INDOOR TRACK
By: Tim Falls
The Hopewell Valley Central High School girls indoor track team demonstrated their depth.
The Bulldogs had top finishers in all but one event at the Mercer County Championships at the Toms River John Bennett Indoor Track Facility on Sunday.
The multitude of medallist helped Hopewell Valley claim its third straight county crown.
"The reason why the team wins each year is we don’t just have a couple of really good girls, we have a bunch of really great girls," said Hopewell ‘s Sarah Gustafson.
That was self-evident as Hopewell won the team competition with 95 points, while Notre Dame and Trenton tied for a distant second with 50 points.
Gustafson and Nicole Ferrara recorded the only first-place finishes for the Bulldogs, but big performances in a variety of events catapulted Hopewell out in front.
"A lot of girls stepped up," said Hopewell ‘s Claire Buck. "The freshmen took a lot of responsibility. We all did really well and everyone moved on."
With many runners making the finals, Hopewell easily outscored the competition. Freshman, like Ferrara with her first-place finish in the 55-meter dash, provided an added boost. Ferrara also finished fourth in the 200 in 27.34.
"We’ll be strong for many years now," said Buck. "We have a lot of freshman sprinters and really good distance runners."
Buck led the Bulldogs with second-place finishes in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs, perhaps Hopewell ‘s biggest events.
Buck took second in the 1,600 with a time of five minutes, 17.65 seconds. West Windsor-Plainsboro North’s Trish Reilly won the event in 5:15.06.
"We went out pretty slow," Buck said of the 1,600 field. "Our last half was about 10 seconds faster than the first half. It ended with a hard sprint at the end. Trish, who won, sprinted the fastest at the end, that’s why she won. We were all in one big pack and it was just a dash to the end."
Buck had her teammates with her in the 1,600.
Hopewell ‘s Megan Fitzpatrick and Marissa Greco took third and fourth, respectively. Fitzpatrick finished in 5:20.94 and Greco crossed the finish line in 5:28.47.
Buck took second behind West Windsor-Plainsboro South’s Kaitlin Kellner in the 3,200. Kellner claimed first in 11:30.27, while Buck followed in 11:32.31.
"Katie took it out really fast," said Buck. "She was leading the whole way, then we kind of caught up to her a little at the end."
Just like the 1,600, Hopewell had three runners in the top six of the 3,200. Fitzpatrick claimed fourth in the 3,200 in 11:35.03 and Julie Jablonski placed fifth in 11:52.37.
"I was happy with my times," said Buck. "They were my best so far for the season. They were what I hoped for."
Julie Alexander had three big finishes for Hopewell.
Alexander took second in the 200 and the 400 and finished fourth in the 55-meter hurdles. Alexander followed a record run by Notre Dame’s Kristen Mahon (57.44) with a 58.51 in the 400 for silver.
"The 400 was the race I was focusing on all day," said Alexander. "The 400 is what I’ve been working for and it was really exciting to get that place and have one of my best times."
The 400 is Alexander’s preferred race and one of the tougher events because it is not just a straight sprint like the 55 dash or 200.
"The four is the one I work hardest for," said Alexander. "I guess it’s a full out sprint, but it takes so much time to work out how you’re going to run it. There’s a lot more strategy to it. In the two, you just go out as hard as you can."
Alexander did just as well in the 200 despite a short turnaround after the 400.
The Hopewell sophomore finished second in the 200 in 26.33, while Mahon won in 26.05.
"The 200 was right after the 400, so I was pretty tired," said Alexander. "I’ve been working on running a lot at one meet so I wouldn’t be too tired. It paid off. I was expecting to do well, but not as well as I did considering it was right after the four. I was really happy with my finish. I didn’t expect to get second and it was a really good bonus."
Alexander added a fourth-place finish in the 55 hurdles with a time of 9.10 seconds. Freshman Shayne Hughes took fifth in the hurdles in 9.26.
Katelyn Pagano took second for Hopewell in the pole vault after clearing, 8-0.75 and Tricia Sherrard took fifth with a vault of 7-0.
Daniela Mottle finished third for the Bulldogs in the shot put with a throw of 29-2.
Ferrara, Hughes, Maggie Griffiths and Alexander came in fifth in the 4×400 relay in 4:13.86.
While Hopewell had only two first-place finishes it had more then enough in the top five to take the team championship.
The Hopewell Valley boys tied Hightstown for a seventh-place finish with 16 points. Senior Matt Cook led the Bulldogs with a third-place finish in the 800 in 2:01.15, while Matt Hilderbrandt took fourth in the 3,200 in 10:02.26 and Nick Journine claimed sixth in the 1,600 in 4:38.62.
The Bulldogs will look to use their depth again tomorrow in the NJSIAA Group II Championship.

