From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Cherokee senior Justin Kelly lowered his 1,600 PR from 4:19.66 to 4:18.48 at the Meet of Champions Sunday at the Bennett Center.

Kelly placed seventh in a very fast race but ran the 11th-fastest time in Meet of Champions history by a South Jersey miler and the fastest by a Cherokee (or Burlington County) miler, 2-100ths of a second faster than Shawn Wilson’s time in 2012.

Kelly moved into the No. 3 spot on the all-time Burlington County indoor list behind Marc Pelerin and Dave Forward. Here’s what that list looks like:

ALL-TIME BURLINGTON COUNTY INDOO 1,600 LIST
4:13.56y  … Marc Pelerin (Cherokee), 2002
4:16.71y … *Dave Forward (Shawnee), 2009
4:19.48 … Justin Kelly [Cherokee], 2018
4:18.50 … *Shawn Wilson (Cherokee), 2012
4:18.91y … Jon Anderson (Cinnaminson), 2004
4:19.97 … Steve Burkholder [Cherokee), 2010
4:20.46y … Brian Tetreault (Cinnaminson), 2007
4:20.93 … *Ryan Garvin (Lenape), 2008
4:21.1h … Eric Lorenz (Holy Cross), 1988
4:22.22y … Rob Novak (Bordentown), 2005

And here are the fastest seventh-place times in meet history:
4:17.05 … Dan Mykityshyn [CBA], 2010
4:18.18 … Dylan Tarpey [Freehold Twp.], 2013
4:18.48 … Justin Kelly [Cherokee], 2018
4:18.84 … Rob Napolitano [Red Bank Catholic], 2011
4:19.15 … Patrik Anderson [Gill St. Bernard’s], 2014

And here’s a list of the all the sub-4:20 South Jersey milers at the indoor Meet of Champions. As you can see 10 of the 13 are since 2010:
4:14.18 … Greg Pelose [Haddonfield], 2016 [3]
4:14.71 … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2015 [1]
4:16.02 … Erik Johnson [Ocean City], 2011 [1]
4:16.62 … Bill Dolan [Clearview], 2014 [4]
4:16.64 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2003 [1]
4:16.5m … Greg Stremmel [Gateway], 1974 [1]
4:16.68 … Miles Schoedler [Ocean City], 2010 [5]
4:16.85 … Ben Potts [Haddonfield], 2010 [6]
4:16.9m … Bob Marino [Williamstown, 1974 [2]
4:18.17 … Ben Potts [Haddonfield], 2011 [5]
4:18.48 … Justin Kelly [Cherokee], 2018 [7]
4:18.50 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 2012 [9]
4:19.39 … Derek Gess [Haddonfield], 2018 [9]
4:19.97 … Steve Burkholder [Cherokee], 2010 [10]

Finally, here’s my best attempt at an all-time Burlington County combined list of all sub-4:20 milers both indoors and outdoors:

ALL-TIME BURLINGTON COUNTY 1,600 LIST
4:11.15 … Ryan Garvin (Lenape), 2009
4:11.69 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 2013
4:11.83y … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
4:13.0y,h … Rick Jacques [Burlington Twp.], 1968
4:14.60 … Matt Poskus [Cinnaminson], 2007
4:14.8y,h … Vance Watson [Willingboro], 1982
4:15.28 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 2004
4:15.44 … Brian Tetreault [Cinnaminson], 2007
4:15.49 … Steve Burkholder [Cherokee], 2010
4:15.77 … Anthony Kelhower [Lenape], 2005
4:16.71y,i … David Forward [Shawnee], 2009
4:16.6y,h … Herb Gordon [Willingboro], 1982
4:16.86 … Mark Miller [Shawnee], 2017
4:16.93 … Ian Waterhouse [Rancocas Valley], 2004
4:17.34 … Chris Martin [Northern Burlington], 2014
4:17.39 … Chris Sallade [Shawnee], 1990
4:17.4y,h … Bob Mann [Willingboro], 1979
4:17.7y,h … Joe League [Holy Cross], 1972
4:18.43 … Josh Joseph [Cherokee], 2000
4:18.48i … Justin Kelly [Cherokee], 2018
4:18.52 … *Rob Novak [Bordentown], 2005
4:18.3y,h … Rey Johnson [Willingboro], 1980
4:18.3 … Keith O’Brien [Shawnee], 1992
4:18.64 … Joshua DeJesus [Rancocas Valley], 2015
4:18.6 … Bryant Walker [Pemberton], 1983
4:18.7y,h … Mark Strucko [Rancocas Valley], 1979
4:18.91 … Steve Unger [Shawnee], 2003
4:19.96 … Kevin Lauer [Lenape], 2017
4:18.9y,h … Terry Delaney [Moorestown], 1979
4:19.01 … *Bill Sepich [Delran], 2004
4:19.36 … Jack Shea [Cherokee], 2017
4:19.83 … Alex McGrainer [Seneca], 2013