Once in a while, a notable South Jersey runner, jumper or thrower falls through the cracks and I totally whiff on his college accomplishments.
Cody Pierce falls squarely in this category.
Pierce graduated from Mainland Regional in the spring of 2022 after a fine high school career. He won the 200 at the South Jersey Group 3 sectionals at Delsea with a wind-aided 21.71 and was 2nd in the 400 with a 49.12.
His best finish at a state meet was in the indoor 400 in the winter of 2022, where he ran 50.06 and was 2nd to Pennsauken’s Bryce Tucker. His wind-legal 200 PR was a 22.39 at 2021 states at Pennsauken.
Fast forward to college.
Pierce entered Amherst in the fall of 2022 and had PRs of 22.43 and 50.68 indoors as a freshman. He dropped to 49.41 that spring (he didn’t run any wind-legal 200s outdoors as a freshman).
He dropped his 200 PR to 22.02 in January of 2024 and then smashed both PRs at the NESCAC (New England … something … something Athletic Conference?) meet at Tufts in Medford last April, placing 3rd in the 200 with a wind-legal 21.48 and 3rd in the 400 with a 48.44.
This past indoor season he won the New England Division 3 title in Boston at 200 meters with a 21.57 and was 5th in the 400 at 48.48. He followed that by winning the 200 at the NEICAAA Championships in Roxbury, Mass., in 21.75. (No, I have no clue what NEICAAA is and it doesn’t say anywhere … New England Intercollegiate Athletic Something Association?)
Pierce qualified for NCAAs in the 200 and placed 15th in the country, then earned All-America honors by running a 49.34 second leg on Amherst’s 4th-place DMR team, which ran 9:55.70, with Nick Edwards-Levin running 3:04.83 on the 1,200, Ben Davis 1:53.95 on the 800 and Parker Boyle anchoring in 4:07.59.
He hasn’t run any open races this spring yet but he did run a leg on Amherst’s 400-meter relay team that ran 41.49 this past Saturday in a home meet. That’s No. 19 in NCAA Division 3 so far this year.
Pierce is the indoor school record holder in the 200 with that 21.57, and he was on the 400-meter relay team that set a school record of 40.96 last spring in Williamstown, Mass.
Next for Amherst this weekend is the Coffey Invitational in Northampton, Mass., and the Silfen Invitational, in New London, Ct.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 