New Brunswick native and former Franklin track star Mario Heslop, 23, arguably one of the best high school sprinters in New Jersey history during his days at Franklin High School, died in a car accident on Monday, Franklin High School Athletic Director Ken Margolin confirmed on Tuesday morning.
The prosecutor’s office said around 5:30 pm on Monday police and emergency medical personnel arrived at the scene and began administering lifesaving measures to a man, the driver of a 2013 Infiniti Q50S. The man later identified as Heslop was taken to an area trauma center where he died.
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Heslop, who grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, also earned a share of the state record in the 55m when he ran 6.26 to finish first at the Eastern States Championships as a junior in 2018 and then ran a state record of 33.26 in the 300m in 2018.
He was the 2019 MileSplit50 Athlete of the Year, and finished his high school career with three state records, one national championship and eight Meet of Champions titles.
He won the New Balance National Indoor title in the 200m dash in a NJ record 20.90, the U.S. No. 4 all-time performance at the time. He was also an All-American in the 60m dash, finishing third at the NB Nationals with a time of 6.73 (he ran 6.70 in the prelims).
At the 2019 NJSIAA Outdoor Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington High School, Heslop’s final meet on NJ soil in his legendary career, he won two more titles.
After his high school career, Heslop ran at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, North Carolina, before competing for OXY Athletics out of Georgia. According to the World Athletics website, Heslop ran 10.12 in the 100 and 20.44 in 2022, and according to the MileSplit database, Heslop last competed at the KSU Invitational April 7-8 at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, where he won the 100 in 10.54 and the 200 in 20.78.
