By: Redd E. Patrick
South Brunswick High School boys track coach Wilfredo Rivera knows there is no room for error when trying to beat a state power such as Old Bridge, his alma mater.
With that being said, Rivera felt his team let some points get away during the day one of the Greater Middlesex Conference Track & Field Relays, held at South Brunswick on Tuesday.
The Vikings are the defending champs as they upset Old Bridge a year ago, an Old Bridge team which went on to win the Group IV state title
"If all the kids ran personal bests and we all lived up to our capabilities and we lose, fine," said Rivera. "But I did think we gave some points away. I thought we could win the long jump, but we came in second. We were third in the shot and I thought we could get second or even win it."
Heading into Wednesday’s final day with 10 events still left, Old Bridge has a 48-36 advantage. But Rivera made it known the day wasn’t a total disaster.
"I was happy with a lot of the performances," said Rivera. "We did have a lot of person al bests." In the long jump, Miguel Akena and Khalid Weston each went 21-0. In the 4×1600, the team of Steve Sample, Cole Crosby, Rishi Mather and Anthony Veverka (4:35) finished fourth in a respectable 18:37.3.
In the 4×200, South Brunswick ran out of the second heat (not among the fastest seed times) and won it in 1:31.1 behind a team of Omar Francis, Billy Ricketts, Jamal McKinney and Jeremy Guzman. But that was fourth overall since three teams came out of the seeded heat.
"We were in the wrong heat," said Rivera, who was miffed that his team was not in the top heat. "I handed in my seed times, but I guess it wasn’t fast enough. I’m not saying we would have won, but I think we could have finished higher."
In the girls meet, after six events, South Brunswick had 32 points and was sitting in second, 12 points behind defending champion Old Bridge.
The Vikings ran a fast 1:43.6 in the4x200, but were second to Piscataway. The Vikings also finished second in the triple jump, recording a jump of 96-6 ¾.

