Sophomore Amir Johnson destroyed the Rowan school record in the triple jump at the All-Atlantic Championships and won the event by nearly a foot.
Johnson, a graduate of Wissahickon High in Ambler and a transfer from Gwynned Mercy, was sitting in fifth place going into his final attempt with a best of 46-5 1/2 but soared 48-8 1/4 on his final attempt.
The meet is being held at the Golisano Training Center on the Nazareth College campus in Rochester, N.Y.
Johnson broke the school record of 48-2 set in 2018 by Harrison Escoffery of Hackensack when he was second in the triple jump to Stockton’s five-time All-America Jared Lewis of Deptford at the 2018 NJAC meet at Ocean Breeze.
Johnson also broke his personal PR of 48-5, which he hit at the Track & Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia meet at Lehigh’s Rauch Fieldhouse in January of 2018.
Johnson’s 48-8 1/4 is No. 7 in NCAA Division 3 going into next weekend’s NCAA Division 3 Championships in Winston-Salem, N.Y.
His previous season-best was a 46-7 1/2 at a meet at Ithaca early last month.
Johnson also surpassed Escoffery’s Rowan outdoor school record of 48-1 1/4, set in 2017 at Swarthmore. So this is the best jump in school history.
Johnson also high jumped 6-4 and long jumped 23-4 3/4 in high school. He hasn’t high jumped for Rowan but he did long jump 22-1-1 earlier this year and is scheduled to compete in the long jump today.
Before this indoor season, Johnson hadn’t competed since the middle of last year’s indoor season as a Gwynned-Mercy freshman.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 