There were so many great stories and performances all across the state at the Sectional Championships this past weekend, but there were none more significant, more memorable and more profound than what Clayton seniors Ter'Meir Hill and Amirah Sharpe accomplished for their program.
Hill and Sharpe, competing in the South Jersey, Group 1 meet at Washington Township High School in Sewell, put Clayton on the state's track and field map with electrifying and historic performances when the dynamic duo combined to do something that's never happened before in state history.
While there have been other athletes who have won four individual events at the state sectional championships over the years, Hill and Sharpe became the first boy and girl from the same school to accomplish the Quad while also leading their teams to their first titles!
Only one other athlete in the state, Newark Tech senior Sincere Robinson in NJ. Sec. 2 Group 2, won four individual events this weekend.
How did Hill and Sharpe do it?
Hill won the 100-meter dash with a PR of 10.88, captured the long jump for the third straight year by leaping 23-6.50, a huge PR and two inches shy of the meet record, he won the 200 in 22.59, and he captured the triple jump with another PR of 44-6.75 to lead Clayton, under Head Coach Manny Purdue, to a 97-81 victory over Audubon.
That's four wins and three PR's for Hill, who is one of the biggest stars in the state who not enough people know about. Well, now you know!!
Sharpe, who moved to Clayton from Paulsboro along with her triplet sisters, was her usual scintillating-self, burning up the track with first-place finishes in the 400 hurdles in 64.20, the 400 in 56.24, the 800 in 2:20.54, and the 200 in 25.37. When the smoke cleared, Clayton, under Head Coach Mike Placko, defeated a very well-rounded Schalick team, 113-95.
According to South Jersey T&F historian Reuben Frank, Clayton is the first Gloucester County school to pull off a sectional sweep since Delsea in Group 2 in 2010, and they are the first Group 1 school to accomplish the feat in Group 1 since Paulsboro in 1997. The stars on those Paulsboro boys and girls teams were Amirah's father, Fred Sharpe, and her aunt, Wanda Sharpe (Fred's twin).