PHS soph, teammate Crowley are lone area gold winners
By: Justin Feil
Hit with a string of bad luck, Natalie Gengel is just now starting to get where she wants in the pole vault.
The Princeton High sophomore won the Central Jersey Group III pole vault with a new girls’ school record 9-feet, 9-inches Saturday at Monmouth Regional High to advance to this Saturday’s Group III meet at Egg Harbor High.
"I’m trying not to take it for granted," Gengel said. "There’s going to be so much more competition. I need to keep progressing rather than stay where I am."
It was an inspired performance that matched that of her teammates Libby Bliss, Alison Crowley (the only other Packet-area girl to win a sectional event Saturday), Meaghan Lynch, Eleanora Spinazzi, and the mile relay, all who also advance to the Group III meet at Egg Harbor after top-six finishes that enabled the Little Tigers to finish in a fourth-place tie in CJ III with 37 points.
West Windsor-Plainsboro North tied for eighth in CJ III with 20 points as Gretchen Kieling, Jackie Marks and Jade Phame all advanced to the Group III meet at Egg Harbor.
Montgomery High, which was eighth in North 2, Group III, Saturday with 32 points, will send Joelle Beckles, Jenn Carson, Tara Gorka, Cassie Hartnett, Sarah Simpson and Sharon Tompa to Egg Harbor.
WW-P South came in 12th in CJ IV with 13 points while advancing three distance runners to the Group IV meet in Egg Harbor: Michelle Barbarasch, Lisa Miller and Allison Warner. Many of those who advanced are just starting to feel better physically.
"This year has been so hard because I hurt my ankle in the beginning of the year," Gengel said. "We’d only had one dual meet against Trenton, and they didn’t have a pole vault pit so I didn’t jump. They forfeited the points to us. I hadn’t practiced at all because of the ankle and I went to counties."
Gengel did just enough to win the first contested girls’ pole vault at the Mercer County Championships, and in the two weeks since, her ankle has slowly continued its recovery.
"With a week of practice," said PHS head coach John Woodside, "I think she can go higher. I truly believe with a little work, and a little tweaking, she can go another six or nine inches higher and have a chance to go to the Meet of Champions. I certainly think she has a good shot at it."
The top six in each event advance to the Meet of Champions. Gengel never had a chance last year after a bout with mononucleosis ended her season in early May. She enters Saturday’s competition with the sixth best jump in Group III.
"I’m starting to feel a little better," said Gengel, whose gymnastics training has been limited as well though she placed eighth on bars as the state meet for Arena Gymnastics recently. "I actually feel really good jumping. It’s not too painful to do short sprinting. I haven’t landed on the foot and I don’t plan on landing on it."
Gengel is still working the turn over the bar at the height of her jump back into her pole-vaulting routine. And, she’s still adjusting to a new pole that she used for the first time in competition Saturday.
"It’s the same pole that I learned to jump with," said Gengel, who started pole vaulting as a seventh-grader in Minnesota. "I’ve been using a pole that’s too stiff. I could clear the normal height but not what I knew I could be doing.
"To get the turn down, I have to have practice," she added. "You have to get your timing down. With being gone so long, I have to train myself how to do that again."
Gengel cleared 9-6 as an eighth grader at Minnesota, but didn’t work on it much last year as a freshman at PHS because it wasn’t a scored event in dual meets. By the time she got sick, she missed any chance of competing in it, but she’s hoping her fortunes have turned for the best as she looks to advance to her first MOC.
She’s not the only one looking to continue improving as she continues to heal. Crowley, who’s been bothered by an injury all year, is starting to show the form that put her in the MOC last year. Crowley broke the school record to win the triple jump with a best of 35-6 Saturday. She’ll also be competing in the 100 hurdles, where she was second, and as a part of the mile relay.
"She’s had a foot injury for much of the season," Woodside said. "It’s curtailed her practice time, so she has not had a lot of work in the triple jump. She popped the best of her life. I have to give her a lot of credit. We haven’t done a lot with her. She used her raw talent. I’m really happy for her."
PHS’ Lynch advanced in the 1600 by passing four girls in the last lap to finish fifth, Bliss came out of the second-best heat to hold the fifth-best time, while Spinazzi bounced back from tendonitis that cost her the county meet to finish fourth in the 3200. Elesha Casimir will join Bliss, Crowley and Lynch for the mile relay that finished sixth.
"There were some really truly amazing performances by the girls," Woodside said. "We’re really excited."
Jim Goodfriend echoed those sentiments after his MHS girls’ team, led by Hartnett, advanced more athletes than any other Packet-area school to a Group meet.
"I’m real happy," Goodfriend said. "My first objective is to have kids run personal bests and break school records. The next thing is having as many people go as possible, and to have six girls go on, I’m so happy. And then, we want to score enough points to win. We didn’t win, but we scored a lot of points."
Hartnett, who battled back from a quad injury suffered just a few weeks ago, provided plenty of them by qualifying in four events the 100, 200, long jump and triple jump. She broke the school record in the triple jump with a best of 33-4¼. MHS’ Gorka also set a school record of 1:04.43 for second in the 400 hurdles and ran a personal best of 2:20.01 for fourth in the 800. Carson was third in the high jump, Simpson was fifth in the discus, Tompa was sixth in the 100 hurdles as a freshman and Beckles was sixth in the shot put.
The Knights will be represented by Kieling, who broke her own school record to finish second in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:04.35, Phame who jumped 5-feet to finish second, and Marks, who was fourth in the discus.
"Gretchen did tremendously," said WW-P North coach Paul Glass. "She led the race the whole way. Her steps were good. It was the first time she’s been under 65 seconds.
"Coming back on Saturday, Jackie had been doing very well. She had thrown 107-7. She got 112-5. That was just terrific. It’s a little surprising that it was that far, but not surprising that it was a good day. She picked her best day to do it. And Jade has been consistently all season around 5 feet. She was able to do it there where she was under a lot of pressure."
For WW-P South, there are some familiar names returning to the Group IV meet as all three were on the Pirate cross country team that reached the MOC in the fall. Miller was third in the 3200 with Barbarasch coming in fourth. Warner was fifth in the 1600, one spot ahead of Barbarasch, the only Pirate to qualify in two events.
"Lisa, she’s been injured all year, and she did what she can," said South head coach Todd Smith. "She was a little concerned about her hamstring, but she ran well. Now she has the chance to reach the Meet of Champions. Hopefully she’ll be more confident.
"Allison really gutted it out. She broke Lisa’s mile record with her 5:11.8. Michelle really stepped up. She just missed it last year. And this year she got out."
Out and in to the Group meet where she’ll have a chance to advance to the biggest meet of the season along with quite a contingent of Packet-area girls.