Cherokee’s Benjamin Realley shattered the South Jersey freshman 3,200 record Tuesday night at the Holmdel Twilight Series Night of 3200s.
Realley placed 11th out of 446 runners, covering eight laps at Holmdel High in 9:21.01. The previous South Jersey freshman record was 9:27.73 set by Realley’s current teammate, Cherokee senior Nick Kuenkel, at the 2021 state Group 4 meet in Somerset.
Realley’s previous PR was 9:32.85 on his home track at the Cherokee Night of 3200s on April 12.
Incredibly, his time is No. 10 in Cherokee history, and that’s a program with one of the richest distance traditions of any New Jersey high school.
Realley has run 4:27.45 full mile this spring and indoors ran 1:59.75 for 800 meters. He’s fastest in New Jersey among freshman in the 1,600 and 3,200 and No. 2 in the 800.
South Jersey’s top finisher was Glassboro senior Elijah Whitaker in his first race this spring. Whitaker ran a massive PR and Glassboro school record of 9:20.27, dropping more than half a minute from his 9:52.60 from indoor South Jersey Group 1 sectionals at the Bubble in February. Whitaker’s time is No. 11 in Gloucester County history, just about a second outside the top 10.
Cherokee sophomore Logan Bromley finished just behind Whitaker and Realley in a huge PR of his own at 9:21.24. He ran 9:36.40 at Cherokee earlier this month. His time is 2nd-fastest by a New Jersey sophomore this year.
Another Cherokee runner, junior Liam Tindall, placed 17th in 9:29.89, an outdoor PR, and another Glassboro runner, junior Ty Blackman, ran a 16-second PR of 9:38.24.
Junior Enzo Corona [9:49.46], freshman Sean Sooy [9:50.98] and junior Benjamin Weiner [9:55.10] made it six Cherokee runners under 10 minutes. Their former PRs were 10:29.39 for Corona, 10:07.93 for Sooy and 10:06.81 for Weiner.
All-Time Burlington County 3,200 List
9:01.89 … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
9:04.05 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 2013
9:08.22 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 2004
9:09.27 … David Forward [Shawnee], 2009
9:09.80 … Todd Campbell [Cinnaminson], 2009
9:10.90 … Ethan Wechsler (Cherokee), 2019
9:11.32 … Michael Ungvarsky (Cinnaminson), 2017
9:11.8y … Henry Englehardt (Willingboro), 1976
9:12.1y … Mark Strucko (Rancocas Valley), 1978
9:12.60 … Michael Bowden (Northern Burlington), 2009
9:15.08 … Nick Falk (Cherokee), 2017
9:15.13 … Austin Gabay (Cinnaminson), 2019
9:15.07 … Alex Boyko [Cinnaminson], 2023
9:16.54 … Nick Kuenkel [Cherokee], 2022
9:18.80 … Tyler Schill [Cinnaminson], 2022
9:18.82 … Robert Poplau [Cherokee], 2024
9:19.60 … Adam Ambrus [Shawnee], 2001
9:19.78 … Matt McCarron [Cinnaminson], 2023
9:20.1y … Paul Friedman [Moorestown], 1976
9:21.01 … Benjamin Realley [Cherokee], 2024
9:21.24 … Logan Bromley [Cherokee], 2024
9:21.1h … Rex Myers [Delran], 1988
All-Time Gloucester County List
9:01.84y ….. Mike Mantini (Gateway), 1979
9:06.11y ….. Greg Stremmel (Gateway), 1974
9:10.39 … Andrew Littlehales [Delsea], 2022
9:11.11 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 2023
9:11.88 … Paul Szulewski [Williamstown], 2011
9:14.31 … Anthony Dentino [Washington Twp.], 2011
9:14.93 … Kyle Rakitis [Kingsway], 2021
9:16.39 … Stone Caraccio [Kingsway], 2019
9:19.19 … Nick Costello [Delsea], 2012
9:19.89 … Jacob Cobb [West Deptford], 2021
9:20.97 … Elijah Whitaker [Glassboro], 2024
9:20.99 … Brady Shute [Woodbury], 2021
All-Time Cherokee List
9:01.89 … Marc Pelerin, 2001
9:04.05 … Shawn Wilson, 2013
9:10.90 … Ethan Wechsler, 2019
9:15.08 … Nick Falk, 2017
9:08.42i … Nick Kuenkel, 2024
9:16.61 … Justin Kelly, 2018
9:17.19 … Keith Krieger, 2003
9:18.82 … Robert Poplau, 2024
9:19.44 … Jack Shea, 2017
9:21.01 … Ben Realley, 2024
9:21.24 … Logan Bromley [Cherokee], 2024
9:24.84 … Alex Yersak, 2008
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 