Washington Township junior Dakota Jones just missed the Gloucester County 55-meter hurdles record Monday at the Bubble.
Jones won the hurdles at the South Jersey Track Coaches Association meet in 8.39, leading a 1-2 finish with senior teammate Zarria Oliphant, who ran 8.65.
Jones never ran faster than 8.86 as a sophomore, but lowered her PR to 8.57 in her first meet this year, the Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational at the Armory last month. She dropped to 8.46 three weeks ago at another Armory meet, the Hispanic Games before her breakthrough on Monday.
Her time is fastest by a Gloucester County hurdler in 10 years, since another Minutemaid hurdler, Lexie Fraction, ran 8.37 at 2014 Easterns at the Armory. That tied the county mark initially set by Kingsway’s Delicia Sample when she won the 2004 state Group 3 meet at Jadwin Gym.
Jones is No. 7 on the 2024 New Jersey list and No. 2 in South Jersey, just 3-100ths of a second behind Timber Creek senior Guerlande Pierre, who ran 8.34 earlier this month at Ocean Breeze. Jones is No. 3 underclassman in New Jersey. It’s also fastest ever by a Gloucester County underclassman. Fraction ran 8.45 at the Bubble in 2013.
With sectionals coming up this weekend at the Bubble, Jones is the No. 1 seed in the Group 4 hurdles and No. 2 in New Jersey Group 4, behind only Morristown senior Aaliyah Murphy, who ran 8.24 at the Morris County Championships this past weekend at Ocean Breeze.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 