From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

South Jersey Group 1 is traditionally strong compared to Group 1 in the rest of the state, but this year Group 1 has outdone itself.

This is the strongest South Jersey Group 1 in history, and it’s not close.

I took at look at the overall New Jersey Group 1 rankings in all 18 events that will be contested at states to see exactly how strong South Jersey Group 1 is compared to the rest of the state, and the results are amazing.

I scored South Jersey Group 1 vs. Central, North 1 and North 2 combined using the traditional 10-8-6-4-2-1 scoring system, and South Jersey wins 349.33-208.67 over the field.

In other words, South Jersey scored 63 percent of the available points in a mock state Group 1 meet based on current state rankings listed on MileSplit. Based simply on enrollment figures, each section should be at 25 percent. South Jersey is 2 ½ times that.

Several events are almost completely dominated by SJ-1. The top three seeds in the 100, 200, discus and 400-meter hurdles are all from South Jersey. In fact, SJ-1 has all six of the top seeds in the intermediates.

South Jersey has three of the top four seeds in five other events – the 400, 1,600, 400-meter relay, 1,600-meter relay and shot put.

The only events South Jersey doesn’t have the top performer in Group 1 are the 4-by-8, high jump and javelin. The only events South Jersey doesn’t score at least 14 points in a mock Group 1 meet are the high jump and javelin. The only event South Jersey doesn’t have at least three of the top six performers is the javelin. Come on, SJ-1 javelin throwers, let’s get after it!

(Remember, these stats aren’t an exact representation of the South Jersey Group 1 sectional, since Florence is in Central Jersey Group 1. But they do represent how South Jersey Group 1 athletes compare to Group 1 from the rest of the state.)

Let’s take a look event-by-event at how dominating South Jersey Group 1 is compared to the rest of the state:

100-meter dash [24 ½ of 31 points]: : Malachi James of Burlington, Barone VanKline of Florence and Brysheen Ferguson are the three-fastest Group 1 sprinters at 100 meters, with Gateway’s Lloyd Shambry, Glassboro freshman Xavier Sabb and Woodbury’s Marquis Taylor also in the top 10.

200-meter dash [30 of 31 points]: : South Jersey goes 1-2-3-4-5 in the 200, with James, Taylor, Jamir Brown of Riverside, VanKline and Clayton’s Alexander Osayemi in the top five spots.

400-meter dash [24 of 31 points]: : Osayemi and Taylor are in the top two spots in the 400, with Glassboro’s Cartrell Moore and Woodbury’s Jayden Johnson 4th and 5th.

800-meter run [16 of 31 points]: : Peyton Shute of Woodbury and Cole Lucas of Woodstown are the No. 1 and 3 half-milers in Group 1

1,600-meter run [20 of 31 points]: : Shute, Glassboro’s Elijah Whitaker and Haddon Township’s Jackson Sennhenn are the No. 1, 3 and 4 seeds in the 1,600.

3,200-meter run [21 of 31 points]: : Shute and Whitaker are again No .1 and 2 with Glassboro’s Ty Blackman and Audubon’s Aiden Williams 5th and 6th.

110-meter hurdles [20 of 31 points]: : Brown and Parker are the two-fastest hurdlers in Group 1 with Gloucester’s Jaden Garris 5th.

400-meter hurdles [31 of 31 points]: : This is nuts, but the top six Group 1 hurdlers (and eight of the top 10) are from South Jersey: Brown, Moore, Palmyra’s Abdulazeez Iyiola, Garris, Osayemi and Parker.

400-meter relay [25 of 31 points]: : More South Jersey dominance in the 4-by-1 with Glassboro and Woodbury in the top two spots, then Riverside, Penns Grove and Clayton 4th through 6th.

1,600-meter relay [22 of 31 points]: : Glassboro, Woodbury, Gloucester and Audubon are No. 1, 3, 4 and 5 in the 4-by-4.

3,200-meter relay [14 of 31 points]: : One of the few events South Jersey doesn’t dominate. But still Woodstown is No. 2, Woobury No. 4 and Schalick No. 5 for a projected 14 points.

High jump [6 of 31 points]: : A lot of tiebreakers at work here, but Amari and Xavier Sabb of Glassboro, Reggie Allen Jr. of Schalick, Gloucester’s Ryan James, Woodstown’s Tyler Dolby and Riveside’s Carmine Smith have all cleared 6-2 and are part of a seven-way tie for 4th place. That means seven jumpers split a total of seven points, and the South Jersey contingent gets six of them.

Long jump [17 of 31 points]: : Riverside’s Brown is No. 1 seed in the long jump as well as both hurdles, Glassboro’s Moore is No. 3 and Darien Woodbury of Florence is 6th.

