Record-setters Ada Unachukwu and Allison Linnell gave the 2007-08 girls indoor track and field season a big boost.
Unachukwu was busy rewriting the Freehold District records in the sprints and jumps all year and was All-American in the triple jump.
Linnell came into her own this winter and was the class of the distance runners. Using timely surges in the second half of the race to run negative splits, the senior rode that strategy all the way to the championships and All-American. She dominated the 1,600 and 3,200 and set the District mark for the one-mile run.
Colts Neck, meanwhile, captured the inaugural Shore ConferenceANorth Division championship and repeated as Monmouth County champions.
These superb athletes top the News Transcript’s 2008 All-Freehold Regional District Girls Indoor Track and Field Team. Completing the team are Janel Parker (800) and Tanika Peart (55 hurdles), Freehold Township; Brianna Jackucewicz (3,200), Lindsey Rappleyea (high jump) and Sheila Renner (shot put), Colts Neck; and Howell’s 4×400 relay team and Jackie Tillotson (pole vault.
Unachukwu (55, 400) put together one of the greatest all-around indoor seasons ever. She set or tied district records for the 60- (7.95), 200- (25.72), 300- (41.3) and 400-meter (57.69) dashes on the track, and long-jumped 16-6 ¾ and triplejumped 38-5 ¼ (also a Shore Conference mark) in the field.
TheMarlboro junior was the dominant sprinter in the Shore this year, winning the 55- and 400-meter dashes at the A North,Monmouth County and Shore Conference meets. She was fourth in the 400 at the Group IV State Championships, turning in her 57.69.
Where the 200 meters was a contest, A North and Shore Conference, she won there, too.
Unfortunately for Unachukwu, the triple and long jump are not contested at the state level. She was the best triple jumper in the state with the best jump, 38-5¼, and with her 38-1¼ was fifth at the Nike Indoor National, earning All-American honors.
She is poised for a big outdoor campaign.
Linnell (1,600) came into her own during the cross country season, and this winter it carried over into making her one of the state’s very best – and nationally ranked.
She won the 1,600 at the A North, Monmouth County and the Metropolitan Invitational (4:56.4) at the New York City Armory. She ran the longer 3,200 in the state meets and returned to the mile for the National Scholastic Indoor Championships at the NYC Armory, where her fourth place earned her AA honors and broke the old District mark held by her former teammate Ashley Higginson. Linnell anchored the 4×1-mile relay team that included Morgan Clark, Allie Flott and Jackucewicz to AA honors with a fourth place at the NSIC.
She had success in the 3,200, wining the county and conference crowns, taking second in Central Jersey before winning her first state title at the Group IV championships (10:48.33). She was fifth at the Meet of Champions.
Parker rebounded from a disappointing ending to her cross country season with an outstanding indoor season. The senior won the A North, Monmouth County, Shore Conference and Central Jersey Group IV titles before finishing seventh at the State meet. Her best time was 2:17.23.
When she stepped up to the 1,600, she was second at the county and conference.
Jackucewicz finished her season in grand style, finishing second in the twomile at the NSIC. She ran a personal best 10:33.57 (also at the time a state junior class mark). She won the Central Jersey Group IV 3,200 title and was second to Linnell in State Group IV and sixth at the MOC.
At the NSIC, she split 4:59.4 in her leg of the 4×1-mile relay.
Veteran Peart was pretty good in both the 55 dash and the hurdles. She was second to Unachukwu in the dash. She did win the A North hurdles title and was fourth in the state sectional (9.06).
Howell’s quartet of Erin Madsen, Lauren Rupp, Melissa Goodwin and Adedayo Adu, with help along the way from Amanda Luccarelli and Melissa Parato, turned in the most consistent performances of the season. Howell won the A North race, and was third in the county, fifth in Central Jersey and 11th in State Group IV (4:10.59).
Rappleyea had the highest jump in the District (5-2), and the most decorated. She was first in A North and Monmouth County, second in the conference, fifth in Central Jersey and tied for eighth in State Group IV.
The junior helped the Cougars with her versatility as a sprinter/hurdler.
You don’t win championships without being able to score in a number of events. Renner helped the Cougars win the division and county titles by getting them points in the field. The junior won the A North title and was fifth in the county. Her best throw was 29-9¾ in the state sectional, where she was ninth.
Consistency was the difference in the pole for Howell senior Tillotson. She started the year off winning A North and then produced a series of high finishes. She was fifth in the county, fourth in the conference and fifth in the state sectional. Her best vault was 8-6.
Those earning honorable mention are: Kathlyn Herrick, Karissa Herrick, Brooke Schneider, Allie Flott, Morgan Clark, RachelMorris, Lauren Knauf and Samantha Santo, Colts Neck; Laura Coyne and MacKenzie Roche, Freehold Borough; Megan Donovan and Desiree Reese, Freehold Township; Lindsey Lambert, Kellie Bresz and Gabriel Sebastian, Howell; Kacie Manzo, Manalapan; and Lauren Pietrosh, Nikki Pecora and Nicole Scivoletto, Marlboro.