Ajani Dwyer and Malachi James, two of the four-fastest sprinters in the U.S., will renew their rivalry Sunday at the 116th annual Millrose Games.
Dwyer, a senior at Washington Township, and James, a senior at Burlington City, are entered in a loaded field for the high school boys 60-meter dash, scheduled for 11:14 a.m. at the Armory.
Dwyer is No. 1 in the U.S. at 55 meters with his 6.18 at the Millrose Trials at the Armory last month and James is tied for No. 4 nationally with his 6.31 at the South Jersey Group 1 sectionals on a slower track at the Bubble earlier this month.
Also in the field are U.S. No. 3 Tristan Wright of Franklin County High in Rocky Mount, Va., who ran 6.29 at a meet in Lynchburg, Va., last month, and U.S. co-No. 4 Antwan Hughes of Parkland Magnet in Winston-Salem, N.C., who ran 6.31 this past weekend in Winston-Salem.
Although the Millrose trials are held over the traditional 55-meter high school distance, the race Sunday morning will be over the college and pro 60-meter distance because that’s what the track and timing system are laid out for in a meet like this.
Neither Dwyer or James has ever run an official 60, but Dwyer’s 6.18 converts to a 6.74 for 60 meters and James’ 6.31 converts to 6.88.
Damiere Byrd of Timber Creek and Mario Heslop of Frankin Township share the state record over 60 meters at 6.70, Byrd in 2011 in Seattle and Heslop in 2019 at the Armory.
Despite his accomplishments, Dwyer is still a newcomer to track. He never ran before last spring and only ran a handful of meets. This is his first indoor season. James, the Meet of Champions 100 and 200 winner as a Willingboro sophomore in the spring of 2022, missed most of last year with injuries.
So even though they rank 1st and 7th in state history at 55 meters and attend schools 30 miles apart, Dwyer and James have only raced each other twice – at the Ocean Breeze Holiday Festival in late December and at the Millrose Trials. At Ocean Breeze, Dwyer edged James, 6.33 to 6.36. And at Millrose – after qualifying in different heats, Dwyer in 6.27 and James in 6.38 – Dwyer ran that 6.18 in the final, with James 2nd in 6.42.
Dwyer has committed to Penn State, and James signed with Syracuse to play football.
I put together an all-time New Jersey 60-meter dash sub-7 list that’s a lock to be re-written tomorrow:
6.70 … Damiere Byrd [Timber Creek], 2011
6.75 … Fitzroy Ledgister [St. Peter’s Prep], 2022
6.77 … Fabian France [Bergen Catholic], 2022
6.78 … Joe Dawkins [Hackensack], 1995
6.83 … Jamar Ervin [Camden], 2001
6.86 … Maxwell Booker [Essex Catholic], 2001
6.86 … Louis Akpadago [Nottingham], 2020
6.87 … Chris Church [Millville], 2007
6.89 … Mike Fields [Roselle], 1995
6.89 … Mekhi Stafford [Ewing], 2023
6.91 … Samuel Thomas [Northern Burlington], 2023
6.93 … A.J. Bunton [West Deptford], 2006
6.95 … Bruce Black [Hamilton], 2006
6.99 … Brayshul Tuten [Paulsboro], 2021
6.99 … Jack Ahart [Kinnelon], 2023
6.99 … Chris Ross [Walkill Valley], 2023
6.99 … Cole Isaac Cramer [Southern Regional], 2023
Here are some other South Jersey athletes to look for Sunday!
9 a.m. Men’s Distance Medley: Shore Athletic Club has Cherokee graduates Mike Zurzolo and Jack Shea running the 800 and mile legs. Garden State Track Club has Pleasantville graduate Isaac Clarke running the 800.
10:24 a.m. Suburban Girls 4×4: Timber Creek, Winslow Township and Washington Township are all in the six-team field. They rank No. 2, No. 3 and No. 11 in the state this year at 3:53.66, 3:56.86 and 4:03.17.
10:30 a.m. Suburban Boys 4×4: Winslow Townshp will represent South Jersey. Winslow is N.J. #6 at 3:24.64.
11:12 a.m. Girls Triple Jump: Ocean City senior Sophia Curtis is one of nine entrants. Curtis, a Virginia Tech commit, No. 1 is No. 11 nationally this winter at 39-11 but jumped 41-3 ¼ last winter to place 3rd at Boston Nationals. She also won the Meet of Champions outdoors at 40-7 ½.
11:14 a.m. Boys 60-meter dash: James and Dwyer will line up with seven other sprinters from around the country.
11:31 a.m. Girls 300-meter dash: Pennsauken sophomore Sianni Wynn will run in the first of three sections. Wynn ran 39.17 last year, No. 6 in state history.
1:03 p.m. Women’s 60-meter hurdles: Olympic silver medalist and 2016 world champion Nia Ali of Pleasantville is in the nine-woman field. Ali is No. 8 in the world this year with a 7.89 earlier this month in Astana, Kazakhstan, her fastet time in four years. Ali’s lifetime best is 7.80 in Albuquerque in 2014, No. 31 in world history.
1:17 p.m. Women’s 60-meter dash: Olympic gold medalist English Gardner of Eastern is one of eight women lining up for the dash. Gardner hasn’t raced this winter but ran her lifetime best of 7.10 when she won Millrose in 2019.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 