Ajani Dwyer posted the fastest qualifying time in the 60-meter dash Sunday at the U.S. Championships at Ocean Breeze.
Dwyer, a Penn State freshman from Washington Township, ran 6.54, lowering his PR from 6.55, which he ran at Bucknell in December. His time is 6th-fastest among U.S. men this year.
Dwyer tied the Penn State school record set by Olympian Cheickna Traore at last year’s Big Ten Championships in Geneva, Ohio.
Running in the first of three semifinal races, Dwyer finished just ahead of 2018 World Championship medalist and 2021 Olympian and Ronnie Baker, who ran 6.57.
According to the World Athletics database, Dwyer’s time equals the 2nd-fastest ever by a U.S. sprinter in the Under-20 age group, behind only D’Angelo Cherry, who ran 6.52 in Boston at the 2009 U.S. Championships. Dwyer, 18, turns 19 in May.
Dwyer’s time is only 1-100th off the fastest time ever run by a New Jersey sprinter over 60 meters. In 1994, Edgewood graduate Dennis Mitchell ran 6.53 in a meet in Stuttgart, Germany.
The 60 final is scheduled for 2:54 p.m. Sunday.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 