From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Rowan freshman Nyla Jones from Timber Creek placed 5^th and earned All-America honors in the 400-meter hurdles Saturday at the NCAA Division 3 Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

Jones ran 1:01.46 and finished as the top freshman in the race. It’s the best finish by a Rowan woman at nationals in the 400 hurdles in 32 years, since Laiton Roberts from Oakcrest placed 3^rd in 1993 with a time of 1:02.75 in Berea, Ohio.

Jones, who set an New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships meet record and Rowan school record of 1:00.42 earlier this month in Ewing, ran 1:02.36 in the Thursday’s semifinals and went into the final as the No. 9 seed, which put her in challenging Lane 1.

But she wound up running more than half a second faster in the final, finishing ahead of four runners who ran faster in the prelims.

Jones is also 5^th in Rowan history with her 14.27 in the 100-meter highs, which she ran with legal wind in the prelims at the NJAC meet before winning the final in 14.35.

Freshman Jamir Brown from Riverside, 2^nd to teammate Jason Agyemang at indoor nationals, won the 110-meter hurdles Saturday at the NCAA Division 3 Nationals in Geneva, Ohio, this time with Agyemang 2^nd.

Brown ran 13.75 and Agyemang 13.82, finishing half a hurdle length ahead of the rest of the field.

It’s Rowan’s 2^nd straight 1-2 finish at outdoor nationals. Last year, Kwaku Nkrumah won the race in 13.77 and Agyemang was 2^nd at 13.80. Nkrumah did not finish the race Thursday in the semis.

Another Rowan hurdler, junior Anaias Hughes from Willingboro, also earned All-America honors with a 7^th-place finish in 14.71.

With the 20 points in the hurdles, Rowan finished with 44 ½ points, their most in 41 years, and placed 3^rd , equalling their best team finish since 1984.

Riverside’s Brown joins Leon Devero of Linden [14.42 in 1980], Garry Moore of Overbrook [13.96 in 1981, 13.99 in 1982], Overbrook’s Stanley Moore [14.01 in 1983], Bob Beamon of Paulsboro [14.40 in 1984] and Nkrumah last year as Rowan’s 7^th NCAA Division 3 hurdles champion

The last three times a school went 1-2 in the highs and had a 3^rd medalist were Glassboro State in 1982 and Rowan in 2024 and 2025.

This is the 4^th time Rowan has had three medalists in the same event at Nationals.

In 1981 in Cleveland, Gary Moore [Overbrook], Leon Devero [Linden] and Clayton Davis [Atlantic City] went 1-4-5 in the 110-meter hurdles, in 1984, Don Deckert [Oakcrest], Bob Rimkis  [Washington Twp.] and Lennie Hernandez [Memorial-West New York] went 1-2-6 in the steeplechase and last year Nkrumah [Teaneck], Agyemang [North Plainfield] and Marquise Young [Sterling] went 1-2-5 in the 110 hurdles.

(No thanks to Rowan’s track web site on this one. They list All-America picks year by year but not their place or performance. It’s called sports INFORMATION. How about providing some? It would take an hour to update the entire list.)

Rowan’s 3^rd-place finish wasn’t solidifed until the final event of the three-day meet. When Wisconsin Oshkosh would have moved into 3^rd place with a top-three finish but placed 6^th .

Rowan’s 3^rd-place finish matches their best since they won their 5^th straight title in 1984. They’ve now placed in the top five five straight years and they’ve been 3^rd four times the last seven times the meet has been contested.

The Profs went into the meet ranked 6^th in Division 3 behind Wisconsin La Crosse, Wisconsin Eau Claire, Wisconsin Oshkosh, Lynchburg and Bethel (Minn.). La Crosse [84 points] and Eau Claire [56] finished 1^st and 2^nd but Rowan beat three teams ranked ahead of them – Oshkosh [5^th with 39], Lynchburg [7^th with 25] and Bethel [6^th with 35]

