Ragucci has a g’day or two in Australia

By: Rich Fisher
   It doesn’t seem to matter what end of the world she is on, Nicole Ragucci knows how to win in track & field.
   The Monroe Township High School senior-to-be has already proven she can win up here in the states, and earlier this month she showed them a thing or two down under.
   Ragucci traveled to Australia to compete in the Down Under Competition, which was held at Griffith University on the Gold Cast. She won the 400 meters in 57.6 seconds and the 100 meters in 12.8.
   Ragucci also placed second in the 200 meters with a time of 25.9 seconds, and she was fourth in the pole vault, which is usually her best event. Then again, sometimes its hard to go up and over when you’re down under. The reason being, Ragucci did not have her pole, due to the cost of having it shipped around the world, and had to borrow one from the Australians. That resulted in a very un-Ragucci-like vault of 9-foot-4.
   Nonetheless, she won the most medals of all the U.S. participants.
   The event consisted of competitors from the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. There were 200 athletes from the U.S from grades 10 through 12. Four were from New Jersey and coached by South Plainfield High’s William Malone. The Australians numbered nearly 100, while the New Zealand entourage was slightly smaller.
   The trip was about more than just athletics for Ragucci, who made a number of friends from both the U.S. and Australia. She also visited the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, where she fed kangaroos, held koalas, came face to face with crocodiles and the Tasmanian Devil. She also went to the top of the Q1 tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world, to take in the gorgeous beaches of the Gold Coast.
   Ragucci’s trip was made possible thanks in part to many community members and several local community organizations, whose donations helped defray the cost of the long journey.
   Those contributors included the Rossmoor and Clearbrook Italian-American Organizations; the Hightstown-South Brunswick International Rotary Club; the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, local 456; pressman and electricians of the New York Times; Jamesburg Councilman Joseph Jennings, Hightstown Chiropractic Center; Brenner Drainage and Excavation; Bonamici and Colletti, PC; Bakers Nursery and numerous Monroe Township track and field parents, friends and family members. The Ragucci family is thankful to all who supported Nicole in her endeavor.