From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

A couple huge PRs for Cinnaminson juniors Tyler Schill and Alex Boyko at Cherokee’s Night of 3,200s Thursday.

Schill lowered his PR by more than half a minute – yes, half a minute – and placed 5th in 9:18.80, and Boyko dropped his PR nearly 20 seconds and finished 8th in 9:21.27. There were more than 250 boys and girls in 13 races over three hours.

Schill’s previous PR was a 9:54.85 at the Bubble in January, so that’s officially a 36.05-second improvement. His outdoor PR was 10:04.83 from last year’s Cherokee Night of 3200s. He improved from 52nd place last year to 5th this year.

He is coming off strong XC and indoor seasons. He was 11th at Group 2 states in XC with a 16:55 at Holmdel and ran 4:27.89 indoors for third in the South Jersey Group 2 1,600 at sectionals.

But 9:18 puts him in an entirely different category. He came through 1,600 meters in 4:42.74 and came back in 4:36.06 – which is actually faster than his outdoor 1,600 PR. He closed in 64.99 and 2:14.96.

Boyko’s breakthrough wasn’t quite as big, but it was big. He came in with a lifetime best of 9:39.53 from the indoor state Group 2 meet at the Bubble in February. His outdoor PR was 9:49.23 from SJ-2 sectionals last spring at Delsea. So that’s an 18.26-second drop.

Boyko and Schill were Cinnaminson’s top two runners when the Pirates placed second to Haddonfield at the state Group 2 meet at Holmdel in November. Cinnaminson’s entire top 7 from that team – Boyko, Schill, Matt McCarron, Derek Coceano, Patrick Storti, Dean Clark and Josiah Saint Ellen – returns this fall.

Schill and Boyko move into the No. 5 and 6 spots on the all-time Cinnaminson 3,200 list, which is really an incredible list for a Group 2 school. All coached of course by Dan Fourney:

9:08.22 … Jon Anderson [2004 State Group 2 meet, Egg Harbor]
9:09.80 … Todd Campbell [2009 Meet of Champions, South Plainfield]
9:11.32 … Mike Ungvarsky [2017 Glenn Loucks Games, White Plains, N.Y.]
9:15.13 … Austin Gabay [2019 Holmdel Twilight Series]
9:18.80 … Tyler Schill [2022 Cherokee Night of 3200s]
9:21.27 … Alex Boyko [2022 Cherokee Night of 3200s]

Here’s a look at the top 10 South Jersey runners at Cherokee Thursday night:

9:12.32 … George Andrus [Haddonfield] (1st)
9:12.99 … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield] (2nd)
9:15.76 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury] (3rd)
9:18.45 … Jack Bolling [Haddon Heights (4th)
9:18.80 … Tyler Schill [Cinnaminson] (5th)
9:20.80 … Jacob Cobb [West Deptford] (7th)
9:21.27 … Alex Boyko [Cinnaminson] (8th)
9:24.63 … Billy Clewell [Camden Catholic] (9th)
9:28.08 … Patrick Ditmars [Cherokee] (11th)
9:29.10 … Colin Patterson [Haddon Heights] (12th)

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