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: Ashraf Maklache, Cherry Hill East
One of the most improved two-way hurdlers in the state, Cherry Hill East’s Ashraf Maklache lowered his 110-meter high hurdles time from 16.16 as a sophomore to 14.51 as a junior and dropped from 56.31 to 53.48 in the 400-meter intermediates.
Maklache’s big breakthrough in the highs came at the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township, which he won in 14.97. He lowered that to 14.51 in the prelims at South Jersey Group 4 sectionals at Pennsauken before placing 5th in the final in 14.54.
But he saved his best for the intermediates. His first sub-56 and sub-55 came at South Jersey Elite at Delsea, where he placed 4th in a loaded race in 54.74, then dropped his PR to 54.62 when he won the Camden County title for a hurdles double.
His next PR came in his next race at the Cherokee Final Countdown Last-Chance Invitational, where he and Gloucester’s Jaden Garris were both timed in 54.40, Garris getting the win.
Maklache lowered his PR to 53.78 at sectionals, where he placed 2nd to Toms River North’s Mordecai Ford, who ran 53.60 and then he PR’d for a 5th consecutive meet at the state Group 4 meet in Somerset with a 53.48, behind only Morristown senior Jason Meza, the eventual Meet of Champions winner.
That 53.48 made Maklache the No. 4 underclassman in New Jersey, behind Ford [52.85], Winslow’s Dominic Bassey [53.35] and Toms River North’s Camryn Thomas [53.40].
Maklache’s 53.48 is No. 3 in Cherry Hill East history, behind Alex Reber [52.92 at the 2012 Olympic Conference meet at Washington Township] and Kervens Mezilus [53.28 at the 2017 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington]. His 14.51 is No. 2 in school history, behind only Jordan Clark’s 14.38 at South Jersey Group 4 sectionals at Egg Harbor in 2016.
Camden County Junior Class 400IH List
52.92 … Alex Reber [Cherry Hill East], 2012
53.28 … Kervens Mezilus [Cherry Hill East], 2017
53.30 … Maxwell Dickens [Paul VI], 2016
53.35 … Dominic Bassey [Winslow Twp.], 2024
53.3h … Kerry Vivett [Edgewood], 1985
53.48 … Ashraf Maklache [Cherry Hill East], 2024
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 