Cougars’ magical season continues
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
The spring continued to be colored Green.
Winners of their first Somerset County Championship less than three weeks ago, the Montgomery High School girls’ track and field team earned its second sectional crown in four years Saturday. In 2005, the Cougars won the North Jersey Section 2, Group III title. They earned their first Central Jersey Group IV title Saturday.
”These last three weeks we were second in the Skylands, won the county, and now won the toughest sectional,” said MHS head coach Jim Goodfriend. “And the best part is no seniors scored. It was all underclassmen, so everyone’s back.”
Green indeed. The underclassmen made sure they sent the seniors out as winners, just as the senior class debuted at the 2005 sectionals. MHS edged runner-up Jackson, 72-68. The top six individuals in each event plus the 4×400 relay advance to this weekend’s Group IV state meet.
”I felt like we had a really good chance of winning,” said Renee Brzyski, a junior who moves on in two events. “Our coach made it sound close. I was pretty sure we’d pull through.
”Since we won counties, I thought we had a good chance. We’ve been improving in practice a lot too. I felt like we had a lot of strong players we could put in each event.”
Brzyski was second and freshman teammate Fiona Paladino was third in the high hurdles. Brzyski was sixth in the long jump while Caroline Boger was fourth. Paladino won the high jump. Jessica Perone won the 400 intermediate hurdles by topping her Hillsborough rival for the first time; Danny Sciotto was fourth.
”It was nice to see Perone,” Goodfriend said. “Perone’s win, it was huge. I never expected that. She ran a PR and out-leaned the kid at the finish line. She had never beaten her.”
Jill Prentice was second in the 3,200 meters and third in the 1,600 meters. Carlee Rosenthal was second in the javelin. Laura Ng was fourth in the pole vault. Marcia Voigt was sixth in the discus. The 4×400 relay was fifth to seal the win.
”The worst we could get after the 4×4 was a tie if they won and we didn’t place,” Goodfriend said of Jackson. “They didn’t win and we scored.
”We scored all over the place. We didn’t score in the 200 and we didn’t score in the shot. We did phenomenal.”
West Windsor-Plainsboro South was 11th in CJ IV with several athletes qualifying in multiple events. Tia Williams qualified in all three throws. She was fifth in the shot put, discus and javelin. Katie Kellner was fourth in the 3,200 and sixth in the 1,600. Sammy Howell was sixth in the 400 hurdles and the triple jump. Joey Gambatese was fourth in the 100 and Ashleigh Delemos was sixth in the 100 hurdles.
In Central Jersey Group III, West Windsor-Plainsboro North was sixth and Princeton High School was 11th. The Knights’ Chelsea Walters set a new meet record of 18-6¾ to win the long jump. She was also sixth in the 100. Kelly Callahan was third in the 800. Trish Reilly was third in the 1,600 and Kailee Andrucyk was sixth. Andrucyk was fifth and Emily Scott was sixth in the 3,200.
The Little Tigers were led by Rebekka Vuojolainen, who was second in the triple jump. Hannah Davis was third in the 400 hurdles and Olivia Johnston was sixth. Megan Wiseman was fourth in the long jump. They will be looking to better their finishes at the Group III state meet. MHS and WW-P South will be shooting for the same in Group IV.
”It’ll be tougher,” Brzyski said. “I’m just looking to improve and try my best and try to get a personal record. I’m just going to try my best.”
It worked for her Saturday. The high hurdles were a big event for the Cougars, who scored 14 points with Brzyski and Paladino.
”We’ve been improving a lot,” Brzyski said. “Fiona Paladino was going to run the 200. We put her in the hurdles and she ended up getting third and I got second.
”It was a good time. I think I could have probably done a little better. I was happy with my time.”
Brzyski got a little bit of a late start in what has become her favorite event, the hurdles. She played softball as a freshman, but came to track last spring. She found a gift for hurdling and has continued to develop it.
”I was pretty decent last year,” Brzyski said. “Mostly the seniors were a little better than me. I started improving a lot this winter and this spring.
”I’ve just been trying really hard. I knew there was potential last year and I wanted to stick with it. My coach has been pushing me a lot too.”
Goodfriend found that hard work rewarded in the Cougars’ win. It was the development of athletes like Brzyski that made the win possible. Last year, she advanced to the group meet in long jump alone. She qualified in two events Saturday.
”Renee Brzyski had a big day,” Goodfriend said. “She was second in the highs. She got sixth in the long jump. Every point counts. Two girls in the finals and they take second and third, that’s huge. It’s 14 points all at once.”
And as good as Brzyski performed in reaching the group meet in two of her events, she was close to advancing in a third event that is much newer to her.
”I did triple jump for first time (Friday) and I made it into finals,” she said. “I learned it a week ago. I think they’ll definitely be putting me in it more.”
As Brzyski and the Cougars continue to reach new goals, they are raising their own standards.
”It does sometimes add pressure,” Brzyski said. “I try to relax and think about doing my best and think about trying to PR.”
MHS was expected by some to win the sectional. They came through with clutch performances across the events to make it a reality. The win has added to an already impressive list of achievements for the Cougars.
”It’s fantastic,” Goodfriend said. “Winning the county was enormous. To turn around and win this, we had to have everyone run their best. To win the group, it’s all about quantity.”
And the sheer quantity of underclassmen who scored for MHS has it thinking that this won’t be the last time it’s a Green spring.
”I’m looking forward to next year because we’re improving so much,” Brzyski said. “I’m kind of glad that a lot of underclassmen scored this year. It will help us for next year.”