TRACK
By: Tim Falls
Miriam Khan had to run after school.
She had a track meet to catch.
The Hopewell Valley Central High School senior spent much of her school day Tuesday taking an advanced placement test. By the time Khan had finished the standardized test, the Bulldogs’ girls track team was already competing against Princeton.
Khan may have missed the opening events, but still recorded three first-place finishes as Hopewell Valley defeated Princeton, 79-61.
"She knew it would be a close meet and really had to work," said Hopewell Valley coach Aaron Oldfield. "She did everything she could, but it’s a standardized test and she said it started late. We were at the mercy of the proctor."
Oldfield described it as a little unnecessary adversity at the start of what he expected to be a tough meet.
Khan raced to the meet, which fortunately for Hopewell Valley was held at across the street at Timberlane Middle School, and won three races, the 110 hurdles, the 200 dash and the long jump.
Khan would have also competed in the 100 dash for what could have been a fourth first-place finish.
Instead, teammate Julie Alexander finished first in Khan’s place. Alexander won the 100 in 12.6 seconds, while Princeton claimed second and third.
Katelyn Pagano and Tricia Sherrard came in second and third, respectively, in the 400 hurdles to put Hopewell Valley ahead.
"That got us of to a nice start," said Oldfield. "Katelyn and Tricia went two-three in the intermediate hurdles. That gave us some points."
Oldfield credited Pagano for her hard work in topping Princeton. "She took on four events," said Oldfield. "That’s a tough day. She’ll do anything for the team."
Hopewell Valley also got a major boost by sweeping the 1,600.
Marissa Greco finished first in 5:18.4, Claire Buck took second in 5:18.8 and Meagan Fitzpatrick finished third in 5:19.2.
Buck and Greco went one-two in the 3,200 with Buck claiming first in 11:55.8, while Greco took second in 12:10.3.
Cathy Bigelow won the high jump for Hopewell Valley by clearing, 5-2, while Meredith Rutledge won the javelin with a throw of 105-4.
Allison Fletcher won the shot put and the discus for the Bulldogs.
"On paper this was a really close meet," said Oldfield. "They stepped it up. Everyone contributed."
The Hopewell Valley girls also gave a good showing at the Penn Relays last weekend. "It was one of our better Penn Relays across the board," said Oldfield. "Miriam was pretty much the only one who’s had that experience so I was wondering how they would handle performing in front of a crowd of 3,500. They did a fantastic job." Hopewell Valley has had great performances at the Penn Relays over the years and has earned invitations to compete in some of the exclusive events so Oldfield knows how important a little experience could be. "Experience means a lot at the Penn Relays," said Oldfield. The Bulldogs’ 4×800 team finished 10th in its heat in 9:35.56, while the 4×100 and 4×400 teams won their heats.
The Hopewell Valley boys track team was not as successful against Princeton.
The Little Tigers defeated the Bulldogs, 86-54.
Paul Wagner led Hopewell Valley with two first-place finishes. Wagner won the shot put with a toss of 49-8 and took the discus with a winning mark of 161-0.
Chris Anuzis won the 400 for Hopewell Valley in 53.1 seconds, Matt Hilderbrandt took the 1,600 in 4:30.1, Marc Kilstein won the triple jump with a leap of 37-5 and Pete Novobilski won the javelin with a throw of 148-10.
Both Hopewell Valley boys and girls will compete at the Mercer County Relays, which were rescheduled for 2 p.m. at Steinert this Saturday. The relays were originally scheduled for Saturday, April 22. The meet is an afternoon start because of SATs in the morning.

