For several years now, Holmdel has earned the distinction of being referred to as the 3,200 PR Capital of NJ!!!
Rumors have swirled that there is some kind of magic PR dust that was mixed into the track surface at Bob Roggy Field. While those rumors haven't been confirmed, one thing is for sure, runners from all over the state flock to Holmdel in pursuit of PR's and most of them get what they came for.
We saw it again on Tuesday night at the 3,200 Twilight Invitational at Holmdel when nine boys went under 9:20, and 8 more cracked 9:30, and 26 girls went 11:30.
Westfield senior Avery Keith led the PR Parade in the boys race with a huge lifetime best time of 8:58.26 to finish first in a field of 446 runners! Keith is the first runner in Westfield's rich tradition of distance running greatness to get under 9 minutes!!! The Princeton-bound Keith, who ran split 4:28/4:30 and closed with a 2:12 final 800, broke his own school record of 9:03.47, which converted from his 9:06.24 2-mile at New Balance Nationals last June.
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The fastest girl was sophomore Allison Lee of West Windsor-Plainsboro-North, who ran 10:38.15, not far off her PR of 10:35.33, which came in the 2-mile at the New Balance Indoor Nationals last month.
PR PARTY
In addition to Keith, three other guys went under 9:10!!!
Junior Brenden McMahon of Ridge was second in 9:06.72. Senior Conor Clifford, who was third with a PR of 9:06.72, was one of five CBA runners under 9:20 and one of 11 under 10 in the race, including nine underclassmen. Junior Hunter Celkupa of Colts Neck dropped a 7-second PR of 9:08.44 to finish fourth.
Here are the other sub 9:20 runners - junior Ryan Schmitt of CBA was fifth with a PR of 9:14.26. CBA sophomore Luke Hnatt was sixth in 9:14.43. Senior Alex Saldana of Union Catholic was 7th in 9:15.09, a PR of 13 seconds!!!! Saldana was one of 8 UC runners (six underclassmen) to break 10! CBA senior Brady Barber was 8th with a PR of 9:15.40, and junior Alex Mastroly was 9th in 9:16.33, a massive PR of 28 seconds!!
CBA now has 6 runners on its roster who have broken 9:15 this season, 8 under 9:17, and 10 under 9:25.
I told you Holmdel was a PR Paradise!!!
You want more?
Of course you do.
How about Glassboro senior Elijah Whitaker, the State Group 1 XC champ last fall, slicing 32 seconds off his PR by throwing down a 9:20.27 to finish 10th.
Look out for Cherokee!!!
Coach Steve Shaklee's Cherokee squad left a lot of smoke on the track as six underclassmen broke 10 minutes, and a future Cherokee runner opened lots of eyes with a jaw-dropping time.
Cherokee's Ben Realley smashed the South Jersey 3,200 record with a time of 9:21.01!!! That's a 12 second PR and broke the SJ record of 9:27.73 that Cherokee senior Nick Kuenkel set three years ago. Sophomore Logan Bromley ran 9:21.14, a 14 second PR, junior Liam Tindall ran 9:29.89, junior Enzo Corona ran 9:49.46, freshman Sean Sooy went 9:50.98. and junior Ben Weiner ran 9:55.10.
Cherokee also has a young star on the way. John Tindall, who will be a freshman at Cherokee in the fall, ran 9:35.61!!!!