STERLING’S MARQUISE YOUNG, PITMAN’S NICHOLAS RAZZE HELP ROWAN TAKE 4TH IN 4×4, CAP OFF 3RD-PLACE TEAM FINISH AT NCAA DIVISION 3 NATIONALS!!!!!!

With Sterling’s Marquise Young and Pitman’s Nicholas Razze in the lineup, Rowan ran a blistering 3:11.41 and placed 4th in the 1,600-meter relay Saturday at the NCAA Division 3 Championships, giving the Profs their most points at nationals in 40 years.

With more than half their points coming in the 110-meter hurdles, Rowan recorded its 4th consecutive top-5 finish at D-3 nationals. Their 43 points placed them 3rd, behind only two Wisconsin powerhouses – La Crosse, which won with 76 points, and Oshkosh, which was 2nd with 48 points.

The Profs went into the 4-by-4 with 38 points – 22 in the hurdles with a historic 1-2-5 finish from Kwaku Nkrumah, Jason Agyemang and Young, plus 10 in the javelin with Damitrius Hester and Thomas Flanagan going 3-5, four in the 400-meter relay with Nana Agyemang, Penns Grove’s Eli Hendricks, Bridgeton’s Shamar Love and Highland’s Robert McKinney in 5th place, and Paulsboro’s Jamile Gantt contributed two points in the high jump.

The five 4-by-4 points gave Rowan 43, their most since the 1984 team won with 114 points in Northfield, Minn., the Profs’ fifth of five consecutive national titles.

In eight years under head coach Dustin Dimit, Rowan has now placed in the top 10 in Division 3 six times, including 4th in 2021, tied for 5th in 2022, tied for 3rd in 2023 and now 3rd this year. It’s the first time they’ve finished in the top five four years in a row since the 1980 through 1984 teams won five straight D-3 titles under legendary Bill Fritz.

Since 1976, Rowan has failed to score at D-3 Nationals just twice out of 48 years the meet’s been held.

Rowan at NCAA Division 3 Nationals Year-by-Year
1974: Did not score
1975: Did not score
1976: 6 points [tied for 33rd]
1977: 6 points [tied for 39th]
1978: 35 points [2nd]
1979: 44 points [2nd]
1980: 61 points [1st]
1981: 58 points [1st]
1982: 119 points [1st]
1983: 97 points [1st]
1984: 114 points [1st]
1985: 27 points [8th]
1986: 6 points [tied for 35th]
1987: 8 points [tied for 37th]
1988: 7 points [tied for 39th]
1989: 9 points [tied for 30th]
1990: 15 points [20th]
1991: 25 points [11th]
1992: 14 points [20th]
1993: 16 points [tied for 12th]
1994: 4 points [tied for 52nd]
1995: 10 points [tied for 21st]
1996: 17 points [9th]
1997: 25 points [tied for 8th]
1998: 35 points [5th]
1999: 16 points [tied for 16th]
2000: 5 points [tied for 49th]
2001: 6 points [tied for 42nd]
2002: 6 points [tied for 40th]
2003: 6 points [tied for 43rd]
2004: Did not score
2005: 7 ½ points [33rd]
2006: 1 point [tied for 66th]
2007: 5 points [tied for 42nd]
2008: 2 points [tied for 68th]
2009: 10 points [tied for 29th]
2010: 14 points [tied for 17th]
2011: 18 points [tied for 12th]
2012: 23 points [8th]
2013: 8 points [tied for 31st]
2014: Did not score
2015: 6 points [tied for 43rd]
2016: 15 points [tied for 18th]
2017: 23 points [tied for 7th]
2018: 26 points [3rd]
2019: 7 points [tied for 40th]
2020: Not held
2021: 41 points [4th]
2022: 30 points [tied for 5th]
2023: 39 points [tied for 3rd]
2024: 43 points [3rd]

Rowan’s 18 Top-10 Finishes at NCAA Division 3 Championships
1980: 61 points [1st]
1981: 58 points [1st]
1982: 119 points [1st]
1983: 97 points [1st]
1984: 114 points [1st]
1978: 35 points [2nd]
1979: 44 points [2nd]
2018: 26 points [3rd]
2024: 43 points [3rd]
2023: 39 points [tied for 3rd]
2021: 41 points [4th]
1998: 35 points [5th]
2022: 30 points [tied for 5th]
2017: 23 points [tied for 7th]
1985: 27 points [8th]
2012: 23 points [8th]
1997: 25 points [tied for 8th]
1996: 17 points [9th]

TWO MORE ALL-AMERICA FINISHES FOR KINGSWAY’S KYLIE ANICIC AT NCAA DIVISION 2 CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!!!!!!

