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Who is the best girls track & field athlete from North Jersey?
Let the debate begin.
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time. Alongside that national recognition, the USA TODAY Network will spotlight the roots of the country’s sports culture: the high school athletes and sports figures who shaped communities.
These are our selections for the girls track and field athletes who defined North Jersey. The players (listed in alphabetical order) were all standout players at the high school level before moving on to even greater heights at the collegiate and professional levels.
We even saved a spot for you to write-in a candidate that we may have overlooked or that you feel strongly about.
As a sophomore Carmichael was fifth in the 1993 State Meet of Champions 200. She never lost to another New Jersey athlete in either the 100 and 200 again. She’s one of two North Jersey girls to go back-to-back at the State Meet of Champions in the two sprint events. Just two other girls in state history have accomplished the feat. She was All-American in both events as a senior and still holds the Passaic County records of 11.80 and 24.12 in the 100 and 200. She went on to star at Ohio State.
Another versatile star who started out as a sprinter and jumper and added the short hurdles to her repertoire, Cummings’ best event was the Triple Jump where she set a Penn Relays Record that lasted for nearly 20 years and earned her Outstanding Field Athlete honors. She still holds the Bergen County triple jump record and the winter long and triple jump marks, She won the State Meet of Champions twice outdoors in the long jump, and the 55 hurdles indoors and earned honors All-American six times. She went on to compete at St. Augustine’s where she led the team to the 2001 NCAA Division 2 title.
Davis was one of the nation’s best runners throughout her high school at distances from 100 meters to 800 meters, earning 13 state indoor and outdoor group titles plus the 2004 400 and 800 state indoor titles, the 2005 state 800 indoor title, and the 2004 and 2005 State Meet of Champions outdoor title. She was second in the Indoor and Outdoor Nationals at 800 meters in 2005 and ranks fifth all-time at 400 meters and second at 800 outdoors. She set the since broken National Indoor Record at 600 meters and went on to attain All-American honors at Texas and Arkansas.
One of five women on this list still active in the sport, she revolutionized both high school weights, becoming North Jersey’s first (and only) shot putter to throw 50 feet and won the 2024 State Meet of Champions. But her impact on the discus was even more pronounced. Going into this season she had 17 of the top performances in North Jersey history in the event with a personal best of 172-2, nearly 30 feet better than the record was when she entered high school. She’s a two-time SMOC winner and won at Penn Relays. She is a sophomore at Princeton where set the Ivy League record in the discus earlier this season. She made this year’s NCAA final.
Jacobs, who was a Paterson resident when she competed at PC, was the only three-time winner at both the 100 and 200 meters at the State Meet of Champions until this year when Pennsauken senior Sianni Wynn matched her performance. She missed a chance at four in a row with an injury suffered at sectionals her senior year. She still holds Bergen County records at both the 100 and 200 and ranks fourth and 10th on the all-time state list. She ranks fourth and second on the all-time state list at 55 and 60 meters respectively and holds Bergen County marks indoors in both events. She was All-American six times including winning the 2011 National indoor title at 60 meters. She ran collegiately at Georgia and Clemson.
Keating just finished her junior year at Rutgers where she just missed medaling at the BigTen championships after a sensational high school career where she won two outdoor State Meet of Champions titles and one indoors in the pole vault with a personal best of 13-0, set in winning the 2023 outdoor title. She also excelled in the intermediate hurdles and high jump following in the footsteps of her mom and dad, who were outstanding athletes at Rutgers, Her brother Owen holds the Passaic County record in the vault, just like his big sister and the pair are one of a handful of siblings to win SMOC titles.
Now running under her married name of Josette Andrews, Norris had a dream season in her junior year, taking second in the State Meet of Champions in cross-country and winning the 1,600 at the Outdoor State Meet of Champions, breaking the Bergen County record that she still holds. She also holds the 3,200 mark set during a difficult senior year where she battled injuries all year long. She ran at North Carolina but transferred to Georgetown where she finished fourth in the 2019 NCAA 5,000. Six years later she was fifth in the 2025 World Championship 5K and is currently ranked tenth in the world in the event.
After a sensational high school career that included State Meet of Champions titles and state records, indoors and outdoors and in cross-country, Perez had a bumpy start to her college career. But after transferring from Florida and Wake Forest, she’s back and reached the Division 1 finals in cross-country and the 10,000, earning All-America honors last fall. The college junior won the State Meet of Champions in Cross-Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track as a senior, setting a New Jersey record at Holmdel County Park which still stands, winning indoor and outdoor national titles at two miles and taking second at the Foot Locker National Cross-Country Championships.
