From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Paulsboro graduate Jamile Gantt, a high jump All-America as a freshman, opened his sophomore season with a PR.

Gantt cleared 6-10 ¼ on his 3rd attempt to win the event at the FastTrack Season Opener at Ocean Breeze.

That’s No. 4 in Rowan history and a quarter of an inch above his lifetime-best 6-10, which he hit as a senior at Paulsboro in a meet at Delsea and again when he placed 7th at the NCAA Division 3 Championships in May in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Gantt’s previous indoor PR was 6-7 ½ at the AARTFC Championships in March in Rochester, N.Y. He didn’t compete indoors at Paulsboro.

Gantt passed opening height of 6-0 ½ and then cleared 6-2 ½, 6-4 ½ and 6-6 ¼ on his first attempt.

With the bar going up to 6-8 ¼, there were three jumpers left and all were clean – Gantt and two Holy Family jumpers, Nishorn Pierre, a three-time NCAA Division 2 high jump All-America with a PR of 7-2 ¼, and Isaiah Davenport of Pleasantville.

Davenport missed three attempts at 6-8 ¼, which would have matched his PR, but Gantt cleared it on his 2nd attempt and Pierre on his 3rd.

From there, the bar went up to 6-10 ¼, which Pierre failed to clear, while Gantt got over the bar on his 3rd attempt.

After locking up the win, Gantt took three jumps at 7-0 ¼. Rowan’s indoor school record is 7-0 ½, set by Eastern’s Jeffrey Jon Tucker at the 2015 JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Gloucester County alumni record is 7-1 ½, set by Williamstown graduate Devin Bradham of Penn State at the Jim Thorpe Invitational in University Park in May of 2019.

Here are the top marks I could find from Glassboro State / Rowan high jumpers!

7-2 ¼ … Jeffrey Jon Tucker [Eastern], Penn Relays, Philadelphia, April 27, 2018
6-11 ¾ … Mark Kelly [Audubon], May 29, 1978
6-10 ¾ … Harrison Escoffery [Hackensack], Widener Invitational, Chester, Pa., April 21, 2018
6-10 ¼ … Jamile Gantt [Paulsboro], NCAA Division 3 Championships, Myrtle Beach, S.C., May 25, 2024
6-9 … Pete Sharpless [Princeton], May 28, 1982