Kingsway’s Kylie Anicic, a senior at Edinboro, picked up two more All-America honors this weekend at the NCAA Division 2 Championships in Emporia, Kan.

Anicic placed 6th in the 10,000 in 35:14.59 on Thursday and 6th again on Saturday in the 5,000 in 16:53.67.

Anicic was 9th with a lap to go Saturday but closed in 71.17 and passed three runners to finish 6th and lock up her 7th All-America honor in track and cross country.

These were the final races of Anicic’s collegiate career, which saw her start out playing soccer at Temple, then running briefly for Towson before blossoming at Edinboro. During her Edinboro career, she competed in 18 PSAC races and won all 18.

Anicic has PRs of 4:30.52 for 1,500 meters, 9:27.55 for 3,000 meters, 16:14.07 in the 5,000 and 33:25.55 in the 10,000. The only other South Jersey high school alums to run that fast for all four events are Olympian Marielle Hall from Haddonfield and Erika Kemp from Rancocas Valley.

Anicic is only 5 ½ seconds off the B standard of 33:20.0 to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 10,000.

5000 https://results.leonetiming.com/?mid=7270
10000 https://results.leonetiming.com/?mid=7270

Wilson’s Dennisha Page easily advances to NCAA Championships in 100 and 200 at East Prelims!!!!!!

Wilson’s Dennisha Page advanced to the NCAA Championships in Eugene next month in both her events at the East Region Preliminary this weekend in Lexington, Ky.

Page, a senior at Tennessee, ran 11.19 in the 100 and 22.53 in the 200. Among qualifiers for Eugene, she’s 23rd in the 100 and 11th in the 200, but those figures are a little deceiving because Page was racing to advance, not for the fastest time.

Overall, she’s 10th in NCAA Division 1 in the 100 at 11.10 and 6th in the 200 at 22.39, both from the SEC Championships earlier this month in Gainesville. She’s the 19th-ranked American woman in the 100 and 11th in the 200.

The NCAA Championships are scheduled for June 5-8 at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. Page will race in the 100 semis at 7 p.m. June 6 and the 200 semis at 7:44 p.m. The finals follow that Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately, Tennessee’s 400-meter relay team, ranked 4th in the world and 1st in the NCAA at 42.52, was disqualified in Saturday’s championship quarterfinal round for a baton pass out of the zone.

WOODSTOWN’S MOLLY LODGE, PENNSAUKEN’S JASMINE POPE, TRITON’S NEVAEAH LORJUSTE EARN ALL-AMERICA HONORS WITH BLAZING 4TH-PLACE FINISH AT NCAA DIVISION 3 CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!!!!!!

Woodstown’s Molly Lodge, Pennsauken’s Jasmine Pope and Triton’s Nevaeah Lorjuste earned All-America honors late Saturday when Rowan placed 4th in the NCAA Division 3 Championships in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Rowan ran 3:45.56, the 2nd-fastest time in school history and fastest in 10 years.

Lodge had just placed 7th in the 400-meter hurdles, so she became a double All-America in under an hour, and she’s now earned a total of four All-America honors at Rowan.

Pope, a transfer from St. Peter’s, earned her 2nd All-America honor after running on Rowan’s 5th-place 4-by-4 at the indoor NCAA Division 3 meet in Virginia Beach in March.

And the NCAA All-America honor is the 3rd for Lorjuste.

Lodge and Pope ran the first two legs – three-turn stagger, so no splits – and  Rowan came through the second handoff in 4th place when Pope handed off to Kat Pederson, a Hillsborough High graduate, split 56.91 and handed off to Lorjuste, who blazed a 54.74 anchor leg.