Rowan year-by-year team place and scoring
2023: 39 points [t3^rd]
1974: None
1975: None
1976: tie 33^rd [6]
1977: tie 39^th [6]
1978: 2^nd [35]
1979: 2^nd [44]
1980: 1^st [61]
1981: 1^st [58]
1982: 1^st [119]
1983: 1^st [97]
1984: 1^st [114]
1985: 8^th [27]
1986: tie 35^th [6]
1987: tie 37^th [8]
1988: tie 39^th [7]
1989: tie 30^th [9]
1990: 20^th [15]
1991: 11^th [25]
1992: 20^th [14]
1993: tie 12^th [16]
1994: tie 52^nd [4]
1995: 21^st [10]
1996: 9^th [17]
1997: tie 8^th [25]
1998: tie 5^th [35]
1999: 16^th [16]
2000: 49^th [5]
2001: tie 42^nd [6]
2002: tie 40^th [6]
2003: tie 43^rd [6]
2004: None
2005: 33^rd [7 ½]
2006: tie 66^th [1]
2007: tie 42^nd [5]
2008: tie 69^th [2]
2009: tie 29^th [10]
2010: tie 17^th [14]
2011: tie 12^th [18]
2012: 8^th [23]
2013: tie 31^st [8]
2014: None
2015: tie 43^rd [6]
2016: tie 18^th [15]
2017: tie 7^th [23]
2018: 3^rd [27]
2019: tie 40^th [7]
2020: Not held
2021: 4^th [41]
2022: tie 5^th [30]
2023: tie 3^rd [39]
2024: tie 3^rd [43]
2025: 3^rd [44 ½]

All-TIme Rowan NCAA Division 3 Hurdles Medalists
1980: Leon Devero, 1st, 14.42
1980: Clayton Davis, 6th, 14.90
1981: Garry Moore, 1st, 13.96
1981: Leon Devero, 4th, 14.22
1981: Clayton Davis, 5th, 14.40
1982: Garry Moore, 1st, 13.99
1982: Robert Beamon, 2nd, 14.22
1983: Stanley Moore, 1st, 14.01
1983: Anthony Abicca, 3rd, 14.69
1984: Robert (Beamon) Abdullah, 1st, 14.40
1985: Jason Mouring, 3rd, 14.39
1986: Jason Mouring, 6th, 14.68
1987: Jason Mouring, 3rd, 14.54
1996: Linval Lewis, 5th, 14.64
2015: Dave Benjamin, 3rd, 14.00w
2017: Dave Benjamin, 2nd, 14.19
2018: Bobby Cooks, 3rd, 14.24
2019: Tyrone Garland, 3rd, 14.40
2023: Nkrumah Kwaku, 4th, 14.25
2024: Nkrumah Kwaku, 1st, 13.77
2024: Jason Agyemang, 2nd, 13.80
2024: Marquise Young, 5th, 14.21
2025: Jamir Brown, 1^st,. 13.75
2025: Jason Agyemang, 2^nd, 13.82
2025: Anais Hughes, 7^th, 14.71

All-Time Rowan National Champions
1978: Mark Kelly, high jump, 6-11 ¾
1978: Mike Juskus, javelin, 222-8
1980: Tavo Rivera, 800, 1:49.54
1980: Leon Devero, 110 hurdles, 14.42
1980: Derick Adamson, 3,000 steeplechase, 9:01.37
1980: Mike Juskus, javelin, 258-5
1981: Willie Richardson, 800, 1:51.12
1981: Mike Juskus, javelin, 248-8
1981: Garry Moore, 110 hurdles, 13.96
1982: Willie Lawson, 800, 1:50.29
1982: Garry Moore, 110 hurdles, 13.99
1983: Stanley Moore, 110 hurdles, 14.01
1983: Stanley Moore, 400 hurdles, 52.39
1984: Don Deckert, 3,000 steeplechase, 9:00.13
1984: Ron Deckert, 5,000-meter run, 14:13.46
1984: Robert Abdullah, 110 hurdles [co], 14.40
1984: 1,600-Meter Relay [R. Moore, Abdullah, Lambing, Stone], 3:12.40
1985: 1,600-Meter Relay [Adams, R. Moore, Thomas, Lawson], 3:11.57
1992: Mike Boone, javelin, 219-4
1997: Rich Dixon, 400, 47.33
1997: William Cruz, 400 hurdles, 51.67
1998: Rich Dixon, 400, 47.58
1998: Ed Colleton, javelin, 210-4
2011: 1,600-Meter Relay [Maxwell, Purdue, Ejaz, Rooks], 3:11.45
2012: 1,600-Meter Relay [Maxwell, Purdue, Ejaz, Rooks], 3:10.56
2017: Anthony Salemo, 400 hurdles, 51.06
2021: Ahmir Johnson, triple jump, 49-7
2021: 1,600-Meter Relay [Conte, Barbieri, Bishop, Terry], 3:11.81
2024: Kwaku Nkrumah, 110 hurdles, 13.77
2025: Jamir Brown, 110 hurdles, 13.77

