Robert Abrams won his third conference championship Monday, winning the NJAC mile title in 4:16.57 at Ocean Breeze.
The lead group of four runners came through 800 meters together in 2:10, but Abrams, a College of New Jersey senior from Cherry Hill West, threw out a 31.8 fifth lap to gap the field. With 400 to go, he had built a three-second lead, and he won by 12 meters over Ramapo’s Jason Rodriguez in 4:16.57.
Abrams negative’d 2:10.0 and 2:06.6.
Abrams also won NJAC titles in the 5,000 on the track last spring (15:15.03) and in cross country this past fall (24:37.9 over 8K at Stockton University).
Earlier this month, Abrams ran an all-time TCNJ No. 3 4:12.53 mile at Boston University. He’s also run 8:42.38 for 3,000 meters this year.
Teammate Mike Zurzolo took third in 4:18.88 off a 63.9 final 400. That’s a monster PR for the former Cherokee runner.
Zurzolo shaved 2 1/2 seconds off his mile PR of 4:21.30 from last month. Before that he had an indoor PR of 4:24.57 from last winter.
Lenape graduate Kevin Lauer, a sophomore at Rowan, was 5th in 4:26.04.
Abrams and Zurzolo are ranked No. 2 and 6 in the mile in the NCAA Division 3 Atlantic Region, according to TFRRS. The NCAA Atlantic Region Championships are scheduled for March 6 at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 