Three South Jersey women contributed to a huge Rowan school record Saturday in the 1,600-meter relay.
Sophomores Jasmine Broadway of Burlington Township, Molly Lodge of Woodstown and Neveah Lorjuste of Triton – along with senior Kat Pedersen of Hillsborough – ran 3:50.39 at the NCAA Division 3 National Championships in Birmingham, Ala. Rowan placed 8th.
Pedersen led off with a 58.54 split, Broadway ran 57.87, Lodge split 57.71 and Lorjuste anchored in 56.28.
Rowan had qualified with a 3:52.23 in Friday’s trials, with Pedersen [58.84], Broadway [58.46], Lodge [57.75] and Lorjuste [57.18].
The previous school record was 3:50.98 at Ocean Breeze last month with Kat Pedersen, Jasmine Broadway, Molly Lodge and Naveah Lorjuste.
When the year began, Rowan’s 4-by-4 record was 3:54.38 set in 2015 at the ECAC Championships at the Armory by a team that included Pemberton’s Shailah Williams and Cherokee’s Jessalynn Wright. Brianna Angellela from Southern Regional and Melirah Searcy of Edison also ran on that team.
Rowan first broke the school record in February when Pedersen, Broadway, Lodge and Lorjuste ran 3:52.57 at Boston University. Two weeks later, the same quartet ran 3:50.98 at Ocean Breeze to lower the record again.
Rowan’s 3:50.39 moves them into the No. 19 performer spot on the all-time NCAA Division 3 list.
Lorjuste also qualified for nationals in the open 400 and set a PR of 58.06, finishing in 15th place overall.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 