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Sprints & Hurdles
55 Meter Dash - State Rankings
Mario Heslop. The Franklin Twp junior tied the 55m state record Tuesday night at Eastern States when he won the finals running 6.26. He had the fastest time coming out of Group Champs weekend as well with his Group 4 victory at 6.34. He could be Franklin Twp's first winner in this event since 1982 when Clark Waddell ran 6.5, and speaking of history the F.A.T. meet record of 6.38 is definitely in danger. Heslop was fourth at this meet as a freshman before missing the entire 2017 season his sophomore year.
The rest of the field is led by Antonio Tarantino of Paul VI who has had a very successful senior season. He comes in with a PR of 6.45 that won him the Non-Public A title on Sunday. Gabriel Nash of Elizabeth also under 6.5 with his 6.49 for second last weekend in Group 4.
New Jersey enters this hurdle showdown with three ranked in the top five nationally and only .01 between those athletes in the rankings this season. East Orange Campus's Akeem Lindo ran 7.31 US#3 to win Group 4 on Saturday. Then at Easterns this past Tuesday Lindo's teammate Al-Tariq Dunson and West Side's Isaiah Greene had a photo finish for first and second running US#5 with both recorded at 7.32. Dunson was given the win after going to the thousandth of a second. Note Lindo did not race at Easterns so he could still have major time to drop this weekend as well. The straight away will be crowded so get over there early for the final.
200 Meter Dash Showcase - State Rankings
We already built up Franklin Twp junior Mario Heslop for the 55m dash and he is the focus once again during the 200m showcase, should he choose to run it. Freshly crowned state record holder Heslop shattered the previous state record of 21.34 on Tuesday at Easterns when he ran a smoking time of 21.09! That is also 11th all-time nationally. The meet record of 22.17 set in 2005 by Bryant McCombs of Old Bridge is definitely in jeopardy.
Rahmir Johnson of Bergen Catholic and Isaiah Greene of West Side the closest to Heslop from this entered showcase field with seeds of 22.10.
400 Meter Dash - State Rankings
Again Heslop leads the field for the third time in this preview, it'll be interesting to see which ones he will focus on or if all of them are in his sights. This race will be an absolute battle with plenty of big names available such as Akeem Lindo, Nadale Buntin, and Immyouri Etienne who already went head to head with Heslop during Group 4 Championships. Markus Bagley of St. Peter's Prep and Nick Parisi of Seton Hall Prep could drop more time with the extra speed in this race, they went to the line during NPA on Sunday. The meet record and Bubble venue record is a 48.26 by Zyaire Clemes of Trenton Central in 2013. The fastest time on this track in 2018 is Heslop's 48.80 last weekend.
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