Rowan sophomore Rajahn Dixon from Eastern ran the 4th-fastest time in NCAA Division 3 history and junior Eli Hendricks from Penns Grove ran the 12th-fastest in a historic 200-meter dash Friday at the NJAC Championships at the Ott Center.
Dixon ran 21.15 and beat a loaded field and Hendricks ran 21.31 and placed 3rd moving into the No. 23 spot on the all-time D-3 list. TCNJ’s Maxim Rychkov, already No. 5 in D-3 history with his 21.19 in Boston earlier this month, placed 2nd in 21.23. Delsea grad Julian Conigliaro placed 4th in a PR 21.54.
Dixon and Hendricks both ran under the previous Rowan and meet record – Dixon’s 21.34 when he won this race at this track last year.
Senior Masaic Byrd from Rancocas Valley ran a PR 21.92 and freshman Shakur Taylor from East Orange Campus PR’d at 22.11 for 6th and 8th. With its 1-3-4-6-8 finish scored 25 points just in the 200 on its way to a 265-152 win over TCNJ for its 11th straight NJAC team title.
Dixon has run slightly faster outdoors – 21.13 with legal wind in Geneva, Ohio, in the trials at NCAA Division 3 Championships this past May. Hendricks has an outdoor PR of 21.21 with legal wind in Chester in May, but his previous indoor PR was 21.59 at NJACs last year.
Conigliaro dropped his indoor PR all the way from 21.87 last weekend in Youngstown, Ohio. His lifetime best is 21.58 last April in Atlanta.
On the 2026 NCAA Division 3 list, Dixon is No. 4, Hendricks No. 8, junior Evan Corcoran from Kingsway No. 19 and Conigliaro No. 24. Corcoran is a little banged up and didn’t race Friday.
Dixon, Conigliaro, Hendricks and Byrd set an all-division college 800-meter relay record with their 1:23.59 on Day 1 of the meet last Saturday.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 