Floyd Whitaker captured the triple jump title, Connor Munson moved into No. 3 on the state's All-Time list in the decathlon, and the Holmdel girls and Elizabeth boys continued to light up the track at Thursday's Outdoor National Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Whitaker, who finished his career at Highland Regional with four Meet of Champions titles in the horizontal jumps, got his winning jump when he soared 49-11.75 on his second attempt. Whitaker won by two inches over Solomon Washington of Texas (49-9.75).
Whitaker's 49-11.75 is just off his personal best of 50-2.50 that Whitaker recorded when he set the meet record at the 2019 Outdoor Meet of Champions. Whitaker also won the TJ and LJ at the 2020 Indoor M of C, and captured his second Outdoor M of C TJ last month.
Munson, a junior at Westwood, came up with one of the greatest performances in state history when he racked up 6,563 to place fifth in the decathlon. The only athletes in NJ to score more points are Vince Reilly of St. Joseph (Met.), who scored a state record 6.924 in 1976, and Andrew Ghizzone of Union Catholic, 6579 in 2014.
Here's a breakdown of Munson's 10 events.
DAY ONE
8th in the 100 dash (11.36) for 782 points
10th in the long jump (20-8) for 652 point
8th in the shot put (41-7.75) for 648 points
4th in the high jump (5-11.25 ) for 636 points
13th in the 400 (51.91) for 685 points
(In 7th place after five events with 3,403 points)
DAY TWO
10th in 110h (15.18) for 828 points
8th in the discus (119-9) for 594 points
3rd in the pole vault (13-11.25) for 688 points
12th in the javelin (132-1) for points
10th in 1500 (4:52.50) for 604 points
(Finished fifth with 6,563 points)
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ELIZABETH COMPLETES SIZZLING SPRINT RELAY TRIPLE
Two NJ teams earned All-American in the boys 4x400 as Elizabeth, the Meet of Champions winner in the event, placed third in 3:18.55, and Mount Olive was fourth in a school record 3:19.72.
Elizabeth's third-place finish in the 4x400 capped off an amazing sprint relay triple for Coach Austin Holman's crew as the Minutemen earned All-American honors in three races!!!!
MORE NJ HIGHLIGHTS
The Holmdel girls, who had All-American finishes and school record breaking performances in the 800 SMR (third) and Swedish Relay (fifth) on Wednesday, smashed two more school records and earned two more All-American honors on Thursday by placing fourth in the 4x200 (1:43.28) and sixth in the 4x400 (3:55.68).
Hillsborough also secured All-American status in the girls 4x400 by placing fifth in 3:54.57. Hillsborough ran a NJ#3 3:52.56 when it placed third at the Meet of Champions in the 4x400.
The Union Catholic girls also had a big day. The Vikings ran 1:43.20 to place third in the 4x200, and a NJ#2 47.70 in the 4x100 to qualify for Friday's final.
Paul VI made its presence felt in the boys sprint relays, placing sixth to earn All-American in the 4x200 in a NJ#1 1:28.70, and running 42.42 in the 4x100 to advance to Friday's final.
Snyder junior Faith Bethea continued her remarkable rookie season by placing eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 39-8.50, just off her state leading jump of 39-9.50.