and is currently No. 7 in the NCAA rankings this season. Tubby is ranked No. 12 in the NCAA rankings and now sits at No. 4 in UNC history. 

50-POINT FOR MU

Athing Mu, the indefatigable freshman phenom from Trenton, threw down a 50.24 anchor leg to bring Texas AM across first in the 4x400m relay in 3:26.73 at the Texas A&M Invitational on Saturday. The 3:26.73 is No. 2 in the NCAA this season, just behind the No. 1 time of 3:26.63 run by Arkansas at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays on March 25.

Mu is coming off one of the greatest indoor seasons in NCAA history.

She split 49.54, the fastest indoor split ever for a woman, when she anchored A&M to the NCAA 4x400 title (3:26.68), and finished the season ranked No. 1 all-time in the NCAA in the 600 (1:25.80), No. 1 all-time in NCAA history in the 800m (1:58.40), No. 4 all-time in the 40om (50.52), and anchored the collegiate record-breaking 4x400 that ran 3:26.27. Mu's 50.52 and 1:58.40 are World U20 records, and her 1:58.40 was the fastest time by an American and No. 3 in the world for the indoor season. Mu has qualified for the US Olympic Trials in both the 400 and 800. 






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