ITHACA, NY --- The nationally fourth-ranked Rowan men’s track and field squad captured the All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference (AARTFC) title for the sixth time while several athletes from around the NJAC had strong individual performances.
 
Rowan won the team title with 94 points, 24 ahead of second-place SUNY Geneseo (70 points). TCNJ accumulated 28 points to finish seventh in the team standings, and Montclair State was 12^th with 20 points. Farmingdale State and Rutgers-Newark picked up five points each to finish tied for 29^th.
 
The regional championship meet was the final meet before the NCAA Championship selections are announced on Sunday, March 9.
 
Three individuals took home AARTFC gold, including Rowan’s Masai Byrd (60m) and Jason Agyemang (60 hurdles) along with Montclair State’s Hiven Biffot (triple jump).
 
Agyemang was among a quartet of Profs that finished 1-2-3-4 in the 60 hurdles. He clocked a meet and facility record 7.80 seconds and with that time, moves up to No. 2 in NCAA Division III this season. Jamir Brown finished second at 7.86 seconds and currently holds the NCAA’s fastest time in the event. Kwaku Nkrumah earned bronze with a time of 7.87 and moves up to No. 3 nationally. Marquise Young was fourth with a 7.95 and currently holds the nation’s #6 time. All four were under the old meet record of 8.01 and all four were also under the old facility record of 7.96. Rowan’s Michael Lawrence also scored, finishing sixth with an 8.36 after posting a season-best 8.15 in the prelims.
 
Byrd won the gold in the 60 meter dash, clocking a 6.88 to move into a tie for 19^th on the national performance list as he seeks a national championship qualification.
 
Montclair State rookie Hiven Biffot led a trio of Red Hawks that went 1-3-5 in the triple jump. Biffot moves up to No. 7 in D3 this season with a leap of 14.82 meters and is in position to head to nationals. Jabez Thomas posted a season-best jump of 14.37 meters, sitting just outside the national top 20, and Beck Deeny placed fifth with a 14.01. Rowan’s Joshua Justin was also among the top 5 in the triple jump, placing fourth with a leap of 14.18 meters.
 
Rowan’s Eli Hendricks, Matthew Conway, and Arrington Rhym finished runner-up in their events, as did TCNJ’s Maxim Rychkov. Hendricks clocked a 21.73 to finish second in the 200 meters, and with that time he moves up into the national top 10 ahead of NCAA selections.
 
Rychkov ran the 400, finishing in a season-best 48.73 seconds and moving up to 21^st nationally. Although sitting just outside a national qualification in the 400, he is poised to qualify in the 60 and 200. He was joined on the podium by Rowan’s Rajahn Dixon who placed fourth with a 48.87.
 
Conway earned silver in the 5000 meters with a 15:03.31. Rutgers-Newark’s Adam Abushanab was fourth in the same event along with Conway’s teammate Miles Voenell in eighth.
 
Rhym’s silver came in the high jump, as he cleared 1.98 meters. Teammate Noah Wampole was fifth in the event, also clearing 1.98 meters.
 
Also scoring in field events were Rowan’s Nana Agyemang (long jump; 4^th) and Tyler Raimondi (pole vault; T-6^th), Farmingdale State’s Adonias Mercado (shot put; 4^th), and TCNJ’s Jayden Wright (shot put; 7^th) and Jayvee Dumas (heptathlon; 3^rd).
 
In the relays, TCNJ’s distance medley relay squad of Kevin Matthews, Tyrese Gilbert, Thomas Blach, and Brandon Chen silver medaled with a time of 10:17.61.
 
Rowan ran three relays, with the 4x200 and 4x400 each finishing sixth and the DMR placing eighth.