Thomas, Bliss, Wiseman medal at MOC

North hurdler in top six twice

By: Justin Feil
   SOUTH PLAINFIELD — Holland Thomas matched her Meet of Champions finals time of a year ago, but the West Windsor-Plainsboro North senior wanted a better place in the 100 hurdles.
   Libby Bliss matched her sixth-place finish of a year ago, and the Princeton High School senior was thrilled with the progress it showed in her 800 meters.
   Her teammate Megan Wiseman, did exactly what she hoped to do after medaling last year. The PHS junior moved up one spot in the long jump to medal once again and set herself up for one last try at gold next year.
   The trio walked away with varied reactions to being the only Packet-area girls to medal at Wednesday’s Meet of Champions.
   Thomas and Bliss ended their New Jersey scholastic careers with medals as both finished in the top eight in their events. Wiseman was the lone underclassman from the area to medal.
   Thomas was the lone area athlete to earn two medals. The Memphis University-bound hurdler placed fifth in both the 400 hurdles and the 100 hurdles.
   "For the 400 hurdles, I knew I wasn’t going to be in the seeded heat, but I knew I was going to place," Thomas said. "It’s just something I can’t let go. I tried my hardest in that race so I could beat people who were in the seeded heat. I was pretty sure I would medal. I looked at the times, and I said, I’ve done this before and I was pretty sure I could do it again."
   Thomas wanted to improve on last year’s third-place showing in the 100 hurdles. A slip at the start of the finals didn’t help her cause, yet her time, 14.49 seconds, matched that of her bronze finish a year ago.
   "In the prelims, I was put in lane four so I thought I’d win," said Thomas who was edged at the line despite a lean in the preliminaries. "She had me and I tried to catch up. I ended up in lane one in the finals, but I was ready to go. I was ready to do anything to try to win. I slipped at the start and there’s nothing you can really do after that. It’s 100 meters. You can’t really make up that much."
   Bliss was hoping to use the Meet of Champions to make up for a season in which she has been unable to approach her 2:11.78 of a year ago. A week ago at the Group III meet, she ran 2:17.01 after running 2:16.60 to win Central Jersey Group III. Bliss ended up with a medal and a season-best 2:13.95 Wednesday.
   "It was a little unexpected," Bliss said. "I came in trying to redeem myself for half a dozen mediocre race this season. I’m more competitive with myself than anything else. I really just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, time-wise and in terms of the entire progress of the race. Getting a medal is a great thing, but I’m happy the way I raced, taking charge in the front. It’s always nice to PR in your last race. The medal is an extra cherry on the top."
   Bliss won the medal despite not running in the fastest heat. That was just fine with her as she led from the start in the second heat.
   "I was hoping for the second heat," said Bliss, who was running in her third MOC. "If I ran in the second-fastest heat, I could do my own thing and run for my life and not have to deal with the strategy that corrupts the purity of running. I was really excited I was able to be in the second fastest heat. I knew I could run my own race without worrying about the other girls trying to box me out or use some other strategy to keep me down.
   "I’m doing nationals," she added. "I was allowed to use my seed time from last year. Hopefully with a few more speed workouts, I’ll be in last year’s running condition and that will be my last hurrah. This is my last race in New Jersey. It seems more sad and nostalgic than exciting. I guess it’s part of being a senior. The Meet of Champs is always one of my favorite races. I’ll miss the Meet of Champs."
   Wiseman will be carrying the torch for the Little Tigers next year as she goes for a third MOC appearance and a third medal. Her second career long jump medal came when she jumped 17-1½ for sixth place. It was an inch and a half farther than she did in last year’s MOC to earn seventh.
   "Last year, she qualified and kind of just took the opportunity to take it all in," said PHS head coach Jim Smirk. "We sat down and spoke (Tuesday) about what we were really trying to accomplish (Wednesday). She was very focused. She said her goal was to put her best jump out there and see if it was good enough to medal and today it was.
   "I’m sure she was hoping to go a little further, put one out there around 18, and she came close on the first jump. She fouled by an inch maybe. She went far. It was close to 18. That’s a tough thing for a jumper, to know you missed it by an inch. But she came back well and performed well and had a pretty solid day."
   Wiseman was the only other double qualifier for the MOC. She finished ninth in the triple jump, missing a medal by less than five inches. She came back from that disappointment to place in the long jump to finish a season full of events for the multi-talented junior.
   "It’s tough, you’re being asked to jump hard on Saturday and come back and triple and come back in the long right after," Smirk said. "She’s starting to feel a little bit of that, but she performed well. I’m real happy with what she did. She had an awesome season. To cap it off with a medal at the Meet of Champions, that’s nice for her.
   "She’ll apply for nationals and take some time off and get ready for next year. She wants to improve. It’s a good mental attitude to have."
   PHS was the only local school to have three athletes in the MOC on the girls’ side. Kelly Curtis, who is a senior, placed 19th in the long jump.
   "She’s been a steady performer for us all year and this is just icing on the cake for her," Smirk said. "She knew coming in she’d have to have one of her best days ever to medal and it didn’t all come together for her, but she’s happy with what she did. This is a nice cap to her career, regardless of whether there’s a medal or not. She’s been a great leader for us. That’s helped with Megan to have her."
   In the 3,200 meters, both Katie Kellner and Amanda Herrmann capped off solid seasons. Kellner came on strong over the final 800 meters to break the West Windsor-Plainsboro South school record and finish ninth overall in 10:58.73.
   "I felt pretty good," said the Pirates sophomore. "I had my lap times planned out to run 11-flat. My goal was to break 11. When I got to the last two laps, I was right exactly on 11-minute flat pace. I had to speed up a little to break it. It took a little faster last two laps. I broke my PR by 11 seconds.
   "Last week wasn’t my greatest race ever. I came here thinking, I’ve got to finish off my season well. My PR before today was last year’s Meet of Champions, so I said I had to get a new PR this year. I guess that’s what pumped me up and I got it."
   Kellner found her second straight trip to the MOC to be less stressful than last year’s. Experience benefited her along with a cooler night as she improved on her wild-card entry. Her junior teammate, Sammy Howell, placed 15th in the high jump after clearing 5-feet-2 and will compete in the state pentathlon meet Saturday at Ridge High as she looks to end her season on a high note.
   Like Kellner, Herrmann also was a wild-card entry. Herrmann had not competed in the MOC since she was a Montgomery High School freshman. Now a junior, she ran a season-best 11:14.74 to win the unseeded heat Wednesday.
   "I’m really happy," Herrmann said. "I’m just a little disappointed, there were some girls I wanted to run with in the seeded heat. I just missed that. It was a great race. I can’t ask for a better way to end a season that I wasn’t too sure about going into."
   After missing the entire spring season as a sophomore, she returned this year and rounded into form. Now she has the motivation of moving up even further as a senior.
   "I won my last race," Herrmann said. "I’ll get to see the rankings and how my time compared, but I know if I was in with some really fast competition, it would have pushed me to even get a personal best. But I ran a personal best for the season. My best is 11:11 as a freshman. Today, I ran 11:14. My best was 11:15, so I can’t ask for more.
   "I was so happy to be here. I was just happy to be here among the best. It makes me so much more excited about running. For a long time I was like, I have to stick with it, but it doesn’t feel good. Now it feels good. I have to say I feel good now."