Joe Barrett of CBA continued to solidify his place as one of NJ's greatest distance runners ever by burning a blazing fast time in the 3,000-meter run at the David Hemry Valentine Invitational on Friday night at Boston University.
Competing against college runners, Barrett ripped an 8:08.13 to place 18th in the fifth heat to move up to No. 12 in U.S. history and No. 2 in NJ history. Barrett's 8:08.13 is nearly a 6-second PR from the 8:14.09 he ran at the Scarlet Knights Open at Rutgers last February.
The only NJ high school runner to go faster than Barrett in a 3K race is Edward Cheserek of St. Benedict's Prep, who ran 8:05.46 en route when he ran the 2-mile vs. the pros at the 2013 Millrose Games.
The 8:08.13 by the University of North Carolina-bound Barrett, who ran 4:17.99 for the first 1,600 on Friday, converts to 8:44.11 for 2-miles, putting him just under five seconds off the NJ 2-mile record of 8:39.15 that Cheserek ran at the 2013 Millrose Games.