Watch Brown's 7.06 victory in the South Group 4 Sectionals final.
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TOMS RIVER, NJ - New Jersey hurdle star Yashahya Brown continued his impressive indoor season on Friday night, cruising to a state record in the 55 meter hurdles during the NJSIAA South Group 4 Sectional Championships.
After leading prelims with a time of 7.32 seconds, the Washington Twp senior clocked a record-breaking time of 7.06, winning the finals and sectional title with ease. This took down the previous state record of 7.07 held by East Orange Campus's Cory Poole since 2017, which came en route to a 7.63 state record in the 60mH.
This performance also moves Brown up to No. 7 on the all-time national list. The national record of 6.87 has been held by Trey Cunningham of Winfield City HS (AL) since 2017 -- also achieved en route toward a national title and national record of 7.40.
Prior to this meet, Brown had already recorded an impressive time of 7.11 during Olympic Tri-County Conference at the very end of January. With multiple meets of high level competition still to go, we could see even more time shaved off by season's end for the defending NJSIAA Meet of Champions winner.
After Brown's state record performance in the hurdles, he returned to finish third overall in the 55m dash, which tied his personal best of 6.44 for NJ No. 7 this season.
His teammate Ajani Dwyer won the 55m dash for a South Group 4 sectional title at 6.35; Dwyer is currently U.S. No. 1 with his 6.18 from Millrose Games Trials in early January.
A way too early look ahead at outdoor track, the 110mH New Jersey state record is a 13.40 (0.9) by Nate Rayan of Scotch Plains-Fanwood HS, which he ran to win USATF U20 Championships in 2023.
Prior to that, it was held by Danyne Brown who clocked a 13.43 (0.0) to win the 1999 Group 3 state title while at Camden High School.