Rowan finished just six meters behind winner Washington University of St. Louis, which won the race in 3:44.69. The first six teams all finished within 12 meters of each other.

It was the 2nd-fastest time in Rowan history. The 2014 team of Jessalynn Wright, Jamie Thompson, Tashay Wilson and Melirah Searcy ran 3:44.60 when it placed 4th at the Division 3 Nationals at Ohio Wesleyan in Delaware, Ohio (go Battling Bishops!)

This is the 5th time Rowan has medaled in the 1,600-meter relay at NCAA Division 3 Nationals, and the 4th-place finish matches the besrt in school history:

1992 [Waterville, Maine]: The Glassboro State lineup included Rona Henderson from Freehold Borough, Nasirah Mitchell of Newark West Side, Kimara Mitchell from Washington Township and Laiton Roberts from Oakcrest. The Profs finished 6th in 3:53.89.
2013 [La Crosse, Wisc.]: Delsea’s Brianna Crofton and Schalick’s Joyce Perry ran the first two legs, with Melirah Searcy of Edison handling the 3rd leg. Pemberton’s Shailah Williams anchored, and the Profs finished 8th in 3:48.02.
2014 [Delaware, Ohio]: Rowan set its school record of 3:44.60 with a 4th-place finish, but there’s some confusion about exactly who ran. Rowan’s web site lists Searcy, Brianna Angelella of Southern Regional, Tashay Wilson of Hillside and Cherokee’s Jessalynn Wright, but the official results list Wright leading off, Jamie Thompson of South Brunswick running 2nd and then Wilson and Searcy on the last two legs. Considering the track record of Rowan’s track web site, I’d go with the official results.
2015 [Canton, N.Y.]: Angelella, Searcy, Wilson and Wright placed 7th in 3:51.93.
2024 [Myrtle Beach, S.C.]: The Profs medaled in the 4-by-4 for the first time in nine years with Lodge, Pope, Pederson and Lorjuste taking 4th in 3:45.56.

With points from Lodge in the intermediate hurdles and one point in the javelin from junior Isabelle Deal of Washington Township, Rowan tied for 27th place with eight points.

ROWAN HURDLERS GO 1-2-5 AT NCAA DIVISION 3 CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH 2 OF THE FASTEST TIMES IN D-3 HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rowan sophomores Kwaku Nkrumah and Jason Agyemang turned in a historic 1-2 finish in the 110-meter hurdles Saturday evening at the NCAA Division 3 Championships in Myrtle Beach.

Nkrumah ran 13.77 and Agyemang 13.80 – with a legal 1.2 meters-per-second tailwind. Their times are 2nd- and 4th-fastest in meet history and overall NCAA Division 3 history and the two-fastest times in Rowan and NJAC history.

Another Rowan hurdler, Sterling graduate Marquise Young, placed 5th in 14.21.

Nkrumah, who ran a slightly wind-aided 13.73 in Friday’s trials, missed the meet record of 13.72 – set in 2021 by Taylor Rooney of Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter, Minn. – by 5-100ths of a second. His previous wind-legal PR was

Agyemang’s previous PR was 14.12 just last week at the AARTFC Championships in Cortland, N.Y.

Nkrumah, a graduate of Teaneck High in Bergen County, broke the 42-year-old Rowan school record of 13.90 set in the qualifying heats at the 1982 NCAA Division 3 Nationals in Naperville, Ill., by Overbrook graduate Gary Moore.

The race was delayed 2 ½ hours because of thunderstorms in the Myrtle Beach area.

With the 22 points in one event, Rowan moved into a tie for the lead with Wisconsin-Oshkosh with 38 points each with six events remaining.

Agyemang, from North Plainfield High in Somerset County, is now the 2nd-fastest sophomore in NCAA Division 3 history and on his own team.

The last time a school went 1-2 in the 110-meter hurdles at the NCAA Division 3 Nationals was Lincoln of Chester County, Pa., in 1999, and the last school with three hurdlers in the top eight at an NCAA Division 3 meet in 34 years, since Lincoln went 1-5-8 in the 1980 meet in Naperville. The last school with three finishers in the top five was Lincoln in 1986.

