Malone Named New Jersey Athlete of the Outdoor Season

Incoming freshman Ben Malone (USA prep #2 over 1500 meters in 2013) has been named New Jersey's Athlete of the Season for the 2013 outdoor season.  Here's how his selection was described by the folks at NJ Runners, the state's MileSplit affiliate :

"Ben Malone didn't take part in the awesome spectacle that was the NJSIAA State Meet Tournament, but that didn't stop him from running amazing times. He is NJ#2 and US#6 with a converted 1600m time of 4:04.17 from the 4:05.59 mile time he ran at Penn Relays placing second. He took down one of the best distance runners in state history Edward Cheserek at Glenn D. Loucks Games winning with a meet record 4:09.73 in the mile. Consistently hitting under 4 minutes 10 seconds in the mile all season, Malone will be attending Villanova University next fall."

"He didn't race too often this season, but the quality of the performances and the range this runner has in events pushed him to the top. It took me the longest to choose this award between Isaac Clark and Malone. Clark had an amazing year individually and helping his team's 4x800m relay to amazing times. Malone didn't go after the 800m this season, but still pumped out a NJ#10 time of 1:52.80 at the Bergen Co Meet of Champs, he is NJ#2 and US#6 in the converted 1600m, ranks NJ#22 in the 400m with a 48.94. He set the state record in the 1500m run this season clocking in a 3:46.97 US#2 (which would convert to a 4:05.06 for the full mille!). So he picked and chose his races, went after the mile, and performed well all season. I wish, as I'm sure other track fans do as well, that he ran in the state meets so I could see him tear it up with the other fine performances we saw from the rest of NJ into early June but that's past now. Good luck to you Ben Malone at Villanova next fall, we'll be keeping tabs on your career."

Here's the 1500 meter race Malone ran (along with future Villanova teammates Jordy Williamsz and Sam McEntee) at the 2013 Swarthmore Last Chance meet.  His time of 3:46.97 put Malone at #2 in the US prep ranks and broke the New Jersey state high school record: