Delran sophomore Emir Canli turned in a remarkable Burlington County Open Saturday, winning the hurdles and triple jump, taking 2nd in the long jump and setting PRs in all three events.
Canli single-handedly scored all of Delran’s 28 points and the Bears placed 7th in team scoring. He’s only the 8th Delran boy in meet history to record a double win and only the 4th to also place 2nd in a third event.
Incredibly, this is Canli’s first season of track, and he’s the No. 1 sophomore in South Jersey in the 110-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump. State-wide among 10th-graders, he’s No. 2 in the triple jump, No. 4 in the hurdles among sophomores and No. 7 in the long jump.
On Saturday at Northern Burlington, Canli started out with a 15.28 in the hurdles trials, where he was the 2nd-fastest qualifier. In the final, he lowered his PR from 15.14 at Father Judge to 14.87, winning by five meters over the field. He became the first Delran runner ever to win the high hurdles at a County Open.
The triple jump was huge for Canli, who came in with a PR of 41-1 ¾ but improved to 41-9 ¼ on his 1st attempt, 41-10 ½ on this 3rd, 42-10 ¾ and then popped a huge 45-3 ½ on his final attempt to pass R.V. sophomore Adris Lewis [PR 43-9 ¼] for the win. That 45-3 ½ is the No. 2 jump in meet history (triple jump was added in 2003) behind R.V.’s Zakiyy Williams’ 45-4 ¾ in 2015. That’s a Burlington County sophomore class record, a quarter of an inch beyond the 45-3 ¼ by Rece Englehart of Moorestown from last year (Englehart is currently hurt but hoping to return for sectionals).
In the long jump, Canli finished just one inch behind Palmyra senior Kwinten Ives, who jumped 21-3 ¼ to become Palmyra’s first county long jump winner since Will Allison in 2004. But Canli’s 21-2 ¾ shattered his PR of 20-1 from the Don Danser Relays at Lenape last month.
The only Delran athlete to have a better County Open than Canli is Jamir Brown, who was a sophomore last year when he won the intermediates and long jump and placed 2nd in the high hurdles and triple jump. He’s no longer at Delran.
Two other Delran athletes recorded a double win and a 2nd place at a County Open. In 1991, Andre Fisher won the javelin and high jump and placed 2nd in the long jump to Maple Shade’s Karahn Davis, and in 2001 Todd Lowber won the high jump and 100 and was 2nd in the 200 to Willingboro’s Darrin Scott.
Best of all … there’s another Canli. Twin brother Deniz is currently hurt, but he’s long jumped 20-4 and triple jumped 42-8 and run 51.54. He’s the No. 5 sophomore in South Jersey in the long jump and No. 7 in the triple jump. He was the No. 1 freshman 400 runner in South Jersey last year.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 