Mustangs pull out close ones on track

Team soars over .500 for first time

By: Rudy Brandl
   
   There was lots of excitement and a little controversy last week when the Manville High track and field team won three times to soar over the .500 mark for the first time this spring.
   With a road tri-meet and home dual meet set to complete the regular season this week, the Mustangs (4-3) have a very good chance to finish with a winning season.
   Last week’s drama included two victories by an identical 67-64 score. Manville edged Oratory Prep by that margin to complete a sweep of a Tuesday tri-meet at Roselle Park. Then, three days later the Mustangs defeated neighboring rival Middlesex by the same count in a more controversial finish.
   The Blue Jays believed they won the meet because Manville did not have any pole vaulters. Those nine points for a 1-2-3 finish would give Middlesex a 73-67 victory.
   Manville athletic director Pat LaMastro had discussed the issue with Middlesex athletic director Scott Walsh before the meet and made an agreement that the pole vault would not be scored. Manville does not have a facility for pole vaulting and has not counted the points for that event in any meet this season.
   "I just assumed there wouldn’t be any scoring," LaMastro said. "We don’t have any pole vault facilities here and we don’t count it. It’s not uncommon for teams not to count the pole vault."
   Both teams left the meet believing they had won, but Manville High head coach Michelle Mongillo knew what her athletic director had told her. The Middlesex coaches weren’t sure about the agreement.
   "We always call ahead and have that understanding with the other team," Mongillo said. "I told them our A.D. said it was no contest. I made sure the pole vault points didn’t count. If it was 80-60, nobody would have said anything, but the meet was so close."
   The Mustangs clinched the meet with a victory in the 4×400 relay. The team of Luke Bogdanowicz, Jason Pfoutz, Chris Kocur and Jack Calvo hit the wire in 4:06. All four runners are capable of running under a minute. Once they do it on the same day, they’ll break the four-minute mark.
   "They’ve been doing really well," Mongillo said. "They’re pushing themselves and getting better. They really want to get under four minutes."
   Mike Knitowski had a huge meet for Manville, scoring 20 points on four first-place finishes. The junior won the 400 in a time of 58.3 and swept the three jumping events. Knitowski prevailed in the high jump (5-10), long jump (18-11½) and triple jump (39-3½). He broke his own school record in the triple jump and is closing in on the coveted 40-foot mark.
   Sasa Todorovic won three events to account for 15 team points. The sophomore distance standout took the 800 (2:18), 1,600 (5:05) and 3,200 (11:50). Calvo added points in the distance events by taking second in the 800 in a personal-best time of 2:23 and third in the 1,600 in 5:17.
   Other Manville scorers in Friday’s meet at Middlesex included Kocur in the 400 hurdles (2nd, 69.8) and javelin (2nd, 96-6), Bogdanowicz in the 400 hurdles (3rd, 71.2) and 110 hurdles (2nd, 19.6), Leo Rodriguez in the 100 (2nd, 12.5), 200 (2nd, 25.6) and triple jump (3rd, 35.2), Pfoutz in the 400 (3rd, 61.2) and Mark Manderski in the shot put (2nd, 37-3¼).
   The Mustangs opened the week by sweeping a tri-meet at Roselle Park. They rocked the host Panthers by a 102-29 score and squeaked past Dayton to complete the Union County sweep.
   Knitowski won the 400 (59.9) and swept the jumps to score 20 points vs. Roselle Park. He took second in the long jump against Oratory and finished that meet with 18 team points.
   Calvo had a big meet with a distance double, winning the 800 (2:24) and 1,600 (5:18). Manderski placed first overall in the shot put (36-3) and Matt Kita took the discus (93-6). Kocur hit 106-9 to defeat Roselle Park in the javelin. The 4×400 relay team of Kocur, Calvo, Bogdanowicz and Pfoutz ran a season-low 4:00.7 to beat Roselle Park but finished second to Oratory.
   While many of the usual stars led the way, several younger athletes also contributed points. Pfoutz placed third in the 200 (26.6) and 400 (61.6), freshman Dan Pierrot was second in the high jump (4-10), freshman Wayne Snell finished second in the 3,200 (13:26) and freshman Matt Zangara contributed third places in the 100 (13.2) and high jump (4.8).
   "I’m trying to do that because we want to build up the younger athletes so they’re at their peak when they’re juniors and seniors," Mongillo said. "Matt is always willing to go in any event and Jason Pfoutz has really come a long way."
   Matt Golen finished second in the 400 (61.1) and third in the long jump (14-9) and triple jump (34-1), Other point-scorers included Tim Santoro in the discus (3rd, 62-3), David Le in the 3,200 (3rd, 14:28), Rodriguez in the long jump (2nd, 17-3) and triple jump (2nd, 34-4½), Bogdanowicz in the 400 hurdles (2nd, 67.3) and 110 hurdles (3rd, 21.0), Kocur in the 400 hurdles (3rd, 67.9) and 110 hurdles (2nd, 20.8) and Josh Krantz in the shot put (2nd, 29-2½).
   It was a big week for the Mustangs, who were scheduled to compete against New Providence and David Brearley Tuesday before finishing the regular season at home vs. Sussex Tech Thursday. Mongillo would like to see her squad win at least twice to clinch a winning record.