Rowan is ranked No. 2 in the initial NCAA Division 3 poll, released Tuesday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association .
The poll is based on the latest NCAA Division 3 performance list and projected point totals in events contested at nationals.
Wisconsin-Oshkosh is No. 1 with 278 points and Rowan is No. 2 with 217 points.
Rowan men ranked in the top eight nationally include Seth Clevenger of Haddonfield, No. 1 in both the mile and 3,000, Masai Byrd of Rancocas Valley, No. 6 in the 60, Rajahn Dixon of Eastern, No. 7 in the 200, Kwaku Nkrumah of Teaneck and Jason Agyemang of North Plainfield, who are tied for 3rd in the hurdles; David Brown of Edison, Jamile Gantt of Paulsboro, Arrington Rhym of Hamilton West and Noah Wampole of Radnor, who are 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th in the high jump; Anthony Parker of Salem, 3rd in the long jump; and Joshua Justin of Passaic Tech, who is 5th in the triple jump.
Also, Rowan’s 4-by-4 team of Dixon, Glassboro’s Dallas Hohney, Teddy Wilson of Toms River North and Nicholas Garman of Cedar Crest in Lebanon, Pa. is ranked 6th in the 1,600-meter relay but with a ton of upside.
Rowan also has a number of potential national qualifiers who haven’t competed yet or haven’t competed in their best events yet. Clevenger alone will be No. 1 in the 5,000 whenever he races one and could make Rowan’s DMR a national contender. Blaik Slavinski of Point Pleasant Borough ran 1:47.65 last indoor season for Clemson but hasn’t run an 800 yet for Rowan; and Hohney ran 1:50.71 last winter for Rider.
Rowan sprinter Eli Hendricks from Penns Grove was a 200 finalist at NCAAs last year and could be back in the mix this year, and Willingboro’s Eric Foster Jr. has run 8.02 in the 60-meter highs, which would put him squarely among national qualifiers. As it is, he’s 10th at 8.12 based on 2026 times. Additionally, Dixon and Slavinski could both be factors in the 400.
Other NJAC schools in the top 50 include TCNJ 16th, Montclair State 33rd and Stockton 47th.
The Rowan women are ranked 2nd in the Metro Region with 302 points, behind only TCNJ with 393. Stockton is 5th.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 