UPDATED: A Look At Where NJ's Best Will Go-Nats? MOCs? Both?

Note: This article, which was originally published on June 2, has been updated to include the most recent information  

By now you all know all about the unfortunate scheduling conflict between the NJSIAA Meet of Champions and the three national championship meets, which has forced NJ's track and field athletes and coaches to have to make tough choices about where to compete, and has caused an uproar in the NJ T&F Community.

But what you don't know is where exactly many of the top athletes in the state will be competing? Who will be going to the Meet of Champions? Who will skip the M of C and compete at a national meet instead? Who will try to compete at both? 

To refresh your memory, the Meet of Champions is scheduled for this Saturday, June 18 at Franklin High School. The New Balance Nationals is scheduled for this Thursday (June 16) through Sunday (June 19) at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. The Nike Nationals is also scheduled for June 16-19 at Hayward Field in Oregon, and the adidas National Championships are June 17-19 at Irwin Belk Track at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C.

The scheduling conflict between the M of C and the national meets is something that's never happened before, and is bad for the sport. It has resulted in several of the state's top stars being absent from the marquee event of the season in NJ.

Several coaches reached out to the NJSIAA about this situation in the hopes that the date for the Meet of Champions could be moved to the middle of the week so athletes could compete at both the M of C and Nationals. Until 2017, the Meet of Champions was held on the first Wednesday in June for several years.

But the NJSIAA, which released the dates for the state championship meets several months before the dates for the national championships were announced, said there were too many other scheduling conflicts involved to move the Meet of Champions.       

"Moving it up to the middle of the week would impact the end of the year events at schools such as senior awards night and/or graduations,'' NJSIAA Track and Field Tournament Director Al Stumpf said. "And we couldn't move it back because in our constitution all the state tournaments must conclude before Monday (June 20).''   

Stumpf did say that he's not happy about the situation.

"I wish this never happened, and I feel bad that athletes had to choose between meets,'' said Stumpf. "It's a conflict that we will address at our end of the season meeting when we will discuss ways to avoid this from ever happening again.''              

So that brings us back to the original questions about what the state's big stars will do? Compete at the M of C? Skip the M of C and compete at a national meet instead? Compete at both?

NJ MileSplit reached out to several 2021 Meet of Champions winners, many current top ranked athletes, and some coaches, to get their answers! 

Here's what we know as of now. Keep in mind this list is fluid. It will be updated often as more information comes in, so please keep checking back for the latest.

BOYS

Shamali Whittle: The legendary Whittle, one of the greatest sprinters  in NJ history, raced at the State at the State Sectionals and the Group Championship,  but he will not compete at  the Meet of Champions. He will instead be racing at the NB Nationals. Whittle, a senior at Hamilton North, won the 100 and 200 at the M of C last spring, and won the 200 at the NB National Championships this past winter. Whittle, who has run a NJ No. 2 all-time all-conditions 20.55 in the 200, has nothing left to prove against NJ competition, so targeting his first outdoor national title is the logical way to go.

Jackson Barna: There will be a new 3200m champ crowned at the Meet of Champions because the Georgetown-bound Barna, the 2021 M of C 3200m winner, will be busy racing on the West Coast that weekend.

Barna, the state leader in the mile with a 4:07.00, rat the Sectional Championships,  skipped the Group Championships and will miss the Meet of Champions. He will instead run the mile at the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle today (June 15) before meeting up with teammates James Kisker, Andrew McCabe, and Patrick Doran in Oregon to run the DMR and 4x800 at the Nike Nationals at Hayward Field.

Ridge is the defending 4x800 outdoor national champ, and this past March Ridge set the national indoor record in the DMR and also won the 4x800 at the New Balance Nationals in N.Y. Ridge has the guns to make a serious run at the national DMR record of 9:49.78 set by South Lakes of Virginia at the 2001 adidas National Championships.

Marco Langon: Langon, a senior at Bridgewater-Raritan, skipped all the state meets.

Collin Boler and Brian Boler : The junior twins at Delbarton, will run at the Meet of Champions and at NB National, but which race they run at the M of C isn't known yet. The will both run the mile at the New Balance Nationals the next day. Collin won the 1,600 in 4:10.60 and was second in the 800 in 1:51.10 at the Non-Public A meet, and Collin ran 4:12.03 in the 1,600 and 9: in the 3,200 at the Non-Public A  meet. 

