Ty Blackman became the first Glassboro runner to win an Easterns title in 60 years Tuesday when he won the mile at the 89th annual Eastern States Championships at the Armory.
The last Glassboro runner to win at Easterns was George Hartsfield, who won the 60-yard dash in 1965 in a hand-timed 6.3 in a meet that was then known as the National Interscholastic Championships and held at Madison Square Garden.
Blackman was in 5th when he came through in 2:10.60, but he took the lead on the 6th lap and closed in 1:35.86 for his final three laps, 63.03 for his final quarter-mile and 30.91 for his final 220. He crossed the line in 4:19.56, finishing 12 meters clear of 2nd-place Nicolas Katsoulis of Manhassat, N.Y.
His 4:19.56 converts to 4:18.05 for 1,600 meters.
Blackman is the first South Jersey runner to win the Easterns mile in 12 years, since Clearview’s Bill Dolan won the 2013 race in 4:21.51.
Blackman just ran his lifetime best of 4:17.46 when he placed 13th in a very fast Meet of Champions across town at Ocean Breeze on Sunday. His PR before January was 4:28.97 outdoors.
In addition to Hartsfield and Blackman, Glassboro’s Damere Lassiter won the shot put at Easterns last year.
Here’s a look at all the South Jersey runners who’ve won the Easterns mile (which has never been a 1,600):
1943 … Browning Ross [Woodbury], 4:37.5
1951 … Gene Fekete [Camden Regional], 4:28.4
2001 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 4:21.54
2004 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 4:22.71
2007 … Brian Tetreault [Cinnaminson], 4:22.06
2013 … Bill Dolan [Clearview], 4:21.51
2025 … Ty Blackman [Glassboro] 4:19.56
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 