From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Thirteen South Jersey athletes – 12 of them from Rowan – are headed to the NCAA Division 3 Championships this week in South Carolina.

Rowan senior Marquis Young from Sterling, already a four-time All-America, leads the way as a qualifier in three events.

The NCAA Division 3 Championships are scheduled for Thursday through Saturday at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach.

Men
➡️ Young is the No. 3 seed in the 110-meter hurdles with his 14.01 to win the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships in Galloway earlier this month, and he’s the No. 17 seed in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles with his 52.92 in March in a meet at Widener University in Chester, Pa. He’s also part of Rowan’s top-seeeded 1,600-meter relay team, which ran 3:09.31 last week at Widener.

➡️ Rowan sophomore Anaias Hughes, a Willingboro graduate, is another one of four Rowan qualifiers in the 110-meter hurdles. He qualified with a PR 14.31 at the All-Atlantic Regional Track and Field Championships at Cortland, N.Y., last week.

➡️ Rowan junior Nick Razze shares the No. 17 seed in the 400IH with Young. Razze ran 52.92 in a meet in Ewing in April. His PR is 52.84 from last May at Widener as a sophomore at McDaniel College in Westminster, Md. Razze is also scheduled to run with Young on Rowan’s 4-by-4.

➡️ Rowan’s Eli Hendricks, a true freshman from Penns Grove, didn’t quite qualify in the 200 despite a 21.45 but he will lead off Rowan’s 400-meter relay team, which is seeded 10th at 40.64.

➡️ Shamar Love of Bridgeton, a Rowan junior from Bridgeton, will also run the 400-meter relay. Love ran 10.48 and 21.64 this year. He earned All-America honors last year on Rowan’s 2nd-place 400-meter relay team, which ran 40.14.

➡️ Robert McKinney, a Rowan junior from Highland, makes his 1st career trip to NCAAs as part of the Profs’ 4-by-1. McKinney ran 10.76 and 21.58 this year.

➡️ Jamile Gantt, a Rowan freshman from Paulsboro, cleared 6-9 at the AARTFC Championships, which makes him the No. 16 seed at D-3 Nationals. His PR is 6-10 from last year’s South Jersey Elite at Delsea. Gantt also ran 1:59.30 at Paulsboro but hasn’t run the 800 since 2022.

Women
➡️ Molly Lodge PR’d with a Rowan-record 1:01.33 in the 400-meter intermediates at the AARTFC Championships in Cortland, earning her the No. 7 seed in Myrtle Beach. She’ll also run on Rowan’s No. 11-seed 1,600-meter relay team. Lodge is already a two-time All-America, with legs on Rowan’s 8th-place 4-by-4 indoors in 2022 in Birmingham and 5th-place indoor 4-by-4 in Virginia Beach this past indoor season. She qualified for NCAAs last year in the intermediates and placed 17th in 1:03.43 in her first year in the event.

➡️ Pennsauken’s Jasmine Pope, a transfer from St. Peter’s in Jersey City, is part of Rowan’s 1,600-meter relay team. Pope spent 2022 at St. Peter’s and sat out last year before resurfacing at Rowan.

➡️ Nevaeh Lorjuste, a Rowan junior from Triton, will anchor the Profs’ 1,600-meter relay team. She’s already a two-time All-America from Rowan’s 8th- and 5th-place 4-by-4 teams the last two indoor seasons.

➡️ Washington Township graduate Isabelle Deal, a Rowan junior and transfer from Ursinus, qualified in both the shot put with her Rowan school-record 45-8 and the javelin at 135-8. She’s the No. 14 seed in the shot and No. 16 in the javelin. Deal is a three-time javelin All-America, having placed 8th, 6th and 6th in her three year at Ursinus. She threw her javelin PR of 155-0 at last year’s AARTFC meet in Selinsgrove.

➡️ Deal’s teammate at Ursinus, Stockton junior Michaela Pomatto from Egg Harbor Township, is the No. 11 seed in the discus with her 154-8 at the AARTFC meet. This will be here first trip to NCAAs.