What a monster weekend for Rowan freshman Rajahn Dixon at the New Jersey Athletic Conference meet at the Ott Center in West Philly.
Dixon won the 200 in a meet-record 21.34, he won the 400 in 48.15, 4th-fastest in meet history and he anchored Rowan’s 800-meter relay team, whose 1:25.45 is the fastest in NCAA Division 3 history and 6th-fastest in college track history.
He’s the first Rowan sprinter ever to double the 200 and 400 at an indoor NJAC meet.
Whew.
Rowan, ranked 4th in NCAA Division 3, won its 10th consecutive NJAC title, outscoring 2nd -place TCNJ 278-175. And Dixon didn’t run the 4-by-4 Sunday – Rowan broke the meet record without him – but he will at nationals.
Dixon entered the weekend with PRs of 21.53 at Boston University earlier this month and 49.11 from the Armory in January.
His 21.34 in the 200 broke the meet record by 1-100th of a second. In 2023, Ramapo’s Cheickna Traore – a 2021 Ivory Coast Olympian at 200 meters – ran 21.35. He smashed his own school record of 21.53, which broke a 26-year-old record of 21.56 set at the 1999 NJAC meet at the Armory by Rich Dixon (no relation). He’s also tied with the fastest time in NCAA Division 3 this year. Sam Blaskowski of Wisconsin-La Crosses ran 21.34 last month in a meet in La Crosse.
In the 400, Dixon took nearly a second off his PR, and his 48.15 is also 5th-fastest in Division 3 and 4th-fastest in meet history, behind Dixon’s 47.86 in 2000, a 47.90 by Thomas Hunter of New Jersey City in 2006 and a 47.99 by Sterling graduate Francis Terry of Rowan in 2018. Rowan’s Amara Conte also ran 48.15 in 2023. Conti set Rowan’s school record of 47.21 when he won the 2023 NCAA Division 3 title in Birmingham, Ala.
We wrote about Rowan’s absurd 1:25.45 on Saturday, the fastest 800-meter relay ever run by a Division 3 school. You can read about that performance here, but that’s currently No. 4 in the world and No. 1 among teams with an all-U.S. lineup. Dixon split 20.94 on the anchor leg. Some other highlights of South Jersey athletes from an incredible NJAC meet:
60-METER DASH: Rowan junior Masai Byrd placed 3rd in a hot final that produced three of the 14-fastest times in Division 3 this year. Byrd’s 6.83 broke his own school record of 6.84 Stockton senior Carson Latham from Bordentown PR’d with a 6.91 for 4th place.
200-METER DASH: Rowan sophomore Eli Hendricks from Penns Grove placed 3rd in a PR 21.59 – the No. 15 time in Division 3 – and Latham ran an indoor PR 21.86 for 4th. Byrd was 6th with a PR 22.06.
400-METER DASH: Rowan went 1-2-3-5-6 in the 400, with freshman Luke Halbruner from Ocean City 3rd in 49.36 behind Dixon and Samael Milevoix. Sterling graduate Jarquil Young, a Rowan junior, was 5th in 49.76 and Audubon graduate James Coleman, a senior, was 6th in 50.06.
800-METER RUN: Ocean City graduate Tyler Greene, a Rowan junior, ran 1:57.74 for 3rd in the 800.
MILE: Rutgers-Camden sophomore Jacob Dinerman of Haddon Township ran away from the field over the last 400 meters, closing in 61.14 and crossing the line in 4:11.39. That’s the 2nd-fastest time in meet history, just off the meet-record 4:10.18 set in 2018 by Ramapo’s Jeremy Hernandez. He’s the first NJAC mile winner from Rutgers-Camden. Rowan junior Cole Kolodziej from Washington Township ran 4:24.88 for sixth.
3,000-METER RUN: Rowan senior Joshu Cason, a graduate of Camden County Tech, won his 2nd straight 3,000 title with a 8:35.88, closing in 30.22 and 63.00. Dinerman closed in 27.85 and 60.68 to move up from 5th with 200 meters to go and finished 2nd in 8:41.01. And Timber Creek grad Giancarlo Vega, a Rowan senior, ran 8:41.38 for 3rd.
5,000-METER RUN: Rowan senior Matthew Conway from Haddon Township won in 14:58.93, and Rowan senior Caleb Clevenger from Haddonfield ran 15:25.53 for 6th.
60-METER HURDLES: Rowan freshman Jamir Brown from Riverside ran 7.74 in the trials to break the meet record of 7.92 set two minutes earlier by Rowan junior Kwaku Nkrumah in the previous semifinal. Nkrumah broke his own meet record of 7.93 set last year. Brown’s 7.72 is the 2nd-fastest time ever run in Division 3, behind his own 7.72 back in December. Sterling’s Marquise Young ran 7.95 in the trials and Rowan junior Anais Hughes ran 8.38. Nobody ran as fast in the final, but Brown won the race in 7.94 and Hughes was 5th at 8.41.
HIGH JUMP: Sophomore Jamile Gantt from Paulsboro led a 1-2-3 Rowan sweep with a 6-8 clearane. He had a couple decent attempts at a meet-record 7-0 ¼. Egg Harbor Township’s Ahmad Fogg, a Stockton sophomore, placed 5th at 6-1 ½.
LONG JUMP: Fogg, a transfer from Penn State in his first year at Stockton and his first year of indoor track, won the long jump with a 23-4 on his 1st jump.
TRIPLE JUMP: Fogg jumped an indoor PR 46-10 ¼ to place 3rd in the triple. It was only his second collegiate triple jump competition.
POLE VAULT: No South Jersey medalists in the vault, but Rowan went 1-2-4.
SHOT PUT: Salem High’s Jayden Wright, a junior at TCNJ, placed 2nd with a 50-1 ¼, just one inch off his PR from earlier this year at the Armory. Delsea grad Josh Caudill, a Rowan junior, threw 49-4 ½ on his final attempt to take 4th place. That’s Caudill’s PR with the 16-pound shot.
WEIGHT THROW: TCNJ senior George Agyei-Sam from Lindenwold threw 51-8 ½ for 3rd place in the weight.
800-METER RELAY: A historic race for an all-South Jersey lineup. You can read up on their record-setting race here.
1,600-METER RELAY: Rowan and TCNJ both ran under the meet record of 3:17.04 set in 2018 by Rowan’s Chris Mesiano [Schalick], Justin Bishop [Mainland Regional], Jamil Jackson [Highland] and Francis Terry [Sterling]. Rowan ran 3:16.63 and TCNJ 3:17.05. Sterling Marquis Young led off for Rowan with a 48.34 split, followed by Nana Agyemang [49.23] to Sterling’s Jarquil Young [49.13] to Ocean City’s Luke Halbruner [49.89].
DISTANCE MEDLEY: Rowan ran 10:26.91 for 2nd and Stockton 10:37.40 for 3rd. Rowan ran Ocean City’s Greene on the 1,200, freshman Angel Gonzalez from Triton on the 400, sophomore Colin Patterson from Haddon Heights on the 800 and Kolodziej anchoring. Stockton used senior Joseph deBeaumont from Highland on the 1,200 and freshman Landon Jenter from Eastern on the 800.
HEPTATHLON: Rowan sophomore Anthony Lanteigne from Williamstown placed 3rd in the heptathlon with 3,963 points.