And the last school to go 1-2 and also have a 3rd medalist was Glassboro State in Naperville in 1982 with Moore 1st in 13.99, Paulsboro’s Robert Beaman 2nd in 14.22 and Anthony Abicca of Butler High in Morris County.

Nkrumah is Rowan’s first hurdles national champion since Beaman won in 1984 in 14.40 in Northfield, Minn.

Nkrumah and Young are now three-time All-Americas and Agyemang is a two-time All-America. Agyemang and Nkrumah placed 4th and 6th in the NCAA Division 3 indoor meet meet in Virginia Beach.

Other Glassboro State / Rowan national champs in the 110 highs are Leon Devero of Linden [14.42 in 1980], Moore [13.96 in 1981 in addition to 1982] and Overbrook’s Stanley Moore [14.01 in 1983].

Rowan has now had 29 individual national champs. Only Wisconsin-La Crosse [62], Lincoln [57], North Central [39] and Mount Union [36] have had more.

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

Here’s the updated all-time Rowan performance list:
13.77 … Nkrumah Kawaku, 2024
13.80 … Jason Agyemang, 2024
13.90 … Garry Moore, 1982
14.01 … Marquise Young, 2024
14.01 … Stanley Moore, 1983

Penns Grove’s Eli Hendricks, Bridgeton’s Shamar Love, Highland’s Robert McKinney earn All-America honors in 4×1 at NCAA Division 3 Nationals!!!!!!

Freshman Eli Hendricks of Penns Grove, senior Shamar Love from Bridgeton and junior Robert McKinney from Highland earned All-America honors Saturday when Rowan placed 5th at NCAA Division 3 Nationals in the 400-meter relay in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Rowan – ranked only 16th coming into nationals – ran 40.63 on Thursday to qualify for the final and ran 40.68 in the final.

Sophomore Nana Agyemang of Parsippany led off for the Profs followed by the three South Jersey sprinters.

Rowan placed 2nd at NCAA Division 3 Nationals last year and then lost half of that team – Sterling’s Jah’mere Beasley transferred and Kingsway’s Evan Corcoran hasn’t run since a meet in mid-April in Waco, Texas, and is presumably hurt.

Love led off last year’s team and is now a two-time All-America. The honor is the first for Hendricks and McKinney. Agyemang is now a six-time All-America.

Rowan high hurdlers making history at NCAA Division 3 Championships!!!!!!

Rowan sophomore Kwaku Nkrumah ran one of the fastest 110-meter hurdles time in NCAA Division 3 history under any conditions Friday and led all qualifiers into the final.

In the first of three semifinals at the NCAA Division 3 Championships at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Nkrumah ran 13.73, which would have been the 2nd-fastest time in NCAA Division 3 history had it not been aided by a 2.3 meters-per-second tailwind. Any race of 200 or shorter assisted by more than a 2.0 tailwind is not eligible for record purposes.

But USTFCCCA does track all times, and Nkrumah’s 13.73 is 4th-fastest among races in all wind readings. And according to the wind-correction calculator, it converts to a 13.89 with no wind, which equals the 5th-fastest time ever run in Division 3 with all wind readings adjusted to 0.0.

Nkrumah’s wind-legal PR is 14.00 from last week at the AARTFC Championships in Cortland, N.Y. Nkrumah ran high school track at the same high school as your humble scribe – Teaneck, in Bergen County.

Although Rowan’s web site lists Garry Moore – an Overbrook graduate – as the school record holder with a 13.40 in 1982, that never happened. Just one of many errors on the Rowan track web site. Moore’s fastest fat time was 13.90 in the qualifying rounds of NCAA Division Nationals in Naperville, Ill., and that remains the school record, although Nkrumah certainly seems ready to make a run at it if he can get a legal wind reading.

Interestingly, in that qualifying race where Moore ran 13.90, the 2nd-place runner was Mark Tankersley of Delaware Valley College, who went to Rancocas Valley.

In the 1982 final, Moore won in 13.99, Glassboro State teammate Robert Abdullah from Paulsboro was 2nd in 14.22 and Tankersley was 5th in 14.50, giving South Jersey three of the top-five finishers.