Rowan’s all-South Jersey all-star 400-meter relay team earned All-America honors for a 3^rd straight year Saturday with a 2nd-place at NCAA Division 3 Nationals in Geneva, Ohio, and the 4^th-fastest time in NCAA Division 3 history.

Senior Shamar Love of Bridgeton, senior Robert McKinney of Highland, junior Eli Hendricks of Penns Grove and junior Evan Corcoran of Kingsway ran 39.72 after a 39.97 in the trials on Thursday at SPIRE Institute.

Wisconsin La Crosse won the race in 39.66, finishing just 6-100ths of a second ahead of Rowan. Their time is 2^nd-fastest in D-3 history behind only their 39.53 last week on their home track.

Rowan’s time is fastest ever by a school other than Wisconsin La Crosse.

Rowan went into the final as the No. 2 seed at 39.97 from Thursday’s trials. That at the time was a school record and 11^th-fastest in Division 3 history. In the final, they cut another quarter second from that time, missing the national record by 21-100ths of a second.

Their time is No. 32 among U.S. 4-by-1 teams on the World Athletics database.

All-Time NCAA Division 3 400-Meter Relay List
39.53 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2025 [La Crosse, Wisc.]
39.66 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2025 [Geneva, Ohio]
39.72 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2024 [Rock Island, Ill.]
39,.72 … Rowan, 2025 [Geneva, Ohio]
39.77 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2025 [Geneva, Ohio]
39.81 … Wisconsin Oshkosh, 2025 [Oshkosh, Wisc.]
39.82 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2024 [Myrtle Beach, S.C.]
39.86 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2023 [Rochester, N.Y.]
39.87 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2025 [Oshkosh, Wisc.]
39.92 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2024 [Myrtle Beach, S.C.]
39.95 … Jersey City State, 2006 [Philadelphia]
39.96 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2023 [Rochester, N.Y.]
39.97 … Rowan, 2025 [Geneva, Ohio]

This is the 9^th time Rowan has earned All-America honors in the 4-by-1 and the 5^th time in the last 10 years. The 2^nd-place finish matches their best ever in a 4-by-1. The 2023 team of Nana Agyemang, Jah’mere Beasley, Donovan Clement and Julian Pratt ran 40.14 and placed 2^nd in Rochester.

1994     7^th [42.10]
2001     3^rd [40.98 [40.88 in trials]
2002     3^rd [41.06]
2003     3^rd [40.83]
2016     4^th [40.92]
2017     4^th [41.18]
2023     2^nd [40.14]
2024     5^th [40.68]
2025     2^nd [39.72]

Rowan freshman Nyla Jones from Timber Creek will race in the 400-meter hurdles final at NCAA Division 3 Championships Saturday.

Jones, who set an NJAC record of 1:00.42 earlier this month in Ewing, ran 1:02.36 in the semifinals. The final is scheduled for 3:25 p.m. Saturday at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Jones is bidding to become Rowan’s first All-America in the 400 hurdles in 32 years, since Laiton Roberts from Oakcrest placed 3^rd with a 1:025.57 at 1993 Nationals at Baldwin-Wallace University in Berea, Ohio.

Jones is one of only two freshmen in the 400 hurdles final. She’ll be in Lane 1.

