One of the most fun stories to come out of this past weekend was the state championship by Bishop Eustace junior Delano Mann.
Mann came into the weekend with a 100-meter dash PR of 11.28 from a meet at TCNJ in Ewing in April. That made him the No. 7 seed in the Parochial B race at Stockton in Galloway.
His wind-legal PR was 11.38 from a meet at Deptford in May. His fastest time last year was 11.76 at Cherokee.
So how did he become a state champion?
By dropping his PR to 10.87 with a legal 0.6 wind reading and leading all qualifiers in the prelims Friday and then dropping to 10.85 in the final with 0.2 wind and winning by two meters over Wynston Ditchfield-Agboh of Newark Academy of Livingston in the final.
That’s a more than half second PR in non wind-aided races in one day, which is unheard of in the 100. But Mann saved his best for last, recording the first win in any meet in his track career in the state final.
His previous-best finish was a 2nd place in the high jump in a batch meet at Cherokee with a 5-6 clearance.
Mann became the first Eustace sprinter to win a state title at 100 meters since Ed Nelms ran 11.23 to win Parochial B at Hub Stein Field in Plainfield in 1995, helping Eustace win the team title.
Previous Eustace state champions in the 100 are John Shirk in 1979, Rick Saquil in 1980 and Joe Vogt in 1985.
If it seems like Mann came out of nowhere, he really did. He doesn’t run indoors. He hasn’t run a 200 all year. He didn’t run in the Camden County meet and he placed 17th in the Olympic Conference 100. In his last race before states, he ran 11.58 at Haddonfield.
But there he was, crossing the line well clear of the field Friday, becoming the first Eustace underclassman to win a state title on the track in a quarter of a century, since junior Patrick Stevenson won the 1,600 in 2001, also at Hub Stein Field.
Mann’s 10.85 makes him the 3rd-fastest junior in South Jersey this year, behind Williamstown’s Joshua George-Oyewole [10.74] and Timber Creek’s Timothy Whitaker [10.80].
He earned the No. 10 seed for the Meet of Champions Wednesday at Pennsauken and is one of six South Jersey sprinters among the top 10 seeds. Deptford senior Johann Hernandez is No. 4 [10.72], Cherry Hill East senior Tymir Gayle is No. 5 [10.76], Camden senior Jawan Brownlee No. 6 [10.76], Atlantic City senior Jaylen Day No. 7 [10.78]. and Winslow Township senior Quayd Hendryx No. 9 [10.83].
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 