Xavier Donaldson: The junior at Seton Hall Prep is NJ No. 2 in the 400 with a 47.70, and also runs on the state's fastest 4x400, which won the NB National Indoor title in March and has run a NJ No. 1 3:17.84 this season. Donaldson said he's planning on running the 200, 400, and the 4x400 at the NB Nationals.

Jimmy Wischusen, Nick Givan, Myles Plummer and Shane Brosnan, who teamed up to win the DMR for Union Catholic at the Penn Relays, will not be running at the Meet of Champions  

Instead, Wischusen, Plummer, Brosnan will be joined by Caudell Cajuste when they chase the New Balance National title and the state record in the 4xmile on Thursday. Givan and Plummer will also be running on the SMR at NB Nationals, and they will be all racing in open races at nationals as well.   

Brosnan won the 1600m at the indoor M of C and has run 4:07.22 for a mile. Wischusen is NJ No. 1 in the 3200 with a 8:59.63 and ran 4:09.87 for 1,600 at the Non-Public A meet. Plummer ran PR's of 1:51.03 for 800 and 4:10.69 at the Non-Public A meet.  Givan is NJ No. 2 in the 400 hurdles and NJ. 3 in the 400.

Benjamin Shue: Like most of the top the top throwers in the state, Shue, the freshman phenom from Bergen Catholic, will be throwing at NB Nationals (shot Friday and discus on Sunday), and he will throw both at the Meet of Champions. Shue broke the national freshman record in the discus this season with a NJ No. 1 193-0 to place third at the Penn Relays. He's also NJ No. 4 in the shot put with a 60-8.

Damarion Potts: South Brunswick coach Wil Rivera said he doesn't know yet what his star high jumper will do. Potts, the indoor Meet of Champs winner with a PR of 6-9, could compete in the high jump at the M of C and then at NB Nationals the next day.

Cashieve Blair: The state leader in the 400 with a 47.67, Blair, a senior at Irvington, will run the 400 at the NB Nationals instead of the M of C.    

Evan Corcoran: The senior at Kingsway, who win the 100 and 200 at the Group 4 meet, is planning on running the 100 and 200 at the Meet of Champions, and then the 200 on Sunday at NB Nationals.   

Joshua Babe: The senior at Morris Hills, who was second in the 400 at the Meet of Champions last spring, will race at all the state meets, including the Meet of Champions. Babe is also planning to run the 400 at the adidas National Championships, which is the day after the M of C. Babe has run 48.62 in the 400 and 21.40 in the 200 this season, and he split 47.28 as the anchor on the winning 4x400 at the North Jersey,  Sec. 1 Group 3 meet.  

Charlie Stock: The senior at Westfield, who won the indoor M of C 800 and has a PR of 1:52.70, will not be racing at the Meet of Champions. He will be running on Westfield's DMR and will run the 800 at NB Nationals.

Tyler Zawatski: The Freehold Township senior is planning to defend javelin title Meet of Champions, and then about 15 hours later he will be competing at New Balance Nationals. Zawatski, NJ No. 2 in the state leader with 197-4, has never competed on consecutive days, but wants to get the most out of his final high school season.

Fabian Gonzalez of Southern, the defending M of C winner in the discus, will throw at both the New Balance Nationals and the Meet of Champions. Gonzalez is NJ No. 2 in both the shot put (61-7.25) and discus (189-9).

Robert Paneque:  Paneque, like Zawatski, will be throwing the javelin at the Meet of Champions and at the NB Nationals. The senior unloaded a bomb of 208-6, the top throw in the state this season, to win the Group 4 title,  

Brian and Kevin O'Sullivan: The brothers from Hillsborough will pole vault at both the Meet of Champions and the NB Nationals. Kevin, a senior, cleared a state leading 16-0 to tie the Group 4 record, and Brian, a junior who cleared 16-0.25 to win the M of C title indoors, was second in Group 4 at 15-6. 

GIRLS

Christiana Nwachuku: The Kent Place senior, who won the 55 dash at the indoor M of C, plans to compete at the M of C. She is ranked No. 1 in the state in the 100m dash with the 11.70 she ran at the Non-Public A meet. 

Julia Jackson: The senior at Scotch Plains-Fanwood, who won M of C titles in the 400 last spring and this past indoors, will run the 400 at NB Nationals, which is the same day as the Meet of Champions. Jackson, second in the 400 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in March, is the state leader in the 400 with a 53.12, which is No. 7 in state history. 

