Aliya Rae Garozzo of Paul VI, CInnaminson’s Meredith Updike, Eastern’s Jailya Ash and Millville’s Bryanna Craig all ran sub 8.40 and advanced to the finals of the 55-meter hurdles at the Meet oF Champions Sunday morning.
Garozzo ran 8.33, Updike 8.34, Ash 8.35 and Craig 8.39 to advance to the eight-runner final at Ocean Breeze. Millville sophomore Leah Ellis ran 8.42, missing the final by 1-1000th of a second.
The top six qualifiers all ran between 8.30 and 8.36.
Kirstyn Schechter of Hillsborough and Mariah Fede of Paramus Catholic lead all qualifiers into the final later Sunday. Both ran 8.30 in separate trials, and meet timers couldn’t break the tie as both were officially credited with 8.295.
Garozzo has run 8.17 this year, Updike 8.29, Ash 8.08 and Craig 8.31. Fede (8.02 ) and Ash (8.08) are the two-fastest hurdlers in the state, and Garozzo is fourth.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 