By Sean Richards, Sports Writer
It took a while for the guys to catch up to the girls, but now the entire South Brunswick High School winter track team is hitting its stride. And, it couldn’t have come at a better time with the Greater Middlesex Conference championships on tap for next week.
The latest strong performance for the Vikings came at the prestigious Lavino Relays at the Lawrenceville School fieldhouse on Saturday. At this meet, three school records fell and the team picked up seven sets of medals with top-three performances.
”We really had a good day,” said coach Stefan Moorhead. “It’s our last big meet before the GMCs and we wanted to show we are ready for that. The team is stepping up at the right moment. And they did it against very good competition.”
On the boys’ front, three relay teams set or tied new indoor school records. The shuttle hurdle team of Josh Checo (7.6), Zack Ryan (7.5), T.J. Taikina (8.2), and Matt Kirbos (7.9) came in first with a time of 31.2. This broke a school record that was set just last year. Finishing in second and also setting another school record was the 4×400 team of Mike Ricketts (52.9), Ryan (52.1), Checo (53.2), and Kris Raghavan (53.4). They ran a 3:31.5 to shave two seconds off a two-year old record.
Also finishing in the second spot and tying a 13-year old school record was the 4×200 team of Ricketts (23.1), Jaron Baker (23.9), Raghavan (23.9), and Kirbos (23.4) with a time of 1:34.1.
”Those three records we broke all have to be in the top 10 to 15 times in the state,” said Moorhead. “I was very pleased with the seniors. They really performed on a high level and it will give them confidence going into the big meets.”
In addition, the boys got sixth-place showings from the 4×800 team of Brian Haydon (2:08), Jimmy Maloney (2:06), Steven Lewis (2:07), and John Liptak (2:05) as well as the sprint medley team of Baker (23.5 in the 200), Shri Kamat (24.3 in the 200), Lewis (55.0 in the 400), and Liptak (2:04 in the 800).
As has been the case all season, the girls were also in fine form with four sets of medals and strong performances in a host of events.
Taking a second was the sprint medley team of Melissa Dardani (26.6 in the 200), Simone Hill (27.1 in the 200), Jamie Thompson (64.2 in the 400), and Sophia Ginez (2:21.7) in a time of 4:19.7. Also finishing second was the long jump combo of Thompson and Mariah Browne. Both had identical jumps of 16-0.5.
”That was really nice to see,” said Moorhead of the long jumpers. “Mariah is just a freshman and it the first time for both of them in the long jump this (indoor) season.”
Finishing third with season-best times were the 4×200 team of Thompson (27.1), Dardani (26.7), Browne (27.5), and Hill (26.8), and the 4×400 team of Thompson (63.2), Stephanie Rodriguez (63.5), Ginez (61.2), and Jamie Samper (63.7).
The girls got a fifth-place finish from the shuttle hurdle team of Falen Watson (9.1), Sharon Liu (9.0), Lauryn Strebeck (9.0), and Rodriguez (9.2). Setting personal records or coming close were Emily Skalko (4-10 in the high jump), Stephanie Greco (31-1.5 in the shot put), and Jenni Smilgis (2:29 in an 800 leg).
Both teams have a dual meet at Peddie Saturday they gear up to defend their titles at the GMCs.
