Paul VI senior Antonio Tarantino will race for a national title later Sunday after running a mind-boggling 20.51 in the 200-meter dash trials at the New Balance National Championships at Aggie Stadium on the North Carolina AT&T campus in Greensboro, N.C.
The mark was wind-aided — 2.8 meters-per-second — but it is faster than the state records set in 2001 by Rahway’s Danny Johnson — 20.6 hand-timed and 20.93 fully automatic.
Only marks made with an assisting wind of 2.0 meters per second or less are considered for record-keeping purposes, although most New Jersey marks didn’t even have a wind-gauge available.
Tarantino’s time is also the second-fastest in meet history in any conditions, behind only a 20.41 by Trentavis Friday of Cherryville, N.C., in 2014.
Tarantino will be in lane 4 for the final at 5:15 p.m. Sunday.
Tarantino, the New Jersey Meet of Champions winner, led four runners under 21 seconds in the trials.
Tyrese Cooper ran a 20.83 in the third of five heats without an assisting wind. Cameron Council of Bull City in North Carolina ran 20.88 with a 0.1 wind to win the fifth heat, and Rawle Brebnor of Potomac, Va., was first across the line in the first heat in 20.99. The fourth heat, which Tarantino won, was the only one that was wind-aided.
Tarantino has a wind-legal PR of 21.21 from last year’s Parochial A sectionals at Egg Harbor Township.
Tarantino ran under the South Jersey record of 21.06 set in 1984 by Edgewood’s Dennis Mitchell, an Olympic gold medalist.
Here’s the updated all-time state list:
ALL-TIME N.J. 200-METER DASH LIST
20.53 … Antonio Tarantino [Paul VI] 2018
20.93 … Danny Johnson [Rahway], 2001
20.97 … Mario Heslop [Franklin], 2018
21.00 … Fabian Santiago [Oakcrest], 2012
21.03 … Zamir Thomas [Snyder], 2011
21.06 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], 1984
21.13 … Jabrill Peppers [Paramus Catholic], 2013
21.14 … Reuben McCoy [Winslow Twp.], 2004
21.20 … Rashad White [Teaneck], 2008
21.22 … Maxwell Booker [Essex Catholic], 2000
21.23 … Shaquan Brown [Paterson Kennedy], 2005
21.25 … Bryant McCombs [Old Bridge], 2005
21.27 … Charles Cox [Monmouth Reg.], 2007
21.29 … Zyaire Clemes [Trenton], 2013
21.30 … Ty Adams [Monmouth Reg.], 1993
21.30 … Lamar Grant [Jackson], 1996
21.30 … Taylor McLaughlin [Union Catholic], 2015
21.31 … Michael Ray Garvin [Don Bosco], 2005
21.31 … Clayton Parros [Seton Hall Prep], 2009
21.31 … Miles Shuler-Foster [Long Branch], 2011
21.36 … Isaiah Gill [Plainfield], 2008
21.39 … Akeem Gauntlett [Roselle], 2008
21.39 … Martin Booker [Pennsauken], 2017
21.40 … Rob Gary [Lenape], 1998
21.40 … Todd Dutch [Washington Twp.], 2001
21.40 … Jamaad Muse (Timber Creek), 2012