Pennsauken senior Bryce Tucker ran the fastest 400-meter hurdles time in the country Saturday morning at the Fast Times at Cherokee.
Tucker ran 52.18 – just 4-100th-of-a-second off his PR, which is No. 6 in South Jersey history. Tucker ran 52.14 in the prelims at the U.S. Under-20 Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., in June. The Rutgers-bound Tucker won the Meet of Champions in both 2021 and 2022.
According to the MileSplit national rankings, Alexander Sadikov of Ocean Township previously had the fastest time in the country at 54.12 last weekend at a meet in Hazlet. Tucker and Sadikov ran 2-3 in the 400 at the indoor Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze last month.
Camden’s Dwight Ruff set the South Jersey record of 50.37 at the 2001 USATF Junior Nationals in Richmond and Winslow’s Rueben McCoy ran 51.39 at the 2004 Meet of Champions at South Jersey. Tucker’s 52.14 is fastest by a South Jersey intermediate hurdler in the last 19 years.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 