From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Before we get to the all-time South Jersey 1,600 list, a couple things.

These lists are invariably going to have an error or two. Please don’t take it personally if you or an athlete you coached or an athlete from your school is missing. I’m doing my best here creating these lists from a lot of different sources, most of which are incomplete or have mistakes.

Also if you find a mistake, PLEASE let me know in the comment’s section and not on Twitter.

And if you find a time missing, don’t just say, “So-and-So ran 21.4” or whatever. Give me as much information as you know – what school, what year, what meet, whatever you have. Give me a starting point and I can research this stuff. A lot of times “He ran a 4:13 mile” means he ran 4:13.99 or maybe even 4:15.99. Times tend to improve as the years go by.

OK, the 1,600 list includes mile times converted using the standard conversions ratios , and hand-times are converted for comparison purposes using the standard 0.14-second factor and indicated with an h.

Interesting to note that 10 of the top 50 marks are from the 1970s (and another from the 1960s). Incredible that so many amazing mile times came on dirt or cinder tracks.

Only five marks from the 1980s (none in the top 22) and five from the 1990s but 15 (including 7 of the top 13) from the 2000’s and 14 from the past 10 years.

Crazy to think that more South Jersey milers had ran 4:15.62 or faster by 1979 than would run that fast during the 22-year period from 1980 through 2001!

Here are the first few installments in the all-time South Jersey top-50:

Boys outdoor 100-meter dash
Boys outdoor 200-meter dash
Boys outdoor 400-meter dash
Boys outdoor 800-meter run

Next up will be the 3,200, and that’s one heck of a list. Here’s the 1,600!

South Jersey Boys Outdoor All-Time 1,600-Meter Run

4:07.07y … Brett Johnson [Ocean City], 2009
4:08.7y ….. Mike Elder [Haddon Twp.], 1973
4:09.19 … John Richardson [Ocean City], 2003
4:09.30 … Colin Baker [Haddonfield], 2009
4:10.24y ….. Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1979
4:11.07 … Xavier Fraction [Washington Twp.], 2009
4:11.15 … Ryan Garvin [Lenape], 2009
4:11.46 … Miles Schoedler [Ocean City], 2010
4:11.49 … Jim Wyner [Mainland Reg.], 2004
4:11.69 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 2013
4:11.78 … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2015
4:11.84 … Tom Cooke [Kingsway], 2012
4:11.86y … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
4:12.05y … Murad Campbell [Overbrook], 1999
4:12.08 … Bill Dolan [Clearview], 2014
4:12.1y ….. Al Harden [Millville], 1978
4:12.3y ….. Ed Blakeley [Haddon Twp.], 1975
4:12.5y ….. Dick Caton [Woodbury], 1978
4:13.23 … Justin Branco [Delsea], 2015
4:13.1y … Ricky Jacques [Burlington Twp.], 1968
4:13.26y … Greg Pelose [Haddonfield], 2015
4:13.46 … Stone Caraccio [Kingsway], 2019
4:13.4y … Greg Stremmel [Gateway[, 1973
4:13.64h … Jason DiJoseph [Paul VI], 1988
4:13.71 … Dominick Munson [Timber Creek], 2015
4:13.83 … Carmen Cavella [Washington Twp.], 2003
4:13.85 … Jacob Clark [Pleasantville], 2013
4:14.1y … Charles McCarthy [Paul VI], 1972
4:14.14 … Ben Potts [Haddonfield], 2009
4:14.25 … Matt Nussbaum [Haddonfield], 2010
4:14.3h … Jim Smith [Haddonfield], 1980
4:14.50 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2003
4:14.60 … Matt Poskus [Cinnaminson], 2007
4:14.8y … Ed McGowan [Highland], 1972
4:14.8y … Vance Watson [Willingboro], 1982
4:14.84h … Greg Hughes [Mainland Reg.], 2004
4:14.9h … Jeff Boyer [Camden], 1983
4:15.0y … Bob Marino [Williamstown], 1975
4:15.0y … Bradley Pomeroy [Cherry Hill East], 1977
4:15.0h … Dan Gough [Haddonfield], 1987
4:15.12 … Owen Long [Haddon Twp.], 2015
4:15.14h … Fred Sharpe [Paulsboro], 1997
4:15.19 … Mark Sivieri [St. Augustine], 1990
4:15.28 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 2004
4:15.35 … Steve Mazur [Highland], 1992
4:15.44h … Jeff Davis [Cumberland Reg.], 1985
4:15.44 … Brian Tetreault [Cinnaminson], 2007
4:15.49 … Steve Burkholder [Cherokee], 2010
4:15.51 … Robert Edwards [Bridgeton], 2002
4:15.52 … Derek Gess [Haddonfield], 2018
4:15.52 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2019