5 foot 6 inch jump breaks record
By: Sean Moylan
Anna Cook is so accomplished in the high jump that in most meets she basically competes against herself. However, in this past Saturday’s B.C.S.L. Divisional Championship, Cook was taking on the record books as well. And the number she was looking to beat was 5 feet 2 inches, which was the meet record set by Moorestown’s Sandy Tokoto in 1989. Cook jumped over the bar at 5 feet 2 inches like it was nothing and she didn’t stop jumping until she had cleared 5 feet 6 inches. Yet even then she was looking for more.
"She would have had 5 feet 7 inches if her foot didn’t get in the way. She drug her left foot and knocked it (the bar) off at the last second," said Florence head girls’ varsity track coach Rodney Robeson. Robeson, however, knew his superstar high jumper was getting ready to peak when she broke the Peddie School’s course record in the high jump with a 5 foot 5 inch leap a little over a week ago.
Cook’s only competition in the long jump came from Florence teammate Arianna Williams. In fact, Williams won gold in that event with a fantastic 14-foot ¼ inch jump, but Cook was a close second with a 14 -foot ½ inch leap of her own. Florence’s Marla Sensi placed second in the 3,200 meter race (13:12.8) and she captured the third spot in the mile with a 6:18 time.
"Marla (Sensi) did very well," said a pleased Robeson.
Florence’s Katie Eells took third in the javelin event with a throw of 84-9. With 79 points, the Flashes place second in the Freedom Division. Palmyra won the meet in a landslide with 237 points.
New Egypt beat Florence, 191 ½ to 166 on the boys’ side. The difference between the two teams came down to the pole vault event, which the Warriors swept. Florence has plenty of talented athletes who are anxious to compete in the pole vault, but since the school doesn’t currently have a pole vault setup they’ll have to wait until next year. Mike Flynn’s Flashes got strong performances out of Shaquan Virgil, who won the high jump (6 feet), and Kevin Reeder, who placed first in the long jump (18 feet 10 inches). Meanwhile D.J. Pittinger showed his tremendous versatility by placing second in the 110 high hurdles (15.8 seconds) the triple jump (37 feet 11 inches) and the 400 intermediate hurdles (1:02.1).
But the place where Florence really dominated was in the throwing events with wins by Kevin Watts in the shot put (42-1), Jonathan Allen in the discus (112-5) and Chris Salaga in the javelin (159-2). Florence’s Kyle Carlson was the runner-up in the javelin (145-8) while Adam Pernice took home third place honors in the shot (37-6 1/2) and Brian Cook placed third in the discus (110-5).
Florence’s Jared Schuster, who is having a great season, placed third in both the 100 and 200 races. Teammate Justin Stone was a second-place finisher in the 400 with a time of 51.9. Jim Karwacki placed third in the 3,200 (11:05.6) and Steve Worstall placed third in the 1,600 (5:02.6). Matt Belcher took third in the 110 high hurdles (15.8) and Florence place third in the 4x 400 relay as well.
"If we had had pole vaulters we would have been right in it," said Robeson, who works with all of Florence’s throwers. Both Florence track teams were scheduled at Pemberton yesterday (Wednesday). Florence will also compete in the Burlington County Open at Maple Shade on Saturday.
NBC
Although it was missing star sprinter Irving Fryar Jr., the Northern Burlington County Regional High School boys’ varsity track and field team still managed to post 72 team points at Saturday’s B.C.S.L. Divisional Championship Meet at Northern Burlington. NBC placed fifth overall in the Liberty Division.
"I was extremely happy with that divisional meet," said NBC Coach Tim Tedesco.
Michael Bowden was the Greyhounds’ biggest star in the meet with a second-place finish in the mile (4:38.5) and a third-place finish in the 2-mile race (10:33.2).
Northern’s David Robinson was the runner-up in the triple jump with a 38 -foot 3 ¾ inch jump. Meanwhile NBC took second in the 4×400 relay (3:36.4), Chris Tomori took second in the 400 hurdles (58 seconds) and Ben Case was the runner-up in the shot put event (43-7 1/4). Adam Rotsides tossed the javelin 138 feet to take third place. The NBC girls also placed fifth in the Liberty with 42 total points. Ariel Woodard-Stephens placed third in both the long jump (15-1 ¾ inches) and the triple jump (30-3). Meanwhile Suzanne Bumbera won bronze in the high jump at 4-8.
