BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer
METUCHEN—The Metuchen High School boys indoor track team finished fourth in the NJSIAA Group I Relay Championships.
With a total of 20 points, the Bulldogs were just 12 points short of repeating as state champions. The top spot was taken by Whippany Park High School followed by Haddon Heights and Shore Regional.
The team collected 18 medals on the day and edged out 45 other schools in Group I. Without any dual meets under their belt, the Bulldogs surprised the Greater Middlesex Conference teams with their showing at the state relays and the GMC relays. In the county relays, Metuchen took first-place honors in the Blue Division. The team is turning heads because they have continued to succeed despite losing the entire team that won the state relays a year ago.
"I have a new group of kids this season," head coach Marty Holleran said. "Being young and being able to medal means that in the future this team will be able to do better."
A pair of third-place finishes led the Bulldogs. In the 4×200 relay the team of senior Richard Rosenblum, junior Marcus Farris, junior Jeff Ostermueller, and freshman Justin Smoot took third with a time of 1:39.8.
Also finishing third was the sprint medley team. Rosenblum, Farris, and Ostermueller teamed up with junior Stephon Cooper and ran 4:01.5.
The same team that ran third in the 4×200 finished fourth in the 4×400 with a time of 3:45. This relay team has also posted the fastest time in the GMC this season, running the 4×400 in 3:37.3.
"Some of our guys competed in three different races and this is not easy to do without a lot of rest," Holleran said. "The events were scheduled close to one another and they performed really well."
Securing fifth-place finishes in the shot put relay and the shuttle hurdles locked in the fourth-place overall finish. The senior duo of Brian Kenyon and Jason Stewart combined for 81 feet, 11 inches in the shot put and the hurdles team of Cooper, sophomore Collin Adamo, and juniors Shawn Murtugh and Jean-Lewis Allan finished in 36.5.
"Both Brian and Jason are new to the team this season and they gave us a great effort," Holleran said.
This week the Bulldogs will battle at the GMC individual championships. On Tuesday, the high jump and shot put competitions were scheduled to take place at Old Bridge High School and yesterday, the running events were to be decided at Farleigh Dickinson University, Hackensack.
"It is always a learning process for the new kids on the team and if they continue to work hard they will continue to get better," Holleran said.