There are close finishes, and then there’s this.
I’ve been around track and field forever and I’ve never seen anything like it.
In the boys 400-meter hurdles at the Tri-County Conference Championships at Delsea, the first four runners all finished within 11-100ths of a second.
That means a total of 30 inches separated Clayton junior Alexander Osayemi, Salem junior
Anthony Parker, Highland senior Cortland Webb and Triton senior Angel Gonzalez at the end of a race that’s about a quarter of a mile long.
Osayemi won the race in 55.20, finishing 6-100ths of a second (about 15 inches) ahead of Parker, who ran 55.26. He finished 1-100th of a second – about 2 ½ inches – ahead of Webb, who ran 55.27 and finished 4-100ths of a second – about 10 inches – ahead of Gonzalez, who ran 55.31.
All four PR’d.
Osayemi dropped his PR more than 1 ½ seconds from 56.79, Parker dropped from 56.09, Webb’s previous PR was 56.26 so he took a second off, and Gonzalez dropped from 56.01.
Their times are No. 6, No. 8, No. 9 and No. 10 in South Jersey this year.
Incredibly, the six-fastest Group 1 intermediate hurdlers in the state are all from South Jersey: Riverside senior Jamir Brown [53.69], Glassboro senior Cartrell Moore [54.11], Palmyra senior Abdulazeez Iyiola [54.32], Gloucester’s Jaden Garris [54.35], and then Osayemi and Parker.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 