Desi Stroud, a Holy Family sophomore from Mays Landing and Atlantic City Tech, opened his indoor season with a big long jump win at the FastTrack Season Opener at Ocean Breeze.
Stroud leaped 23-3 ½ on his final attempt to finish on top of a field that saw seven jumpers go 22-0 or better, including three from South Jersey.
Stroud came up just five inches shy of his lifetime-best 23-8 ¾ from a meet at Ocean Breeze last February.
Morgan State sophomore Jordan Ra-Akbar jumped 23-0 ½ on his final attempt for 2nd place.
Stroud had four jumps over 22 feet, including a 22-2 ½ on his 1st attempt, a 22-11 ½ on his 2nd and a 23-0 ½ on his 4th.
Freshman Jamir Brown of Rowan, who destroyed the NCAA Division 3 60-meter hurdles record earlier in the day in the first indoor track meet of his life, placed 4th at 22-6 ¾ after a long day of hurdling, and Stockton sophomore Ahmad Fogg of Egg Harbor Township, who was at Penn State last year, placed 6th at 22-0 ½.
Fogg has a collegiate PR of 23-6 ¾ from a meet this past January in Ann Arbor, Mich., and he jumped a wind-legal 24-4 ¼ at West Philly Nationals in the spring of 2023. Brown jumped a PR 23-8 ¾ when he won the state Group 1 title last spring in Somerset.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 