Premier Wynn and Bryce Tucker did something Saturday that’s never been done in New Jersey track history.
The two Pennsauken seniors became the first teammates ever to run the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 53.00 or faster in the same high school race. (This one took me about three hours to figure out so please keep reading!)
At the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township, Wynn – the Meet of Champions winner at 200 meters indoors – edged Tucker, the two-time Meet of Champions winner in the intermediates and the No. 1-ranked hurdler in the country with his 52.18 from Fast Times at Cherokee last month.
Wynn, who came in with a PR of 54.28 from last year’s state meet – when he was 2nd to Tucker – hadn’t run a 400IH race this year. In fact his last one was a win in the Rising Stars division of Franklin Field Nationals in June.
But it was Wynn who was first across the line with a 52.68, No. 18 in South Jersey history and according to the MileSplit database, No. 3 in the country this year – behind Tucker and Nicholas Gorsich of Linn-Marr High of Marion, Iowa, who ran 52.46 in a meet this weekend on his home track. Tucker was just behind in 52.80.
Only 12 schools in New Jersey track history have had more than one runner break 53.0 seconds in the intermediates at any point in the school’s history, including Camden, Lenape, Washington Township and Willingboro before this past weekend.
But at most of those schools, their fast 400 hurdlers didn’t overlap.
At three of them, they did overlap.
Cory Poole and Akeem Lindo were both at East Orange in 2017, which was Lindo’s junior year and Poole’s senior year; Obafemi Animashaun and Taylor McLaughlin were both at Union Catholic in 2015, McLaughlin’s sophomore year and Animashaun’s senior year; and Dwight Ruff and Maurice Young were both at Camden in 2001, Ruff’s senior year and Young’s junior year.
East Orange? Poole ran 50.14 as a senior in 2017, but Lindo didn’t run sub-53 until his senior year. His fastest time as a junior was 53.05. Close. But not quite.
Camden? Ruff is the South Jersey record holder at 50.37, and Young ran 52.94, but he didn’t run sub-53 until his senior year, so they also never ran sub-53 the same year, much less the same race.
What about the two Union Catholic guys? Here it gets interesting.
In the summer of 2013, Animashaun and McLaughlin (whose sister Sydney is the world record holder and Olympic gold medalist) both went to the World Youth Track and Field Trials at Southern Illinois in Edwardsville, Ill. In the 400-meter hurdles final, McLaughlin placed 3rd in 51.69 and Animashaun ran 52.82 for 5th.
Now, if the two Union Catholic teammates had raced at the U.S. Junior Championships in Des Moines, that would have counted as a high school meet, because it’s a continuation of the high school season. The World Youth Trials are essentially a summer track meet, and by rule performances from summer track competitions don’t qualify for performance lists.
The only other South Jersey schools that have had two intermediate hurdlers at 52.80 at any point in their existence are Camden and Lenape.
Pennsauken did it in one race.
Tucker hasn’t run an open 400 yet, but he ran 47.50 indoors. Wynn ran 47.86 last spring. Get them in the same flat 400 race?
Here’s a look at all the New Jersey schools with multiple sub-53 intermediate hurdlers:
Camden
51.5h … Martin Booker [Camden], 1981
52.4h … Diandre Chandler [Camden], 1986
52.66 … Justin Dupree [Camden], 1996
50.37 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
52.94 … Maurice Young [Camden], 2002
East Orange
50.14 … Cory Poole [East Orange], 2017
51.85 … Akeem Lindo [East Orange], 2018
Lenape
52.71 … Mike Brown [Lenape], 1996
52.62 … Ian Moore [Lenape], 2001
Linden
52.94 … Jeff Jasmin [Linden], 2000
52.42 … Jonathan Petit-Homme [Linden], 2012
Notre Dame
52.78 … Matt Miesionczyk [Notre Dame], 1997
52.27 … Tiquan Underwood [Notre Dame], 2005
Pennsauken
52.14 … Bryce Tucker [Pennsauken], 2021
52.68 … Premier Wynn [Pennsauken], 2023
Plainfield
51.0h … Chris Person [Plainfield], 1978
51.02 … Tony Valentine [Plainfield],. 1983
52.51 … Isaiah Gill [Plainfield], 2009
Rahway
51.78 … Randall Walker [Rahway], 1985
52.29 … Christen Whyte [Rahway], 2009
Union Catholic
52.82 … Obafemi Animashaun [Union Catholic], 2013
50.20 … Taylor McLaughlin [Union Catholic], 2015
52.48 … Nick Givan [Union Catholic], 2022
Washington Twp.
52.72 … Devon Carter [Washington Twp.], 2000
52.10 … Tim Carey [Washington Twp.], 2009
West Orange
52.2h … Bruce Berry [West Orange], 1984
52.74 … Laejon Brooks [West Orange], 2003
Willingboro
52.89 … Devon Patton [Willingboro], 1990
52.71 … Mike Morrison [Willingboro], 2003
52.96 … Tyler Davidson [Willingboro], 2016
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From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 