On Friday, Rowan sophomore Jason Agyemang from North Plainfield ran 13.95 in the 2nd of three heats with a legal 2.0 wind and was the 3rd-fastest qualifier Friday. So although he wasn’t the fastest Rowan hurdler in the race, he does get credit for the fastest time by a Glassboro / Rowan hurdler in 42 years. Agyemang’s previous PR was 14.12 last week in Cortland, N.Y.

Among legal times, Agyemang is 2nd-fastest in D-3 this year, behind Dontre Sinegal of McMurry University of Abiline, Texas, who ran 13.86 in the one wind-legal semifinal.

Rowan senior Marquise Young from Sterling ran 14.09 [with a 3.2 tailwind] and was the 6th-fastest qualifier. So Rowan had as many hurdlers run sub-14.10 as every other NCAA Division 3 school combined.

Sophomore Anaias Hughes from Willingboro ran 14.50 with a legal 2.0 wind in that second heat. His PR is 14.31, also from last week in Cortland. He missed advancing to the final by 22-100ths of a second and wound up 15th in all of Division 3.

Rowan does not have an all-time performance list on its web site, but the USTFCCCA web site does have deep all-time Division 3 performance lists, and that allowed me to put together at least a five-deep all-time Rowan wind-legal list:

13.90 … Garry Moore, 1982
13.95 … Jason Agyejmang, 2024
14.00 … Kwaku Nkrumah, 2024
14.01 … Marquise Young, 2024
14.01 … Stanley Moore, 1983

Rowan had David Benjamin run 14.00 in 2017 and Bobby Cooks 14.05 in 2018 but both were wind-aided.

The final is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday. Young will be in Lane 3, Nkrumah in Lane 4 and Agyemang in Lane 6.

PAULSBORO’S JAMILE GANTT EARNS NCAA DIVISION 3 ALL-AMERICA HIGH JUMP HONORS AS A TRUE FRESHMAN!!!!!!!!

Paulsboro’s Jamile Gantt, needing to clear a season-best 6-9 ½ to have a chance at All-America status, got over the bar on his 2nd attempt and finished 7th at the NCAA Division 3 Championships Friday in Myrtle Beach.

Gantt, a true freshman, had a collegiate best of 6-7 ½ until he cleared 6-9 last week at the AARTFC Championships in Cortland, N.Y. That qualified him for NCAAs as the No 16 seed.

Gantt was sitting in 7th place out of nine remaining competitors as the bar went from 6-9 ½ to 6-11, and the only way at that point that he could fail to earn All-America honors was if the two jumpers behind him – Jackson McDowell of St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., and Eli Mackowski of Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln – both cleared 6-11 and Gantt didn’t.

As it turned out, all three went out at 6-11, and Gantt had himself NCAA Division 3 All-America honors in his first NCAA meet.

Gantt’s finish was 2nd-best among freshmen behind only MIT’s Anthony Meng, who also cleared 6-9 ½ but did it on his 1st attempt.

With the metric progression of 1.95 / 2.00 / 2.05 / 2.08 / 2.11 / 2.14 etc., opening height was 6-4 ¾, and Gantt was clean over both 6-4 ¾ and 6-6 ¾. He cleared 6-8 ¾ on his 3rd and final attempt and 6-9 ¾ on his 2nd. He missed three tries at what would have been a lifetime-best 6-11

Gantt’s lifetime best is a 6-10 at the South Jersey Elite at Delsea last May. He was the state Group 1 champion and Meet of Champions runner-up last spring. He placed 2nd in the indoor NJAC meet at Ocean Breeze with a 6-7 ½ clearance and was 2nd earlier this month at the outdoor conference meet as well.

The last Paulsboro High male to earn All-America honors for Rowan or Glassboro State was hurdler Robert Abdullah, who was 2nd in the hurdles in 1982 and won in 1984. Paulsboro’s Euridee McCormick was a five-time All-America for the Rowan women’s team in the 100-meter hurdles in 1988, 1989 and 1990 and the hurdles and 4-by-1 in 1991.

