Saturday night on the Edison Park track during the GSTC High School Fall Showcase Series, distance running star Charlotte Bednar clocked an impressive outdoor 5K, running 16:25.90.
Bednar's performance took down the New Jersey state outdoor record of 16:34.66 held by Alexa Westley from her New Balance Nationals Outdoor run in 2019. The junior's performance also surpassed the impressive meet record of 16:32.62 posted in September at the first meet in the series by New York's Brooke Rauber. Bednar's time was performed unattached, but the junior competes for The Lawrenceville School during high school events.
In her fall opener, the young star took down champions from Pennsylvania and New York as well as some elite runners from New Jersey. Jenna Mulhern of PA finished second with her own impressive time of 16:40; she's a PA state champion. Camryn Wennersten, among the best distance runners in NJ, ran third with a PR of 17:13.56. New York's Kathryn Altieri and McKinley Fielding crossed the line fourth and fifth, respectively, with times of 17:20.80 and 17:29.91. NJ's Miranda Lorsbach closed out the top six with a 17:36.92.
The Lawrenceville School's athletic season was shut down this fall due to COVID-19 restrictions, but Bednar and others in similar situations are taking the opportunity to lay down some fast times on the track with all the long distance training they have logged.
Bednar's Lap by Lap Report
On the boys side, a Pennsylvania athlete took the win on the legs of Dylan Throop of General McLane HS, who ran unattached with a time of 14:44.99. New Jersey was led by Woodbury's Brady Shute in second with a PR of 15:03.49. Ben Godish of Highland Park, running unattached, was sixth with 15:10.33 and improved upon his 15:22 in September. Josh Forrest (15:23.65) and James Ptack (15:27.11) also placed well in eighth and tenth, respectively.
Shute's 15:03.49 is now the third-fastest time in the combined series; they are two meets into five scheduled events running into November. Gavin Sherry of CT won the first GSTC meet back on September 19th with a 14:43.15.
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Again, this is a club meet series and all athletes are running unattached. Any mention of high school affiliation is for reader reference.