Deptford graduate Naseem Smith, a Syracuse senior, ran a hurdles PR this weekend, dipping below eight seconds in the 60-meter highs for the first time.
Smith had run 8.09 0r faster 14 different times and sub 8.05 eight times: 8.00, 8.00, 8.01, 8.01, 8.01, 8.02, 8.04, 8.04, 8.06, 8.06, 8.08, 8.08, 8.09 and 8.09.
But that elusive sub-8 finally came at the Crimson Elite 2024 at Harvard’s Gordon Track and Tennis Center in Cambridge, Mass., with a 7.96 in the prelims. In the same race, teammate Isaiah Lewis – a senior from Winslow Township – ran 8.01, just 1-100th of a second off his PR.
Syracuse junior Anthony Vazquez from Egg Harbor Township wasn’t in this race but has run 7.91 this winter. Counting Miami’s Sincere Rhea from St. Augustine, who ran 7.76 earlier this month, South Jersey has four of the top 14 hurdlers in the ACC.
Smith PR”d outdoors with a 14.02 in the prelims of the ACC Championships in Raleigh before placing 6th in the final, the second time he’s medaled at the conference meet.
Here’s our best attempt at an all-time South Jersey sub-8 list:
7.50 … Anwar Moore [Camden], Feb. 24, 2008, Boston
7.52 … Jack Pierce [Woodbury], Feb. 25, 1995, Fairfax, Va.
7.72 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], Jan. 9, 2015, Houston
7.76 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], Feb. 28, 2020, Geneva, Ohio
7.86 … Tyler Garland [Deptford], Feb. 29, 2020, South Bend, Ind.
7.87 … Devon Carter [Washington Twp.], Feb. 28, 2014, Clemson, S.C.
7.89 … Paul Klemic [Mainland Reg.], Feb. 23, 2003, Boston
7.90 … Jalen Walker [Burlington Twp.], March 8, 2015, Boston
7.91 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], Feb. 12, 2005, Ames, Iowa
7.92 … Greg Foster [Lawrenceville Prep / Lumberton], Feb. 10, 2023, New York
7.94 … Jusson Boyd [Willingboro], Feb. 26, 2012, Winston-Salem, N.C.
7.94 … Edwin Alston [Winslow Twp.], Feb. 18, 2017, New York
7.94 … Jusson Boyd [Willingboro], Feb. 26, 2012, Winston-Salem, N.C.
7.96 … Naseem Smith [Deptford], Feb. 2, 2024, Cambridge, Mass.
7.97 … Chais Hill [Highland], Feb. 26, 2016, Geneva, Ohio
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 