Girls win team title at Randolph
By: Rudy Brandl
Hillsborough High’s track and field athletes completed the relay phase of their season with some solid performances at two different meets last week.
Erin Crawford led a large Raider contingent with a medal-winning effort at the Penn Relays and helped the HHS girls win a team title at the Randolph Relays two days later. Crawford competed in three races within a three-hour span during Thursday’s opening day of Penn Relays action and completed another busy multi-event day at Saturday’s Randolph Relays.
Crawford’s biggest and most memorable race came in the 400 hurdles, Thursday morning’s first event at Penn. She captured a Penn Relays medal by finishing fifth in a time of 62.50 seconds, her fastest since last year’s NJSIAA Meet of Champions when she broke 60 for the first time.
"I was really happy with it," said Crawford, who was the top New Jersey finisher in the race. "Before that, I was running 65s. It was a really good experience. I wanted to run against fast people."
Crawford watched a bunch of college girls sizzle in her signature event and break the one minute mark, so she got a little vision of what she’ll be expected to accomplish at the University of Virginia next year. She ran out of a difficult position in the ninth lane but fulfilled her goal of running in the 62-second range.
"I definitely wanted to place at the meet, but I really wanted to get my time down," she said. "I was still running 65s at this time last year, so I’m running faster. I know I can run 59 or faster by the Meet of Champions."
Crawford returned less than 45 minutes later to anchor the HHS girls’ 4×800 team to a 9:35.77 time that was 10 seconds off the championship cutoff. Crawford posted a 2:22.9 split.
After another brief rest, Crawford followed Lauren Kloss, Caitlin Kosec and Jess Tsai in the 4×400 relay. Crawford’s 59.9 anchor split completed a heat victory for the Raiders (4:10.76), who received a plaque for their efforts.
The HHS boys’ 4×400 relay team also earned a plaque for winning their Penn Relays heat on Saturday. Mike Barberio (52.3), Aneil Sahota (51.7), Fred Kain (51.4) and Tony Flores (50.2) combined for a 3:25.96 clocking.
Hillsborough also made a little noise during Friday’s session at Penn. The boys’ distance medley team of Nick Vaccaro (1,200 in 3:14), Mike Barberio (400 in 49.7), Jeff Meltzer (800 in 2:01) and Mike Klueber (1,600 in 4:26) compiled a 10:32.6 to place 12th in the Championship of America race. That unit defeated Hunterdon Central and ranked third among all New Jersey entries.
Other HHS relays competing at Penn included the boys’ 4×800 (14th, 8:14.74), the girls’ 4×800 (9:35.77), the boys’ 4×100 (46.49) and the girls 4×100 (53.85). Tony Flores finished 13th in the 400 hurdles in a time of 55.11.
Most of the Raiders competed at the Randolph Relays, not necessarily to win a title but just to get some extra competition time. With so many dual meets already postponed this season, the team was eager to run, jump and throw against a variety of opponents.
"We just needed another meet, another workout," HHS girls’ head coach Rich Refi said. "It (the performance) was pretty average. The weather was crummy."
The rain and wind weren’t ideal conditions for any event, but the Raiders did well enough to produce a team title for the girls and second-place finish for the boys. Crawford helped the shuttle hurdles and 3×400 hurdle relay teams to victory.
Hillsborough also won the 4×1,600 with Jess Tsai, Lauren Van Cleef, Ashley Uniszkiewicz and Allison Marcsisin (5:21 split) in 23:31.58 and the distance medley with Uniszkiewicz, Stacey Dzvileski, Katie King and Marcsisin in 13:04.72.
Jenizah Melendez had a solid meet, leading the long jump relay (45-5½) to victory with a meet-best 16-2¼ individual effort and a 95-foot heave that propelled the javelin trio to a second place. Refi also credited Kosec, Tsai, jumper/hurdler Nicole Humphrey and throwers Courtney Siegel, Colleen Maloney and Maureen Bartholomew for their contributions at Randolph.
The HHS girls finished first or second in eight events and edged the host school by one point for the team title. Hillsborough had finished a close second last year.
"We didn’t really go there to win the meet," Crawford said. "We just went to get a good workout and we ended up with a trophy."
The Raider boys finished second to Randolph (91) with 70 points. Three HHS relay units finished first one each on the track, in the pit and in the throws.
Klueber, Erik Szabocsik, Brian Dennis and Joe Brennan teamed to win the 4×1,600 (19:24.99), Jim Morley, Bryan Fox and Dave Minetti combined for a victory in the high jump (17-4), while Jared Goldstein, Frank Livelli and Jon Carnes won the school’s third javelin relay title of the spring with a 388-11.
Hillsborough’s athletes were scheduled to battle Warren Hills and Watchung Hills in a tri-meet this week to gear up for next week’s Skyland Conference Championships, the first big individual championship meet of the season.

