BLOOMFIELD, NJ (updated Tuesday June 13, 11:51 a.m.; CORRECTED) – Bloomfield High School senior track and field star Myles Toppin won the fifth-place medal in the boys’ long jump event at the NJSIAA state Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington County Regional High School in Columbus on Saturday, June 10.
Toppin leaped 22 feet-11 ½ inches. He also competed in the triple jump and finished 12th at 44-8 ½.
It was the second straight year that Toppin competed at the outdoor state Meet of Champions. Last year, he won the sixth-place medal in the high jump and also finished 12th in the triple jump.
Toppin was the lone BHS boys’ competitor at the Meet of Champions, which consisted of the top six finishers in each event, plus wild-card berths, from the Group state meets held the previous weekend.
Kaela Edwards was the lone BHS girls’ athlete at the Meet of Champions. The junior took 15th in the 100-meter high hurdles in 15.89
Toppin, also a football and basketball standout at BHS, enjoyed a terrific spring track and field season.
At the Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division Championships at Schools Stadium in Newark, Toppin set meet records in winning both the long jump at 22-1 and triple jump at 44-2. Toppin also took second in the high jump at 6-4 and third in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.06.
At the Essex County Championships in Montclair, Toppin won both the long jump (21-7 ½) and triple jump (45-0). He aso took second in the high jump at 6-2 and placed eighth in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.07.
At the NJSiAA North Jersey Section 1, Group 4 state Championships in Randolph, Toppin won the triple jump at 47-0 ¼ and took third in both the high jump at 6-4 and the long jump at 21-8 ¼.
Toppin finished second in the triple jump (45-9 ½), third in the long jump (22-7); and seventh in the high jump (6-4) at the NJSIAA Group 4 state Championships at Egg Harbor.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Toppin played receiver and free safety for the BHS football team, helping the Bengals to a 7-3 record. Toppin made Second Team Defense on the All-North Jersey Super Football Conference-Liberty Blue Division. He will continue his football career at Wesley College in Dover, De.
This past winter, Toppin was a key player on the BHS basketball team that won the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1,Group 4 state tournament championship, the Bengals’ first state section title since 1977. Toppin averaged 10.7 points per game for the Bengals, who also tied for the SEC-Liberty Division title with Orange and Verona and finished with a 24-6 record after losing to Linden in the NJSIAA Group 4 state semifinals. Toppin hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to lift the Bengals to a 39-36 win over previously-unbeaten Orange on Jan. 10 at home.
Correction: The Bengals won the SEC-Colonial Division title and finished with a 24-6 record.
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