Penns Grove graduate Jaymes Dennison continues to establish himself as one of the fastest middle-distance runners in the country.
Racing at the Big 12 Championships this past weekend at the Leid Rec Center in Ames, Iowa, Dennison ran 1:09.51 for second in the rarely contested 600-yard run, finishing just 61-100ths of a second behind Texas Tech’s Vincent Crisp, the NCAA record holder at 600 meters.
Crisp ran 1:08.90 and Dennison 1:09.51. Dennison also joined Rashon Rooms, Eric Fogltanz and Frank Hayes to place third in the 1,600-meter relay in 3:10.07, and he also ran the 800 leg on Iowa State’s third-place distance medley team, which ran 9:50.65. Rooms, Zach Black and Dan Curts also ran for the Cyclones.
Dennison is ranked No. 11 in NCAA history at 600 meters with his 1:16.84 from last year. That’s also No. 37 in world history according to the IAAF and No. 15 in U.S. history. He’s run as fast as 1:17.26 this year, which is No. 10 in the world and No. 5 among Americans.
Dennison, who transferred to Iowa State after beginning his college career at Monroe College in New Rochelle, N.Y., set an indoor PR of 1:48.98 earlier this month for 800 meters. He’s run as fast as 1:47.63 outdoors. He was the Big 12 outdoor champ at 800 meters last spring and the Big 12 indoor champ at 600 yards last year.
