Cinnaminson’s Austin Gabay became the 8th South Jersey high school graduate to run sub-4 for the mile Friday afternoon in Boston.
Gabay, a senior at Butler, ran 3:59.19 at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University.
Gabay’s previous mile PR was 4:06.70 in February 2022 while running for Duke in a meet in Lynchburg, Va. But he did run 3:40.73 outdoors this past April in Durham, D.C., the equivalent of a 3:58.39 mile.
Gabay ran 60.04, 59.99, 60.39 and 58.79. He joined Westampton Tech graduate Rob Novak as Burlington County’s second sub-4 miler. Novak, who competed in track for Bordentown because Westampton doesn’t have a track team, ran 3:58.14 in Boston in 2012.
The last South Jersey miler under 4 minutes was Absegami’s Ford Palmer, who first went sub-4 in 2014 when he ran 3:57.61 in Raleigh, N.C., and most recently broke 4:00 when he ran 3:58.80 in West Long Branch in 2018.
Unbelievably, Butler’s web site does not have an all-time top-10 so can’t tell you where Gabay ranks in school history.
According to Gabay’s TFRRS page, he hadn’t run a mile in three years – since the 2022 ACC Championships in Blacksburg, Va.
Princeton’s Collin Boler from Delbarton High in Morristown also broke 4:00 for the first time in the same race and Brick graduate Damien Dilcher, a former Iona runner, PR’d at 3:54.32.
All-Time South Jersey Sub-4 List
3:56.79i….. Ford Palmer [Absegami HS], Boston, Feb. 14, 2015
3:58.14i …. Rob Novak [Bordentown HS], Boston, Feb. 11, 2012
3:58.62i …. Brett Johnson [Ocean City], Seattle, Feb. 9, 2013
3:59.19i … Austin Gabay [Cinnaminson], Boston, Feb. 14, 2025
3:59.35i …. John Richardson [Ocean City], Lexington, Ky., Feb. 2, 2008
3:59.85i …. Mark Sivieri [St. Augustine Prep], Boston, Jan. 28, 1994
3:59.91i …. Brian Gallagher [Sterling], Boston, Feb. 14, 1998
All-Time New Jersey Sub-4 Milers
3:49.44 … Edward Cheserek [St. Benedict’s], Boston, Feb. 9, 2019
3:52.2h … Marty Liquori [Essex Catholic], Kingston, Jamaica, May 17, 1975
3:53.16 … Robby Andrews [Manalapan], New York, Feb. 20, 2016
3:53.85 … Liam Murphy [Allentown], State College, Pa., Jan. 26, 2025
3:54.28 … Rob Napolitano [Red Bank Catholic], Boston, March 3, 2019
3:54.32 … Damien Dilcher [Brick], Boston, Feb. 14, 2025
3:54.60 … Marco Langon [Bridgewater-Raritan], Philadelphia, Jan. 25, 2025
3:54.92 … Ford Palmer [Absegami], Boston, Feb. 26, 2018
3:55.66 … Jeremy Hernandez [Clifton], Boston, March 3, 2019
3:56.39 … Sean Dolan [Hopewell Valley], Nashville, Feb. 11, 2022
3:56.75 …. Steve Slattery [Mount Olive], New York, March 6, 2006
3:56.9h … Ron Speirs [Paramus], Philadelphia, April 30, 1977
3:57.86…. Travis Mahoney [Old Bridge], Boston, March 3, 2019
3:57.89 … Ray Sellaro [North Hunterdon], State College, Jan. 29, 2022
3:58.00 … Zach Michon [Robbinsville], Boston, Feb. 11, 2023
3:58.02 … Craig Forys [Colts Neck], New York, Feb. 6, 2016
3:58.14 … Rob Novak [Bordentown], Boston, Feb. 11, 2012
3:58.4y … Roger Jones [Ramsey], Boston, Feb. 13, 1982
3:58.62 … Jim McKeon [Millburn], Johnson City, Tenn., Jan. 19, 1985
3:58.62 … Brett Johnson [Ocean City], Seattle, Feb. 9, 2013
3:58.78 … Tim Gorman [Christian Brothers], Seattle, Feb. 11, 2017
3:58.90 … Ben Malone [Pascack Valley], Boston, Feb. 9, 2019
3:59.07 … Collin Boler [Delbarton], Boston, Feb. 14, 2025
3:59.18 … Jeramy Elkaim [Livingston], Seattle, Feb. 23, 2013
3:59.19 … Austin Gabay, Boston, Feb. 14, 2025
3:59.21 … Chris Hatler [Pope John XXIII], New York, Feb. 11, 2017
3:59.35 … John Richardson, Lexington, Ky., Feb. 2, 2008
3:59.43 … Rich Kenah, Fayetteville, Feb. 12, 2000
3:59.2h … Cliff Sheehan, Philadelphia, April 27, 1985
3:59.60 … Mike Kerrigan [Blair Academy], Swarthmore, Pa., May 14, 2007
3:59.74 … Colin Daly [River Dell], Boston, Feb. 15, 2020
3:59.84 … Edwin Klanke [St. Peter’s Prep], Philadelphia, Dec. 7, 2024
3:59.85 …. Mark Sivieri, Boston, Jan. 28, 1994
3:59.6h … Jim Crawford, Modesto, Calif., May 23, 1970
3:59.91 …. Brian Gallagher, Boston, Feb. 14, 1998
3:59.98 …. Christian Gonzalez, Boston, Jan. 27, 2012
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 