Premier Wynn, a freshman from Pennsauken, ran a huge intermediate hurdles PR Monday and is the fastest qualifier going into the finals at the MEAC Championships on his home track at Norfolk (Va.) State.
Wynn led all qualifiers in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference intermediate hurdles trials with a 51.21, lowering his PR from 52.29 from last month in a meet at the same facility. In high school, his fastest time was 52.68 when he won the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township last May.
Wynn’s 51.21 is 10th-fastest ever by a South Jersey native. His high school teammate Bryce Tucker ran 50.96 last spring, and those are the two-fastest 400-meter hurdles times by South Jersey natives since 2010. Full list below.
Wynn’s time makes him the No. 3 freshman in NCAA Division 1, behind only Ryan Matulonis of Penn, who ran 49.75 Sunday to win the Ivy League final at Princeton, and Markel Jones of South Florida, who ran 50.40 at the South Florida Invitational in Tampa in early April.
Matulonis ran for Seton Hall Prep, and at the indoor Meet of Champions last year, with Wynn and Matulonis both racing, Pennsauken edged Seton Hall Prep 3:15.83 to 3:16.12 at Ocean Breeze. Pennsauken’s time is No. 11 in U.S. history (Seton Hall Prep is No. 9 with a 3:15.78 earlier in the season).
Wynn is eligible for the U.S. Under-20 meet this summer in Eugene, and his 51.21 will put him among the top handful on that list if World Athletics ever decides to update it. Tucker is also high up on that list with his 51.82 at the Penn Relays two weeks ago.
The 400-meter hurdles final is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. Wednesday. Wynn is also on Norfolk’s 4-by-4 team, which ran 3:05.57 at Penn.
All-Time South Jersey Alumni Tpp-10 400IH Times
48.37 … Reuben McCoy [Winslow Twp.], June 28, 2008, Eugene, Ore.
48.86 … Fred Sharpe [Paulsboro], May 18, 2003, Knoxville, Tenn.
49.50 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], June 12, 2003, Sacramento
50.04 … Mike Brown [Lenape], June 12, 2002, Holmdel, N.J.
50.52 … Martin Booker [Camden], May 12, 1984, Philadelphia
50.65 … Aaron Younger [Delsea], May 28, 2010, Greensboro, N.C.
50.69 … Danyne Brown [Camden], May 30, 2003, Fairfax, Va.
50.84 … Nick Brown [Bridgeton], July 16, 2005, New York
50.96 … Bryce Tucker [Pennsauken], June 15, 2023, South Plainfield, N.J.
51.21 … Premier Wynn [Pennsauken], May 6, 2024, Norfolk, Va.
51.25 … Demetrius Rooks [Absegami], May 26, 2012, Claremont, Calif.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 