Chase Tolliver chased teammate David Benjamin to the finish line in the 110-meter hurdles final at the New Jersey Athletic Conference meet Sunday, and although he didn’t quite catch him, he ran a PR and teamed up with Benjamin on a 1-2 finish.
Benjamin, a graduate of Freehold Township, won the race in 14.40, but Tolliver was right there, running a personal-best 14.54 with a legal wind of 1.9 meters per second. Rowan freshman Jason Stefanski, the state Group 1 400 intermediates champ last year at Penns Grove, was fourth, giving Rowan 23 points in the one event on their way to their third straight title and 26th overall.
Tolliver, who ran high school track at Oakcrest, broke his PR of 14.65 set in the trials on Saturday. Before this weekend, his PR over the 42-inch barriers was 14.69 in the prelims of last years ECAC Division 3 championships in Westfield, Mass.
Benjamin is ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division 3 at 14.22 from a meet in March. Tolliver’s race earned him a No. 11 national ranking. Stefanski’s 14.88 made him the No. 4 freshman in Division 3.
Tolliver was second in the 55-meter highs at the 2013 indoor Meet of Champions and third in the 110 highs at the outdoor Meet of Champs for Oakcrest.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 