By: Carolyn M. Hartko
It’s finally official. With Tuesday’s 93-38 victory over North Brunswick, the Monroe Township High School girls’ track team has earned its fifth division title in six years. The Lady Falcons are the undefeated White Division Champions for 2004 with a record of 8-0.
Monroe won 11 out of the 15 events against the Lady Raiders. Double winners included Sasha Potter (100 meter dash and long jump) and Ashley Theinert (200, intermediate hurdles). Other first place points were earned by Debbie Stelmaszczyk (400), Megan Allen (800), Ely Segarra (1600), Lisa Olexson (pole vault), Asya Perry (shot put) and Ali Baumlin (discus). The Falcons also aced the 1600 relay (Katie Mazzio, Kellie Grinzo, Anika Potter and Segarra).
Monroe had a disappointing day at the Greater Middlesex Conference meet in South Plainfield this past Saturday.
Only three Falcons scored a medal finish. Tim Payne came in fourth in the boys’ discus with a throw of 142-5. Rob McGowan placed fifth in the 400 (51.55). Segarra earned the lone girls’ medal, a sixth in the 1600 (5:39.41). The sophomore was a little disappointed that she didn’t also place in the 3200.
"Ely actually ran a better 3200," Lady Falcon head coach Lew Stonaker said. "She ran well in the 3200 and finished just out of the point scoring. In the 1600, everybody was tired. It was a hot day, and most of them had doubled up. So, Ely ran a decent time, but nothing spectacular. It was a slow race all around, especially the last lap."
Several Monroe athletes were at a disadvantage on Saturday as their senior prom was the Friday night before the big meet.
"We had kids that were just exhausted, or missed the bus, or whatever," Stonaker said. "It was just not a good day overall for us. And we don’t have the real talented kids. We have a good team, but we don’t have individual strength. We just work well together as a group."
MHS now turns its attention to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III meet. The sectional meets are the first step on the road to the Meet of Champions. A sixth place or better finish in any of the events advances the athlete to the Grouped Championships the following weekend. CJ Groups II and III will be at Monmouth Regional High School this weekend. This will be Monroe’s first time competing as a Group III school.
"It’s going to be a little tougher for us," Stonaker said. "We do know the bigger schools, but we’ll just have to see how we match up there."
The Lady Falcons will be looking to Theinert, S. Potter, Baumlin and Stelmaszczyk to score high enough to advance. On the boys’ side, two to watch are McGowan and Payne.
