4×400 team clinches county relay title
By: Rudy Brandl
BERNARDS For the second straight week, the Hillsborough High girls were faced with a do-or-die situation late in a track and field championship meet. Once again, a talented group of young ladies prevailed under pressure.
Super sophomore Ebony Young played a part in the drama for the second straight week. Young, who hit a personal record to help the HHS girls win the triple jump to clinch the Skyland Relays crown the previous week, ran the anchor leg that brought home the team title in Saturday’s Somerset County Relays at Ridge.
The HHS girls were clinging to a ½-point lead entering the final event, the 4×400 relay. HHS head coach Rich Refi, looking like a genius for the second straight week, saved enough star athletes for the final event because he anticipated a close meet.
The strategy paid off when Ebony Jones, Carlin Dunne, Anna Spaniol and Young hit the wire first to win the 4×400 in a time of 4:06.4 to clinch the team championship.
"I had a feeling it would be a close meet and come down to the mile relay," Refi said. "That’s why we freed up both Ebonys for that race."
Jones put the team in the lead with a 60.9 leadoff leg that was quite an accomplishment in her fourth event of the day. Dunne (62.9) and Spaniol (63.6) maintained the lead but Ridge wasn’t far behind in second place. That’s when Young took over and ended all hopes for the host school with a 58.9 anchor split.
The HHS girls ran toward the finish line as Young hit the final 200 well in command of the race. Even Jones, who was still catching her breath, was cheering and celebrating.
"Usually, I’m out of breath but this time I was ready to cheer," Jones said. "I knew she had it."
The only senior on the 4×400, Jones made sure her teammates understood the importance of the race. Ridge was hungry for revenge after the HHS girls rallied to win the Skyland Relays. This one came down to the very last event, an ideal scenario for any track and field meet.
"It was a very big race and I told everyone we had to run one lap as hard as we could," Jones said. "If didn’t do that, we’d lose the meet. Ridge keeps coming close to us. They gave us a run."
While Jones and Young led the way on the track, the Raiders could not have won this title without a great performance by the weight team. The HHS throwers were coming off a subpar day at the Skyland Relays. This time, they swept the three weight events for 30 huge points.
"They threw well," Refi said. "They knew they had to."
Senior standout Taryn O’Connor led the Raiders with solid marks in the shot put (44-3½) and discus (108-0). Angela Davia made big contributions in the shot (33-11), discus (101-0) and javelin (93-0), while Brittany Bennett produced distances in the discus (72-4) and javelin (88-0). Kelsey Kutch added a mark in the javelin (101-0) and Rizza Tolentino chipped in a distance in the shot (28-1).
"I didn’t know how tight the meet was going to be on the track, but we just like to dominate as a (weight) team," O’Connor said. "Sometimes, you don’t know what people on the track are doing."
Hillsborough won the shot put by 13 feet, the discus by 21 feet and the javelin by almost 37. The HHS girls won eight events overall, including the 4×200, sprint medley, shuttle hurdles and triple jump.
The 4×200 team of Stephanie Ogrodnik (27.7), Melissa Arango (26.9), Jones (27.9) and Young (24.8) won in 1:47.8. The sprint medley team of Ogrodnik (27.9), Ali Leifer (27.8), Jones (1:01.8) and Smolinka (2:23.9) prevailed in 4:20.9. The shuttle hurdles unit Arango (15.5), Leifer (16.8), Erica Reiss (16.7) and Jones (15.8) beat Ridge by over a second. Triple jumpers Arango (36-5¾) and Young (36-3¾) set a new meet record and topped Franklin by over seven feet.
"We’re showing our toughness," Jones said. "Even when we’re down, we show a lot of character. We have mental toughness."