Paulsboro’s Jamile Gantt, a sophomore at Rowan, earned All-America honors for the second straight year Friday with a 3^rd-place finish and personal best in the high jump at the NCAA Division 3 National Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

Gantt came into the meet with a PR of 6-9 ¾ from last year’s NCAA D-3 Championships in Myrtle Beach, S.C. He tied that on his first attempt Friday before clearing 6-11 on his 3^rd and final try.

He’s now 3^rd in school history, behind only Eastern’s Jeffrey Jon Tucker, who cleared 7-2 ¼ at the 2018 Penn Relays, and Kelly with his 6-11 ¾.

Gantt is the first Rowan high jumper to earn All-America honors in consecutive years since Princeton High graduate Peter Sharpless, who was 5^th in 1983 at 6-10 ¼ and 5^th again in 1984 at 6-11.

Gantt was clean at 6-4 ¾, 6-6 ¾, 6-8 ¾ and 6-9 ¾ before his successful clearance at 6-11.

Gantt’s finish matches the best by a Rowan or Glassboro State high jumper at nationals in 47 years, since Mark Kelly, a graduate of Audubon who won the 1978 Division 3 title at 6-11 ¾ Two other Rowan jumpers have placed 3^rd at nationals – Tucker in 2016 and Harrison Escoffery from Hackensack in 2018.

Rowan freshman Noah Wampole cleared 6-8 3/4 and finished in a four-way tie for 6th place for 1 1/2 team points for the Profs. His PR is 6-9 from a meet in Glassboro last month. Wampole, from Radnor High in Delaware County, had a high school PR of 6-6.

This is the first time Rowan / Glassboro has had two All-America high jumpers the same year.

Another Rowan jumper, sophomore Arrington Rhys from Hamilton West, cleared 6-6 3/4 and tied for 13th. He just PR’d at 6-9 last weekend in Baltimore.

Top-seeded Jackson Biley, an MIT junior, cleared 7-0 ¼ on his 2^nd attempt to tie his PR and win the national title, and senior Christian Pfeiffer of Baldwin-Wallace cleared 7-0 ¼ on his 2^nd attempt to set a PR and place 2^nd.  Both missed three tries at 7-1 1/2. Biley won based on fewer misses at 6-11.

Gantt’s 6-11 is 2^nd-best ever by a Gloucester County alum, behind only Williamstown’s Devin Bradham, who cleared 7-1 ½ in 2019.

It was a mixed bag for Hurdle U in the 110-meter hurdles semifinals Friday at the NCAA Division 3 Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

Junior Jason Agyemang and freshman Jamir Brown won their heats and advanced to the final as the two-fastest qualifiers, but junior Kwaku Nkrumah, the defending champion, didn’t finish the race and won’t advance to the final.

Brown, Agyemang and Nkrumah are ranked 1^st, 3^rd and 4^th on the all-time NCAA Division 3 performance list at 13.60, 13.74 and 13.77.

Agyemang ran 13.93 in the first heat and Brown – the Division 3 record holder at 13.60 – ran 14.00 to win the 2^nd heat. They were the two-fastest in the trials.

Another Rowan hurdler, junior Anaias Hughes from Willingboro, ran 14.34 in the 1^st heat and advanced to the final as the No. 7 seed. That’s only 5-100ths of a second off his PR of 14.29.

So Rowan has three of the top-seven seeds in the final without the defending national champion.

The final is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. Saturday at SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio.

Is there an event Natalie Dumas can’t run?

Dumas, who so far this year has run 12.23 for 100 meters, 24.02 for 200, 51.87 for 400, 2:13.37 in the 800 and 58.37 in the intermediates, became South Jersey’s fastest miler Thursday night.

Dumas, a junior at Eastern, ran 4:55.66 in her first outdoor 1,600 ever at the 1,600 Night at the Nest at Allentown.

That’s 7^th-fastest in New Jersey this year, 18^th-fastest in South Jersey history and No. 7 on the all-time Camden County list.

Dumas was out in 69.34 and came through 800 in 2:28.78 and 1,200 in 3:45.63 before closing in 70.02.

Nobody in state history has ever run as fast as Dumas in every event from 200 meters to the 1,600.

She goes into the state Group 4 meet in Somerset with the fastest times out of all sectionals in the 400 and intermediates, 3^rd-fastest in the 200 and 8^th-fastest in the 800.

