Monroe girls 4×400 earsn silver while four individuals advance
By: Carolyn M. Hartko
Carolyn M. HartkoSports Writer
The spring season for high school sports is winding down, and most teams have closed the record books. But the best of the track and field athletes across New Jersey are still going, working their way through the regional and group meets in search of a ticket to the 2003 NJSIAA Meet of Champions.
Among this elite group are four individuals and one relay squad from Monroe Township High School, all of whom scored a top-six finish in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II Sectional Championships held last weekend at South Plainfield High School. That’s the magic number that advances the athlete to the next step, the NJSIAA All Group Championships which will be held at Egg Harbor High School tonight (Friday) and Saturday.
The highest finish for Monroe came in the girls’ 4×400 meter relay where the Lady Falcons earned a set of silver medals with a time of 4:06.57. Ashley Maguire opened with a 58.4 leg before passing off to sophomore Debbie Stelmaszczyk and fellow senior Meghan Farrell. Junior Ashley Theinert brought it home with a 59.1 anchor leg.
"We ran extremely well," Lady Falcon head coach Lew Stonaker said. "That was a new school record by almost four seconds."
Their time in the 4×400 has the Falcons seeded fifth going into this week’s Group meet, which assures them a spot in the seeded heat. They are positioned well to move on to the MOC.
The girls picked up an additional three sixth-place medals in individual events. Senior Lindsay Jones advanced in the javelin with a toss of 94-7. That’s about 10 feet short of her personal best, but Stonaker chalked that up to the crummy weather that plagued the two-day meet.
"It was raining, and it was very muddy," Stonaker said. "Those are bad conditions to throw in. She threw 104 at our last dual meet, which was her personal best. She’s seeded 21st (for the upcoming meet), and she’s capable of throwing much better than that. But she got a chance to move on. And it’s really about moving on."
Jones will have more on her mind this afternoon besides throwing the javelin. Tonight is Monroe’s senior prom, and Jones plans on traveling down to Egg Harbor, competing, then racing back to take part in the big high school ritual. It’s easy to see why Jones was one of Monroe’s recipients of this year’s Greater Middlesex Conference Sportsmanship Award.
"It’s going to be tough for her, but Lindsay wants to do it," Stonaker said. "She’s very excited about qualifying. She’s always wanted to move on, so she’s very pleased with the fact that she did."
Maguire moves on in the 800, where her time of 2:23.50 has her seeded 11th going into this weekend. Senior Nova Roman enters the 3200 in 15th place, based on last Saturday’s time of 11:52.40.
"Nova’s going to have her work cut out for her," Stonaker said. "The day before, she ran 5:26.9 in the mile, which is a school record. That’s been a goal of hers, to break 5:30. So, she had a great mile. In fact, she and Liz (Segarra) both had good miles. They finished eighth and tenth in the mile, and Central Jersey Group II is very tough. If you look at the number one, two, three and four seeds in Group II are all from Central Jersey in just about every race. It was a tough draw for us."
Segarra, a freshman, ran 5:31 in the 1600, and set a personal record in the 3200 of 12:08.
On the boys’ side, junior Tim Payne is the only one moving on. Payne captured sixth place in the discus Saturday with a toss of 129-6.
"That’s the best Tim’s thrown this year," Falcon boys’ head coach Tom Tramaglini said. "He threw in the 140’s last year. He’s had a rough season and the weather hasn’t really helped him either. Throwing in a wet circle all the time is kind of tough. But all the distances were down last weekend."
Tramaglini, who threw shot for East Fishkill High School in New York State back in the day, was appalled that the throwing events went on as planned in spite of the weather. Especially on Friday, when it was pouring during the early rounds of the boys’ shot put.
"My coach would have never let me throw in those conditions," Tramaglini said. "And they just go on with it here in Jersey. They don’t even think twice. At one point, I stopped it, just before Tim Payne threw, and I asked the official to please sweep out the circle. And when he swept out the circle, he must have taken an inch of water off the thing. It was unbelievable."
In spite of the weather, the boys performed well on the track. There were no medals, but several runners set personal records. Chris Sardone (4:49) and Diego Delgado (4:47) each took five seconds off their best times in the 1600. Scott Roman ran 10:49 in the 3200. Rob McGowan and Jaryd Schick both got their 400 times down to 52.2, finishing 9th and 10th overall. Roman is a freshman, and the others are juniors and sophomores.

