Spring track
By: Jim Green
Victories are measured somewhat differently for a team as young as the Lawrence High School boys track squad.
The fact the Cardinals rebounded from a hard-fought 70-61 loss to Nottingham in a dual meet Thursday by making a play for several events at the Mercer County Relays two days later was equivalent to a win for Lawrence coach Dave O’Neal.
"The team was on an emotional downswing from the Nottingham meet," O’Neal said. "It was impressive to come back from that meet."
The Cardinals did not show any ill effects of being nipped by the Northstars when they traveled to West Windsor-Plaisboro North on Saturday for the county relays. Lawrence notched four top-five finishes, including two second-place times.
Senior Orlando Kane led the way, helping the Cardinals finish second in the triple jump (57-1) and the high jump (10-10). Kane recorded a distance of 5-8 in his first time competing in the high jump.
The Cardinals younger athletes also had strong showings. Sophomore Cameron Barker and freshman Liping Chao teamed to give the Cardinals a fifth-place finish in the javelin at 225-3.
"Fifth place was a little bit of a surprise for them (Barker and Chao)," O’Neal said. "They were solid distances for both of them."
Sophomores Alex Parson, Hezekiah McRae and Brian Scott displayed Lawrence’s improvement in the hurdles events. The three combined for a fifth-place time of 3:29.4.
"For a young group of guys, that (placing fifth) is impressive," O’Neal said.
The Cardinals also received personal-best marks from sophomore Bill Wolverton and junior Frank DiMeglio in the shot put and a solid effort from Scott, Jesse Brown, Pete Cutty and Brendon Gregory in the 4×800.
"I was impressed with the team," O’Neal said. "The weather was miserable, to say the least."
The deeper Cardinal girls squad also had a strong showing at the county relays, posting eight top-five finishes and winning two events. Seniors April Spanicciti and Nia Hare-Bey, freshman Beth Korkuch and sophomore Paige Sims won the 4×200 (1:55.1), while juniors Devin Picott and Cierra Phillips took the shot put (71-10).
The Lawrence girls team was coming off an 85-37 thrashing of Nottingham in its season opener Thursday. The Cardinals placed first in nine events, with freshman Nicole McMullen debuting by winning three.
McMullen took the 100 (13.3), the long jump (14-4 ½) and the high jump (4-10). Other victories came from Sims in the 200 (28.8), junior Ashley Thompson in the 800 (2:44.6), junior Katarina Zeschkey in the 3,200 (14:23), Picott in the shot put (35-3), junior Ari Brame in the discus (94-7) and senior Kathleen Rivera in the javelin (106-8).
The Cardinal boys, meanwhile, had to work much harder to hang in their meet with the Northstars. Kane set the pace, finishing first in the 100 (10.8), 200 (22.5) and long jump (21-8). Senior Nate Johns took the 1,600 (5:08.9) for Lawrence, which was within five points of the lead until Nottingham’s Jude Rene won the high jump.
Lawrence was defeated by Nottingham by more than 30 points last season.
"That was the best performance I’ve seen from a team from Lawrence," O’Neal said. "It was close the entire way.
"It was a big emotional day. It was impressive to come back from that meet."
Although the Cardinals were unable to come away with any victories that count toward the standings, they certainly gave their coach reason to be optimistic about the rest of the season.
"Seeing how the team is so young, they’re definitely ahead of where I expected them to be at this point," O’Neal said. "They’ve gelled as a team, which helps a lot."

