Rowan junior Masai Byrd from Rancocas Valley on Friday solidified his hold on a qualifying spot at the NCAA Division 3 Championships while also lowering his own school record at 60 meters.
Byrd won the 60-meter dash at the AARTFC Championships at Ithaca in 6.82. The record has been lowered several times over the last couple years.
Rowan’s school record in the 60 going into the 2022 season was 6.92, set by Julian Pratt at the 2020 NJAC Meet at Ocean Breeze.
Nana Agyemang then lowered the mark to 6.87 in the prelims of the 2022 NJAC meet at Ocean Breeze and then Bridgeton’s Shamar Love lowered it to 6.85 in the trials of the 2023 AARTFC meet. The record remained at 6.85 until Byrd ran 6.84 in December at Ocean Breeze. He tied the record in the trials of this year’s NJAC meet at the Ott Center and then lowered it again to 6.83 in the final.
So Friday’s race was the sixth time the record has either been tied or broken since 2022.
Byrd’s mark is No. 13 in NCAA Division 3, and the top 20 performers in every event qualify for D-3 Nationals. The fields will officially be announced on Sunday. The meet is scheduled for Friday through Sunday at Golisano Training Center, a flat 200-meter track at Nazareth (Pa.) University.
Byrd, Agyemang and Penns Groves’ Eli Hendricks will run the 200 on Saturday. Hendricks has run 21.59 this season, but since it was on a banked track it’s converted to 21.98 somehow by the TFRRS, which is the officially ranked list for nationals. The No. 20 mark in D-3 is currently 21.97, so Hendricks is close to qualifying. Rowan has freshman Rajahn Dixon already assured of a spot at nationals with his 21.73 converted somehow from 21.34 on a banked track at the Ott.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 