Lawrence outdoor track
By: Jim Green
Coming into the spring, Lawrence High School track coach Dave O’Neal knew his girls team would have plenty of top-flight athletes. His concern was whether or not the Cardinals would have enough depth to compete with the better teams in Mercer County.
On Saturday, the Cardinals put those fears to rest with a tremendous all-around performance at the officially non-scored Mercer County Relays, winning three events tied for most with Hopewell Valley and Hightstown and medalling in six others at Steinert.
"The girls really did dominate the meet," O’Neal said. "It really shows where the depth of the team is at."
The Lawrence boys, meanwhile, had a strong day in their own right, placing in five events and setting two school records, including an individual mark for Liping Chao of 151-7 in the new javelin.
"He’s really become a standout performer for the team," O’Neal said. "He’s nine feet away from qualifying for nationals. That’s become one of his goals for the season."
The Cardinal girls got first-place finishes in the 4×400, the long jump and the shot put. Danai Lendor, Tara Gillins, Paige Sims and Nicole McMullen comprised the 4×400 team (4:09.4), while McMullen and Sims took the long jump (29-1 ½), and Janelle Fuller and Elise Perkins captured the shot put (70-11 ½).
Lendor, Watson and Andy Sandoval placed second in the 3×400 hurdles (3:44.5), and they were joined by Stephanie Dow on the shuttle hurdles squad, which placed third at 1:13.4. Other third-place finishes were posted by the 4×100 team of McMullen, Sims, Gillins and Erica Buher (52.6), the 4×800 team of Beth Korkuch, Watson, Jackie Pirre and Sarah Pearson (10:32.2), Korkuch and McMullen in the high jump (9-6) and Fuller and Perkins in the discus (180-8).
Dow and Sims combined for a school-record distance of 59-4 ¾ in the triple jump good for fourth place. Other solid efforts came from the 4×200 team of Kennita McCall, Ebony Montgomery, Buher and Korkuch, the distance medley relay team of Lauren Gutierrez, Sandoval, Brianna Probasco and Christine Pan, the sprint medley relay team of Gillins, Dow, Amber Hare-Bey and Pan and the javelin pair of Korkuch and Ashley Wallace.
On the boys side, the 3×400 hurdles team of Andrew Santora, Brian Scott and Chandell Fuqua was third at 3:10, while Chao and Andrew Jones on the strength of Chao’s record-breaking individual performance set a school mark with their combined third-place distance of 288-2 in the javelin.
Fourth-place finishes were posted by the triple-jump pair of Phil Tamulis and Danilo Giaquinto (77-11 ¾) and the shot-put tandem of Emanuele Lalota and Vince DiMeglio (80-10 1/2). The shuttle hurdles team of Mark Guieb, Santora, Fuqua and Brian Scott was fifth at 1:13.7.
Other solid performances were turned in by the 4×100 squad of Kyle Mitchell, Tamulis, Peter Musial and Giaquinto, the 4×1,600 team of Mike Duke, Mike Scott, Brendan O’Brien and David Azer, the 4×200 team of Justin Fein, Ezike Anene, Domque Douglas and Travis McAchen, the distance medley team of Adam Hinson, Zach Robert, Mike Scott and O’Brien, the 4×400 team of Santora, Fuqua, Musial and Brian Scott, the 4×800 team of Hinson, Chris Su, Brendan Gregory and Mike Scott. Also performing well were the sprint medley relay team of Fuqua, Guieb, Fein and Azer, the high jump tandem of McAchen and Mitchell, the pole-vault duo of Ernie Carnivale and Robert, the long-jump team of Tamulis and Musial, and Chris Ciccone and Bill Wolverton in the discus.
With Brian Scott and DiMeglio fighting through injuries, and Lalota battling illness, the Cardinal boys came up with a fine team effort.
"Brian Scott continues to run well on the hurdles," O’Neal said. "He was unable to high jump in the meet, because he was stiff and sore, but he ran with a lot courage and guts. That was impressive.
"David Azer ran two very good distance legs. That was very good for him. For the pole vault, it was the first time they cleared height. That’s the first step in the process. In the shot put, Vinny (DiMeglio) strained a tendon in his wrist, and it swelled up during competition. He was throwing with a hurt hand, and Emanuele Lalota’s been fighting illness since the beginning of the season. They fought through that and still finished fourth."
The story of the meet, though, was the incredible team performance by the Lawrence girls squad.
"It really showed where our program is at," O’Neal said. "We expected to do well at the relay meet. We didn’t expect to do as well as we did. There were 16 events, we entered 14 and medalled in nine and placed in two others. It is a full team not just a couple athletes scoring points."
Gillins, a freshman, keeps getting better, while Fuller and Perkins are emerging as a powerful one-two punch in the throwing events.
"Tara Gillins continues to impress every time we put her on the track," O’Neal said. "That’s allowed us to put Jackie Pirre in the 800. Traditionally, Jackie would be in the 400, and we wouldn’t be four deep in the 4×800.
"Janelle and Elise are becoming a dominant tandem. Elise would be a No. 1 thrower on any other team but Hightstown."
Both teams reaped the benefits of their hard work on Saturday.
"They’ve been going through a lot," O’Neal said. "We’ve worked the girls very hard. They’re responding to the workouts. Whenever you take a team to this level, the expectations are very high. There have been points where they’ve felt frustrated, but they’re starting to see the rewards, and excitement is starting to build. Two weeks ago, the mood of the team was very fatigued and tired, but now they’re starting to see the payoff. It’s a good positive feeling on the track, and the athletes are starting to come together.
"The guys are excited. They see the improvement over years passed. They see that the work is starting to pay off, and they have a chance going to into the meets to win and to be competitive. Every meet, we’re going in saying we have a chance."
The Cardinals will look to keep rolling when they enter the Raider Relays, which begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at Hillsborough. They then have a dual meet with West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Wednesday.
"The boys meet really could go either way," O’Neal said. "It really is going to be a battle for the guys. We’re going to rest some of our top girls. They might compete, but not in as many events. We’re going to put the weight on the younger athletes to see how they respond with the Trenton meet coming up (on April 26)."

