Ryan Smith ran the fastest Holmdel time ever by a Rancocas Valley runner Saturday and placed 4th in the Group B race at the Shore Coaches Invitational.
In cold and wet conditions, Smith ran 16:31 on the historic 5,000-meter Holmdel County Park course and finished only 22 seconds behind winner David McKinnon, a senior at North Hunterdon.
The fastest previous R.V. time at Holmdel was a 16:37 just last year at the Meet of Champions by Andre Faigal. Drew Hodge ran 16:41 at the 2004 Shore Coaches, Jon Harris ran 16:50 at the 1993 state Group 4 meet and Mike Clayton ran 16:53 at the 1987 Group 4 meet.
Smith’s fastest previous time at Holmdel was a 17:44 at last year’s Shore Coaches, so he ran 73 seconds faster on Saturday.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 