Kingsway senior Kyle Rakitis earned All-America honors for the second time in 24 hours and ran the 3rd-fastest mile in South Jersey history Saturday at Ocean Breeze Nationals.
Rakitis, who anchored Kingsway’s winning sprint medley team Friday, placed 2nd in the mile in 4:12.79, the equivalent of 4:11.32 for 1,600 meters.
Junior Wesley Shipsey of Central Catholic High in Portland, Ore., won the race in 4:11.42.
The performance moves Rakitis behind two Ocean City runners on the all-time South Jersey mile list – Miles Schoedler ran 4:11.42 in 2011 and Brett Johnson 4:12.49 in 2009. It’s also No. 26 in state history.
Shipsey and Rakitis separated from the pack by the time they finished the first lap. Rakitis led early, but Shipsey moved into the lead on the second lap, and they stayed together the rest of the race. Three times Rakitis moved even with Shipsey and tried to regain the lead, but Shipsey responded each time.
Rakitis came through the quarter in 63.74 and hit the half in approximately 2:07.2 (split not listed, so that’s off the video). He closed in 61.19 for his final quarter. Shipsey closed in 29.8 for his final 200.
Rakitis’s previous indoor PR was a 4:12.55 for the slightly shorter 1,600 meters in the Meet of Champions at the Bubble. That’s the equivalent of a 4:14.01 full mile. He’s run 4:08.58 outdoors – twice, actually. At Group 4 sectionals at Washington Township last spring and when he won the Meet of Champions at South Plainfield.
All-time South Jersey 1,600 list
4:09.96y … Miles Schoedler [Ocean City], 2011
4:11.03y … Brett Johnson [Ocean City], 2009
4:11.32 … Kyle Rakitis [Kingsway], 2022
4:11.89y … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2015
4:11.93y … Greg Pelose [Haddonfield], 2016
4:13.68y … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
4:13.87y … Stone Caraccio [Kingsway], 2020
4:14.1y … Marty Ludwikowski [C.H. West], 1975
4:15.2y … Jim Smith [Haddonfield], 1980
4:15.52 … Bill Dolan [Clearview], 2014
4:16.0y … Greg Stremmel [Gateway], 1974
4:16.02 … Erik Johnson [Ocean City], 2012
4:16.3y … Rich Caton [Woodbury], 1979
4:16.61y … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 2004
4:16.71y … Dave Forward [Shawnee], 2009
4:16.85 … Ben Potts [Haddonfield], 2011
4:16.9y … Bob Marino [Williamstown], 1974
4:17.1y … Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1978
4:17.33y … Carmen Cavella [Washington Twp.], 2004
4:17.51y … Connor Melko [Bishop Eustace], 2019
4:17.67 … Derek Gess [Haddonfield], 2018
4:17.67y … Sebastien Reed [Pitman], 2020
4:17.98 … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 2022
4:18.21y … Xavier Fraction [Washington Twp.], 2009
4:18.22 … Jacob Clark [Pleasantville], 2013
4:18.48 … Justin Kelly [Cherokee], 2018
4:18.50 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 2013
4:18.53y … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2001
4:18.4y … Al Harden [Millville], 1979
4:18.4h … Mike Myers [Eastern], 2001
4:18.70y … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2019
4:18.73 … Jacob Cobb [West Deptford], 2022
4:18.74 … George Andrus [Haddonfield], 2022
4:18.80y … Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], 2020
4:18.83 … Tyler Jackson [Cherokee], 2020
4:19.03 … Noah Culbreath [Kingsway, 2014
4:19.40 … Justin Branco [Delsea], 2015
4:19.7y … Chris Hageman [Paul VI], 1985
4:19.96 … Robert Rawls [Triton], 2011
4:19.97 … Steve Burkholder [Cherokee], 2010
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 