Cinnaminson junior Austin Gabay ran away with the Varsity E race Saturday at the Shore Coaches Invitational with a Holmdel PR of more than a minute.
Gabay nearly broke 16 minutes on the hallowed 5,000-meter Holmdel County Park layout, running 16:01 to win by 35 meters over senior Colin Flood of Manasquan.
That’s more than a one-minute PR at Holmdel for Gabay, who ran 17:09 at Group 2 states last fall after a 17:38 at Shore Coaches.
This is the fourth time a Cinnaminson runner has won an individual title at Shore Coaches. Bill Mason won the Group D race in 1998 in 16:24 and Michael Ungvarsky won the Group D race in 2015 in 16:25 and Group E in 2016 in 15:57.
His time is third-fastest in Cinnaminson history at Holmdel, trailing only Jon Anderson, who ran 15:50 at the 2003 Meet of Champions, and Ungvarsky’s 15:57. Steve Grabowski’s 16:08 at the 2005 Meet of Champions and Matt Poskus’s 16:13 at the 2006 M-of-C give Cinnaminson a five-man average of 16:02.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 