On Tuesday, the NBC boys’ team posted a thrilling 70-61 win over Willingboro. The undisputed star of the meet was Saidu Mustapha, who saved NBC’s bacon by running the anchor leg of the 4×400 relay. Mustapha chased down a Willingboro runner and passed him at the last second to provide the margin of victory. He also won the 400 race and placed second in the long jump and the 200. Robinson won the long jump and placed third in the high hurdles.
Bowden won the 1,600 race and placed second behind teammate Matt Melillo in the 3,200. Tomori was victorious in the high jump while Dave Specca captured third in that event. Tomori also won the 400 hurdles and took second in the high hurdles. And freshman Frank Capra was the runner-up in the discus. And NBC, once again, did all of this without Fryar Jr.
"I’m glad we were able to win a meet without him (Fryar Jr.)," said Tedesco, who hopes to have his great sprinter back in time for the state tournament. Meanwhile the NBC girls’ track team lost to Willingboro, but it hopes to rebound when it competes in a meet at Delran today (Thursday). The NBC boys’ team is scheduled to host Delran today. Both squads are scheduled to compete in the BC Open on Saturday. And the Greyhound boys’ team is scheduled to compete in the Eastern Regional Meet at Willingboro on Monday.
BRHS
Donnell Hayden is quickly developing into one of the finest throwers in the history of Bordentown Regional High School boys’ varsity track and field. And the Scotties’ junior superstar only added to his ever-growing legend with wins in both the shot put (a 50-foot 8 ½ inch throw) and the discus (147 feet 3 inches) at Saturday’s B.C.S.L. Divisional Meet at Northern Burlington County Regional High School.
Hayden not only was the best thrower in the Patriot Division, his throws in the shot and discus were the best in all of the divisions combined. It was easily one of the most dominating throwing performances at the Divisional Meet in years as he was hardly challenged in either event. While Hayden, who currently holds Bordentown’s school record in the discus (150 feet 1 inch), set a personal record with Saturday’s great hurl in the shot put, he’d like to eventually break the school mark in that event too.
Bordentown’s "Marvelous" Marvin Carter’s stellar 2:03.9 time in the 800 would have been good enough to have given him the top slot in either the Liberty or Freedom Division. Unfortunately, Carter had to compete in the Patriot Division where Holy Cross’ Frank Iwanicki ran a blistering 1:59.4 to push Carter to second place. Carter had previously been undefeated in the Patriot Division in the 800. Carter did, however, place second in the 400 with a time of 51 seconds. The Scotties’ 4×400 really team finished in second place with a time of 3:41.2. Joe Meagher captured third place in the javelin with a 152 foot 9 inch throw. Bordentown posted 54 points as a team to come in fourth in the Patriot Division.
On the girls’ side, Bordentown also placed fourth in the Patriot Division with 35 total points. Stephanie Hazlett enjoyed a great day for the Scotties with a second-place finish in the long jump (14 feet 8 ½ inches) and fourth-place finishes in both the 100 high hurdles (16.7 seconds) and the 400 intermediate hurdles (1:10.6). Her times in both hurdle events were personal bests. She also placed fifth in the high jump with a 4-foot 6 inch leap. Brittany Bakeman posted a 1:03.2 personal best time in the 400 to place third in that event. The Scotties’ Kiley Dougherty also set a PR in the 3,200 with a stellar 12:07 third-place time. While there was an extremely fast field in the Patriot Division’s 800 race, Bakeman (2:31) and Dougherty (a PR 2:35 time) posted competitive times.
The Scotties came to Saturday’s meet with their A game. In fact, Marlise Hendricks (a 1:18.6 time in the intermediate hurdles), Megan Davis (13:17 in the 3,200), Molly Napolitano (71-3 in the discus), Harlee Gallo (74-1 in the javelin), Erin Griffiths (20.5 in the high hurdles and a 30.6 in the 200), Erica Boyles (1:06.9 in the 400) and Leah Shaw (1:05.7 in the 400) and Megan Meszaros (30.92 in the 200) all set personal records in the aforementioned events. Moreover Stephanie Minch (15.1 seconds in the 100), Danielle Hill (15.3 in the 100) and Gallo (a 65-foot 6 inch throw in the discus) also put up impressive numbers in events without scoring points.
"Overall the BRHS girls’ track and field team gave solid performances throughout the day," noted Scotties’ Coach Erica DiStefano, whose kids gave their all. Bordentown may not be dominating meets like it has in the past few years, yet it still brings incredible intensity and will power to every meet. And in some ways that’s even more refreshing. Both Scotties’ track teams are scheduled to compete in Saturday’s B.C.S.L. Open.