MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Old Bridge freshman Sarah Root crosses the finish line of the girls 3,200-meter race at Wednesday’s Meet of Champions at South Plainfield High School.
While the majority of the area’s top track and field stars were not among the top finishers at the Meet of Champions on Wednesday, they certainly earned their place among the state’s performers last weekend.
At the Group Championship meets, held at Egg Harbor Township High School on Saturday, a flurry of the top local athletes performed well, punching their tickets to Wednesday’s MOC at South Plainfield High School.
Old Bridge’s Sarah Root continued to make her presence known with another outstanding performance in the girls Group IV meet. Root, who was the GMC champ in both the 1,600 and 3,200, managed to finish third in the 3,200 (10:55.78) and fourth in the 1,600 (5:06.56) on Saturday to lead the Old Bridge girls to a 15th-place tie.
With her emergence at the biggest meets of the season, Root has officially earned a place among the state’s up-and-coming distance stars. With three more years at OBHS, the sky appears to be the limit for this young harrier.
The Knights’ Rob Allen also qualified for the MOC after taking sixth in the discus with a throw of 153-6, while the 4×400 relay team, which consists of Ron Green, David DePalma, Allen Lunkenheimer and Bryant McCombs, qualified with a time of 3:21.84.
And they weren’t done there, racing to a time of 3:19.98 at the MOC, good enough for third place, behind Camden (3:16.46) and Seton Hall Prep (3:17.88).
McCombs also enjoyed some individual success on Wednesday as he took fourth place in the 400 (49.12), a race won by Winslow’s Reuben McCoy in 47.42. Just a sophomore, McCombs is another young Old Bridge star with quite a bit to look forward to over the next few years, where he will undoubtedly learn from the success he enjoyed this season.
Among the other local track stars to earn a trip to South Plainfield were Spotswood’s Nelson Stryker, who took sixth at the Group II championships in the 100 (11.20), and South River’s Anthony Parillo, who finished third in the Group II long jump with a distance of 22 3/4.
South Brunswick’s Yemi Ayeni earned a trip to the MOC in the discus after taking second at the Group IV championships with a distance of 175-1. It marked the first time all year that Ayeni reached the 170-foot mark.
But that was just a warm-up compared to what he pulled off at the MOC, when his throw of 181-1 earned him the Meet of Champions title, in surprising fashion. Ayeni, who will compete at the National Scholastic Championship in North Carolina later this month, beat Toms River North’s Josh Larkins (179-4) in the MOC event, the same competitor who topped the Viking on Saturday in Egg Harbor.
St. Joseph’s Obinna Emenike was the only other local star to earn a top finish, taking third in the high jump with a height of 6-6.
— Doug McKenzie