Taylor Cox continued her dominance in the hurdles, the Toms River North boys broke their second New Jersey record of the meet, and Cole Cramer also smashed a state record to highlight an amazing final day of action for the Garden State on Sunday at the New Balance National Indoor Championships in Boston.
Cox, a senior at Union Catholic, added to her legendary resume by winning the girls 60-meter hurdles for the second straight year in 8.19 to giver her three national titles in her amazing career! The University of Georgia-bound Cox, who set the meet record last year with an 8.11 and is the NJ state record holder with an 8.10, also won the 100 hurdles at the New Balance National Outdoor Championships last June.
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TWO MORE STATE RECORDS GO DOWN
After the Toms River North boys ran 3:15,70 win the 4x400 relay at the Meet of Champions earlier this month, the entire team predicted that they would break the NJ record the next time they ran.
The foursome of seniors Mordecai Ford, Camryn Thomas, Taysaun Wilson and Mamadi Diawara backed up their words by becoming the fastest NJ 4x400 team in indoor history by throwing down a 3:14.35 to finish second behind Bullis, who burned a national record of 3:09.44!! Olympian Quincy Wilson split 45.94 on the anchor for Bullis. The previous national record of 3:11.87 was set by Bullis when it finished first at this meet last year.
Toms River North's 3:14.35 broke the NJ indoor record of 3:14.53 that Seton Hall Prep ran to finish first at 2023 the New Balance National Championships and gave the powerhouse program from Ocean County its second national record of the weekend!! The 4x400 record by TRN also raised the final total to six NJ records broken in Boston this weekend!!!!
The 4x400 splits for TRN were 49.02 for Ford, 47.84 for Thomas, 49.00 for Wilson, and 48.48 for Diawara.
Diawara and Wilson also ran on TRN's sprint medley that ran a NJ record 3:25.68 to place second on Friday!
In the boys 60m dash, another Ocean County star, Cole Cramer of Southern Regional, obliterated the NJ record and nearly won the race, stopping the clock at 6.62 to place second. Kyler Brown of Oklahoma won the race in 6.61. Cramer's previous 60m PR was 6.75 from when he placed third at this meet last year.
The 6.62 by the University of Tennessee-bound Cramer is tied for No. 8 in U.S. indoor high school history and it shattered the NJ record of 6.70 that was shared by Damiere Byrd of Timber Creek and the late Mario Heslop of Franklin. Byrd ran his 6.70 when he placed first at the 2011 Brooks PR Invitational a the Dempsey Center in Seattle, and Heslop dropped his 6.70 when he finished first at the 2019 New Balance National Championships in New York.
I don't see any en route times through 55 meters, but Cramer's 6.62 converts to 6.17 for 55 meters!! The NJ state record for 55 meters is 6.18, set by Ajani Dwyer of Washington Township at the Millrose Games last year.
MORE NJ HIGHLIGHTS
In the girls 4x400, Union Catholic, which came into the race with a NJ No. 2 all-time 3:41.19 that it ran at the Millrose Games last month, finished third in 3:43.38. Winslow was fourth in 3:44.74, which is NJ No. 4 all-time, and Rumson was seventh in 3:49.30. Rumson ran 3:49.18 at the Meet of Champions, which is No. 6 in NJ history.
Bullis broke the national record with its winning time in the 4x40 of 3:35.54, breaking the mark of 3:37.63 that Montverde set at the 2024 Virginia Showcase.
Jevon Ledgister of St. Peters Prep won the Freshman Division in the boys 60m dash on Saturday by running a NJ freshmen record 6.80!!!
Senior Julia Santos of Toms River South placed third in the girls shot put with a 45-7 to earn All-American honors.