Picture from the 2021 Outdoor NJSIAA Meet of Champions.
Fitzroy Ledgister and Shamali Whittle left lots of smoke on the track with red hot sprint wins, and Peyton Hollis dropped a huge personal best in the mile at Saturday's Energice Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational at the New Balance Track and Field Center in New York.
Ledgister, a senior at St. Peter's Prep, got a rocket start and then powered his way across the line to win the boys 55-meter dash in a sizzling 6.38, which smashed the 37-year-old Hudson County record and is tied for No. 8 in NJ history.
The 6.38 by Ledgister took down the Hudson County record of 6.48 that stood since Tony Blair of Bayonne ran that time in 1984, and was a huge PR. Ledgister's previous best time in the 55 was the 6.63 he ran to win the Hudson County title last January.
Ledgister, also a football star who hasn't committed to a college yet, also ran 35.41 to place third in the 300, a race won by Nottingham's Whittle. Last spring, Ledgister finished second in the 200m and fourth in the 100m at the Meet of Champions.
The University of Georgia-bound Whittle, who won the 100m and 200m at the NJ Meet of Champions last spring, ran 34.29, No. 2 time in the country so far this season, to win the 300. It was just the second time Whittle has ever run a 300, and the first time since clocking a 37.62 three years ago. Last summer, Whittle, one of the top sprinters in the nation, ran the fastest wind-legal 200-meter dash in N.J. history when he ran 20.75 in the preliminary round at the Outdoor National Championships.
In the girls competition, Hollis, a sophomore at Columbia, got her season off to a fast start by placing third in the mile in 4:55.26, which is a 13 second PR and the third fastest time in the nation. Hollis is coming off a fantastic freshman year that was highlighted by running 2:11.91 in 800m, and placing third in the 800 at the Meet of Champions.
Other NJ winners included Iyad Boxton of St. Benedict's Prep in the Small School 55 dash (6.74), St. Benedict's in the 4x200 (1:34.01) and 4x400 (3:32.27), Malcolm Bogroff of Hunterdon Central in the boys high jump (6-0), and Max Zuckerman of Pascack Hills in the pole vault (14-6). Zuckerman won the vault at the State Group 2 championships last spring.