Gantt is Rowan’s first high jump All-America since Harrison Escoffery from Hackensack placed 3rd in 2018 with a 6-10 ¼ clearance. The last South Jersey jumper to earn All-America honors for Rowan was Delsea graduate Jeffrey Jon Tucker, who was 4th in 2016 at 6-9 ½ and set the Rowan record of 7-2 ¼ at a meet at The College of New Jersey in Ewing in 2018.

Other Rowan high jump All-Americas are Audubon graduate Mark Kelly, the 1978 Division 3 champ at 6-11 ¾; Princeton’s Pete Sharpless who was 5th at 6-10 ¼ in 1983 and and tied for 5th at 6-11 in 1984; and Tim Bowser form Millville, who tied for 4th at 6-9 in 2005.

Jackson Biley of MIT won the event with a 7-0 1/4 clearance.

With lineups loaded with South Jersey legs, Rowan advances to finals in 4×1 and 4×4 at NCAA Division 3 Championships!!!!!!

With senior Marquise Young of Sterling leading off and senior Nicholas Razze from Pitman on the 3rd leg, Rowan’s 1,600-meter relay team advanced to the final at the NCAA Division 3 Championships.

And freshman Eli Hendricks from Penns Grove, senior Shamar Love from Bridgeton and junior Robert McKinney from Highland all ran on the Profs’ 400-meter relay team, which also advanced to the final.

In the 4-by-4, Rowan ran 3:11.33 with Young Parsippany’s Nana Agyemang, Razze and Amara Conte from Ferris High in Jersey City. Young, Agyemang and Conte – along with Sterling’s Jah’mere Beasley – set the school record of 3:08.74 a year ago this week when they placed 3rd at the 2023 NCAA Division 3 meet in Rochester, N.Y.

It took 3:12.65 just to qualify for the final, scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Bethel University of St. Paul, Minn., led all qualifiers in 3:10.15 and Mount Union ran 3:11.04. Other qualifiers were John Carroll [3:11.80], Wisconsin La Crosse [3:11.88], Dubuque [3:12.21], Wisconsin-Eau Claire [3:12.60] and Williams [3:12.65].

The top two finishers in each of two races automatically advance to the final, as well as the next four-fastest times. Rowan was 2nd to Mount Union in the 1st race for a large-Q qualifier.

In the 4-by-100, Agyemang led off, followed by Hendricks, Love and McKinney. They ran 40.63, 3rd-fastest time in school history and the 7th-fastest qualifier for the final at 4:15 p.m. Saturday.

La Crosse led all qualifiers in 39.92, only 6-100ths of a second off their NCAA Division 3 record set in the qualifying rounds last year in Rochester.

Rowan ran 40.14 last year at NCAAs in Rochester and placed 2nd to La Crosse’s 39.96 with Love, Beasley, Agyemang and Kingsway’s Evan Corcoran. The Profs’ time is 3rd-fastest in NCAA Division 1 history.

Beasley is now a senior at Rutgers. Corcoran is a Rowan sophomore and was NJAC runner-up indoors at both 60 and 200 meters but hasn’t raced since mid-April.

RIVERSIDE’S JAMIR BROWN DOES IT AGAIN!!!!!!!! RUNS 7TH-FASTEST 110 HURDLES TIME IN NEW JERSEY HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Riverside senior Jamir Brown continued his astonishing breakthrough season in the 110-meter hurdles Thursday night at Cherokee with the 7th-fastest time in state history.

Brown lowered his PR from 13.67 to a blazing 13.54 at the Cherokee Final Countdown Last Chance meet in Marlton.

The only hurdlers in New Jersey history to run faster are Camden’s Danyne Brown, who won the 1999 state Group 4 race in South Plainfield in 13.43, Washington Township senior Yashahya Brown, who ran 13.50 earlier this month at South Jersey Elite at Delsea, where Jamir Brown ran his previous PR chasing Yashahya Brown, and St. Augustine’s Sincere Rhea, who ran 13.51 at 2019 Greensboro Outdoor Nationals.

Brown and Brown – Yashahya and Jamir – are now No. 6 and 7 nationally, according to the MileSplit national database.

