Unfortunately, with the Meet of Champions and West Philly Nationals both scheduled for this week, the South Jersey contingent at the USATF Under-20 Championships won’t be a very big one.
The Meet of Champions is scheduled for Wednesday in Pennsauken, West Philly Nationals run Wednesday through Saturday at Franklin Field and USATF Under-20’s run Wednesday and Thursday at Heyward Field in Eugene, Ore. Terrible scheduling and planning.
But there will be a small South Jersey presence in Eugene with a handful of collegiate rising sophomores who are still eligible because they don’t turn 21 until 2025.
USATF Under-20’s are the qualifier for the World Under-20’s, scheduled for August in Lima, Peru.
Let’s take a look!
Kadence Dumas: The Eastern graduate, who just finished her freshman year at Delaware, is the No. 10 seed in the women’s 800 with her PR of 2:08.90 in her most recent race – the final at the Coastal Athletic Conference Championshiips in Elon, N.C., where she placed 3rd.
First round: 4:18 p.m., Wednesday
Final: 5:58 p.m., Thursday
Bryce Tucker: Two of the top five seeds in the 400-meter hurdles are former Pennsauken teammates Bryce Tucker and Premier Wynn. Tucker is the No. 5 seed with his 50.61 that won the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich., last month. That’s No. 2 in Rutgers history and No. 6 in NCAA Division 1 among freshman this year.
First round: 5:02 p.m., Wednesday
Final: 5:52 p.m., Thursday
Premier Wynn: Wynn finished his freshman year at Norfolk State by running a PR 50.72 to place 2nd to Howard senior Noah Langford in the 400 hurdles at the MEAC Championships in Norfolk, Va. He was the 7 freshman in Division 1 this year, 11-100ths of a second behind Tucker.
First round: 5:02 p.m., Wednesday
Final: 5:52 p.m., Thursday
Lathan Brown: Another Rutgers hurdler from South Jersey, Deptford’s Brown ran a PR 52.16 in April in a meet in Tampa and then backed it up with a 52.17 for 7th place in the final at the Big Ten meet in Ann Arbor, Mich. He’s No. 10 in Rutgers history.
First round: 5:02 p.m., Wednesday
Final: 5:52 p.m., Thursday
Leah Howard: Millville graduate was the 9th-ranked freshman javelin thrower in NCAA Division 1 this year with her 164-4 at the Big 12 Championships in Waco. She’s the 9th-seed in the javelin in Eugene.
Final: 11 a.m., Wednesday
Also, a couple Rowan athletes qualified: Damarion Potts, who just finished his freshman year at Rowan, is entered in the high jump. Potts, from South Brunswick High, PR’d with a 6-8 ¼ when he won the New Jersey Athletic Conference indoor title at Ocean Breeze. And Damitrius Hester, a Mahwah graduate who threw 213-3 to place 3rd at the NCAA Division 3 Championships in Myrtle Beach, S.C.,
High jump final: 5:30 p.m., Thursday
Javelin final: 2 p.m., Wednesday
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 