Carol Lewis, Nick Vena and Josh Evans, a trio of New Jersey track and field legends, were inducted into the NJSIAA Hall of Fame and MileSplit's Robert Kellert received a prestigious Service Award at the NJSIAA's annual award ceremony on Sunday at The Westin at Forrestal Village in Princeton.
Let's take a closer look at all the honorees.
CAROL LEWIS
Carol Lewis not only set the still-standing state record in the girls long jump record of 21-7 for Willingboro in 1980, she was a four-time NJSIAA Meet of Champions winner in the event, from 1978 through her senior year in 1981. She was also a two-time MOC winner in the 100 meter high hurdles.
Her list of accomplishments didn't end there.
She won four straight long jump championships at the Penn Relays, setting a record as a senior that held for 18 years.
She was so dominant in the long jump that she qualified as a Willingboro student for the 1980 United States Olympic team. Although she could not compete because of the U.S boycott of those games in Moscow, she would later qualify for the Olympics in 1984 and 1988.
Carol would also win two NCAA long jump championships competing for the University of Houston. She was also the United States long jump champion in 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1986, and the U.S. Indoor champ in 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1991. In 1984, she set an American record, which stood for two years.
Carol is a member of one of New Jersey's great athletic families.
Her parents, Bill and Evelyn, were pioneer track coaches in South Jersey, who encouraged their four children to participate in multiple sports. Carol, for instance, competed in gymnastics and diving growing up, and later in bobsled at the 2002 World Cup.
Her oldest brother, Mackie, was a champion sprinter at Kennedy High in Willingboro. The next-oldest brother, Cleveland, was the first African-American drafted in the North American Soccer League. And there's of course her brother Carl, one of the greatest track and field athletes of all-time, who was inducted into the NJSIAA Hall of Fame in 2006.
With her induction on Sunday, Carol and Carl became the first brother and sister combination enshrined in the NJSIAA Hall of Fame.
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NICK VENA
Nick Vena, the greatest thrower in New Jersey high school history, graduated from Morristown High in 2011 with every possible shot put record in NJ history.
Whenever Vena stepped in the circle, everyone crammed themselves around the throwing area to watch the 'King of the Ring,'' who was one of the most dominant athletes in any sport in state history.
Vena, a lefty spinner, won every shot put competition he competed in, going 4-for-4 indoors and outdoors and he won the discus at the 2009 M of C to give him a total of nine M of C titles (indoors and outdoors combined). That's tied for the most in NJ history for a boy. He's only boy to ever win any event 4 times at the M of C, is the only U.S. high schooler to win an event four times at the Penn Relays, and he won four National Scholastic Indoor titles in the shot.
At the 2011 Outdoor Meet of Champions, Vena unloaded a majestic bomb of 75-10.25 on the final throw of his high school career to shatter his own state record!! Vena also holds the NJ indoor record in the shot (71-9 1/2) and he conlduded his legendary career with a U.S. high school record 96 throws over 70 feet!!!
Vena, who went on to star at the University of Virginia and the University of Georgia, received a prestigious honor last April when he was inducted into the Penn Relays Wall of Fame.
Vena now teaches physical education at Morristown, coaches the throws and the high jump, and is also a volunteer cross-country coach at his alma mater.
JOSH EVANS
Josh Evans, who graduated from Irvington in 2009, is one of the best track and field/football stars to come through New Jersey in several years.
Evans, who went on star on the football field at the University of Florida and played safety in the NFL for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Redskins, had an amazing football career at Irvington.
A four-year standout who played quarterback his final two seasons, Evans led Irvington to a 19-2 record during his 2 years at quarterback, and was 38-6 overall over his four years.
As a senior, Evans completed 123 of 190 passes for 1,800 yards and 18 touchdowns, while also running 118 times for 1,312 yards and 14 TDs. He was also a standout playing in the defensive secondary, Those overall numbers earned him All-State First-Team recognition.
His senior year, however, was just getting started.
That winter, he won the 55 meter hurdles at the NJSIAA Indoor Meet of Champions in dramatic fashion. His time of 7.40 was .01 faster than the runner-up. He became the first Irvington boys track athlete to win a MOC event. He was also the Group 4 indoor 55 meter hurdles winner as a junior and senior.
That spring, he won another M of C title, winning the 110 hurdle championship. He also won the Group 4 110 meter hurdles as a junior and senior.
He followed that up by scoring the game-winning touchdown as time expired to lift the North All-Stars to a 13-7 victory in the New Jersey High School Football North-South All-Star Game.
At Florida, Evans had a great career as a Gator, recording 154 tackles over the course of his career. In 2012, he was honored with the program's Fergie Ferguson Award, which is given to a senior football player who displays outstanding leadership, character and courage.
Evans was drafted by Jaguars in 2013, and made 58 tackles as a rookie. The following year, he started 14 of the 16 games and finished with 90 tackles. He wound up making 202 tackles over the course of his four-year NFL career.
All the while, Evans never forgot where he came from. He hosted a Josh Evans Football Camp for Irvington youth, and paid for apparel and footwear for the attendees. He also donated a substantial amount of money for a study hall and SAT prep program for Irvington students.
ROBERT KELLERT
Kellert, the Northeast States Pod Manager and Senior State Editor of MileSplit New Jersey, which is part of the FloSports Network, has raised the bar for high school cross-country and track and field coverage in New Jersey to new heights with his combination of an unrelenting work ethic, endless passion, and superior multi-media skills!
Kellert started with MileSplit, which covers high school cross-country and track and field across the United States, in 2012 (the vertical joined the FloSports family in 2015), and began his duties as Northeast States Pod Manager in 2023.
Since then, Kellert has propelled the New Jersey coverage to the highest level the state has ever seen, and under his leadership, the site has become one of the top performing state sites in the entire MileSplit network!
Any XC and track and field news involving NJ, you can guarantee that Kellert will be all over it.
Whether it's livestreaming meets for hours at the bubble or Ocean Breeze, videoing races on the XC trails, countless meets outdoors, writing, editing, taking photos, and producing videos and graphics, Kellert is always providing tons of content for the athletes, coaches, and fans of the sport in New Jersey! The athlete rankings that Kellert maintains are used for the seeding by the NJSIAA State Championship for their state meets.
The NJ track and field community salutes Lewis, Vena, Evans, and Kellert on very well deserved honors!