Wilson’s Dennisha Page blasted another massive sprint PR Friday afternoon in Gainesville, this time at 200 meters.
Page, a senior at Tennessee, ran a remarkable popping 22.70 – into a 1.8 meters-per-second headwind – at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational at Percy Beard Track at the University of Florida.
That time is 5th-fastest ever by a New Jersey native and fastest since Olympic golf medalist and world 400-meter hurdles record holder Sydney McLaughlin ran 22.39 in Gainesville in 2018.
The only faster time recorded by a South Jersey native is a 22.62 by Olympic gold medalist English Gardner in Los Angeles in 2013.
Page placed 6th but had the fastest wind-legal time in the race.
Page’s previous PR was 23.08 just two weeks ago in Baton Rouge. She had a wind-aided 22.88 (3.1) at NCAA East Prelims in Jacksonville last May in her last meet competing for Rutgers.
Her 22.70 is 6th-fastest in Tennessee history. She ran 11.27 last weekend in a home meet in Knoxville, and that’s No. 10 in Vols history.
Only three women in NCAA Division 1 had run as fast as 22.70 this spring, according to TFRRS [Track and Field Results Reporting System], but we won’t know exactly where Page ranks on the 2024 list until results from all meets this weekend are added into the database by Sunday.
The World Athletics database shows only nine U.S. women having run faster than Page this year and 14 world-wide.
The provisional qualifying standard for the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene is 23.00. The A standard is 22.57. A field of 35 will qualify.
All-Time New Jersey 200-Meter Dash List
22.37… Me’Lisa Barber [Montclair], June 26, 2005, Carson, Calif.
22.39 … Sydney McLaughlin [Union Catholic], March 29, 2018, Gainesville, Fla.
22.62 … English Gardner [Eastern], May 12, 2013, Los Angeles
22.63 … Wenda Vereen [Trenton], April 17, 1993, Walnut, Calif.
22.70 … Dennisha Page [Wilson], April 11, 2024, Gainesville, Fla.
22.73 … Mikele Barber [Montclair], June 23, 2007, Indianapolis, Ind.
23.07 … Shavon Greaves [Lakewood], April 2, 2010, Gainesville, Fla.
23.07 … Gabrielle Farquharson [Williamstown], May 15, 2016, Lincoln, Neb.
23.08 … Aleah Williams [Montclair], May 19, 2003, Austin, Texas
23.24 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], June 10, 2004, Austin, Texas
All-Time South Jersey 200-Meter Dash List
22.62 … English Gardner [Eastern], May 12, 2013, Los Angeles
22.70 … Dennisha Page [Wilson], April 11, 2024, Gainesville, Fla.
23.07 … Gabrielle Farquharson [Williamstown], May 15, 2016, Lincoln, Neb.
23.24 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], June 10, 2004, Austin, Texas
23.53 … Torie Robinson [Winslow Twp.], May 14, 2017, Atlanta
23.53 … Shakira Dancy [Winslow Twp.], May 12, 2023, Bloomington, Ind.
23.67 … Aisha Morgan [Schalick], May 10, 2002, Louisville, Ky. [+0.9]
23.71i… Kiara Lester [Deptford], Feb. 23, 2019, Ann Arbor, Mich.
23.90 … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], June 11, 2009, Fayetteville, Ark. [+1.3]
23.95 … Andrea Conaway [Bordentown], 1988
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 