Equal SBHS girls at Group IV meet by finishing third and advancing three
By: Sean Richards
While the record-setting and championship-producing girls on the South Brunswick High School track team have understandably generated most of the headlines this year, that’s not to say the Viking boys also haven’t a very solid season in their own right.
This point was again on display over the weekend as the boys finished an impressive fourth at the Group IV Groups in Egg Harbor with 26 points and three advanced to the Meets of Champions, which was to have been held Wednesday at the South Plainfield High School after press time.
The three boys who advanced matched the total of South Brunswick girls who qualified for the Meet of Champions and the fourth-place finish was the exact same as the girls in the always very strong Group IV field. As was totally expected, senior standout John Viotto led the way by taking a second in the discus and a third in the shut put.
Viotto was actually the seventh seed going into the shot put competition, but stepped it up with a throw of 53-05 to just barely miss out on the second spot. Viotto took second in the discus with a throw of 166-3.
It was a vintage performance by Viotto, who improved dramatically on his discus throw of 148.04 and his shot put hurl of 50-05 in the Central Jersey Group IV meet just the week before.
Also advancing for the boys were Matt Kirbos in the pole vault and Bill Ricketts in the high jump. Kirbos took third with a vault of 13-0, while Ricketts tied for second when he jumped 6-4, the same height he achieved the week before.
Obviously, from an overall viewpoint the big story was the fact the Vikings’ got repeat state championship performances from Stephanie McIntyre and Indira Morton. McIntyre won the triple jump when she soared 40-0.25 on her final leap. Morton, meanwhile, captured the javelin for the second year in a row with a throw of 133-5.
"We were kind of hoping to finish in the top three (of the team standings), but it was still a great meet for us," said coach Stefan Moorhead. "For Stephanie and Indira to repeat as state champions is very special. A lot of things can happen over the course of the year and the talent at the Group IV meet is very high."
Morton also took a second in the long jump when she went 17-2.5. In the same event, McIntyre was eighth with a jump of 16-3.5.
Running two great races for the Vikings was talented freshman Sophia Ginez, who had a time of 11:13.29 in the 3200 to take a fifth and a time of 5:01.24 to finish eighth in the 1600. Both were school records.
Ginez also qualified in both events for the Meet of Champions. Although she was "only" eighth in the 1600, her time was good enough to earn her one of three wildcard berths.
Another girl who came away smiling was Krista Belick, who had a jump of 10-0 in the pole vault. That left her out of the money in the eighth spot, but it was good enough for a personal best in her last high school event.
"I felt really good for Krista," said Moorhead. "For her to finally get to 10-0 in her last meet was great."
In addition to Viotto, Ginez and Morton, McIntyre was also to have competed in two events at the MOC because she earned a wild card spot in the long jump as well.

