Austin Gabay, Matt Coffey, Seth Clevenger, Kevin Antczak and Ethan Wechsler rewrote the all-time South Jersey 3,000-meter list over the weekend, all five running sub-8:15 in a variety of meets.
We wrote about Gabay over the weekend – you can read that story here but let’s take a look at what everybody else did in a remarkable weekend for South Jersey distance alums.
♦ Matt Coffey: The St. Joe’s senior from Pennauken and Camden Catholic improved his PR from 8:13.53 at last year’s IC4A meet at Boston University to 8:12.50 with a 6th-place finish at the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge at the Armory. That’s No. 5 in St. Joe’s history – Robbinsville’s Zach Michon set the school record of 8:05.62 in 2020 at Boston University. Coffee’s 8:12.50 is No. 5 on the Atlantic 10 performance list.
♦ Seth Clevenger: The Iowa State sophomore from Haddonfield dropped his 3,000 PR from 8:15.16 from last February in a meet in Seattle to 8:12.72 with a 5th-place finish in the Razorback Invitational at Randall Tyson Track in Fayetteville, Ark. That’s No. 13 in the Big Ten but 3rd-fastest among freshmen or sophomores. That’s Clevenger’s second PR in two weeks. He ran 4:07.14 last weekend in a home meet.
♦ Kevin Antczak: Mainland Regional’s Antczak, now a junior at North Carolina State, ran a lifetime-best 8:12.92 Saturday at the Camel City Invitational at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C. Antczak placed 2nd to junior teammate John Malach, who ran 8:12.46. Antczak’s previous 3,000 PR was 8:24.42 from a meet in February 2021 in Virginia Beach.
♦ Ethan Wechsler: The Syracuse junior from Cherokee ran 8:14.32 this weekend at the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University, lowering his PR from 8:15.06, which he ran last year at the same meet.
Ten of the 13-fastest South Jersey 3,000 times have been recorded in the last three years. We might still be missing some sub-20 times, but this is what we have so far:
7:57.65i … Ford Palmer [Absegami], New York, Jan. 28, 2017
8:01.24i … Samuel Gerstenbacher [Schalick], Feb. 26, 2023, Boston
8:01.79i … Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], Jan. 26, 2024, Boston
8:10.01i … Jon Vitez [Haddonfield], Feb. 9, 2013, Princeton
8:10.69i … Sebastien Reed [Pitman], March 6, 2022, Boston
8:10.99i … Connor Melko [Bishop Eustace], Feb. 4, 2023, New York
8:11.81 … Oliver Adler [Cherry Hill East], Feb. 12, 2022, Boston
8:12.50i … Matt Coffey [Paul VI], Jan. 26, 2024, New York
8:12.72i … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], Jan. 26, 2024, Fayetteville, Ark.
8:12.92i… Kevin Antczak [Mainland Regional], Jan. 26, 2024, Winston-Salem, N.C.
8:13.00i … Karl Savage [Eastern], Feb. 25, 2005, New York
8:13.37i … Jack Shea [Cherokee], March 18, 2022, Tempe, Ariz.
8:14.32i … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], Jan. 26, 2024, Boston
8:14.40i … Kevin O’Donnell, Jan. 26, 2013, State College, Pa.
8:17.82i … Nick / Cole Pschunder [Eastern], Feb. 8, 2019, Boston
8:18.75i … Connor Herr [Shawnee], Feb. 10, 2017, New York
8:19.68 … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], April 10, 2004, Philadelphia
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 