Rogers, not to be confused with the Ridgewood/Dartmouth star who won State and Ivy League championships in cross-country in the 1990s, had a meteoric start to her high school career, setting a still standing freshman National record and winning the 2017 National championship in the high jump. Injuries and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic limited her to just one State Meet of champions title but she turned it around at Nebraska where she set school records in both the indoor and outdoor high jumps, won multiple BigTen titles and was All-American six times. She just missed making the Olympic Team in 2024 and the World Championship team the following year and may not be finished with the sport yet.
The only double four event group state champion in New Jersey history (100, 200, long and triple jump), she is one of just two girls to win the State Meet of Champions in both the long and triple jumps in consecutive SMOC meets (joining two-time Olympian Keturah Orji). Her eight state group titles are tied for the most in North Jersey history and she’s the only North Jersey girl to jump 20 feet or more in the long jump. That’s the Passaic County record of course and she’s second all-time in Passaic in the 100, 200 and triple jump. She went on to run at Bucknell where she earned the prestigious Christy Mathewson Award as the best athlete in her senior class and now is an assistant track coach there.
Seven outdoor group titles at 200, 400 and 400 hurdles. Three indoors at 400 meters. Seven State Meet of Champions crowns, two outdoors at both the 400 and 400 hurdles and three indoors at 400. Only multiple Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has done that. The 2001 National championship in the 400 hurdles. The only New Jersey girl to beat Olympian Erin Donohue of Haddonfield in an indoor race (When they ran the number one and two 800 meter times in the nation in 2002). And she never had a chance at a senior spring season because of a stress fracture in her back. Watkins went on win multiple All-American honors at the University of South Carolina.
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Let the debate begin.
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time. Alongside that national recognition, the USA TODAY Network will spotlight the roots of the country’s sports culture: the high school athletes and sports figures who shaped communities.
These are our selections for the girls track and field athletes who defined North Jersey. The players (listed in alphabetical order) were all standout players at the high school level before moving on to even greater heights at the collegiate and professional levels.
We even saved a spot for you to write-in a candidate that we may have overlooked or that you feel strongly about.
Nicole Carmichael, Kennedy (Class of 1995)
As a sophomore Carmichael was fifth in the 1993 State Meet of Champions 200. She never lost to another New Jersey athlete in either the 100 and 200 again. She’s one of two North Jersey girls to go back-to-back at the State Meet of Champions in the two sprint events. Just two other girls in state history have accomplished the feat. She was All-American in both events as a senior and still holds the Passaic County records of 11.80 and 24.12 in the 100 and 200. She went on to star at Ohio State.
Carlene Cummings, Dwight Morrow (Englewood) (Class of 1997)
Another versatile star who started out as a sprinter and jumper and added the short hurdles to her repertoire, Cummings’ best event was the Triple Jump where she set a Penn Relays Record that lasted for nearly 20 years and earned her Outstanding Field Athlete honors. She still holds the Bergen County triple jump record and the winter long and triple jump marks, She won the State Meet of Champions twice outdoors in the long jump, and the 55 hurdles indoors and earned honors All-American six times. She went on to compete at St. Augustine’s where she led the team to the 2001 NCAA Division 2 title.
Janine Davis, Queen of Peace (Class of 2004)
Davis was one of the nation’s best runners throughout her high school at distances from 100 meters to 800 meters, earning 13 state indoor and outdoor group titles plus the 2004 400 and 800 state indoor titles, the 2005 state 800 indoor title, and the 2004 and 2005 State Meet of Champions outdoor title. She was second in the Indoor and Outdoor Nationals at 800 meters in 2005 and ranks fifth all-time at 400 meters and second at 800 outdoors. She set the since broken National Indoor Record at 600 meters and went on to attain All-American honors at Texas and Arkansas.
Layla Giordano, Old Tappan (Class of 2024)
One of five women on this list still active in the sport, she revolutionized both high school weights, becoming North Jersey’s first (and only) shot putter to throw 50 feet and won the 2024 State Meet of Champions. But her impact on the discus was even more pronounced. Going into this season she had 17 of the top performances in North Jersey history in the event with a personal best of 172-2, nearly 30 feet better than the record was when she entered high school. She’s a two-time SMOC winner and won at Penn Relays. She is a sophomore at Princeton where set the Ivy League record in the discus earlier this season. She made this year’s NCAA final.
