Asha Pensa Johnson, NJAC discus champion
Pensa Johnson, Dinerman, Pierce, Deleon earn honors, records at NJAC Championships
MAHWAH, N.J. (May 3, 2026) – Freshmen
Asha Pensa Johnson and
Jayden Deleon, junior
Jacob Dinerman and senior
Walter Pierce broke their own school records and the Rutgers University-Camden men's track team had its highest placement since 2019 at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships here Sunday at Ramapo College.
Pensa Johnson earned NJAC First Team honors while placing first in a field of 28 discus throwers with a distance of 42.85. Her previous school record was 39.84 meters, set at the Stockton Invitational on March 21.
Podium photos
May 3 NJAC Championship photos
Deleon broke his own program record with a high jump of 2.06 meters to capture NJAC Second Team honors, placing second in a field of 17 athletes. His old record of 2.01 meters was set April 4 at the Osprey Open.
Dinerman captured NJAC Second Team recognition by placing second in a field of 24 runners at 800 meters, setting a program mark with a time of 1:49.75. He beat the mark of 1:50.96 he set at the Paul Donahue Invitational on April 17.
The Rutgers-Camden men notched 40 points to finish fifth in the nine-team NJAC standings. It was their highest finish since a fifth-place finish in 2019 and their most points since they had 59 that year. The Scarlet Raptor women finish eighth with 17 points.
Pierce completed his decathlon competition with another impressive multi-event performance, finishing third out of seven athletes to earn NJAC Honorable Mention. On Sunday, he finished first in the 1,500-meter run (a PR of 4:56.87) third in both the 110 hurdles (17.39) and the discus (25.35), fourth in the pole vault (a PR of 3.30 meters) and fifth in the javelin (a PR of 31.18). He also set PRs on Saturday in the high jump (1.71 meters) and shot put (11.86 meters). His decathlon total of 5,228 points broke the program mark he set last year at the NJAC meet with 5,217 points.
Pensa Johnson wasn't the only Raptor athlete to shine in the discus competition. Senior
Kayla Franklin placed eighth (34.08 meters) and freshman
Arianna Lalli finished 14th (30.71 meters). Franklin, meanwhile, also finished 10th of 24 in the shot put (10.05 meters), while freshman
Shania Bernard was 18th (8.48 meters) and Lalli was 20th with a PR of 7.79 meters.
After qualifying for the 400-meter hurdles final on Saturday with a seventh-place finish, freshman
Talia Thomasson improved her standing on Sunday, placing sixth in the final with a time of 1:09.20.
Freshman
Willyam Dupreville finished fifth out of 12 in the triple jump with a PR of 13.66 M, while freshman
Abdulbasit Shodolu set a PR of 1.88 meters in the high jump while finishing 11th of 17. Another freshman,
Dylan Davies placed 16th of 21 at 5,000 meters with a PR of 16:49.84.
In the 22-athlete fields of the men's shot put and discus, freshmen
Monroe Hall and Michael Hawkins were the top two Raptors. Hall finished 16th in the shot put (a PR of 10.89 meters) and 18th in the discus (25.69 meters), while Hawkins was 15th in the discus (a PR of 30.34 meters) and 18th in the shot put (10.40 meters).
Freshman
Dejia Robert finished 14th of 24 in the women's 800 meters in a time of 2:29.48.
The men's 4x100 relay team of sophomores
Caleb Crosby and
Kristopher Ewell, and freshmen
Eric Lei and
Kamari Brown finished seventh of nine in a time of 44.02. The 4x400 team of Ewell, freshman
Oluwatobi Popoola, Dinerman and Pierce placed fifth of nine teams in a time of 3:27.83.
The women's 4x400 of Thomasson, junior
Sydnie Marshall, Robert and freshman
Sofia Tabet placed seventh of eight teams (4:20.04), while the 4x100 team of Thomasson, Bernard, Marshall and Tabet was ninth of nine (53.28).
New Jersey Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships
(at Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ)
Men: 1. Rowan, 319.33; 2. TCNJ, 213; 3. Rampo, 86.33; 4. Stockton, 75.33;
5. Rutgers-Camden, 40; 6. Montclair State, 38; 7. Kean, 19; 8. New Jersey City, 14; 9. Rutgers-Newark, 6.
Women: 1. Rowan, 211.5; 2. TCNJ, 192.5; 3. Stockton, 123; 4. Montclair State, 5. Ramapo, 52; 6. New Jersey City, 37; 7. Rutgers-Newark, 25;
8. Rutgers-Camden, 17; 9. Kean, 5.
Rutgers-Camden Records
* Women's Discus,
Asha Pensa Johnson, 42.85 meters (Old: 39.84 meters by Pensa Johnson at the Stockton Invitational, March 21, 2026)
* Men's High Jump,
Jayden Deleon, 2.06 meters (Old: 2.01 meters by Deleon at the Osprey Open, April 4, 2026)
* Men's 800 M,
Jacob Dinerman, 1:49.75 (Old: 1:50.96 by Dinerman at the Paul Donahue Invitational, April 17, 2026)
* Decathlon,
Walter Pierce, 5,228 points (Old: 5,217 points by Pierce at the NJAC Championships, May 3-4, 2025)
Rutgers-Camden Winners
* Women's Discus,
Asha Pensa Johnson, 42.85 meters
