Rancocas Valley’s Masai Byrd shattered Rowan’s 60-meter dash record Friday at Ocean Breeze.
Byrd ran 6.79, breaking the school record of 6.82 that Byrd ran in the trials at the AARTFC Championships in Ithaca in March. That broke the record of 6.83 that Byrd ran two weeks earlier at the NJAC Championships at the Ott Center.
Byrd’s time is 5th-fastest in NCAA Division 3 this year and 2nd-fastest in the NJAC behind TCNJ’s Maxim Rychkov of Robbinsville, who ran 6.77 at the Armory last month.
Byrd finished 2nd in the race to post-collegiate Eloy Benitez of Puerto Rico, who ran 6.88. Benitez is the Puerto Rican national record holder at 60 meters with a 6.49 at the 2025 World Indoors in Nanjing, China.
Here’s my best attempt at an all-time South Jersey alumni 60-meter dash list:
6.53 … Dennis Mitchell [Edgewood], Feb. 6, 1994, Stuttgart, Germany
6.54 … Ajani Dwyer [Washington Twp.], Feb. 23, 2025, Staten Island, N.Y.
6.60 … Carl Lewis [Willingboro], Feb. 10, 1989, San Sebastián, Spain
6.66 … Damiere Byrd [Timber Creek], Jan. 25, 2013, Blacksburg, Va.
6.71 … Malachi James [Burlington City], Feb. 24, 2024, Staten Island, N.Y.
6.72 … Anwar Moore [Camden], Dec. 7, 2003, Newport, England
6.75 … Jamil Benjamin [Cumberland Reg.], Dec. 5, 2008, Ames, Iowa
6.79 … Masai Byrd [Rancocas Valley], Jan. 16, 2026, Staten Island, N.Y.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 