From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Pleasantville’s Gabriel Moronta, who anchored South Florida’s 1,600-meter relay team to the NCAA Championship last month, has changed his national affiliation from the U.S. to the Dominican Republic, according to his World Athletics Profile.

That makes him eligible to represent the Dominican Republic in the Olympics, World Championships and other international competitions.

Moronta, who won the indoor 2020 Meet of Champions 800 at Ocean Breeze, ran 45.01 at NCAA East Regionals in Jacksonville in May, the 4^th-fastest time ever by a New Jersey 400 runner and 2^nd-fastest by a South Jersey runner behind Lamont Smith’s 44.30 at the 1996 Olympic Trials in Atlanta.

Moronta placed 2^nd in the 400 at NCAA Championships in Eugene but was disqualified for running out of his lane. He came back soon after with a 44.23 anchor split to lift South Florida to a 3:00.42 win in the 4-by-4, No. 26 in U.S. history.

But despite ranking 16^th among U.S. 400 runners this year and holding the “A” standard of 45.20, Moronta did not enter the USATF Championships.

The reason why becomes clear when you check out his World Athletics profile, which states that Moronta represented the United States through June 17 – four days after his final college race – and began representing the Dominican Republic on June 18.

Moronta, 22, was born in Puerta Plata in the Dominican Republic, which makes him eligible to represent the D.R. in international competitions.

Moronta has not raced since NCAAs. I looked for a while and didn’t find anything about a Dominican Republic National Championships, so I’m not sure what Moronta has to do to represent the D.R. at the World Championships in Tokyo in September. He does not currently have the standard for Worlds, which is 44.85. The World Athletics web site does not list a qualifying deadline.

According to the World Athetics database, five quarter-milers from the Dominican Republic have run sub-45, including Alexander Ogondo, who ran 44.78 in May in Miramar, Fla. He was 5^th at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in the 200 with a 19.93 and ran 44.68 in Chorzów, Poland, in 2022.