Sterling graduate Marquis Young became the latest Rowan hurdler to put up an all-time Division 3 top-10 time Friday, leading four Rowan hurdlers into the finals at the NCAA Division 3 Championships in Pittsford, N.Y.
Young, a senior, won the first of three semifinals in 7.84, the 8th-fastest time in Division 3 history and a PR by 11-100ths of a second.
Rowan advanced four of the six-fastest semifinalists and all four are ranked in the top-10 in Division 3 history.
Young led all qualifiers with his 7.84, freshman Jamir Brown – the NCAA D-3 record holder at 7.72 – was 2nd in that first race in 7.86, junior Kwaku Nkrumah from Teaneck – the NCAA D-3 national champion outdoors – won the third heat in 7.93, not far off his 7.87 PR, which is tied for 10th in D-3 history – and Rowan junior Jason Agyemang ran 8.01 in the 2nd semi to post the 6th-fastest qualifying time.
The only hurdlers not from Rowan to break into the top-6 were Jayson Ekiyor of Bethel College in St. Paul, Minn., whose PR 7.88 is No. 12 in D-3 history – and Blake Hardison of Dubuque, Iowa, who ran 7.98.
The meet record of 7.75 was set in 2014 by Luke Campbell of Salisbury in Lincoln, Neb. That was the D-3 record until Brown ran 7.72.
The meet is being held at Golisano Training Center at Nazareth University, just south of Rochester.
The final is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday. We don’t have lane assignments yet, but here’s what the final will look like:
7.84 … Marquise Young [Rowan]
7.86 … Jamir Brown [Rowan]
7.88 … Jayson Ekiyor [Bethel, Minn.]
7.93 … Kwaku Nkrumah [Rowan]
7.98 … Blake Hardison [Dubuque, cIowqa]
8.01 … Jason Agyemang [Rowan]
8.03 … Gunner Meyer [Central, Iowa]
8.04 … Noah Smith [Nebraska Wesleyan]
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 