Eastern senior A.J. Brooks ran another big hurdles PR Friday at sectionals and moved into the all-time South Jersey top-50 list.
Brooks won the South Jersey Group 4 race over the 55-meter highs Friday at the Bubble in 7.54, lowering his PR from 7.69 that he ran at the Bubble late last month.
That’s fastest this year by a South Jersey hurdler and No. 4 in the state. Brooks will race the nation’s top-ranked hurdler, Christopher Serrao of East Brunswick, in the state Group 4 meet Feb. 26 back at the Bubble.
Serrao won the Meet of Champions outdoors last spring and was 6th at Nationals in Eugene, Ore. Serrao ran 7.29 at the Central Jersey Group 4 meet on Saturday. He and Brooks are ranked No. 1 and 2 in Group 4. Brooks is No. 17 nationally on the MileSplit U.S. performance list.
Brooks ran within 5-100ths of a second of the school record of 7.49 set in 1991 by Vince Rawlins when he placed 3rd at Easterns at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym behind Frank Guialdo of DeWitt Clinton in the Bronx [7.45] and John Charley of Morristown [7.49] in a wild three-way finish.
Brooks, who also placed second in the high jump at sectionals, is the nephew of long-time NFL offensive tackle Barrett Brooks, who now works with yours truly at NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Here’s the updated all-time South Jersey 55-meter hurdles list:
7.10 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
7.18 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1996
7.22 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
7.22 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
7.29 … Nate Harley [Pleasantville], 1996
7.29 … Danyne Brown [Camden], 1999
7.29 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], 2001
7.29 … Will Brown [Palmyra], 2006
7.31 … Anthony Vasquez [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2020
7.32 … Jon Dickey [Penns Grove], 1985
7.34 … Chais Hill [Highland], 2015
7.35 … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 1990
7.39 … Rashad Baker [Wilson], 2000
7.39 … Isaiah Lewis [Winslow Twp.], 2020
7.42 … Kevon Brown [West Deptford], 2009
7.42 … Naseem Smith [Deptford], 2019
7.43 … Danyne Brown [Camden], 1999
7.43 … Edwin Alston [Winslow Twp.], 2015
7.44 … Lance Reed [Willingboro], 1983
7.45 … Kevin Hagamin [Timber Creek], 2014
7.46 … Herb Reid [Lenape], 1999
7.46 … Syteek Farrington [Camden], 2010
7.47 … Diandre Chandler [Camden], 1986
7.47 … Darius Holmes [Willingboro], 2012
7.48 … Reuben McCoy [Winslow Twp.], 2004
7.48 … Tyrell Ross [Clearview], 2005
7.49 … Devon Carter [Washington Twp.], 2010
7.49 … Vince Rawlins [Eastern], 1991
7.49 … Chris Nichols [Willingboro], 1991
7.49 … Sam Aviles [Palmyra], 2019
7.49 … Donovan Wright [Burlington Twp.], 2020
7.50 … Darren McCluskey [Cherokee], 2011
7.52 … Don Hickson [Highland], 1990
7.52 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
7.52 … Matt Dahms [Haddonfield], 2002
7.53 … Matthew Marshall [Camden], 2008
7.54 … Ed Loges [Shawnee], 1992
7.54 … Chase Toliver [Oakcrest], 2013
7.54 … A.J. Brooks [Eastern], 2022
7.55 … Mike Anderson [Edgewood], 1990
7.55 … Mikal Wright [Burlington Twp.], 2016
7.55 … Jamil Adams [Winslow Twp.], 2017
7.56 … Terry James [Willingboro], 1984
7.56 … Dwayne Robinson [Moorestown], 1989
7.56 … Sean David [Highland], 2016
7.56 … Antwan Dickerson [Pennsauken], 2016
7.57 … George Berry [Camden], 1984
7.57 … Eric Frieson [Willingboro], 1985
7.57 … Scot McCray [Camden], 1997
7.57 … Chantz Powell [Cherry Hill East], 2008
7.60 … Jason Stefanski [Penns Grove], 2016
7.60 … Daniel Dayrell [Rancocas Valley], 2020
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 