RUDE AWAKENING
By: Rudy Brandl
The Skyland Conference swimming and winter track and field championship meets were rained out last Friday.
No, those events weren’t scheduled to be held outdoors. They were postponed because it rained very hard for most of the day after a minor amount of frozen precipitation hit the ground early. Therefore, I’m saying the meets were rained out.
It gets worse. At least the Skyland Conference swim meet was rescheduled. It was set to be held yesterday afternoon at the Bridgewater YMCA.
The conference track and field athletes won’t even get a chance to compete against each other this year. Believe it or not, this year’s Skyland Conference Indoor Track Championships have been wiped out completely.
"You can’t control the weather," HHS head coach Rich Refi said. "Indoor track is erratic and unpredictable."
This scenario is even worse than last year when inclement weather (a real storm this time) forced the event to be moved to another date. Lehigh University, the site of the conference indoor meet the past few years, was able to find a makeup date last winter. It just so happened that date conflicted with the NJSIAA Meet of Champions, which caused all kinds of problems.
Some teams elected to hold out their stars for a shot at state glory, while others like Hillsborough focused on winning the Skyland titles. The Raiders, who also didn’t max out their stars to give them a chance at the Meet of Champs later in the weekend, were then stripped of their team titles when the conference coaches voted to make the meet an individual event.
This year, the Raiders won’t get a chance to compete in what many considered their biggest meet of the winter. The HHS boys and girls weren’t in the mix at the State Group 4 level meets, but they still had enough depth and balance to make some noise in the Skyland. The boys were hoping to continue the school’s perfect unbeaten streak in conference meets, while the girls were looking to upset Hunterdon Central, their rivals who had just won the State Group 4 title.
Lehigh University was able to accommodate the Skyland schools last year but can’t free up the facility this time. There is no makeup date.
"They have no place to put us," HHS athletic director Mike Fanizzi said. "We can’t get a facility. Lehigh didn’t give us a secondary date and they can’t squeeze us in."
Lack of facilities remains a major problem for indoor track and field. Refi’s program spends many hours on the bus traveling to places like New York City, Drew University and Lehigh University each winter. At least they saved a long bus trip, along with more mileage on my aging vehicle.
The Skyland drop leaves the Raiders with only a handful of meets remaining on the winter schedule. Those include two events at the New York City Armory, where the HHS athletes have done some of their finest work.
After Monday’s Varsity Classic, the Raiders will return to New York for the Eastern Championships on Feb. 24. Refi had suggested that the Skyland meet be run at the Armory, but most of the conference coaches didn’t like the idea.
Hillsborough will have selected athletes competing in the final two indoor events the NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Princeton University’s Jadwin Gym (Feb. 29) and the National Scholastic Championships in Landover, Md. (March 14).
Senior Jenizah Melendez leads the Raiders into the M of C, having qualified in three completely different events. Melendez was the only HHS athlete to score in Group 4, taking fourth in the shot put with a school-record toss of 39-7. She also earned wild card entry to the big show in the 55 hurdles and high jump.
"I don’t think anybody else qualified in three totally different events like that," Refi said. "Jenizah had a great day."
Allison Marcsisin (1,600), Chris Berezansky (shot put) and Brian Dennis (3,200) also received wild card bid and will represent their school at the Meet of Champs. We all know that meet will be held and Princeton University will dictate time and place.
The configuration of the State Group meets and Meet of Champions is ridiculous. There’s no rhyme, reason or rhythm to the whole process. The Group 1 and 4 meets were held Feb. 1, conflicting directly with the Super Bowl, but I guess the folks in Princeton don’t care about that.
Athletes who qualify for the M of C have to wait a whole month to get back on the PU track to go for state medals. The Group 2 and 3 athletes compete Feb. 15 and also have a two-week hiatus.
It’s ideal in spring track and field, where all the qualifiers return to compete four days after the previous weekend’s State Group meets. This may not be possible indoors, but there has to be a better way.
But, at least they’re getting a chance to compete eventually, unlike the Skyland athletes.