By: Carolyn M. Hartko
A lack of pre-season scrimmages doesn’t seem to have hindered the South Brunswick High School girls’ track team this spring. Straight out of the gate, the Lady Vikings posted their first dual meet win, an 85-38 victory at Woodbridge on Tuesday.
"We had some good performances," Lady Viking head coach Brian Jost said. "It’s good that we had (Woodbridge) first, because we didn’t have a scrimmage this year, and we had spring break last week. That kind of disrupts your routine."
The 1-0 record puts the 2002 Vikings on the way to duplicating last year’s 4-2 mark in the Greater Middlesex Conference’s Red Division. To improve on the ’01 record, the Vikings would have to beat Piscataway and Old Bridge. While the Vikings only lost to Piscataway by four points last spring, Jost doesn’t see his squad knocking off the Knights in the near future.
"Old Bridge will be the class team," the Viking coach said. "And then after that, it’ll probably be Piscataway. We’ve run Piscataway real tough the past couple of years, so we’ll be looking forward to that meet especially. And East Brunswick is always tough."
South Brunswick only lost four seniors last June, so the 2002 Lady Vikings are starting out with a well-rounded group of athletes. The biggest holes were left by state level pole vaulter Laura Chmielewski and 12-time all-conference distance runner Anne O’Rane. The pole vault still has not been made mandatory for girls’ dual meets, so O’Rane will definitely be missed the most.
"Anne was a big person," Jost said. "She could run the 400 (meter), the 800, the 1600, the 3200 and the relay. She had a nice touch of quality in all those events. We have a lot of young distance runners that are good, but you can’t replace a senior of that caliber just yet. They’ll have to grow into it. But we’re looking forward to that."
The most promising distance runners at this point are senior Sajel Patel, and a trio of sophomores, Allysa Bollaci, Sari Kaufman and Alison Rossi. Two freshmen to watch are Amy Rhein and Lauren White.
"We’ll be okay in the distances, except when we go up against an Old Bridge or a couple of other schools that have really good distance runners," Jost said. "These girls are young, but they’re learning with each meet, and they’re improving, so that’s all we can ask for."
Aside from the distances, Jost doesn’t see too many weaknesses in his squad. The 200 and 400 sprints are looking good thanks to returning juniors Lauren Broadenax, Natalya Johnson and Terry Smoke. Engedaye Polk, one of the teams three senior captains, will be a key part of the 4×400 relay. Senior Carin Muchanic and junior Denise Thompson will also help out with the sprints.
The hurdle team has shown big improvement. Senior captain Kate Kardosh will head up that squad with juniors Dayna O’Connor and Smoke. Polk appears to be a natural, winning her first try at the intermediates on Tuesday. Sophomore Shafeeha Potts and freshman Katie Vetere are learning those events.
Jost is also optimistic about his jumpers. Junior team captain O’Connor won the high jump on Tuesday by clearing 4-10, and Johnson led a Viking sweep of the long jump. Broadenax high jumps, and Thompson is a long jumper. Sophomore Risa Levine is concentrating on the pole vault.
The Vikings are expected to shine in the weight events. Returning are all three members of the defending GMC relay champion squad in the discus: senior Rebecca Dezan, junior Kim Yee and sophomore Morghan Transue. Yee’s specialty is actually the shot, and she should win most of her dual meets. Senior captain Linda Paquette heads up the javelin squad.
Although it may be tough to move up in the Red Division, the Vikings will be hoping to improve on their team finish in the GMC Relays and the GMC Championships, both of which South Brunswick is hosting. Jost would also like to see more girls move up through the state levels, reaching the Group Championships and even the NJSIAA Meet of Champions. With Tuesday’s good showing at Woodbridge, the Lady Vikings are off on the right foot to achieve their goals.
