Sterling’s Marquise Young, a Rowan junior, PR’d in the 400-meter hurdles Thursday and advanced to the final at the NCAA Division 3 Championships in Rochester, N.Y.
Young ran 52.64 and advanced as the 3rd-fastest small-Q qualifier. The winner of each of three heats and the next five-fastest times advanced to the final, which is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. Saturday.
Young finished in a virtual dead heat with Ellis Phillips-Gallucci of Amherst. Both were credited with 52.64 in the third and final heat, but when their races were examined down to the 1,000th of a second, Phillips-Gallucci was given a 52.632 and Young a 52.638, which means Phillips-Gallucci advanced as an auto-qualifier and Young advanced on time.
The 400 intermediates is still a relatively new event for Young, who is a three-time NJAC high hurdles champion. He ran it in high school but never broke 56.46. He only broke 54 seconds for the first time earlier this month with a 52.88 to win the conference meet, then tuned up for nationals with a 53.37 at the AARTFC meet in Selinsgrove, Pa.
Young is also scheduled to run the highs and run on Rowan’s 4-by-4 at D-3 nationals.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 