Timber Creek junior Ryan Jennings moved into the all-time Camden County top-10 in the 55-meter dash Saturday with a huge PR at the Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational at the Armory in Manhattan.
Jennings came into the meet with a PR of 7.25 from last year’s Ocean Breeze Freedom Games. She lowered it to 7.16 in the trials Saturday and then popped the 7.04 in the final, placing 2nd to Elise Cooper of McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Md. Cooper – 2nd at 200 meters and 4th at 100 meters at the USATF Under-20 Championships in Eugene this past July – won the race in a U.S. No. 1 6.95.
Jennings’ 7.04 is No. 1 in New Jersey so far this year and No. 6 nationally, according to the MileSplit database.
It’s No. 12 in South Jersey history and No. 6 on the all-time Camden County list. She’s just 4-100ths of a second off the all-time South Jersey top-10.
South Jersey girls placed 2-3-4 in the race, with Jennings’ teammate, senior Naylah Jones – the Meet of Champions 100 champ this past spring – taking 3rd in 7.15.
Jennings and Jones teamed up with two other Timber Creek sprinters – the results don’t say who – to place 2nd in the 800-meter relay in 1:43.22, fastest so far this winter by a New Jersey school. Woodlawn of Gwynn Oak, Md., won the race in 1:43.10.
All-Time South Jersey 55-Meter Dash List
6.73y … Michelle Glover [Willingboro], 1981
6.88y … Patti Dunlap [Camden], 1979
6.91 … English Gardner [Eastern], 2010
6.95 … Bria Mack [Williamstown], 2017
6.95 … Torie Robinson [Winslow Twp.], 2014
6.95 … Denise Mitchell [Edgewood], 1983
6.98 … Lauren Princz [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2020
7.00 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], 2000
7.00 … Iyanli Kollock [Our Lady of Mercy], 2017
7.00 … Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], 2023
7.01 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
7.04 … Ryan Jennings [Timber Creek], 2024
7.05 … Dana Burnett [Williamstown], 1996
7.06 … Jailya Ash [Eastern], 2019
7.07 … Aliya Harrison [Sterling], 2018
7.07 … Dennisha Page [Woodrow Wilson], 2019
7.07 … Annie Johnson [Shawnee], 2012
7.07 … Audrey Wilson [Deptford], 2009
7.07 … Magenta Taylor [Willingboro], 1999
7.07 … Angela Clyburn [Egg Harbor Twp.], 1991
7.08 … Naylah Jones [Timber Creek], 2023
7.09 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
7.09 … Emily Carson [Haddonfield], 2013
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 