WEST WINDSOR: Motivated Pirate girls win CJ III track title

WW-P North boys also sectional champs

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
   Gabi Hunter wasn’t happy to be told that her West Windsor-Plainsboro South girls’ track team wasn’t going to win the Central Jersey Group III championship.
   The Pirates senior did something about it by placing in both her individual events and anchoring the 4×400 relay to a second-place finish to seal an unexpected victory over pre-meet favorite Neptune on Sunday.
   ”We were so angry with the fact our own coach told us we couldn’t do something,” Hunter said. “We were really motivated when we got in there.”
   Todd Smith’s tactic worked for the Pirates, who defended their sectional crown. The Pirates finished with 65½ points to Neptune’s 61.
   ”This year was pretty cool,” Smith said. “It came down to the last event. Last year, we had it sewed up. Last year didn’t seem as competitive as this year.”
   WW-P North was fourth with 33 points. Trish Reilly was second in the mile and 800. Princeton placed eighth with 11 points. Bryell Wheeler won the 55 dash. The Montgomery High girls were third in CJ IV. Fiona Paladino won the high jump and Laura Ng won the pole vault. Jillian Prentice was second in the 3,200 meters. She was third, Lara Shegoski fifth and Katie Pelech sixth in the mile. The Cougars 4×400 relay was second.
   The Knight boys won the CJ III title Sunday, one week after claiming the county championship. Like the Pirate girls, WW-P North also won the sectional last year.
   ”We competed pretty well today,” said Knights coach Brian Gould. “We scored pretty evenly across a lot of events. Depth helped us a lot. Had a couple firsts, but a lot of seconds and thirds. Our shot putter had a great day. Corey (Abernathy) threw 52-10½ to win. He threw great. It was a very consistent day for everyone.”
   The Knights easily handled second-place Jackson Liberty, 88-59¼. Jim Rosa, Ryan Sleeper and Tyler Corkedale swept the mile. Corkedale won the 800. Jim Rosa won the two-mile and Joe Rosa was second. Princeton was sixth as Gerhard Gengel was second in the pole vault, and WW-P South was seventh. The MHS boys were 12th in CJ IV.
   It didn’t take long for Hunter and the Pirate girls to gain confidence against Neptune and the CJ III field. Hunter didn’t back down in the meet’s first event, the 400 meters, as she split the Neptune duo.
   ”After I placed and the rest of the girls had done really, really well, we knew we had a chance,” said Hunter, who was third in the 400 meters and fourth in the 800 meters. “Neptune wasn’t what Smitty made it seem like. We weren’t getting first places, but we were coming back in all the events that Smitty told us we didn’t have a chance in.”
   Ashleigh Delemos was third in the 55 dash and fourth in the 55 hurdles. Joey Gambatese was fourth in the 55 dash. Katie Kellner was third and Caroline Kellner fourth in the mile to equal Neptune’s event winner. They went 1-2 in the two-mile and Ting Ting Zhou was fourth. The relay followed.
   ”That was a huge turn,” Smith said. “In the 4×4, we had it figured out that all we had to do was get fourth place. We got second.”
   It was the culmination of a performance that left Hunter searching for words to describe her joy. The Pirates’ second-place time of 4:10.14 was a season best.
   ”We cut off eight seconds from last week,” Hunter said. “I ran the same time I did last week. Ashleigh Delemos, Katie Calder and Emily Mauro came back with unbelievable times. Those three girls came back and ran unbelievably.
   ”We have a very young team,” she added. “The way we practice is the way we run in meets. This is something I don’t think anyone on this team can grasp is we won this meet even though we have a young team. There are girls on this team that are unbelievable.”
   Hunter has developed into a steady contributor in her fourth season with the Pirates. As she did Sunday, she has helped both individually and on relays.
   ”She’s been rock solid,” Smith said. “She anchored our school record 4×8 with a 2:20. She’s been consistently in 60s and 59s in the 4×4. She’s been solid. She’s a lot more consistent and has a lot better times this year.”
   Finishing strong helped Hunter clear a mental hurdle. Last year, she fell on the anchor leg of the 4×400 relay, didn’t finish and was too injured to compete at the Group III championships the following week. She’ll have the chance this year to compete in three events at the group meet next weekend.
   ”We’re going to come back very strong,” Hunter said. “We’re going to practice really hard this week. I think we’re going to do really well next week, especially our 4×4.”
   Don’t tell the Pirates otherwise.