Ajani Dwyer ran the fastest 100 meters in any conditions by a New Jersey sprinter in 38 years Friday in Memphis.
Dwyer, who recently completed his sophomore year at Penn State, won the 100 at the Ed Murphey Classic at the University of Memphis’s Billy J. Murphy Athletic Complex in a wind-aided 9.85, matching the fastest by a New Jersey sprinter since Carl Lewis ran a wind-aided 9.78 to win the final at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials at Indiana Universitu’s Michael Carroll Track and Soccer Complex in Indianapolis.
Lewis’s 9.78 was aided by a 5.2 meters-per-second assisting wind, and Dwyer’s 9.85 was aided by a 4.0 wind. Anything over 2.0 is considered wind aided and not eligible for records and all-time performance lists.
Dwyer’s previous all-conditions PR was a 9.93 in Lincoln, Neb., in May, with a 5.6 wind. He ran a legal 9.98 in Lexington, Ky., in May, with a 0.2 headwind.
Dennis Mitchell also ran a wind-aided 9.85 in Eugene in June 1993 with a wind reading of 4.8.
Dwyer’s 9.85 is 28th-fastest ever by an American under any conditions and 21st-fastest in college track history under any conditions.
Dwyer has qualified for the U.S. Championships later this month on Randall’s Island in Manhattan and has registered for the national meet. He’s ranked 10th among American men with legal wind and 6th among U.S. men under any conditions. His 9.85 ranks 15th in the world with any wind conditions.
According to the wind adjustment calculator, a 9.85 with a 4.0 wind equals a 9.98 with the maximum legal 2.0 wind.
This was Dwyer’s first race since the end of the college track season.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 