Sophomore has record day running at county meet
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Jim Rosa drew inspiration from a former West Windsor-Plainsboro North runner when he stuck with his plan to compete in four events at the Mercer County Track Championships.
Mike Page had competed in four events in 2005 to push the Knight boys to their first indoor county crown. Page’s performance had some flair to it — he threw up in mid-sentence while telling Knights coach Brian Gould he was ready to warm up for his final event, the 4×400 relay — but it didn’t match the performance level of Rosa.
Nobody has, and it’s going to difficult for anyone to match the North sophomore’s super Sunday.
”It was awesome,” Gould said. “It’s the best performance I’ve ever seen. Tuesday or Wednesday, we started throwing around the idea of him doing four events. We knew Trenton has great team and we needed points, and he was one of the guys most capable of doing four events.”
The order of events worked out perfectly for Rosa in terms of getting recovery and the competitive levels of each event. Rosa’s day began with the 1,600 meters, which he won in 4:16.45, more than two seconds better than the meet record set by Trenton’s Mike Glenn 25 years ago.
”The 1,600 was probably my best individual race,” Rosa said. “I had the most competition. I ran a smart race. I didn’t go out with Phil (Wood of Pennington). I ran my own race.”
He followed it soon after with a win in the 800 meters in 1:58.54 to top teammate Ryan Sleeper.
”Between the 1,600 and the 800, I probably had the least amount of rest,” Rosa said. “I was fresh for the 1,600, which was probably the toughest event I had. The 800 was also pretty tough, but Ryan Sleeper also ran the mile and he was hurting too. He was one of my biggest competitors.”
In the 3,200 meters later, it was his twin brother Joe Rosa that was his biggest competition. Jim stayed behind Joe for most of the race, only passing him meters from the finish line to win by three-hundredths of a second in 9:24.21. That narrowly eclipsed the meet record set last year by WW-P South graduate Brian Leung.
”At the end of the race, I don’t know why, but I felt I had to outkick him,” Joe said. “I felt kind of bad about it. He led the whole race. He wasn’t happy about it.”
Rosa’s day concluded with a 55-second third leg for the Knights in the 4×400. He combined with Mitsu Nakata, Sleeper and Sean Reed to pull off his unlikeliest win when they upset Trenton in the final running event. It gave Rosa four gold medals, two records and a part in four school records. Rosa’s four wins helped the Knights topple Trenton, 100-73, for the overall team title.
”The goal,” Gould said, “was to score as high as possible in all four. It wasn’t something we talked about to glorify Jim and show off his talent. Jim is very, very fit. Trenton is good. He has great range. He’s a guy that can do four events.”
Jim Rosa is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
”I thought the 4×4 was impossible,” Rosa said. “And I really didn’t think I’d beat Joe in the two-mile. I think I kind of snuck up on him. If he saw me pushing it, he probably would have beaten me.”
It’s why in all likelihood it will be difficult for anyone, especially Jim, to duplicate the four golds feat. He was just happy to get through what was his biggest effort on the track to date.
”This is the biggest one for a total day,” Rosa said. “I think after the Group III relays, the 1200, that’s the most effort I put into one race. But the total effect of the four races was the hardest I have done. I didn’t feel it so much during the two-mile. I was feeling it before the 800.”
Added Gould: “His confidence kind of snowballed. There’s so much adrenaline. When he was close to Joe with a lap to go, I don’t think he could feel his legs.”
The effort was quite a step up from the usual. To win all four events was icing on the cake.
”This was my first time doing more than two events,” Rosa said. “Once Coach signed me up for the quadruple, I knew I wasn’t going to let that go by. I was going to do it. I really wanted to test my leg speed in the 4×4. I wanted to set a PR. I tied it.
”The one that stood out the most was the 4×4. I really didn’t think we’d beat Trenton. Before the race, I wasn’t considering it. Once I handed it off to Sean without barely losing at all, I knew he’d be able to pull through and win it for us.”
Rosa was happy to do his part for the Knights to help get them the team title. In the fall, he helped the cross country team win all but two team titles, one being the nationals. He was consistently behind Joe in the fall.
”Something seems to click with him when he gets on the track,” Gould said of Jim. “He’s very confident. It’s like when track season start, he has a lot more belief in himself and a lot more confidence. He’s been healthy for a while now too, which is different from before. And he’s coming off a great cross country season so I’m sure he’s even more confident.”
Rosa now will take a more narrow focus as he gears up for the end-of-season state competitions that begin with the sectionals this weekend. Rosa is leaning toward going after the 3,200 title at the Meet of Champions. After winning all four events in a competitive county, anything seems possible.
”That’s got to give him a ton of confidence,” Gould said. “It sets him up for the next couple weeks. We’ll keep his mileage up. We’ll see what he has the best chance at for the Meet of Champs.”
Going for MOC gold will take a big effort, something that Jim Rosa understands even better after putting together an inspiring effort to make county history.