BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer
Above, South Brunswick’s Sophia Ginez leads the pack en route to the win in the 3,200 at Saturday’s GMC Championships in South Plainfield. Below left, North Brunswick’s Jarrett Todd launches the shot put, while below right, South Brunswick’s Sean Lease competes in the high jump en route to a fifth-place finish. SOUTH PLAINFIELD – South Brunswick’s girls track and field team hasn’t lost a step.
After winning the Greater Middlesex Conference team championship last season, the Vikings entered Saturday’s meet hoping to prove that they not only remain the conference’s top team, but that the gap between themselves and everyone else widened over the course of a year.
That is exactly what the Vikings did on Saturday, as they threw, jumped and ran away with the team title, scoring 95.9 team points, beating second-place J.P. Stevens by a whopping 36.5-point margin.
The Vikings did it on the track, led by freshman Sophia Ginez’s double – she won the 3,200 in a time of 11:32.3, then came back to outduel Bishop Ahr’s Diana Martin to win the 1,600 in a time of 5:30.6 – while Indira Morton led the effort in the field, winning both the javelin (133-9) and the long jump (17-9).
PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff But this was much more than a two-person effort, as the Vikings showed they have the conference beat in both talent and depth.
Among the other Vikings to score points for the team on Saturday were Stephanie McIntyre, who won the triple jump (39-6 and 1/4) and also took second behind Morton in the long jump, leaping 17-1 and 1/4.
The quartet of Yesenia Boynton, Stephanie Rodriguez, Jamielyn Samper and Rebecca Russo ran away with the 4×400 relay in a time of 4:04.2, just over a second ahead of the second-place team from rival North Brunswick.
Boynton also took fourth in the 400 (58.8), while Russo was fourth in the 800 (2:25.3). Rodriguez finished tied for fifth in the 400 intermediate hurdles (1:07.6), while Krista Belick finished tied for fourth in the high jump (4-10), and Lauryn Strebeck took third in the triple jump (34-6 and 1/2). Jessica Bellizio also scored for the Vikings, taking sixth in the pole vault at a height of 8-0.
North Brunswick’s fourth-place team effort (47 points) was led by Tylia Gillon’s win in the 100 (12.0). Her teammate, Alex Francis, also scored in this event, taking fifth (12.8). Gillon also took third in the 200 (25.7), while Danea Wise finished third in the 100 high hurdles (15.3 and second in the 400 intermediate hurdles (1:03.3). Both hurdles events were won by J.P. Stevens’ Lataya Dixon, who won three events on the day, and nearly four.
Jasmine Phelps scored in the field for the Raiders (third in the high jump – 5-0).
Old Bridge was the dominant team in the boys competition, as they scored 118 team points, led by Matt Ciambriello’s double (1,600 and 3,200), to win its sixth straight GMC title, outdistancing second-place South Brunswick by 53 points.
John Viotto was the big point-scorer for the Vikings, winning the shot put (52-8 and 3/4) and the discus (162-11). However, there were a flurry of South Brunswick athletes who score points in the field, among them William Ricketts (third in the high jump, 6-2), Khalid Weston (second in the long jump, 21-3 and 1/4), Matt Kirbos (second in the pole vault, 12-0), Sean Lease (fifth in the shot put, 45-9 and 1/4, fourth in the discus, 139-3, and fifth in the high jump, 6-0).
On the track, the Vikings got points from Steve Sample (fifth in the 1,600, 4:32.2, and the 3,200, 9:46.7), Kirbos (sixth in the 110 high hurdles, 15.6), Zack Ryan (fifth in the 400 intermediate hurdles (57.3), Dave Christafalo (sixth in the 3,200, 9:49), Lease and the 4×400 relay team, which took fifth in 3:27.6.
North Brunswick finished sixth in the team standings (30 points), getting points from Toddrick Darden (second in the 400, 48.9, third in the 200, 22.3, and fifth in the triple jump, 40-7), Ronnie Hall (third in the 1,600, 4:29.5), and Harrison Wright (second in the javelin, 170-2).