Micah Wood continued his tremendous indoor season Saturday with a huge 600-meter run performance in Boston.
Wood, a Rancocas Valley and Rutgers sophomore transfer from Monmouth, ran 1:19.46 in the three-lap race in the Battle of Beantown at Boston University’s Track and Tennis Center.
Wood placed 3rd behind two U. Conn runners – Wellington Ventura won in 1:17.29 and Noah Woodman ran 1:19.40 for second.
That 1:19.46 is No. 3 in Rutgers history, behind only Jermaine Griffith, who ran 1:16.12 in 2016 at the Big East Championships in Geneva, Ohio, and Boaz Madeus, who ran 1:17.99 at the 2018 Big East meet in Geneva.
Wood never raced a 600 at Monmouth. He ran as fast as 1:53.46 for 800 meters indoors and won the Metro Atlantic title in the 400 intermediates last spring in 52.91.
He ran his first collegiate 600 last weekend in Lexington, Ky., and turned in an eye-opening 1:20.66. That PR lasted a week, and he lowered it more than a second on Saturday.
Wood’s time is No. 39 in the U.S. so far this winter on the IAAF performance list.
In the same race, Rutgers senior Eric Barnes from Egg Harbor Township ran a big 600 PR of 1:21.67, which moves him up from No. 10 on the all-time Scarlet Knights list (1:23.94 in his very first collegiate race at TCNJ in December 2017) to No. 6, just behind Lenape graduate Steve Swern, who’s No. 5 at 1:21.63 from 2009.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 