Arianna, Amirah, and Ariel Sharpe, the star track and field triplets at Clayton, are following in their father's footsteps by committing to compete at Auburn University, Fred Sharpe confirmed.
The Sharpe triplets, who graduated from Gloucester County Institute of Technology this past June after taking advantage of the Bridge Year Pilot Project (a NJ law that allowed high school athletes from the graduating class of 2021 who missed a season during the pandemic to compete at the high school level), will run under first-year head coach Leroy Burrell at Auburn. Burrell, who was the head coached at his alma mater Houston for 23 years, once held the world record in the 100-meter dash and he ran on the gold medal winning 4x100 at the 1992 Olympics.
This past spring, the Sharpe triplets were simply sensational. At the State Group 1 meet, they combined for 79 points to lead the Clayton to a second straight state title.
Arianna, Amirah, and Ariel also ran on Clayton's 4x400 relay that ran a NJ No. 1 time and Small School meet record of 3:44.67 at the Penn Relays this past April, and they put together some of the fastest sprint/hurdle times in the state during this past season.
Amirah was the No. 1 ranked 400 hurdler in the state with a 1:00.41, and ran a NJ No. 3 24.35 in the 200 and a NJ No. 3 53.60 in the 400. Arianna clocked a NJ No. 2 53.49 in the 400, a NJ. 3 24.35 in the 200, and a NJ No. 6 11.99 in the 100. Ariel ran times of 56.77 in the 400, and 64.00 in the 400 hurdles.
The triplets will be adding to their great family legacy at Auburn, where their father (Fred) was a multiple All-American.
For those that need a little history lesson, Fred Sharpe became a NJ legend when he completed by one of the most ridiculous triples in state history at the 1997 Meet of Champions. The Paulsboro High star opened the meet by winning the 400m hurdles in a then-meet record and HS PR of 51.62, then placed third in the 1600m in 4:15.73, and came back to win the 800m in 1:53.40! His HS PR in the 800 is 1:49.74.
During his career at Auburn, Sharpe specialized in the 400 hurdles and the 800, and was a six-time All-American. Sharpe also owns PR's of 48.86 in the 400 hurdles and a still-standing Auburn school record 1:47.53 in the 800, and he advanced to the finals of the 400 hurdles at the 2004 Olympic Trials.