Myasia Jacobs, Paramus Catholic (Class of 2012)
Jacobs, who was a Paterson resident when she competed at PC, was the only three-time winner at both the 100 and 200 meters at the State Meet of Champions until this year when Pennsauken senior Sianni Wynn matched her performance. She missed a chance at four in a row with an injury suffered at sectionals her senior year. She still holds Bergen County records at both the 100 and 200 and ranks fourth and 10th on the all-time state list. She ranks fourth and second on the all-time state list at 55 and 60 meters respectively and holds Bergen County marks indoors in both events. She was All-American six times including winning the 2011 National indoor title at 60 meters. She ran collegiately at Georgia and Clemson.
Emma Keating, Pompton Lakes (Class of 2023)
Keating just finished her junior year at Rutgers where she just missed medaling at the BigTen championships after a sensational high school career where she won two outdoor State Meet of Champions titles and one indoors in the pole vault with a personal best of 13-0, set in winning the 2023 outdoor title. She also excelled in the intermediate hurdles and high jump following in the footsteps of her mom and dad, who were outstanding athletes at Rutgers, Her brother Owen holds the Passaic County record in the vault, just like his big sister and the pair are one of a handful of siblings to win SMOC titles.
Josette Norris, Tenafly (Class of 2013)
Now running under her married name of Josette Andrews, Norris had a dream season in her junior year, taking second in the State Meet of Champions in cross-country and winning the 1,600 at the Outdoor State Meet of Champions, breaking the Bergen County record that she still holds. She also holds the 3,200 mark set during a difficult senior year where she battled injuries all year long. She ran at North Carolina but transferred to Georgetown where she finished fourth in the 2019 NCAA 5,000. Six years later she was fifth in the 2025 World Championship 5K and is currently ranked tenth in the world in the event.
Angelina Perez, Lakeland (Class of 2022)
After a sensational high school career that included State Meet of Champions titles and state records, indoors and outdoors and in cross-country, Perez had a bumpy start to her college career. But after transferring from Florida and Wake Forest, she’s back and reached the Division 1 finals in cross-country and the 10,000, earning All-America honors last fall. The college junior won the State Meet of Champions in Cross-Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track as a senior, setting a New Jersey record at Holmdel County Park which still stands, winning indoor and outdoor national titles at two miles and taking second at the Foot Locker National Cross-Country Championships.
Jenna Rogers, Rutherford (Class of 2020)
Rogers, not to be confused with the Ridgewood/Dartmouth star who won State and Ivy League championships in cross-country in the 1990s, had a meteoric start to her high school career, setting a still standing freshman National record and winning the 2017 National championship in the high jump. Injuries and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic limited her to just one State Meet of champions title but she turned it around at Nebraska where she set school records in both the indoor and outdoor high jumps, won multiple BigTen titles and was All-American six times. She just missed making the Olympic Team in 2024 and the World Championship team the following year and may not be finished with the sport yet.
Kaitlin Salisbury, Hawthorne (Class of 2016)
The only double four event group state champion in New Jersey history (100, 200, long and triple jump), she is one of just two girls to win the State Meet of Champions in both the long and triple jumps in consecutive SMOC meets (joining two-time Olympian Keturah Orji). Her eight state group titles are tied for the most in North Jersey history and she’s the only North Jersey girl to jump 20 feet or more in the long jump. That’s the Passaic County record of course and she’s second all-time in Passaic in the 100, 200 and triple jump. She went on to run at Bucknell where she earned the prestigious Christy Mathewson Award as the best athlete in her senior class and now is an assistant track coach there.
Tawana Watkins, Kennedy (Class of 2002)
Seven outdoor group titles at 200, 400 and 400 hurdles. Three indoors at 400 meters. Seven State Meet of Champions crowns, two outdoors at both the 400 and 400 hurdles and three indoors at 400. Only multiple Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has done that. The 2001 National championship in the 400 hurdles. The only New Jersey girl to beat Olympian Erin Donohue of Haddonfield in an indoor race (When they ran the number one and two 800 meter times in the nation in 2002). And she never had a chance at a senior spring season because of a stress fracture in her back. Watkins went on win multiple All-American honors at the University of South Carolina.
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