Bishop Eustace junior Connor Melko ran a Holmdel PR Saturday, placing second in the Varsity E race at Shore Coaches with a 16:40.
Melko ran second to Meet of Champions outdoor 3,200 winner Devin Hart, a junior at Point Pleasant Boro. Hart ran 15:57, second-fastest time of the day.
Melko’s previous Holmdel County Park PR was 16:53, when he placed third in the state Parochial B race last fall.
The only South Jersey runner to go faster than Melko Saturday on the hilly 5,000-meter Holmdel layout was Kingsway senior Joe Grandizio, who ran 16:33.
Eustace, ranked No. 6 in South Jersey, placed fourth in team scoring with 162 points, behind only Haddonfield (79), Northern Valley-Demarest (116) and Camden Catholic (134).
Juniors Andrew Massaro (26th in 17:48), Sean May (39th in 18:08) and Brian Hutchison (43rd in 18:14) were also in the top-50 for Eustace, which didn’t have a senior in its top 5.
Melko ran 1:57.80 and 4:17.99 as a sophomore last spring. He was the third-fastest sophomore miler in the state a year ago, behind Hart (4:09.49) and CBA’s Tim McInerney (4:17.01), and the fastest sophomore in South Jersey.
Eustace races in the Camden County Championships Friday at Timber Creek Park in Lindenwold and Gloucester Township.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 
Camden Catholic, who beat Bishop Eustace, also did not have a senior in it’s top 5. Camden Catholic was ranked 12th in South Jersey.
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Hey, Chuck! Thanks for the note! I’m writing about Camden Catholic right now and their race at the county meet. Trying to find the last time C.C. won the Camden County meet team title … do you know what year it was? thanks!
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Thanks for writing about CCHS. I don’t know the last time they won a county meet title. They have a very solid Junior class and one of their best XC guys, Denny Kelly (17:06 at Delsea as a freshman and 4:27/ 9:50 as a sophomore) has been hurt all season but should return for Sectionals and states.
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