The two will represent Hightstown at the Group III boys track and field championship meet.
By: Neil Hay
Scott Moultrie and James Forkin each finished in the top six of their respective events at last weekend’s Central Jersey Group III sectional meet and will represent Hightstown at this week’s Group III boys track and field championship meet.
Jarrell Brown qualified too. But he will not go on and his season is over.
Moultrie qualified for the Group III championships at Egg Harbor Township with a pair of fifth places. In Friday’s long jump Moultrie leaped 20-1 to place among the top six in the event. He also picked up a fifth on Saturday in the high jump when he cleared 5-10.
Forkin had the section’s fourth best effort when he threw the shot 50-4 on Friday.
Brown placed second in the high jump at 6-0. Unfortunately, ongoing leg problems have knocked him out of this weekend’s Group III meet.
"It was a good day for us," said Coach Jim Firtek of the Rams’ 10th-place team finish (with 16 points) in CJIII at South Plainfield. Ewing won the sectional title with 99 points, ahead of Franklin and Red Bank.
There were several notable showings from Hightstown athletes who otherwise did not qualify for the Group III meet. Freshman Mike Demko gave a hint of what the future holds for him when he posted a personal best 11.59 in the 100, taking seventh place.
"That was unbelievable," said Firtek.
Personal bests were also recorded by Josh Sheldon (2:04 800), Jason Moehringer (2:03.52 800), Dan Montferret (10:49 3200 as he returned from an injury), and Nacho Tous (11:09 3200). Other strong efforts were notched by Bassil Salman (54.8 400) and Jamal Neptune (52.9 400).
"I was pleased with our performance," added Firtek. "The guys who I thought would place, did."
On May 19th Forkin and Randall Hunt placed ninth in the shot put relay at the East Coast Relays at Morristown. Their combined throw of 91-4 broke the 1998 school record of 90 7¾ set by Tom Sweeney and Andy Honig.
Hightstown also fared well in the Freshmen-Sophomore meet at Hopewell Valley. The freshmen placed third overall with 66 points, trailing Notre Dame’s 68 and West Windsor-North’s 67. West Windsor-South was fourth with 65 points in this very competitive meet.
The Rams scored three first places in the freshmen meet. Neptune won the 400 when he ran 52.9, Dan Indellicati’s 2:12 was best in the 800, and in the 4X400 relay Neptune, Sam Salter, Indellicati and Evan Bangs raced to a first-place finish with their 3:45.4.
Demko netted a couple of seconds, the 100 (12.1) and 200 (23.9). Simon Gordonov’s 11:01 took fifth in the 2-mile. Brad Butler placed fifth in the 400 intermediate hurdles in 67.6, only the second time he has run the event. In the 800 David Scullin’s 2:24 was sixth.
John Caponi’s 38 11½ was fourth in the shot put, his 91-3 sixth in the discus. And Salter long-jumped 18-1 to a third place finish.
The sophomores placed seventh in the competition with 21½ points as Notre Dame took first place. Hunt’s 43¾ claimed second place in the shot put. Chuck Burt (137-5) and Curtis Zedalis (124-0) went two-six, respectively, in the javelin.
In the 100, Chris Donelan’s 12.0 was sixth best, Salman’s 55.1 was sixth in the 400, Jeremy Stibol took fifth in the pole vault at 9-0, and Nhat Nguyen placed sixth in the discus at 100-0.
"It was good way for the freshmen and sophomores to end the season. As a team we went 4-3. That’s a step up from last year’s 3-8. I hope next year we can improve on it. This year was unbelievable with the freshman and sophomores picking it up to help win meets. I saw a lot of improvement from the underclassmen and juniors."

