Arango, O’Connor lead team to Skyland track title
By: Rudy Brandl
Taryn O’Connor and Melissa Arango give the Hillsborough High girls the kind of star power needed to excel in an individual track and field championship format.
Both HHS seniors produced two first place finishes in last Thursday’s Skyland Conference Championships at Hillsborough High. Arango added a second place so the two standouts combined for 48 points, which was more than 12 teams scored in the meet.
O’Connor had a huge day in the throws, winning the shot put (43-2) and discus (125-0) with very impressive distances. Arango, meanwhile, captured titles in the 100 hurdles (15.27) and long jump (16-9). Her second place finish in the triple jump (35-5¼) didn’t hurt the Raiders since sophomore teammate Ebony Young (35-7) prevailed in that event.
Hillsborough boasted five individual champions and the 4×400 relay team of Ebony Jones, Carlin Dunne, Anna Spaniol and Young ended the meet with an impressive triumph in 4:03.59.
"The girls had a good meet," HHS girls’ head coach Rich Refi said. "The performances were solid."
Hillsborough piled up 111.5 points for a stirring 30-point victory over Voorhees. The HHS girls scored in 12 of the 16 events, with multiple scorers in both hurdles, the triple jump and shot put.
"I thought it was going to be a lot closer," Arango said. "Coach Refi said we had a good chance to win and we all went with that mindset to do our best and we did it."
Arango on an exciting 100 hurdles race, finishing just ahead of Somerville’s Brittany Mackey (15.45) and HHS teammate Ebony Jones (15.95). She hit the first hurdle but recovered and came from behind for the gold.
"I had to catch up," Arango said. "I know I get faster as I go on, so I had to keep going as fast as I could. Different people get quicker starts. I get faster as I go along."
Arango, who consistently hits in the 16-foot range in the long jump, established a new personal record to win the Skyland title in the event. She improved on her indoor best by one inch to beat Hunterdon Central’s Rachel Villa by two inches with a 16-9.
"I just keep building up," Arango said.
O’Connor believes she’s back on the rise in her throwing events after posting solid marks at the conference meet. She unleashed one of her better outdoor shot put efforts of the spring and posted a season-best in the discus.
"I’m happier now because I’m out of the slump," O’Connor said. "It wasn’t a good week of practice. I’ve been really slow the whole week, but it felt good today."
O’Connor jumped back and forth between events, something her running, jumping and hurdling teammates often do in big meets. She competed in the shot put and discus flight rounds, then switched to the finals in both events.
"It was kind of weird, but it worked out," she said.
O’Connor hit her longest marks on the second throw of the finals in both events. She was thrilled with the discus mark, which isn’t far off her school record.
"I came in today and wanted to hit 125 feet," O’Connor said. "I wanted to beat my personal best for the season. I just have to get my hips around."
Ebony Young had another solid day, compiling 24 points in three individual events. Young won the triple jump, finished second in the 400 hurdles (1:03.50) and took third in the 400 dash (59.15).
Other HHS points came from Jones in the 400 hurdles (3rd, 1:04.78), Angela Davia in the shot put (4th, 34-8½) and javelin (5th, 98-9), Ashley Smolinka in the 1,600 (4th, 5:13.15) and 3,200 (3rd, 11:16.23) and Ali Hydzik in the high jump (tie for 5th, 5-0).
"We pretty much scored where I thought we would score," Refi said. "We have a lot of the best athletes in the state here. Against this type of competition, it’s a great win."
The HHS girls will try to do it again and keep their perfect season intact in today’s (Thursday) Somerset County Championships. Field events begin at 3 p.m. with track events starting an hour later.