Jalele Williams wasn't sure if he could continue jumping.
The sophomore at Union Catholic had severe cramps in his legs after the trials of the long jump, leaving his status for the final in doubt on Day 1 of the Union County Championships on Thursday at the Milt Campbell Track and Field Complex at historic Hub Stine Field in Plainfield.
"The cramps were bad and I was close to not being able to compete in the finals, but I used the roller for a while and I felt better, so I gave it a go to see what I could do,'' said Williams.
What he did was historic!
On his second attempt in the finals, Williams moved his approach up slightly and hit his takeoff perfect, soaring 23-6.75 to break the 43 year-old meet record!!!! The former record of 23-6.25 was set in 1982 by Marv Peterson of Elizabeth. Williams also broke his school record of 23-4 that was set in 2016 by Perry Christie.
"Yeah, I was surprised because I thought maybe I fouled on the takeoff and I almost fell backward when I landed,'' said Williams, whose previous PR was 23-0. "To break a record like this means so much to mean. I have been working very hard with my coach, so it's nice to see it all pay off like this. Now I'm hoping I can get 24 feet by the end of the season.''
The long jump record by Williams was the fourth and final meet record on the first day of competition. The other three records were all broken on the girls side, also by Union Catholic as Taylor Cox and Paige Sheppard each took down their own records, and Kiara Fleming also got into the record-breaking party for the Vikings.
Fleming, a junior who won the 400 hurdles at the county meet in 2023, soared 39-8.50 in the triple jump to break the meet record of 39-8 set in 2010 by Kelly Burke of Cranford.
The University of Georgia-bound Cox ripped an 11.65 to win her third straight title in the 100-meter dash as she shaved .01 off the record of 11.66 that she ran a year ago,
Sheppard, a sophomore, sliced more than four seconds off her meet record when she dropped a 2:18.1 final 800 and a 63.9 last 400 to stop the clock at 4:48.02.
DRAMATIC HURDLE FINISHES
On the girls side, sophomore Sydney Chadwick of Union Catholic won the 400 hurdles for the second straight year in a great battle with Dayna Spoor of Oak Knoll, 1:02.64 to 1:02.65. Spoor's previous best was the 1:03.53 she ran to win the Mountain Division title last week.
New Providence senior Ilana Kornacki, the favorite in the pole vault, came through in the clutch to win her first county title by clearing a season-best 10-6.
Senior Caleb Duvelson of Union dethroned defending champ Arthur Hrycak of Cranford in a very good discus duel. Duvelson won with a a PR of 163-2 and Hrycak broke his own school record with a second-place mark of 162-6.
Rahway won a pair of field events. Senior Remy Warfield won the girls shot put with a throw of 35-11, and senior Rolando Simpson cleared 6-2 to win the boys high jump on misses. Summit senior Thomas Hamilton also made 6-2 to place second.
Warren Jean of Linden ran 11.01 to edge Quashawn Haynes of Rahway (11.08) in the boys 100 dash.
Senior Emma Muir of Union Catholic unloaded a PR of 120-1 to win the girls javelin.
TEAM STANDINGS
The Union Catholic boys and girls are both in the lead in the team standings.
In the girls competition, the Vikings have racked up 92 points, which will be more than enough to clinch their 10th straight title. Oak Knoll is in second place with 30. On the boys side, UC, seeking a 5th straight title, holds a 47-42 lead over Elizabeth.