Sterling graduate Jah’mere Beasley, a Rowan sophomore, placed second in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Division 3 Championships Saturday.
Beasley matched his lifetime best of 21.18 in placing second to top-seeded J.P. Vaught, a freshman at Centre College in Danville, Ky.. who followed his 10.51 win in the 100 with a 20.83 win in the 200.
Vaught and Beasley were the two-fastest qualifiers in Thursday’s trials at Irwin Belk Stadium on the North Carolina A&T campus in Greensboro, Vaught with a 21.11 and Beasley at 21.33.
This is the third All-America honor of Beasley’s short career at Rowan so far and the second of the day. He earned All-America status as part of Rowan’s indoor 1,600-meter relay team last year (which did not get to race because the meet was cancelled) and earlier Saturday he ran on Rowan’s 7th-place 400-meter relay team.
He’s the first Rowan sprinter to earn All-America honors in the 200 since Glassboro High graduate Ali Ejaz placed fourth in the 2012 final in 21.31. The best previous finish in Rowan history by a sprinter in the 200 was Charles Cooper’s 3rd-place in 21.30 at the 1979 Championships. Cooper was a 1978 graduate of Paulsboro.
Beasley and Ejaz share the Rowan school record at 21.18, and Beasley has now done it twice.
Rowan now has 31 points and is in fifth place in the team standings with the No. 3 seed in the upcoming 1,600-meter relay.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 