Amirah Sharpe, Arianna Sharpe, and Ariel Sharpe of Clayton will be competing at the New Balance Nationals instead of the Meet of Champions. Amirah is NJ No. 2 in the 200 (24.51) and NJ No. 3 in the 400 (54.19). Arianna is NJ No. 2 in the 400 (53.95) and NJ No. 3 in the 200 (24.67). Ariel is NJ No. 9 in the 400 (56.77). The Sharpe triplets have also teamed up on the 4x400, which has run a NJ No. 1 3:44.67.  

Lindsay Hausman: Second in the 3200m at the M of C last spring, Hausman, a junior at Kent Place, is planning to run at the M of C. And she may also jump in the mile the next day at NB Nationals.   

Lilly Shapiro: Unfortunately, the legendary distance star at Colts Neck had her season and high school career come to an end before the sectionals started. Shapiro, who has been dealing with pain in her SI joint, warmed up before the start of the sectionals, but the pain was still present, so she has shut it down for the season. Shapiro won three Meet of Champions titles in her career, and is the only girl in state history to run under 4:45 for 1,600, under 2:10 for 800, and under 10:20 for 3,200.               

Peyton Hollis: The sophomore star at Union Catholic, who would be among the M of C favorites in the 800 or 1600m, will have to miss the Meet of Champs because she's running the 4x800 at NB Nationals, which is on the same day as the M of C. Hollis is the state leader in the 800 with a 2:06.42, which is No. 10 in state history. 

UC, second in the 4x800 at the NB Indoor Nationals, could make a run at the national 4x800 record of 8:43.12 that was set by Eleanor Roosevelt of Maryland at the 2008 Penn Relays.       

Angelina Perez: The indefatigable Perez, who ran a state record 9:53.29 in the 3,200 at the Group 2 meet  is planning to try to pull off the "Devin Double!''

I know all you track nuts remember when Devin Hart of Point Pleasant Boro ran the two-mile at the 2019 Brooks PR meet in Seattle on a Friday and then flew back to NJ the next day to win the 3200m at the M of C!!! Hart went sub nine in both races!!!

Perez, minus the cross-country jet lag issues that Hart had to deal with, will also attempt a two-mile/3200m double on back-to-back days. She's racing the two-mile at New Balance on Friday and the 3200m the next day at the M of C.

Perez, seeking the distance running Triple Crown-Meet of Champions titles in all three seasons, ran a state indoor record 9:56.96 when she placed third at the NB Nationals. 

Celine-Jada Brown: The Rutgers-bound star at Plainfield will defend her long jump title at the Meet of Champions and jump the following day at NB Nationals. Brown is the state leader with  19-11.50.     

Christina Allen: The River Dell sophomore, who won the 3,200 at the M of C last June, will be running the 800 at the M of C, and may also run the 1600. She is also planning to run the mile at the next day at the NB Nationals.    

Molly Malague: The senior at Metuchen will only be racing at the Meet of Champions, but will it be 1,600 or 3,200? Malague was second to Perez in both the 1,600 (4:48.71) and the 3,200 in 10:16.46, which is No. 9 in state history, at the Group 2 Championships.    

Taylor Cox: The state leader in the 100 hurdles with a 13.84, Cox, a freshman at UC, will be competing at the NB Nationals and not the M of C. The 100 hurdle trials are Saturday at the NB meet, so that kills Cox's chances of competing at both meets.

Casey Sullivan: The senior at Demarest will defend her Meet of Champions title in the shot put, and then throw the shot the following day at New Balance Nationals. She leads the state with a 45-8.

Nicole Clifford: The senior at Cherokee will be very busy this weekend. She will be running on the 4x1mile relay on Thursday at NB Nationals, then at the Meet of Champions she will run on the 4x800 and possibly an open race (she qualified in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200). She will go back to the NB on Sunday and run the 4x400.  

Jada Mia Puryear: The state leader in the discus (139-1) and No. 5 in the state in the shot put (40-9.50), Puryear will throw the discus at NB Nationals and throw the shot and discus at the M of C.

Nicole Woods: The senior at Demarest will defend her Meet of Champions title in the javelin, and then throw the javelin the following day at New Balance Nationals. Woods is NJ No. 1 in the javelin with a 148-11.

Leah Howard: The junior at Millville, who is a NJ No. 2 in the javelin with the 148-2 she unloaded at the State Group 4 meet, will throw at the Meet of Champions and the next day she will compete at the NB Nationals.  

Faith Bethea:  The state leader in the triple jump with a 40-7, will not be competing at the Meet of Champions. She will instead be with her team at the adidas National Championships in Greensboro, N.C.