Glassboro’s Mekhi Parker goes into this weekend’s county meet as the top freshman in New Jersey in three events.
Parker ran 15.07 in the 110-meter hurdles in a FAT-timed dual meet at Schalick last month, he ran 56.76 in the Tri-County Conference Showcase at Delsea on Wednesday and he tripled jumped 43-2 ½ earlier this month at the South Jersey Elite, also at Delsea.
Parker is No. 2 in Gloucester County in the triple jump behind Clearview junior Gavin Seaver [44-3 ½], No. 3 in the intermediates behind Deptford junior Kareem Brown [55.32] and Ryan Sanchez [56.51] and 7 in the hurdles.
He’s the top South Jersey freshman in the 110 highs since Sincere Rhea of St. Augustine – now at Texas Tech – ran 14.99 at 2016 Parochial A states at Egg Harbor and the fastest in the intermediates since Cherry Hill East’s Alex Reber ran 54.38 at the 2010 Meet of Champions at South Plainfield. David Stewart, now a sophomore at Schalick, jumped 44-4 as a freshman last year at South Jersey Group 1 Sectionals at Pennsauken.
The Gloucester County Championships are scheduled for 4 p.m. today at Deptford.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 