Brad Barket, Class of 1995: Track and Field
Brad joined the Peddie community as a 10th grader in September of 1992. A resident of Dallas, PA, Brad was already a talented runner for his local high school, but hadn’t yet blossomed. Over the next three years, however, Brad established himself as one of the premier middle distance runners in the country.
Brad’s national accolades are numerous: As a sophomore running in the Eastern States Championships at Princeton’s Jadwin Gymnasium, Brad came from behind to win the 1,000-yard race. At one point during his junior year, Brad owned the nation’s best high school 800m time (1:55.69) and later earned All-American status by placing at the National Championships held at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY. He placed third at the Penn Relays invitational 1,500m, sixth place in the invitational high school mile at the Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden, ran the 1,600m at the Golden West meet in California and won the High School race of the 5th Avenue Mile. Brad was the only runner in Peddie’s long track history to have been fast enough to compete in any of these prestigious events, let alone all of them!
In addition to his individual achievements, Brad was a “team-first” runner. He put his teammates ahead of personal glory in order to share the spotlight. Brad was a member of Peddie’s winning 4 x 400m relay team at the Penn Relays. By running the 1,600m, 800m and 3,200m, Brad helped the Peddie track team win its only indoor Mercer County Title at the time. Brad was a member of Peddie’s sprint medley relay team (with teammates Chris Totten ’93, Lars Kausch ’94 and Jermaine Bishop ’94) which was ranked 10th in the country according to American Athletics magazine.
As of this writing, Brad owns four individual school records (indoor 800m, indoor 1.600m, outdoor 800m and outdoor 1.600m), one retired record (one mile), and is part of two relay records (indoor sprint medley relay and outdoor distance medley relay).
Brad’s running success continued at Seton Hall where he was named to the All-Big East and All-IC4A Indoor Track teams. In an interview with The Times Leader, Brad talked with pride about his academic success at Seton Hall. While he had the speed to make an Olympic team he was quoted as saying, “If I don’t make the Olympics, it’s not a big deal. My focus is more on academics. Running is something I do on the side.” If this is how fast Brad was without making running his primary focus, just imagine if he had. It is likely that this balanced approach to life is the key to Brad’s success. For his incredible and lasting achievements, we welcome Brad into the Peddie Sports Hall of Fame.