Miluszewski repeats C.J. Group III javelin win

Haughton victorious in high jump as Hightstown girls place fifth as a team

By: Sean Moylan
   They say that the only two things you can count in life are death and taxes. They may want to reconsider and add Tara Miluszewski and Jessica Haughton’s names to that list of things (or people) you can count on.
   Because all those two Hightstown High girls’ varsity track and field stars seem to do is give one fantastic performance after another.
   That was true in this past weekend’s NJSIAA Group III Central Jersey Sectional Meet at Monmouth Regional as for the second year in a row, Miluszewski won the javelin event, this time with a tremendous 135′ 7" hurl on Friday. Miluszweski also won a silver medal in the discus on Friday with a throw of 107′ 10". Then on Saturday, Miluszewski unloaded a 30′ 9" throw to place 9th in the shot put. Most girls would have been very happy with such a toss, but Miluszewski wanted to qualify for the event. So it was a bit disappointing.
   "Tara did really well on Friday and she had a bad day on Saturday," said Hightstown head girls’ varsity track and field coach Don Hess, who recently accomplished the ultra-rare feat of coaching three different teams to conference championships in the 2006-2007 school year. But one would expect such things out of New Jersey’s most versatile high school coach.
   According to Hess, Miluszewski is either the best or the second best javelin thrower in the entire state. So, barring injury, expect her to advance out of this coming weekend’s NJSIAA All-Group III Championship Meet at Plainfield and into the Meet of Champions.
   Last Friday was basically a good day all around as Haughton won the high jump with a bound of 5′ 2". In the prelims of the 100 hurdles, Haughton ran a fine 17.71 time (17.2 hand time) to place 15th.
   "All of our high jumpers did well," added Hess, who had two of his other jumpers, Kayla Reddington and Jill Diadone, tie for 8th place in that event as both cleared 4′ 10".
   4′ 10" was actually a personal record for Diadone, a very well-liked young lady, who recently received a CVC sportsmanship award along with fellow senior classmate, Tim "The Italian Tank" Trivisonno. Reddington recorded a solid 14′ 4" mark in the long jump. Meanwhile Cori Davis had a strong meet placing 6th in the long jump (16′ 6 ½") and 14th in the triple jump (32′ 3 1/2").
   "Cori is really a great athlete. She’s had one of the best years of any girl I’ve coached," said Hess.
   Hightstown’s Jackie Jack placed 5th in the shot put with a throw of 32′ 7 ½". Yaa Genfi ran well in the prelims of the 100 meter dash and she placed 12th in the triple jump (32′ 5 ¼").
   Hightstown finished in 5th place overall with 31 points. Miluszewski is scheduled to compete in both the javelin and the discus events at today’s (Friday) All-Group III State Championships at South Plainfield while Haughton, of course, will be competing in the high jump. Both are expected to do well.
   On Saturday, Jack is scheduled to compete in the shot while Davis is scheduled to compete in the long jump. Remember, Davis posted a 17′ 5" mark a couple of weeks ago, so she is a very dangerous long jumper. And Jack is right up there with most of the best shot putters in Group III.