Bryce Tucker opened his 2026 outdoor season with an impressive 400-meter hurdles win in Orlando.
Tucker, a Rutgers junior from Pennsauken, ran 50.77 to win the intermediates at the Central Florida Knights Invitational.
He won by four meters over Canadian Ryder King of Cornell, who was 2nd in 51.26.
Tucker’s 50.77 is 4th-fastest so far in the Big Ten Conference and 16th-fastest in NCAA Division 1.
Tucker ran a lifetime-best 50.00 last May at the NCAA East First Round in Jacksonville, earning a lane at the NCAA Championships, where he advanced to the final and earned All-America honors with an 8th-place finish.
That’s 4th-fastest ever by a South Jersey athlete, behind only Reuben McCoy of Winslow [48.37], Paulsboro’s Fred Sharpe [48.86] and Camden’s Dwight Ruff [48.50]. It’s also 2nd-fastest in Rutgers history behind the school-record 49.82 set by Jameson Woodell of Hunterdon Central at the 2022 East Prelims in Bloomington, Ind.
In the same race in Orlando, Deptford’s Lathan Brown, a Rutgers junior, placed 6th with a 52.91.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 