Dumas has run a couple indoor 1,600s with a PR of 5:05.92 at Ocean Breeze this past February.

All-Time South Jersey Sub-5 List
4:41.16 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2000
4:41.5y … Michelle Rowen [Washington Twp.], 1982
4:45.91 … Shaelan McNally [Paul VI], 2024
4:45.97 … Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 2014
4:48.73y … Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 2010
4:48.82y … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
4:49.11 … Renee Tomlin [Ocean City], 2005
4:49.26 … Rachel Vick [Kingsway], 2017
4:51.43 … Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 2017
4:51.84 … Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2024
4:52.95 … Caitlin Orr [Lenape], 2009
4:54.25 … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2021
4:54.71 … Megan Hartman [Ocean City], 1994
4:54.76 … Allison Colflesh [Haddonfield], 2021
4:54.88 … Bridget Flynn [Holy Spirit], 2012
4:55.41 … Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2004
4:55.45 … Julianna Catania [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2016
4:55.66 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012
4:55.66 … Natalie Dumas [Eastern], 2025
4:55.70 … Dina Iacone [Washington Twp.], 2012
4:55.90 … Sarah Naticchia [Haddonfield], 2019

 

Top-seeded long jumper Greg Foster from Lumberton leads a large contingent of 18 South Jersey athletes into the NCAA Division 1 track championships, which open with preliminary round competition at two sites next weekend.

Foster, a Princeton junior, is the No. 1 long jumper in the East Region with his 26-7 ¼ from a meet in Charlottesville, Va., last month. The mark was wind-aided, but the NCAA does not consider wind readings when determining the NCAA fields.

Overall, Foster is ranked 3^rd in the NCAA Division 1 behind Lokesh Sathyanathan of Tarleton State of Stephenville, Texas [26-8 ½] and Charles Godfrey of Minnesota [26-8 ¼].

The East prelims will be held in Jacksonville, Fla., with the West prelims in College Station, Texas. Both meets are scheduled to run May 28-13.

The top 12 placers in each event from each region advance to the NCAA Championships June 11-14 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Note that Washington Township’s Ajani Dwyer, a Penn State freshman ranked 12^th in the East Region in the 100 at 10.05, was not entered.

Here’s a glance at the South Jersey athletes headed to either Jacksonville or College Station.

East Men
Gabriel Moronta [Pleasantville], South Florida: Moronta is the 9^th seed in the 400 with his PR 45.31 in Gainesville last month. Moronta, a transfer from Mississippi State, won the Amerian Conference 400 this past weekend in 45.55. He’s also expected to anchor South Florida’s 4-by-4, which is seeded 3^rd at 3:02.13. That quartet is ranked 21^st in the world.

Nico Morales [Delsea], Rutgers: Morales continued his record-breaking season by clearing an all-time South Jersey-record 18 feet at the Big 10 Championships in Eugene. For some reason, every clearance in that meet is listed as a “no-height” in the TFRRS database, so in the NCAA seedings Morales is listed with his 17-9 from a meet in Piscataway in April, which makes him officially the 15^th seed. But he should be the No. 12 seed. It doesn’t really matter, but it’s annoying.

Greg Foster [Lumberton/Lawrenceville School], Princeton: This is Foster’s 4^th trip to NCAAs. His best finish so far is 10^th indoors this past March in Virginia Beach. He actually ran fast enough in the hurdles [13.78] to qualify but wasn’t entered and will focus solely on the long jump in Jacksonville.

Premier Wynn [Pennsauken], Norfolk State: Wynn qualified in both the 400-meter hurdles, where he’s the 27^th seed with a 50.70, and with Norfolk State’s 4-by-4 team, seeded 18^th with its 3:05.07.

Bryce Tucker [Pennsauken], Rutgers: Wynn’s training partner and high school teammate is also entered in the intermediates and is the No. 30 seed with his 50.79 season best.

Jason Nwosu [Delsea], South Florida: Moronta and Nwosu both set school records at South Florida this spring, with Nwosu PR’ing in the shot put at 58-8 ¾ in Gainesville last month. Nwosu is a transfer from William and Mary.