Triple Jump [17 of 31 points]: : Moore is the top seed in the triple jump, Penns Grove’s Khalim Smith is 4th and two Salem jumpers are 5th and 6th – Davi’Yonn Jackson and Davonte Jackson.

Pole Vault [17 of 31 points]: : Audubon’s Leo Davis is the No. 1 seed, Jacob George of Haddon Township is 4th and Gloucester’s James is 5th. Jack Mazzoni of Buena and Audubon’s Dylan Gallagher share the No. 6 seed.

Shot put [20 of 31 points]: : Glassboro’s Damere Lassiter, Paulsboro’s Javion Payne and Glassboro’s Jeremiah Jones are No. 1, 3 and 4 in Group 1

Discus [24 of 31 points]: : Lassiter, Payne and Audubon’s Jacob Holland are the top three seeds.

Javelin [1 of 31 points]: In South Jersey Group 1’s weakest event, Gloucester’s Justice Dolson is the No. 6 seed in the javelin.

In just his 2nd meet this year, Awotunde placed 4th at the Prefontane Classic Sunday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Awotunde threw a season-best 70-7 ½ on his 3rd throw and then added a 70-2 ½ on his 5th throw. They were the 26th and 27th 70-foot throws of his life. In his only other meet this year – a week earlier in Los Angeles – Awotunde had throws of 70-2 ¼ and 70-1 ¾.

Awotunde, 3rd in the 2022 World Championships at the same track two years ago, has thrown 70-7 or better 16 times in his life, and half of those throws have been at Hayward Field.

With the Olympic Trials just a few weeks away – back in Eugene – Awotunde is No. 16 in the world and No. 6 among U.S. throwers.

Awotunde ranks No. 21 in world history and No. 12 in world history with his PR 73-1 ½ on his 5th throw at 2022 Worlds.

The Olympic Trials is scheduled for June 21-30, with the men’s shot put qualifying scheduled for 6:15 p.m. on June 21 and the final at 6:40 p.m. on June 22. The scheduele doesn’t indicate whether that’s local time or EST so I’m assuming the EST start times are 9:15 p.m. on June 21 and 9:40 p.m. on June 22.

All-Time Josh Awotunde 70-Foot Throws
73-1 ½ … World Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 17, 2022 [5th throw] [3rd]
72-11 ½ … World Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 17, 2022 [1st throw] [—]
72-10 ¾ … World Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 17, 2022 [6th throw] [—]
72-6 ¼ … U.S. Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 9, 2023 [4th throw] [2nd]
71-3 ½ … Memorial Borisa Hanžekovića, Fountains, Zagreb [N/A/] [3rd]
71-2 ¼ … World Championships, Eugene, Ore., July 17, 2022 [2nd throw] [—]
72-2 … Meeting Città di Padova, Stadio Colbachini, Padovad, Poland, Sept. 5, 2021 [N/A] [place]
71-8 … U.S. Olympic Trials, Eugene, Ore., June 18, 2021 [6th throw] (5th place]
71-2 ¼i … World Athletics Indoors, Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022 [3rd throw] (5th)
71-2 ¼ … Gyulai István Memorial, Székesfehérvár, Hungary, July 6, 2021 [4th throw] (3rd)
71-1 ½ … Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., May 9, 2021 [6th throw] [2nd place]
70-11 ¾ … World Athletics Indoors, Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022 [5th throw] [2nd]
70-11 ½ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [5th throw) [2nd]
70-10 ¾ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [4th throw) [—]
70-10 ¾ … Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, Stadion Śląski, Chorzów, Poland, July 16, 2023 [5th]
70-7 ½ … Prefontaine Classic, Eugene, Ore., May 25, 2024 [3rd throw] [4th ]
70-7 … U.S. Championships, Eugene, Ore., June 27, 2022 [3rd throw] [3rd]
70-6 ½ … Gyulai István Memorial, Székesfehérvár, Hungary, July 6, 2021 [6th throw] [—]
70-6 ¼i … American Track League, Louisville, Ky., Feb. 12, 2022 [3rd throw] [1st]
70-3 ½ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [3rd throw] [—]
70-2 ½i … American Track League, Louisville, Ky., Feb. 12, 2022 [1st throw] [—]
70-2 ½ … Prefontaine Classic, Eugene, Ore., May 25, 2024 [5th throw] [—]
70-2 ¼ … USATF L.A. Grand Prix, Los Angeles, May 18, 2024 [1st throw] [4th]
70-1 ¾ … USATF L.A. Grand Prix, Los Angeles, May 18, 2024 [2nd throw] [-]
70-0 ½ … Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, Stadion Śląski, Chorzów [N/A] [3rd]
70-0 ¼ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [2nd throw] [—]
70-0 ¼ … World Athletics Indoors, Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022 [2nd throw] [—]

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]

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 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 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 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

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 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, 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.