Washington Township senior Ajani Dwyer destroyed the state 55-meter dash record Wednesday night and moved into the all-time U.S. top-10 at the Millrose Games Trials at the Armory.
Dwyer – in only the 6th race of his life – ran 6.18 in the qualifying race for the 116th annual Millrose Games on Feb. 9, also at the Armory.
He lowered his own U.S. No. 1 from 6.33, which he ran at Ocean Breeze last week. It appears that his time is tied for No. 9 in U.S. indoor track history, but I’m still working to nail that down.
Dwyer was a 1st-time runner as a junior last spring but ran only three meets. This was his 3rd meet of his first indoor season.
Dwyer shattered the state record of 6.26 set by Timber Creek’s Damiere Byrd at Armory Nationals in 2011 and matched by Franklin’s Mario Heslop on the same track at 2018 Armory Nationals.
5.9h … Houston McTear [Baker, Fl.a], 1976
6.08 … Marvin Bracy [Boone, Fla.], 2012
6.13 … Anthony Schwartz [American Heritage, Plantation, Fla.], 2018
6.14 … D’Angelo Cherry [Mt. Zion, Jonesboro, Ga.], 2008
6.16 … LaNoris Marshall [Dysart, Peoria, Az.], 1978
6.16 … Deworski Odom [Overbrook, Philadelphia], 1995
6.17 … Micah Williams [Benson, Ore.], 2019
6.17 … Martin Smith [Jefferson-Huegenot-Wythe, Richmond, Va.]
6.18 … Herkie Walls [Garland, Texas], 1979
6.18 … Issam Asinga [Monteverde Academy, Fla.], 2023
6.18 … Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp., N.J.], 2024
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 