Kevin Burr [Rancocas Valley], Tennessee
Burr is one of the top javelin throwers in the country and PR’d with a 246-8 earlier this month in Knoxville. That’s the No. 6 mark by a South Jersey high school graduate and makes him the No. 6 seed.

Yashahya Brown [Washington Twp.], Rutgers
Good news seeing Brown’s name on the declared list. He hasn’t raced in over a month and hasn’t run a hurdles race since PR’ing at 13.82 in Tampa five weeks ago. But he made the field as the 35^th seed in the 110 highs and hopefully is over the hamstring injury that sidelined him for a chunk of the season.

Ahmad Brock [Egg Haror Twp.], Monmouth
Brock made the field with a wind-legal 25-3 ½ in a meet at Rutgers last month. That’s the best jump ever by an Atlantic County native, just ahead of a 25-2 by Paul Klemic of Mainland in Waverly, Iowa, in 2005.

East Women
Alyssa Garozzo [Paul VI], Duke
Garozzo, a Duke grad student, is the 8^th seed in the 400-meter hurdles with her 55.77 on her home track in Durham in April. She competed at NCAA East prelims last spring as a senior at Penn. She’s also a likely leg on Duke’s 4-by-4, which is the 4^th seed at 3:27.77. She’s also listed as an alternate on Duke’s 4-by-1, the 6^th seed at 43.42.

Arianna Smith [Pennsville], Howard
Smith PR’d with a 56.11 when she won the MEAC Championships earlier this month in Norfolk. That’s 3^rd-fastest all-time by a South Jersey athlete, behind Rancocas Valley’s Tonya Lee [55.78 in 1997] and Garozzo. She’s the 7^th seed in the intermediates and is also in the field as the 24^th seed for the highs with her 13.19 in the prelims at MEACs. That’s also No. 3 all-time on the South Jersey performance list [behind Nia Ali’s 12.34 in Doha in 2019 and Tionna Tobias’s 13.11 in 2023 in Bloomington, Ind.]. Snith is also on Howard’s 4-by-4, the 14^th seed at 3:30.88.

Kami Joi Hickson [Washington Twp.], Maryland
Hickson, who PR’d in the 800 this month with a 2:07.25, will race at NCAAs on Maryland’s 4-by-4, which qualified with a 3:35.38.

Jenovia Logan [Sterling], Rutgers
Logan is the No. 8 seed in the high jump with her lifetime-best 5-11 ½ in March in Tampa. That’s No. 4 on the all-time South Jersey alumni list.

Helene Usher [Haddonfield], La Salle
Usher had an outstanding sophomore year with PRs of 16:35.77 and 34:13.65, and it’s in the 10,000 that she qualified for NCAAs.

West Women
Leah Howard [Millville], Texas Tech
Howard is the 24^th seed in the javelin with a PR 163-10 from a meet last month in College Station, where she’ll throw in NCAA prelims.

Jewel Ash [Eastern], Fresno State
Another of South Jersey’s battery of fast women intermediate hurdlers this spring along with Garozzo and Smith in the East. Ash, a transfer from Charleston Southern, ran a season-best 57.63 in Clovis, Calif., and is the 19^th seed in the West.

West Men
Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], Texas Tech
Rhea returns to NCAAs as the 14^th seed in the 110-meter highs with his 13.48, which he’s run twice this year. Rhea placed 14^th in the 2021 indoor NCAAs in the 60-meter highs and and also ran the 110 highs at East Prelims that spring and again in 2023 competing for Miami. He advanced out of NCAA Prelims in the spring of 2023 but was DQ’d in the national semifinals.

Floyd Whitaker [Highland], Oklahoma
Whitaker, a transfer from Minnesota, is the No. 8 triple jumper in Division 1 and seeded 5^th in the West with his 53-1 ½ in Lexington, Ky., last week.

Rowan’s freshman Rajahn Dixon from Eastern and sophomore Eli Hendricks from Penns Grove advanced to the 200-meter dash finals at the NCAA Division 3 Championships Thursday in Geneva, Ohio.

