From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Washington Township’s Yashahya Brown opened his junior year with the No. 6 high hurdles time in Gloucester County history.

Brown ran 7.51 to win the Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational Saturday at the Armory. He finished first among 51 hurdlers who entered the event.

Brown’s indoor PR over the 55-meter hurdles coming into the meet was an 8.05 from the Collegeville Invitational at Ursinus’s Floy Lewis Bakes Fieldhouse this past January. He blew that away with a 7.65 to lead all qualifiers in the trials before edging Anthony Collins of Harry S Truman in Levittown, Pa., by 1-100th of a second in the final.

Brown had a breakthrough outdoor season last spring that included a PR 14.08 to win the Olympic Conference meet on his home track in Turnersville. Over the summer, he ran 55.88 in the 400 intermediates and placed 2nd in both the highs and intermediates at the USATF Youth National Championships at Icahn Stadium in New York.

His 7.51 is only 3-100ths of a second off the school record of 7.49 set by Devon Carter when he won the 2010 Easterns at the Armory and matched four days later when he won the Meet of Champions at the Bubble.

Brown also ran a PR 6.83 in his first lifetime 55-meter dash.

Here’s a look at the top times in Gloucester County history:

7.18 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1996
7.42 … Kevon Brown [West Deptford], 2009
7.42 … Naseem Smith [Deptford], 2019
7.48 … Tyrell Ross [Clearview], 2005
7.49 … Devon Carter [Washington Twp.], 2010
7.51 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2023