Fastest foursome

From small town to big time, Woodstown’s 4×800 relay team qualifies for Millrose Games with best time in the nation this year

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

NEW YORK – From small town America to the fastest track in the world, the Woodstown boys 4×800 relay team is going places.

The Wolverines qualified for the historic Millrose Games Wednesday when they came out of the unseeded heat to win the boys 4×800 Invitational at the Millrose Trials at the Armory in Washington Heights with the fastest time in the country.

They ran a 8:00.24 on “the fastest track in the world.” It was announced as the fastest time in the United States this season and the new No. 1 in New Jersey, although the MileSplit website lists Hickory, N.C., with a 7:58.94 from December.

“It’s absolutely amazing and surreal,” leadoff man Karson Chew said from somewhere on the Jersey Turnpike as the group drove back from the meet. “The U.S. number one 4×8 team being the small-school Woodstown from rural Salem County is an absolutely amazing story and it’s something I will genuinely never forget.

“The fact we were able to go into the unseeded heat that was technically the slow heat and still win the entire meet is absolutely amazing.”

The other three members of the team – Jacob Marino, David Farrell and Josh Crawford – echoed Chew’s sentiment, calling the feat awesome, amazing and unique. 

The Wolverines led the race wire-to-wire and stayed on top even though the results of the seeded heat.

Chew started them off with a season PR 1:58.665, going out in 27.65 that was a little faster than he had planned. Marino (2:02.101) and Farrell (2:04.518) ran personal bests to maintain the lead and Crawford brought in home with a 1:54.956.

“I knew from the outset when Karson went up in the first leg in 27 if he held that we were going to be in a really good position,” coach Sam Alvira said while the runners awaited their trip to the podium. “The two guys I really wanted to pay attention to was Jacob and David and both of them ran PRs.

“We had a specific training plan to do this week. We specifically told them to get some good rest yesterday. They did it. They came out hard and strong. It really helped that we’ve got the No. 4 800 meter runner in the country. Josh came in and did his job and now we’ve got the No. 1 4×800 team in the country.”

They went into the race with something to prove. They ran an 8:20 at the Ott Center in Philadelphia on Saturday that was neither wanted nor acceptable.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” Marino said. “It was a tough lead up to the race. We were fighting to the end to get in it and get a chance to do this. Coming out Saturday running 8:20 we knew we had so much left to prove and we left it all out on the track here today. It was stressful but we knew we could get it done and seeing Josh bring it in we knew we had it.”

“We all knew going into it we had a lot more in our tank than what we put out there,” Crawford said. “We knew 8:20 just wasn’t going to cut it. Our goal is winning state champs, but we didn’t think 8:20 was going to cut it. The drive we had going into it wasn’t really looking at the clock but knowing we had to run faster than we have before.”

Chew, Marino and Crawford have been regulars at beating the clock. Farrell is the newcomer to the unit, filling the spot occupied by graduated Cole Lucas, and he was running Wednesday just a few weeks back from nasal surgery to correct an issue that affected his breathing during competition. From Saturday to Wednesday he dropped three seconds off his time.

“It’s just so crazy that I can be on this team,” Farrell said. “I’ve been just trying to hang on with these guys and not drop their chances at any fast times and just compete with them. I was pretty terrified, but it’s been a big motivator to push myself and work hard to hang with them.”

As he waited in the exchange zone to accept the baton for his anchor leg, a big smile crossed Crawford’s face as he saw Farrell coming down the track with the lead. 

“I was proud of my teammates and pretty confident we could bring it home from there,” Crawford said.

He then went out in an excitable 25.404 and realized he had to dial it back to maintain a steady stride to secure the win.

Alvira called the accomplishment “very profound.”

“They’re personality is absolutely fantastic,” he said. “Four really humble guys. Small, rural town in South Jersey, Woodstown, (that) most people don’t even know about and they just come up out of nowhere and do something absolutely fantastic and put their name in a list to a point where everybody in the country has to pay attention. I just feel really privileged to be able to coach these guys and to be a part of something special.”

The Millrose Games, a staple at Madison Square Garden until 2012, returns to the Armory Feb. 1.