Racing in the second of three semifinals, Dixon clocked a lifetime-best 21.13 with a legal 0.0 wind, the 2^nd-fastest time in Rowan history behind school record holder Jah’mere Beasley from Sterling, who ran 20.91 on the same track at SPIRE Academy in both the semis and finals at 2022 NCAA Division 3 Nationals.

Dixon’s previous PR was a 21.22 in a last-chance meet last week at Widener University in Chester, Pa. His high school PR was 21.40 last May at the Camden County Championships at Haddon Township, and his wind-legal high school PR was 21.57 at West Philly Nationals in June of 2023. So he’s nearly half a second faster now than in high school.

Dixon was the 3^rd-fastest qualifier into the final, behind only Samuel Blaskowski of Wisconsin La Crosse, the Division 3 record holder at 100 meters and No. 2 all-time in the 200, who ran 20.56 in the first heat, and Kevin Arthur of St. John’s of Collegeville, Minn., who ran 21.07 in the third.

Hendricks was 2^nd to Blaskowski in the first heat in 21.22, making him the 6^th-fastest in the trials and 3^rd-fastest “small-q” qualifier. He also ran with a 0.0 wind reading and raced within 1-100^th of a second of his lifetime-best 21.21, also from the last-chance meet at Widener last week.

Earlier in the day, Hendricks ran on Rowan’s school-record 400-meter relay team, which advanced to Sunday’s final with the 11th-fastest time in NCAA Division 3 history. That story is here.

The 200 final is scheduled for 3:40 p.m. on Saturday.

Here’s the current all-time Rowan top-5, with three of the top four coming this month:

20.91 … Jah’mere Beasley [Sterling], NCAA Division 3, Geneva, Ohio, May 28, 2022 [+1.9]
21.13 … Rajahn Dixon [Eastern], NCAA Division 3 prelims, Geneva, Ohio., May 22, 2025 [+0.0]
21.18 … Shamar Love [Bridgeton], NJAC Championships, Ewing, May 3, 2025 [+1.4]
21.21 … Eli Hendricks [Penns Grove], Widener Final Qualifier, Chester, Pa., May 12, 2025 [+0.5]
21.28 … Charles Cooper [Paulsboro], NCAA Division 3, Berea, Ohio, May 26, 1979 [N/A]

Rowan’s all-South Jersey 400-meter relay team of Shamar Love, Robert McKinney, Eli Hendricks and Evan Corcoran ran the 11^th-fastest time in NCAA Division 3 history Thursday in the prelims of the Division 3 National Championships in Genevam, Ohio.

Rowan ran 39.97 and broke the school record of 40.03 they set last week in Chester, Pa., with the same lineup. They came into nationals as the No. 3 seed behind two Wisconsin powerhouses – La Crosse at 39.53 and Oshkosh at 39.81. La Crosse was fastest qualifier with a meet-record 39.77, and Oshkosh did not finish the race. The previous meet record was 39.82 by La Crosse last year.

Other than La Crosse and Oshkosh, the only other school to run faster in Division 3 history is New Jersey City of Jersey City [39.95 at the 2006 Penn RElays]. Winslow graduate Anthony Miles led off that New Jersey City relay team.

Love is a senior from Bridgeton, McKinney a senior from Highland, Hendricks a sophomore from Penns Grove and Corcoran a junior from Kingsway.

The final is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Saturday.

Here’s a look at the sub-40 NCAA Division 3 400-meter relay performance list:

39.53 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2025 [La Crosse, Wisc.]
39.72 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2024 [Rock Island, Ill.]
39.77 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2025 [Geneva, Ohio]
39.81 … Wisconsin Oshkosh, 2025 [Oshkosh, Wisc.]
39.82 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2024 [Myrtle Beach, S.C.]
39.86 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2023 [Rochester, N.Y.]
39.87 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2025 [Oshkosh, Wisc.]
39.92 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2024 [Myrtle Beach, S.C.]
39.95 … Jersey City State, 2006 [Philadelphia]
39.96 … Wisconsin La Crosse, 2023 [Rochester, N.Y.]
39.97 … Rowan, 2025 [Geneva, Ohio]