Haddonfield teammates Seth Clevenger and George Andrus ran a couple hot mile PRs at the Blue Devil Classic Saturday at Westfield.
Clevenger, a senior, won the race in 4:15.36 and Andrus, a junior, ran 4:15.93 for second. Rahway junior Micah Lawson made it three under 4:17, taking 3rd in 4:16.84, and Cherokee junior ran a season-best 4:21.36 in 4th.
This is the first time ever one South Jersey high school has had two milers run this fast in the same year. Mainland came close in 2004, when Jimmy Wyner ran a mile equivalent of 4:12.95 and Greg Hughes ran 4:16.32.
Clevenger and Andrus ran the No. 2 and No. 3 mile times in New Jersey this year behind Jackson Barna of Ridge, who ran 4:09.53 earlier this month at the Explorer Invitational at La Salle High School in Springfield, Pa., chasing Archbishop Wood’s Gary Martin, who ran a Pennsylvania state-record 4:00.95.
Clevenger’s previous PR was a 4:18:18 at New Balance indoors, and Andrus’s was 4:18.74 at Group 2 sectionals at the Bubble in February.
We shouldn’t convert mile times to 1,600 meters, but we’ll do it just for the purposes of comparing the fastest milers in Haddonfield’s rich running history. Clevenger’s time converts to 4:13.80, and Andrus’s time to 4:14.45. They now rank No. 3 and No. 6 in Haddonfield’s history, and I’m guessing there’s not very many high schools in the country that have had nine milers go 4:15.0 or faster for 1,600 meters or its equivalent.
4:09.30 … Colin Baker, 2009
4:13.26y … Greg Pelose, 2015
4:13.80y … Seth Clevenger, 2022
4:14.14 … Ben Potts, 2009
4:14.25 … Matt Nussbaum, 2010
4:14.45y … George Andrus, 2022
4:14.3y … Jim Smith, 1980
4:14.50 … Chris Platt, 2003
4:15.0h … Dan Gough, 1987
Clevenger and Andrus also ran legs on Haddonfield’s 3,200-meter relay team, which won easily in 8:16.87. Junior Robert DiMedio and sophomore Liam Dougherty also ran.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 