MHS girls track team fourth in GMC Relays

By: Carolyn M. Hartko
   TEANECK – The division may have been different, but the outcome was the same.
   Running as a Greater Middlesex Conference White Division contender for the first time in winter track, the Monroe Township High School girls’ team captured the division relay title after two days of competition. With a total of 30 team points, the Lady Falcons finished up fourth in the conference overall, behind Old Bridge (52), South Brunswick (43) and Piscataway (39).
   "We were sick today, so if we didn’t win the division title, I wasn’t going to lose sleep over it," Falcon head coach Lew Stonaker said. "We just came out and ran the best we could without over-running anybody. I didn’t run anybody more than two events. It’s nice to win, but that’s not our number one priority. It’s to get ready for spring."
   The girls earned all their points on Wednesday night when the running events were held at Fairleigh Dickinson University, winning two races and placing in two others. The Lady Falcons started off with a bang, taking first in the opening event, the 4×800 meter relay. Meghan Farrell, Nova Roman, Jessica Magid, and Ashley Maguire captured the gold with a school record time of 10:19.2. Although there was only one heat in this race, Old Bridge, Piscataway and Monroe quickly established themselves at the front of the pack. Maguire, running anchor for the Falcons, took over in third place, but overtook her counterparts from Old Bridge and Piscataway.
   "The girls ahead of me, on the Monroe team, did such a good job," Maguire said. "They made such good time that I was able to save some of what I had for the sprint medley."
   Maguire and Farrell went on to earn a second set of gold medals in the sprint medley. Sprinters Liz Bartley and Ashley Theinert were part of the squad that set a second school record with a time of 4:31. Running in the seeded heat, Monroe again found their stiffest competition from Old Bridge and Piscataway, with Perth Amboy finishing a distant fourth. Maguire again received the baton in third place, but worked her magic to pull out the victory.
   Fighting the virus that has been running through the team, Maguire was finished for the day. But Farrell and Theinert stayed loose to run the 4×400 along with Jessica Magid and Debbie Stelmaszczyk. They placed fourth in the final event with a time of 4:36.3. Monroe’s other points came from a bronze medal finish in the distance medley (13:52.5). Kristi Motyka led off that race, followed by Stelmaszczyk and Elizabeth Segarra. Roman ran the anchor leg, bringing the team up from fourth into a medal finish.
   While pleased to win the White Division Relay Championship, Stonaker felt the team could have finished higher in the overall conference rankings if everyone had been healthy.
   "I think we have the best distance program in the county right now on the girls side," Stonaker said. "So with the distance medley, I would have changed it around a little bit, and we could have won, or at least come in second there. And I would have changed the 4×400 a little bit."
   The boys have a very young team this year, and they did not place in the running events on Wednesday night. However, they did pick up points in the shot put which was held on Tuesday evening at Old Bridge High School, west campus, along with the high jump. Senior Tom Kowaleski and junior Tim Payne threw a combined 82-5 for fourth place, and a new school record.
   As with the girls’ team, several of the Falcon runners were missing altogether this week, or competed while fighting the team bug as well as the stop watch.
   "We’re real young," Stonaker said. "There’s not a senior on the bus today. We’re training hard in practice, but it doesn’t seem to be clicking in the meets. We’re running harder in practice than we are in the meets. We’ve got to change that attitude. But we’re going to be strong next year I think."
   The Falcons will finally get to meet one of their White Division rivals in a dual meet at North Brunswick next Wednesday. On the following Sunday, they will travel to Jadwin Gym in Princeton for the state Group III relays.
   FOOTPRINTS: The girls missed scoring in the shot put relay by four inches on Tuesday. Asya Perry and Sarah Bartley came in seventh with a school record total of 53-5.