AJANI DWYER RUNS #3 ALL-TIME U.S. UNDER-20 60-METER DASH TIME, JUST MISSES NCAA FRESHMAN RECORD IN FIRST COLLEGE MEET!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Another race, another historic performance for Penn State freshman Ajani Dwyer, who popped a 6.55 in the final of the Bison Opener Saturday at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa.

That’s just 1-100th of a second off the school record of 6.54 set last year by Olympian Cheickna Traore and 3rd-fastest ever by a U.S. junior (an athlete who doesn’t turn 20 in the year a performance was made).

https://x.com/TrackGazette/status/1865533235876290750

Dwyer ran [https://sjtrackblog.com/2024/12/07/in-first-collegiate-race-ajani-dwyer-runs-2nd-fastest-60-time-in-penn-state-history/] and topped that with a time that would have placed 2nd at the NCAA Division 1 Championships last year (1-100th of a second out of 1st).

The only faster times on record by U.S. juniors are a 6.52 by D’Angelo Cherry in Boston in March 2009 and a 6.54 by Jordan Anthony in Albuqurque in March of 2023.

The only faster times ever recorded by New Jersey sprinters were both run by Olympians. In 1994, Dennis Mitchell of Edgewood ran 6.53 in Stuttgart, Germany, and last year Cheickna Traore of Ramapo ran 6.54 at the Big Ten Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

Dwyer’s time puts him at No. 79 on the all-time U.S. list but only 5-100ths of a second out of the top 30.

In high school, Dwyer ran one 60 and ran 6.79 at the Millrose Games at the Armory last February.

Dwyer missed the college freshman record of 6.49 by 6-100ths of a second. It was set by Micah Williams of Oregon at a meet at the Air Force Cadet Field House in Colorado Springs, Colo., in February 2021, and matched by Williams when he won the NCAA title in Fayetteville a few weeks later.

Dwyer won the race by nearly 3-10ths of a second over Julian Sanders of St. Francis, who was 2nd in 6.84.

Penn State isn’t scheduled to race again until the Nittany Lion Challenge at Penn State on Jan. 18.

Dwyer’s time qualifies him for the USATF U.S. Indoor Championships in February at Ocean Breeze, although it’s the weekend before Big Ten’s in Indianapolis, so it’s unlikely he’d compete.

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