Over the next few weeks, we’ll spotlight 30 athletes who excelled during the outdoor track season that we didn’t have a chance to write about extensively. We’d love to write about every athlete in South Jersey, but that’s not practical. But we will try to spotlight some who may have gotten overlooked over the past few months. We apologize in advance if we don’t get to you or your son or daughter or an athlete you coach.
Today: Abdulazeez Iyiola, Palmyra
South Jersey Group 1 was loaded this year with studs such as Jamir Brown, Malachi James, Damere Lassiter and Peyton Shute. And Palmyra senior Abdulaeez Iyiola was right in the middle of this unprecedented collection of Group 1 talent.
Iyiola finished the year with the No. 1 time in the state in Group 1 in the 400 hurdles and No. 4 in the high hurdles (but only 1-100th of a second behind 2nd) and never finished worse than 3rd in any intermediate hurdles race all year.
Iyiola won the Burlington County Open in 54.32, 4th-fastst in meet history and fastest in 25 years, since Harran Williams of Delran [53.7] edged Pemberton’s Napolean Suarez [53.8] in the 1997 race at Maple Shade. He became the first to win the Open 400IH in back-to-back years since Mike Williams of Lenape in 2012 and 2013.
He PR’d with a 54.27 for 3rd in a hot South Jersey Group 1 race and then dipped under 54 for the first time at states, where he ran 53.92 and took 2nd to Riverside’s Brown.
At the Meet of Champs, Iyiola ran another big PR, taking 3rd in 53.15. That broke the Palmyra school record of 53.71 set at 2006 Group 1 states at Egg Harbor by Will Brown, a national champ in the 110 highs. His 3rd-place finish was best by any Palmyra boy in any event at Meet of Champs since Brown won the highs in 14.13 at South Plainfield in 2006 and his time was fastest by any New Jersey Group 1 runner in the intermediates since legendary Fred Sharpe won the 1997 race in 51.62, also at South Plainfield.
Iyiola’s focus was the intermediates but he also had great success in the 110 highs, placing 2nd in the state Group 1 meet in 14.76 behind Brown’s 13.81.
Here’s the complete Burlington County sub-54 list
52.62 … Harran Williams [Delran], 1999
52.62 … Ian Moore [Lenape], 2001
52.71 … Mike Brown [Lenape], 1996
52.71 … Mike Morrison [Willingboro], 2003
52.89 … Devon Patton [Willingboro], 1990
52.96 … Tyler Davidson [Willingboro], 2016
53.01 … Shareef Muhammed [Willingboro], 2003
53.14 … Michael Bolling [Willingboro], 2000
53.15 … Abdulazeez Iyiola [Palmyra], 2024
53.31 … Mike Williams [Lenape], 2013
53.32 … Jamir Brown [Riverside], 2024
53.1h … Daryl Merriman [Willingboro], 1982
53.5h … Don Dmochowski [Riverside], 1982
53.71 … Will Brown [Palmyra], 2006
53.79 … Brandon Hill [Willingboro], 2011
53.86 … Kenny Brosier [Willingboro], 2015
52.2h … Dmochowski, 1982*
* – Unknown timing irregularity
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 