The Greater Middlesex Conference is home to some of the best track and field athletes in the state, and last weekend many of those athletes had the rare opportunity to perform on one of the grandest stages of all at the 112th Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
One group of runners who certainly made the most of the opportunity was the boys 4×800-meter relay team from East Brunswick, who ran a school record 7:51.94 on Friday to finish third in their heat and third overall among a field of 69.
That effort earned the Bears a trip to the Championship America (a 12-team field) on Saturday, where they did not fare quite as well, running 8:00.48 in a race won by Holmwood, of the island of Jamaica, in 7:43.35.
However, Saturday’s performance did nothing to take the luster off what the Bears accomplished on Friday. The quartet of Justin Granit, Yannick Wood, Dan Gilbert and Eric Sorkin took full advantage of the opportunity presented to them, and certainly did their school, and themselves, proud.
The same can be said of the Old Bridge boys 4×400-meter relay, who won their heat on Saturday in a time of 3:18.46, as the brilliant Bryant McCombs came back from 30 meters down at the start of his anchor leg to lead the Knights to the win in what was the 33rd and final heat (prior to the Philadelphia-area teams).
While the effort was not enough to get the Knights into the Championship of America, which went to the eight fastest teams among the 600-plus entrants, all of whom eclipsed the qualifying time of 3:16.42, it was the best time of any New Jersey team.
With Paul Raccioppi running a 50.8 lead-off leg, Allan Lunkenheimer touring the track in 50.8 and Nick Carbone running a 51.6 split prior to McCombs’ 47.7 leg, the Knights were likely hurt by the overall slow pace of the heat.
Old Bridge’s 4×100-meter relay team of Jeff St. Florant, Lunkenheimer, Raccioppi and McCombs also won their heat on Friday, running a 42.97. However, that time also fell short of the Large Schools Championship cutoff, which was 42.69. Still, the Knights’ time was the 16th fastest of the 237 teams that competed in the event and the fourth fastest among New Jersey teams.
Individually, Old Bridge’s Ken Cardullo finished fifth in the javelin with a mark of 188-10, while Jamaar Figueroa of Old Bridge finished fourth in the discus with a toss of 168-5 on his final throw.
– Doug McKenzie