DARRELL JEFFRESS
- mercertrackhall
- Sep 22
- 1 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Trenton Central High School 1978 -- Sprints & Relays
The Tornadoes Darrel Jeffress was the star of perhaps the greatest track team in the history of Mercer County--The 1978 TCHS track team.
In spring of '78 they swept the Group IV CJ Sectional, the Group IV State title, and the team title at the Meet of Champions. At the latter, Jeffress ran a key leg on the 4x400 relay that ran 3:12.9 for gold.
In the middle of that season at the Penn Relays of 1978, Jeffress was part one of the greatest high school double wins in the history of the meet. He ran on both Trenton's 4x400m relay team that won the Championship of America in a meet and NJ state record 3:12.2. He won a second Penn championship on the Tornadoes 4x800 team that also ran a meet and NJ state record 7:39.5. In addition, Jeffress joined a third Trenton relay entry--the DMR that took second.
Individually, Jeffress was a two-time individual Meet of Champs winner, taking the quarter mile (440 Yards) at the indoor all-group meets of 1977 and 1978. The same two years he won indoor State Group IV 440 championships. His individual success helped secure Trenton wins in the indoor State Group VI and MOC team titles in both '77 and '78.
Jeffress set the outdoor county 400 meter record in 1978 at 46.8 seconds.