If this seems confusing, that might be because three of the four-fastest hurdlers in South Jersey history all have the last name Brown.

Brown broke a 34-year-old Burlington County record of 13.59 set by Gerard Reynolds at the 1990 Meet of Champions in South Plainfield.

His time is also fastest ever by a New Jersey Group 1 runner, breaking his own mark of 13.67.

Because Washington Township and Riverside are in different counties and conferences, the earliest Brown and Brown will meet again is either the Meet of Champions on June 12 at Pennsauken or June 13-16 at West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field.

Brown was the top freshman in New Jersey in 2021 with a 15.27 for 3rd place at the Burlington County Open. He spent 2022 at Delran and lowered his PR to 14.66 at the state Group 2 meet at Somerset, where he placed 2nd to Willingboro’s Anaias Hughes, currently running for Rowan.

Brown was back at Riverisde last year but was hurt and only competed in a couple meets and never ran the high hurdles.

But he quickly dropped his PR this spring – 14.34 at the Moorestown Invite, 13.93 in the trials of South Jersey Elite and then that 13.67 in the final.

ALL-TIME N.J. 110 HURDLES LIST
13.40 … Nathaniel Rayan [Scotch Plains-Fanwood], 2023
13.43 … Danye Brown [Camden], 1999
13.46 … Cory Poole [East Orange Campus], 2017
13.50 … Yashaya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2024
13.51 … Sincere Rhea [St. Augustine], 2019
13.52 … Todd Matthews [Notre Dame], 1998
13.54 … Jamir Brown [Riverside], 2024
13.55 … Jaheem Hayles [Roselle], 2019
13.59 … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 1990
13.62 … Christopher Stephens [Plainfield], 2001
13.66 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1997
13.66 … Emmanuel Deux [Linden], 2001
13.67 … Jermaine Collier [Trenton], 2012
13.70 … Chris Alexander [Christian Brothers], 2015
13.71 … Akeem Lindo [East Orange], 2018
13.73 … Christopher Serrao [East Brunswick], 2022
13.73 … Kevin Hagamin [Timber Creek], 2014
13.74 … Scott Robinson [Hillsboro], 2001
13.74 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
13.75 … Rashad Baker [Wilson], 2000
13.75 … Bennett Jackson [Raritan], 2010
13.76 … Nate Harley [Pleasantville], 1996
13.76 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
13.77 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], 2001
13.78 … Al-Tariq Dunson [East Orange], 2018
13.80 … Devon Hill [Trenton], 2008

ALL-TIME SOUTH JERSEY 110 HURDLES LIST
13.43 … Danye Brown [Camden], 1999
13.50 … Yashaya Brown [Washington Twp.], 2024
13.54 … Jamir Brown [Riverside], 2024
13.59 … Gerard Reynolds [Willingboro], 1990
13.66 … Sultan Tucker [Delsea], 1997
13.73 … Kevin Hagamin [Timber Creek], 2014
13.74 … Dwight Ruff [Camden], 2001
13.75 … Rashad Baker [Wilson], 2000
13.76 … Nate Harley [Pleasantville], 1996
13.76 … Isaac Williams [Willingboro], 2012
13.77 … Anthony Acklin [Triton], 2001
13.81 … Scot McCray [Camden], 1997
13.81 … Jeff Young [Wilson], 1999
13.87 … Bryce Tucker [Pennsauken], 2023
13.90 … Edwin Alston [Winslow Twp.], 2015
13.92 … Enrique Llanos [Wilson], 1999
13.93 … Malachi Wesley [Egg Harbor Twp.], 2022
13.94 … Hal Lathan [Egg Harbor Twp,], 2009
13.95 … Kevin White [Haddon Heights], 1992
13.95 … Naseem Smith [Deptford], 2019
13.96 … Devon Carter [Washington Twp.], 2010
13.97 … Will Brown [Palmyra], 2006
13.97 … Syteek Farrington [Camden], 2010
13.99 … Herb Reid [Lenape], 2000
13.99 … Eric Foster [Wilingboro], 2024
13.99 … Herb Reid [Lenape], 2000