Sincere Rhea, a University of Miami junior from St. Augustine, raced to a 60-meter hurdles PR Friday at the Texas Tech Red Raider Open in Lubbock.
Rhea ran 7.73 for 3rd place in a race that saw the top three finishers all the run the same time. Clemson senior Giano Roberts ran 7.723, LSU freshman Matthew Sophia ran 7.724 and Rhea 7.727. So they finished within 4-1000ths of a second of each other.
Rhea’s previous PR came in February of 2020 as a Penn State freshman. He ran 7.76 in the trials of the Big 10 Championships at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, before a 7.82 for 3rd in the final. The 7.76 is No. 2 in Penn State history behind Guy Rose, a graduate of Wayne Hills High in Passaic County, who ran 7.69 at the 2001 Big Ten Championships in State College.
Rhea, a native of Maurice River Township, Cumberland County, ran 7.80 as a sophomore at Penn State when he won the 2021 Big East Championships in Geneva before transferring to Miami and sitting out last year’s entire indoor season.
He opened this year with a 7.92 last weekend at the Louisville Cardinal Classic, then ran 7.84 Friday in the trials before his 7.73 PR.
His time is No. 3 in Miami history, behind Devon Hill, who ran 7.55 to place 2nd at the 2012 NCAA Championships at Boise State’s track in Nampa, Idaho, and Artie Burns, who ran 7.68 at the 2014 Don Kirby Elite in Albuquerque.
So Rhea is No. 2 in Penn State history and No. 3 in Miami history! How many athletes are in the top five in their event at two major Division 1 programs?
He’s also now No. 6 in NCAA Division 1 so far this year and No. 8 in the world.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 