With an all-South Jersey lineup, Rowan ran the fastest 400-meter relay in NCAA Division 3 this year this weekend and one of the fastest times in Division 3 history.
Junior Masai Byrd from Rancocas Valley, freshman Shamar Love of Bridgeton, sophomore Eli Hendricks of Penns Grove and junior Evan Corcoran of Kingsway ran 40.27 and placed 3rd at the Georgia Tech Invitational at George C. Griffin Track in Atlanta.
Rowan finished behind only NAIA school Cumberlands of Williamsburg, Ky., which won the race in 39.94, and Division 1 Troy (Ala.).
Incredibly, a second Rowan team consisting of four hurdlers – All-Americas Kwaku Nkrumah, freshman Jamir Brown of Riverside and Jason Agyemang, with Valentin Augustin anchoring – ran 41.83.
The 40.27 is No. 21 all-time in Division 3 and Rowan’s 3rd-fastest time ever. In 2023, the Profs ran 40.14 with Love, Sterling’s Jah’mere Beasley, Nana Agyemang (no relation ot Jason) and Corcoran. That’s No. 4 in Division 3 history. The same quartet ran 40.36 a couple day earlier.
Also in Atlanta, Highland graduate Robert McKinney, a Rowan senior, ran a crazy 200 PR of 21.29 in Atlanta, fastest time in the NJAC this year and a PR of nearly a 3rd of a second. His previous wind-legal PR was a 21.58 from a meet at Widener last May.
That 21.29 looks like the 2nd-fastest all-time at Rowan, behind only Jah’mere Beasley’s school-record 20.91, which he ran twice at the 2022 NCAA Division 3 Championships in Geneva, Ohio. His time is No. 14 in Division 3 this year. Hendricks also ran hot in the 200 with a PR 21.34, No. 18 in Division 3.
Also, Hendricks, Corocran, Love, McKinney and Byrd ran the 3rd-through-7th-fastest 100 times in the NJAC this year, 10.63 for Hendricks, 10.68 for Corcoran, 10.69 for Love, 10.71 for McKinney and 10.77 for Byrd. Season-bests for all of them and lifetime bests for Hendricks, McKinney and Byrd.
Senior James Coleman from Audubon, freshman Luke Halbruner from Ocean City, and junior Jarquil Young from Sterling all ran 400 PRs, 48.46 for Coleman, 48.61 for Halbruner and 48.72 for Young. They’re No. 2, 3 and 4 in the NJAC behind Rowan senior Samael Milevoix from Union County Vo-Tech.
One other note from Atlanta – Riverside’s Brown, the top-ranked high hurdler in Division 3, ran his first college 400-meter hurdles race Saturday and PR’d in 52.83, the fastest time in the NJAC this year, 5th-fastest in Division 3 and 6th-fastest in Rowan history. His previous PR was 53.32 when he won Group 1 sectionals last spring at Pennsauken.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 