Watch the epic 1600m performance from Monmouth County above.
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Holy Smokes!!!
Did you hear about what the Christian Brothers Academy distance crew did on Day 1 of the Monmouth County Championships on Wednesday at Middletown North High??
In case you didn't hear, and even you did, it demands to be repeated!!
The Colts threw down one of the most remarkable performances in state history in the 1,600-meter run.
Five guys from CBA ran under 4:19.... in the same race!!
They had a five-man average of 4:15.07!!! Yes, you read that right-a 4:15.07 average for 5 guys, the fastest avg. in the country this season and the fastest known average for any team in NJ history!!! For some context, 4:15.05 was the seventh place time at the Meet of Champions last June.
And the top four times by the Colts adds up to a sub-17 4xmile!!!
And this all came five days after CBA had a five-man US#1 average of 9:14 in the 3,200 at the Holmdel Twilight meet!
How did it go down?
Georgetown-bound Tim McInerney was at the head of the Colts express, leading the lightning fast chain reaction with an NJ#1 4:10.97 to finish first and break the meet record.
Junior Shaw Powell was next for CBA, dropping a huge PR of 4:11.83 to take second, also running under the meet record. He was neck and neck with McInerney for the lead on the final backstretch.
Luke Reid, who is headed to Oklahoma, was third for CBA in 4:15.91. CBA junior Troy Hill was fourth in 4:17.96, and sophomore Tristan Amell was sixth in 4:18.69.
All those times are huge PR's for Powell, Reid, Hill, and Amell. McInerney's 4:10.97 is just off the 4:10.37 PR he ran to get second at the Meet of Champions last year. Those are the same five guys that averaged 9:14 for 3,200 at Holmdel!!!
So what does all this mean?
Well, for starters it means that CBA has a great chance of breaking the oldest state record - the 4xmile time of 17:12.2 run by Essex Catholic in 1966. It's been the state record for 53 years, and was the national record until Oregon's South Eugene ran 17:11.7 in 1975.
Quick NJ history lesson: When Essex Catholic ran its 17:12.2 they chopped nearly a half minute off the old national record at the time. The old record was 17:40.2 set by El Provisio High of Illinois in 1965. The foursome for Essex Catholic were Jim McLoughlin, Art Martin, Fred Lane, and the legendary Marty Liquori. Lane had the fastest split with a 4:14.8.
Paramus Catholic nearly broke Essex Catholic's state record in 1973 when it ran 17:12.6. Since then, the only other sub 17:20 NJ squad was West Windsor North last year when coach Brian Gould's team won the 4xmile at the New Balance National Championships in a NJ#3 17:19.69.
CBA's performance also means the Colts have the potential to become just the third team in U.S. history to break 17 minutes in the 4xmile!!
American Fork of Utah and Great Oak of Temecula, Calif. are the only teams that have run under 17.
American Fork put the national record way out there when they ran 16:41.30 in the 4x1600 at the 2017 Arcadia Invitational, which converts to 16:47.14 for 4xmile. That broke the national record of 16:52.95 that Great Oak of Temecula, Calif. ran at Arcadia in 2016. That time converts to 16:58.87.
Now comes the tricky part for CBA- finding a 4x1600 / 4xmile to run. There just aren't many opportunities to run one in NJ.
CBA distance coach Sean McCafferty said they are trying to find one and will race anyone.
Perhaps the Colts will run the 4xmile at New Balance National Championships next month?
Stay tuned!