Woodbury junior Peyton Shute ran the fastest time in New Jersey this year and led four other runners under 4:20 Thursday in a wild 1,600 race at the South Jersey Elite at Delsea.
Shute won the race in 4:13.77, with Haddon Heights senior Jack Bolling 2nd in 4:15.12 and Haddonfield senior George Andrus 3rd in 4:15.31. Cinnaminson senior Alex Boyko [4:17.55] and senior teammate Matt McCarron [4:19.54] also went under 4:20. Five others broke 4:25 in a race that produced five of the eight-fastest times in New Jersey this year.
Shute took six other runners through 400 between 65.11 and 65.99 and through 800 between 2:09.00 and 2:10.68 before the race began in earnest.
The five leaders separated from the pack on the third lap, with Shute splitting 62.56, Andrus 62.80, McCarron 63.18, Boyko 63.48 and Bolling 63.87, so going into the gun lap Shute led at 3:11.56, followed by Andrus at 3:12.39, Boyko 3:12.94, McCarron 3:13.20 and Bolling 3:13.61.
Shute closed in 62.22 and 2:04.78, Bolling in 61.52 and 2:05.39, Andrus in 62.93 and 2:05.73 – three South Jersey milers closing in sub-2:06 and breaking 4:16.
Shute lowered his PR from 4:14.89 from last year’s Haddonfield Invitational. Bolling’s PR was 4:19.02 from indoor sectionals at the Bubble, and his previous outdoor PR was 4:24.24 from this meet last year.
Andrus ran 4:10.97 last spring, but this is by far his fastest race since he missed the end of the indoor season.
Boyko’s previous PR was an indoor 4:18.28 at Group 2 states at the Bubble and 4:19.26 outdoors from sectionals last year on the same track, and McCarron lowered his PR a crazy eight seconds from a 4:27.62, also at last year’s sectionals.
Shute moved into the No. 10 spot on a ridiculously fast all-time Gloucester County list – he’s the 11th Gloucester County runner under 4:14, which is nuts for a relatively small county in terms of population.
Gloucester County now has 10 of the 30-fastest times in South Jersey history but accounts for only 16 percent of South Jersey’s population.
All-Time South Jersey 1,600 List
4:08.58 … Kyle Rakitis [Kingsway], 2021
4:10.24y ….. Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1979
4:11.07 … Xavier Fraction [Washington Twp.], 2009
4:11.84 … Tom Cooke [Kingsway], 2012
4:12.08 … Bill Dolan [Clearview], 2014
4:12.5y ….. Dick Caton [Woodbury], 1978
4:13.23 … Justin Branco [Delsea], 2015
4:13.46 … Stone Caraccio [Kingsway], 2019
4:13.4y … Greg Stremmel [Gateway[, 1973
4:13.77 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 2023
4:13.83 … Carmen Cavella [Washington Twp.], 2003
We’re operating on the theory that the South Jersey Elite traces its lineage to the South Jersey Invitational, with a girls division added. It has a different name but is really the same meet, so that’s how we’ll move forward in terms of records, lists and stats.
With that in mind, Shute, Bolling and Andrus move into the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 spots on the all-time meet performance list behind Seth Clevenger’s 4:12.92 last year.
4:12.92 … Seth Clevenger (Haddonfield), 2022
4:13.77 … Peyton Shute (Woodbury), 2023
4:15.12 … Jack Bolling (Haddon Heights), 2023
4:15.31 … George Andrus (Haddonfield), 2023
4:15.83 Murad Campbell (Overbrook), 1999
4:16.30 Ishmael Muhammad (Oakcrest), 2014
4:16.52 … Jacob Cobb (West Deptford), 2022
4:16.8 Steve Mazur (Highland), 1992
4:17.12 Bryan Skelly (Washington Twp.), 2000
4:17.34 Chris Martin (Northern Burlington), 2014
4:17.41 … Tyler Schill (Cinnaminson), 2022
4:17.46 …….. Shute, 2022
4:17.55 … Alex Boyko (Cinnaminson), 2023
4:7.73 Justin Branco (Delsea), 2014
4:17.86 Matt Nussbaum (Haddonfield) 2011
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 