Lane, Eilbacher lead HHS boys to relay crown

Senior jumpers win three events

By: Rudy Brandl
   BERNARDS – There’s a new dynamic duo in town – Hillsborough High track and field athletes Brandon Lane and Dave Eilbacher.
   The HHS seniors continued their winning streak with three more gold medals in Saturday’s Somerset County Relay Championships at Ridge, leading the Raiders to another team title. They joined forces in the triple jump, high jump and shuttle hurdles, producing 30 team points. Lane and Eilbacher, who had won those two jumping events at the previous weekend’s Skyland Relays, improved to 5-0 as relay mates in championship meets this season.
   While Lane set a school record in the triple jump for the second straight Saturday, Eilbacher played an even more heroic role by stepping in for standout hurdler Tyler Szwarc, who was away on a college visit. Eilbacher joined the indoor All-America shuttle hurdles team and the unit didn’t miss a beat, winning their signature event in a time of 1:04.6.
   Rookie head coach Dave deWolfe was impressed by how his boys responded to competing without their captain, who’s also a major factor in many of the team’s best relays. The Raiders went about their business and won just as impressively as the previous week at the conference relays.
   "The kids knew he wasn’t going to be here and it could have made a very big difference in their attitude," deWolfe said. "The team responded and rose above what I expected."
   Eilbacher got the call to replace the school’s most talented hurdler. His performance gave the Raiders all the assurance they needed that things would fall into place.
   "I was pretty nervous leading up to the meet, but as soon as we got here, I got my confidence back," Eilbacher said. "It’s been a while since I’ve hurdled, but the hurdle team talked to me and they were confident in what I could do. I had big shoes to fill. I knew I could produce a solid time and help the team win."
   Eilbacher last hurdled during the winter season of his junior year. Two knee surgeries later, Eilbacher posted a 16.5 split on the shuttles to help the Raiders prevail.
   "It’s been pretty hard, but I’m a very determined person," Eilbacher said. "It was hard the second time I got hurt, but I had to finish my high school career."
   Eilbacher’s determination and Lane’s flying grace led the Raiders to victories in the triple jump and high jump for the second straight week. Lane broke his own school record with a leap of 44 feet, 2½ inches in the triple jump in one of the day’s highlight performances.
   "I just lifted like crazy this week and worked hard in practice," Lane said. "Triple was my last event again and it was a lot warmer today. I was pretty loose."
   Lane also led the high jump relay with a 6-0 effort. Eilbacher contributed solid supporting distances in the high jump (5-10) and triple jump (40-9½). Lane (16.1) and Eilbacher joined Dan Millemann (16.1) and Dan Reiss (15.7) to win the shuttle hurdles. Those 30 points went a long way toward securing the title for the HHS boys, who scored 108 points to defeat runner-up Somerville (88).
   "That completely surprised me," Lane said, referring to the margin of victory. "Now that we’ve done this, I feel like we can do anything we set our minds to."
   Hillsborough also prevailed in the sprint medley with Alex Szela (23.8), Rob Nguyen (23.9), Warner Jones (50.2) and Rob Marley (2:01.9) edging Somerville in a time of 3:40. The Raiders scored in every event again, including second places in the 4×100, 4×400, 4×800, pole vault and discus and thirds in the intermediate hurdles, shot put and javelin.
   "It’s a good group and a hard-working group," deWolfe said. "Now, we’ve become a very confident group. The pieces are coming together."