Rowan’s Jamir Brown from Riverside ran the 4th-fastest 110-meter hurdles time in NCAA Division 3 history Friday in Atlanta and the fastest ever by a Division 3 freshman.
Brown placed 2nd in the 110-meter hurdles at the Georgia Tech Invitational at George C. Griffin Track in 13.79, just 7-100ths of a second off the Division 3 record of 13.72 set by Taylor Rooney of Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter, Minn., in May 2021 when he won the NCAA Division 3 national title in Greensboro, N.C.
Brown set the D-3 record indoors in the 60-meter hurdles with a 7.72 in December at Ocean Breeze in his first collegiate race.
Although Brown ran the 3rd-fastest time in Division 3 history, he did not break the school record. Current Rowan junior Kwaku Nkrumah ran 13.77 this past May when he won the NCAA Division 3 title in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Another Rowan hurdler, current senior Jason Agyemang, ran 13.80 in the same race in Myrtle Beach, which is now 6th-fastest in Division 3 history. So Rowan now has the No. 2, 3 and 6 hurdlers in Division 3 history on its current roster.
Brown is the third South Jersey hurdler to run 13.82 or faster so far this spring. Sincere Rhea, a Texas Tech senior from St. Augustine, tied his PR with a 13.48 last month in Austin, and Rutgers freshman Yashahya Brown, a freshman from Rutgers, ran 13.82 earlier this month in Tampa.
Among all college freshman in all divisions, the two Browns from South Jersey – Jamir and Yashahya – are 6th– and 8th-fastest. Jamir Brown moved into the No. 8 spot on the all-time South Jersey alumni list, bumping Yashahya Brown down to 10th.
Tough to tell the previous freshman record. Nobody keeps track of this stuff, unfortunately. Junior Saint Preux of McMurry College in Abilene, Texas, ran 14.00 at the 2012 Texas Longhorn Invitational, but that was wind-aided at 2.3. Kenneth Wei of MIT ran 14.05 with a 2.0 tailwind – the highest legal wind reading – at the 2022 NCAA Division 3 Championships in Geneva, Ohio, and that looks like it may have been the previous record. Brown’s previous PR was 14.10 in Collegeville, Pa., earlier this month in his only previous 110-meter race over the 42-inch barriers
Friday in Atlanta, Agyemang placed 3rd in Atlanta with a season-best 13.82 and Nkrumah was 4th with a season-best 13.91. Bradley Franklin of NCAA Division 1 Samford ran a lifetime-best 13.67 to win the race.
Rowan junior Anaias Hughes of Willingboro ran a lifetime-best 14.29. Brown, Agyemang, Nkrumah and Hughes are now No .1, 2, 3 and 8 in NCAA Division 3 this year.
Brown, Agyemang and Hughes ran in the first of seven sections of a one-race final with a 0.0 wind reading. Hughes easily won the 4th section by nearly half a second into a 0.6 meters-per-second headwind.
Here’s my best attempt at an all-time Rowan 110-meter hurdles list:
13.77 … Kwaku Nkrumah [Teaneck], NCAA Div. 3 Championships, Myrtle Beach, S.C., May 25, 2004 [+1.2]
13.79 … Jamir Brown [Riverside], Georgia Thch Invitational, Atlanta, April 18, 2025 [+0.0]
13.80 … Jason Agyemang [North Plainfield], NCAA Division 3 Championships, Myrtle Beach, S.C., May 25, 2004 [+1.2]
13.90 … Garry Moore [Overbrook], May 27, 1982 [N/A]
14.01 … Marquise Young [Sterling], New Jersey Athletic Conf. Championships, Galloway, N.J., May 5, 2024 [+0.8]
14.01 … Stanley Moore [Overbrook], May 28, 1983 [N/A]
14.10 … Jamir Brown [Riverside], April 5, 2025, Ursinus Track Festival, Collegeville, Pa. [+0.3]
14.22 … Leon Devero [Linden], May 30, 1981
14.23 … David Benjamin [Freehold Township], Penn Relays, Philadelphia, May 26, 2017 [+2.0]
14.24 … Bobby Cooks [McArthur, Pembroke Pines, Fla.], NCAA Division 3 Championships, La Crosse, Wisc., May 26, 2018 [+1.0]
14.27 … Chase Toliver [Oakcrest], NCAA Division 3 Championships, Alliance, Ohio, May 26, 2017 [+2.0]
14.28 … Tyler Garland [Deptford], AARTFC Championships, Cortland, N.Y., May 16, 2019 [+1.0]
14.29 … Anaias Hughes [Willingboro], Georgia Thch Invitational, Atlanta, April 18, 2025 [-0.2]
And here’s a look at the fastest hurdlers from South Jersey:
12.94 … Jack Pierce [Woodbury], June 22, 1996, Atlanta
13.12 … Anwar Moore [Camden], May 5, 2007, Modesto, Calif.
13.43 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], April 16, 2016, Walnut, Calif.
13.48 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], May 12, 2023, Raleigh, N.C. [+1.2]
13.51 … Martin Booker [Camden], June 7, 1986, Indianapolis
13.54 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], May 22, 2004, St-Martin, France
13.77 … Jeffrey Young [Camden], May 11, 2022, Bloomington, Ind.
13.79 … Jamir Brown [Riverside], April 18, 2025, Atlanta
13.81 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], May 13, 2005, Cedar Falls, Iowa [+2.0]
13.82 … John Sease [Willingboro], March 26, 1982, El Paso, Texas
13.82 … Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], April 11, 2025, Tampa
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 