Rowan freshman David Brown from Edison took over the NCAA Division 3 high jump lead from teammate Jamile Gantt at Ocean Breeze this past weekend.
Brown became Rowan’s 3rd 7-footer and 1st in eight years when he cleared 7-0 ½ at the Fastrack National Invite.
His clearance puts him in a tie for 20th-best in NCAA Division 3 history. He’s the first Division 3 high jumper over seven feet in nine years, since James Willingham of Louisiana College cleared 7-0 ¼ at a meet in Lake Charles, La., in 2017. He’s the first D-3 freshman to clear 7-0 ½ or better since Rowan’s Jeffrey Jon Tucker from Eastern in a meet in Winston-Salem in February 2015.
Brown had a PR of 6-10 in high school from his win at the state Group 4 meet at the Bubble this past February. He cleared 6-8 ¼ in his first meet for Rowan at Ocean Breeze last month, then PR’d with a 6-11 at the Armory a week later.
At Ocean Breeze on Friday, he cleared 6-6 ¾, 6-8 ¾ and 6-10 ¾ on his first attempt before getting over the bar at 6-0 ½ on his 2nd attempt. He took three tries at 7-2 ½, which would eclipsed Rowan’s overall program record of 7-2 ¼ set by Tucker at the 2018 Penn Relays.
Note that the official results show Brown clearing 7-0 ¾, but his clearance came at 2.15 meters, which converts to 7.053806 feet, which equals 7 feet and 0.645672 inches, which rounds to half an inch, not three quarters of an inch.
Rowan sophomore Noah Wampole PR’d at 6-10 ¾ for 2nd place and tied for 2nd-best in NCAA Division 3 with Rowan junior Jamile Gantt of Paulsboro, who did not compete Friday.
Rowan junior Isaiah Davenport from Pleasantville matched his PR, clearing 6-8 ¾ for the 2ndstraight meet. He’s now tied for 8th in Division 3 along with freshman Jayden DeLeon of Rutgers-Camden and Highland.
Another Rowan jumper, junior Arrington Rhym, cleared 6-8 ¾ earlier this season and is also part of that tie for the No. 8 spot.
So overall Rowan is sitting at No. 1, =No. 2, =No. 2, =No. 8, =No. 8 in the high jump. Another Rowan high jumper, Damarion Potts, has a 6-8 ¼ to his credit but not yet this year.
It’s impossible to jump exactly 7-0 in an NCAA Meet because 2.13 meters is 6-11 ¾ and 2.14 meters is 7-0 ¼ and competitors can only have the bar set at metric heights.
7-0 ½ … David Brown [Edison], 2026
7-0 ½ … Jeffrey Jon Tucker [Delsea], 2015
7-0 ¼ … Harrison Escoffery [], 2018
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 