Eastern’s Jailya Ash shatters UConn hurdles record with No. 1 time in Big East!!!!!!

Eastern grad Jailya Ash shattered the UConn hurdles record in New York over the weekend.

Ash lowered her PR in the 60-meter highs from 8.27 at a meet in Storrs in December to 8.19 at the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge at the Armory.

She broke the school record of 8.24 set by Phylicia George at the NCAA Division 1 Championships at Randall Tyson Track at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in March 2010. George placed 11th in the trials, missing the final by 2-100ths of a second.

Ash’s time is No. 15 in NCAA Division 1, tied with several others, including Winslow graduate Tionna Tobias of Iowa. It’s No. 1 in the Big East.

On the U.S. women’s list, Ash is now No. 24. Her time is No. 77 in the world this year.

https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/60-metres-hurdles/all/women/senior/2024?regionType=countries&region=usa&timing=electronic&page=1&bestResultsOnly=true&maxResultsByCountry=all&eventId=10230177&ageCategory=senior

https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/60-metres-hurdles/all/women/senior/2024?regionType=world&timing=electronic&page=1&bestResultsOnly=true&maxResultsByCountry=all&eventId=10230177&ageCategory=senior

Ash’s PR coming into this season was 8.31 from a meet in Boston in December of 2022, so early last season. She went on to win the Big East indoor title in 8.35 as well as outdoor with a 13.58.

She lowered her PR to 8.27 in her 2023-24 season opener in December in Storrs and then followed with an 8.28 in Boston last month before he breakthrough 8.19.

UConn’s web site is an abomination – one of the few Division 1 web sites with no top-10 lists – but last winter we went through years of results and came up with an all-time UConn 60-meter hurdles top-10. Here’s the updated version:

8.18 … Jailya Ash, 2022
8.24 … Phylicia George, 2010
8.33 … April Garner, 2005
8.34 … A’liyah Thomas, 2024
8.45 … Madalayne Smith, 2012
8.55 … Chantal Scott, 2014
8.59 … Emily Lavarnway, 2023
8.61 … Shavon Briscoe, 2012
8.61 … Tia Strackman, 2018
8.62 … Ashley Wiggins, 2017

Speaking of UConn’s web site … they’re under the impression Ash PR’d by eight seconds in a race that takes about eight seconds to complete. If she had PR’d by eight seconds, she would have run 0.27.