Eastern graduate Jewel Ash and Winslow grad JaNeya Hammond both ran hurdles PRs this weekend and both moved into the No. 5 spot on the their school’s all-time performance list.
Hammond, a senior at Charlotte, ran a PR 8.50 in the trials of the 11th annual Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational in Lynchburg, Va., then placed 3rd in the final with an 8.51. Her previous PR was an 8.53 at Clemson last month and before this season she had a PR of 8.68 from a meet last February in Birmingham, Ala.
Ash and Hammond are both intermediate hurdlers outdoors. Hammond has a PR of 1:00.35. which is No. 7 in school history.
Ash ran 8.59 in the prelims of the Don Kirby Elite Invitational at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Her previous PR was an 8.65 in January in the prelims of a meet in Spokane, Wash.
This is Ash’s first season competing for Fresno after beginning her track career and education at Charleston Southern of North Charleston, S.C., where she was a two-time Big South Conference 400-meter intermediate hurdles champion.
Her best time over the 60-meter highs before this winter was an 8.75 in the prelims of a meet in Columbia, S.C., last February. Her 400IH PR is 57.16 from her win at the 2022 Big South Conference meet in High Point, N.C.
Here’s a look at the fastest hurdles times by South Jersey women so far this winter:
8.42 … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], Jan. 25, Astana, Qazaqstan
8.42 … Arianna Smith [Pennsville], Feb. 8, Philadelphia
8.50 … JaNeya Hammon [Winslow Twp.], Feb. 14, Lynchburg, Va.
8.59 … Jewel Ash [Eastern], Feb. 14, Albuquerque
8.77 … Bryanna Craig [Millville], Jan. 10, Louisville, Ky.
8.78 … Anabella Chin [Rancocas Valley], Feb. 7, Cambridge, Mass.
8.80 … Mariah Stephens [Egg Harbor Twp.], Feb. 7, Staten Island, N.Y.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 