Lumberton’s Greg Foster and Washington Township’s Ajani Dwyer are on their way to the NCAA Division 1 track championships later this month in Virginia Beach.
Foster, a senior at Princeton who graduated from Lawrenceville School, qualified in the long jump, and Dwyer in the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash.
Only 16 athletes qualify in each individual event, and Foster ranks 14th in the long jump in Division 1 with a 25-8 ¼. The cutoff in the long jump was 25-7 ¾
Foster hit that 25-8 ¼ on his final attempt in a Princeton-Navy dual meet in Annapolis in January, which was his first meet in 11 months following foot surgery.
Foster qualified for NCAAs in 2023 and placed 15th with a best jump of 24-7 ¾. He also qualified for outdoor NCAA East Regionals in 2023 but didn’t advance.
Foster’s PR is 26-1 ¾ from 2023 Heps at Franklin Field. His indoor PR is 25-10 ¾ from a meet in January 2023 in Annapolis, Md.
Foster also has PRs of 7.89 in the 60-meter hurdles, 14.23 in the 110-meter hurdles and 50-7 ½ in the triple jump.
Dwyer is the No. 6 seed in the 60 with his 6.54 in the trials of the U.S. Championships at the Armory in New York, and he’s the No. 14 seed in the 200 with a 20.65 at a meet in January at the Ott Center in West Philly.
Dwyer is among 17 men who have qualified in multiple individual events. He’s one of only three sprinters who qualified in the 60 and the 200. The others are Max Thomas of USC and Mason Lawyer of Washington State.
The NCAA Division 1 Track Championships are scheduled for March 14-15 at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. The long jump is at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 14. The 60 trials are at 7:18 p.m. Friday, with the final at 6:10 p.m. Saturday. The 200 trials are at 8:32 p.m. that Friday with the final following at 6:50 p.m. Saturday.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 