Rowan’s intermediate hurdles had quite an afternoon Saturday at the Danny Curran Invitational at Widener University in Chester, Pa.
Freshman Treshan Stevenson from Millville, junior John Owens from West Windsor-Plainsboro North and freshman Joe Devito from Jackson Liberty swept the first three spots in the 400IH, with all three moving into the NCAA Division 3 top 20 so far this spring.
Stevenson won the race in 54.52, Owens was just behind in 2nd in 54.69 and Devito ran 55.44 for 3rd.
Considering the chilly, breezy conditions and just how early it is in the season, those are terrific times.
Stevenson ranks 6th in NCAA Division 3, Owens 9th and Devito 19th.
In just his second college intermediate hurdles race, Stevenson broke his PR of 54.66, which he set when he placed 2nd at the state Group 4 race at Franklin last spring. Stevenson ran 55.45 in his first 400IH last month in a home meet in Glassboro.
Owens’ ran with half a second of his collegiate PR of 54.26 which he ran in 2019 at the AARTFC Championships in Cortland, N.Y., in mid-May. Owens ran as fast as 53.30 in high school when he placed 2nd at the state Group 3 meet at Northern Burlington. Rowan didn’t have an outdoor season in 2020 and Owens focused on the long jump last spring and didn’t race the intermediates, so this is the first time he’s competed in the 400IH in three years.
Devito has a collegiate PR of 54.14 from his win at last year’s NJAC meet at Ramapo. He ran 53.93 in high school when he was second in the 2019 Group 3 state meet on his home track in Jackson.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 