Bridgeton graduate Shamar Love shattered the Rowan University school record in the 60-meter dash Friday at the AARTFC Championships at the Armory.
Love ran 6.85 in the AARTFC trials, breaking the record of 6.87 set last year by Nana Agyemang at last year’s New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship at Ocean Breeze.
Love advanced to the final at 11:50 a.m. Saturday. He’s the 3rd-fastest qualifier, behind Ithaca’s Jalen Loneard-Osbourn (6.78) and Elizabethtown’s Myron Holland (6.81).
Love’s previous PR was a 6.92 for 2nd place in this year’s NJAC meet at Ocean Breeze behind Ramapo’s Cheickna Traore, the NCAA Division 3 runner-up in the 200 last spring.
From 2020 through 2022, Love played football and ran track at Westminster University in New Wilmington, Pa., near the Ohio border in western Pennsylvania. He was an NCAA Division 3 All-America as anchor of Westminster’s 7th-place 400-meter relay team at the NCAA Division 3 Championships at SPIRE Institute at Geneva, Ohio.
His 6.85 ranks 22nd this year in NCAA Division 3. The top 20 performers qualify for nationals, and the cut-off is Saturday. Going into the final weekend of qualifying, the 20th-best mark was 6.84.
At Bridgeton, Love had PRs of 6.74 for 55 meters and 24.63 for the 200 indoors and 11.15 and 23.21 outdoors. He ran on Bridgeton’s 400-meter relay team that set a Cumberland County record of 42.05 at the 2018 state Group 3 meet at Central Regional in Bayville. Basil Williams, Revell Williams and Taz’Mire Burton were also on that team, which ranked No. 5 in the state.
The NCAA Division 3 Championships are scheduled for March 10-11 at the Birmingham (Ala.) CrossPlex.
Masai Byrd of Rancocas Valley, a Rowan freshman, also qualified for the 60 final. He ran 6.94 in the trials, the 7th-fastest qualifying time. His previous PR was a 7.01 in his first collegiate meet back in December at Ocean Breeze.
Bordentown graduate Carson Lathom, a Stockton freshman, just missed reaching Sunday’s 60 final with a PR 7.01 in the trials. He had run 7.04 at a meet in Haverford in January.
In the final, Love will be in the middle of the track in Lane 4, and Byrd will be in Lane 2.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 