By: Carolyn M. Hartko
The Monroe Township High School girls’ track team went for quality over quantity on a visit to the Holmdel Relays this past weekend.
Not that the Lady Falcons had much choice. With around 25 athletes away on a band trip, Monroe only entered three relays with the 11 people that went to Holmdel.
And that’s where the quality comes in. The Falcon intermediate hurdle team (Ashley Maguire, Christina Vasquez and Kim Garavante) came in second in Division I with a combined time of 3:38.92. Not only did Maguire re-set the school record for the 400 meter hurdles, but her 1:04.77 was the fastest time of the day for that event. It was Maguire’s fourth school record in eight days.
In addition to the band trip, the Lady Falcons lost a few people to college visitations. All together, Monroe was missing seven out of the top ten contributors on the team.
"We only stayed for the first part of the meet," Lady Falcon head coach Lew Stonaker said. "We entered the first three events, and I knew that I didn’t have any teams that were really strong."
There are even fewer Falcons entered in the prestigious Penn Relays this week. Stonaker had to re-do his lineup because sprinter Liz Bartley is temporarily out of action with a knee injury. The 4×100 team was slated to be Jill Byrne, Ashley Theinert, Diana Mazurek and Nova Roman. Maguire, Theinert, Byrne and Meghan Farrell were due to run the 4×400. The fourth spot on the 4×400 had been up for grabs until the dual meet against Highland Park last Thursday. (Monroe won that meet 97-25).
"I let Meghan and Nova both run the 4×400 on Thursday," Stonaker said. "Meghan ran 63.9, which is a very good time, and Nova ran 64.5. They both ran very good times. I could have used either of them. But, since Meghan ran a little faster, I gave the 4×400 to her, and had Nova pick up the 100."
Next week, the entire Lady Falcon squad will be back in action for the Greater Middlesex Conference Relays, which will be held Tuesday and Wednesday after school at South Brunswick High School. Monroe is expected to be a contender for the team title, although Old Bridge just won the Division III flight at the Holmdel Relays. South Brunswick will also be in the running.
"I think on the track, we’re going to be real solid in all the areas," Stonaker said. "Both hurdling teams should do real well. And my middle distance and distance teams should do real well. I haven’t really decided exactly how I’m going to put them together yet. But I can see us placing in both hurdles, and from the 200 meter race on up. And our long jump relay should be pretty solid. I think we’re going to struggle a little bit in the high jump and the throwing events."
And more than just placing, Stonaker is looking for a top-three finish in the sprint medley, distance medley, 4×800 and 4×1600.
BOYS NOTES: The Falcon boys’ squad was also hit hard by the band trip, and did not have any relay teams place down at Holmdel.
"In our (Blue) division, we’re doing fine," boys’ coach Rich Woloszyn said. "But for a big meet like this, we don’t have the depth to be able to put real strong four-man teams together. It just works against us. But (the talent) is so evenly spread out that when we compete in our dual meets, we can put up a good fight."
The boys are currently 2-1 in dual meets. They will not be attending the Penn Relays this week, but are looking forward to the GMC Relays next week. With everyone back on board, the Falcons should show well in all three throwing events. They also have a shot at placing in the sprint medley and distance medley.
