It doesn't really seem to matter what the conditions are. Tons of PR's are always run at the Holmdel Twilight Meets.
I have joked in the past that there is some kind of magic dust mixed into the track surface at Holmdel, but maybe, just maybe, there really is!!! lol
Ok, maybe that's not it. Maybe it's just a lot of really talented runners getting together and pushing themselves to places they have never gone before.
That's what happened in the driving rain at Friday's Night of the 3200's at Holmdel, which once again featured a parade of big PR's and smashing debut at the distance by RBC junior Cate DeSousa!
DeSousa, running the final 1,600 in 5:08, stopped the clock with a NJ No. 2 time and a school record of 10:25.54!!!! How about that for the first time ever running a 3,200. DeSousa smashed the old RBC record of 10:51.01 set in 2011 by Hannah Eckstein, who ran that time to place second at the Non-Public A state meet.
DeSousa led seven girls under 11 minutes, and seven of the 10 fastest girls times in the state this season were run in this race!!! I told you this race was smoking!!!
DeSousa was followed by St. Rose junior Tilly O'Connor (NJ No. 3 10:28.32), Kent Place junior Lindsay Hausman (NJ No 4 10:34.97), Freehold Township sophomore Emma Zawatski (NJ #5 10:40.17), Middletown South senior Lucy Afanasewicz (NJ No. 6 10:46.15), senior Katherine Rector of Ridgefield in Conn. (10:50.06), Kingsway junior Nicole Lipieta (NJ No. 7 10:55.18), and Middletown South sophomore Rosemary Shay (NJ No. 10 11:01.36.
Shoutout to Zawatski, who moved up to No. 2 in Freehold Township history with her 10:40.17!!!!
On the boys side, Steven Hergenrother of Ridgefield High in Connecticut dropped a 33 second PR of 9:15.96 to finish first, edging runner-up Kyle Rakitis of Kingsway (NJ No. 5 9:17.46. Nine guys went sub 9:30!!
Behind Hergenrother and Rakitis were Sahil Sheth of South Brunswick (NJ No. 8 9:18.81), Highland Park senior Liam Tilton (NJ No. 9 9:19.61), Piscataway senior Jack Napoli (9:20.82), Howell senior Kyle Lindon (9:24.26), Westfield senior Benjamin Hacker (9:25.06), CBA junior Nicholas Sullivan (9:8.45), and Colts Neck senior Ryan Johnson (9:29.29).