Girls see 10-year streak end
by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
Who were those unknown boys who left the Skyland Conference Relays with the team championship trophy?
Hillsborough High defended its conference relay team title in dramatic fashion on a blustery Saturday at the Hunterdon Central complex. The Raiders didn’t do it with superstars or proven performers. Many of Saturday main contributors didn’t even score varsity points last spring.
It was a different kind of victory for third-year head coach Dave deWolfe, who had watched his HHS boys run roughshod over the competition in the last two Skyland relay meets.
This time, it came down to the final event and the Raiders prevailed when pole vaulters Anthony D’Ovidio and Matt Millemann took first place and host Hunterdon Central did not clear opening height.
That point swing elevated Hillsborough’s score to 73 and left Central three points back in second place.
”It’s a good feeling,” deWolfe said. “We even ran into some hiccups with a few events where we didn’t score. Once the meet got underway, our boys were really stepping up.”
The pressure was on with the meet hanging in the balance. D’Ovidio cleared 12 feet in the pole vault for the first time. He matched his prior best (11-6) under heavy pressure on his third attempt to keep the Raiders in the hunt and established a new personal standard for a little extra excitement. Millemann added a personal record 10-6 effort to help the Raiders beat Phillipsburg by six inches.
”I knew I had to make the height for us to stay in it,” said D’Ovidio, whose great all-around day included a 58.8 split on the second-place 400 intermediate hurdles team, a fast leg on the winning shuttle hurdles relay and a team-best 55.5 split on the 4×400. “As soon as I made 11-6, coach told me that sealed the deal. It felt pretty good. I was pretty excited. I was surprised I made (12 feet) on my first try.”
D’Ovidio was surprised that Central’s jumpers did not clear. He had competed against them indoors and knew they had the ability. The swirling winds caused havoc for all the athletes. D’Ovidio cleared his opening height at 10 feet but the wind blew back his pole and knocked off the bar. He recovered nicely and continued clearing heights to propel the Raiders to the title.
”It came down to the end and our boys really came through,” deWolfe said. “We caught a nice break at the end, but both our boys got PRs (personal records) to win it.”
The HHS boys won three other events on the day one running, one jumping and one throwing. D’Ovidio joined George Cheng, Bryant Domitrowski and Millemann to win the shuttle hurdles in a time of 1:07.3, just three-tenths in front of Montgomery.
”That was interesting,” deWolfe said. “Montgomery was in the heat before us so that time was there waiting for us. (Mike) Lynch was injured so Bryant Domitrowski came in and ran his heart out.”
Lynch (5-10) was able to high jump in tandem with sophomore Cody Watts (5-8) and the duo combined for a winning mark of 11-6, just two inches in front of Montgomery and Central. Watts (127-7) also teamed with Nick Ivone (134-8) and senior standout Chris Tillotson (154-8) to take first place in the javelin relay (414-1).
Watts, whose sister Lauren was a Meet of Champions medalist in the triple jump in 2007, made a huge impact on Saturday’s meet.
”He’s definitely a very strong, athletic kid,” deWolfe said. “He takes instruction very well and he fit into four different relays and won two of them.”
The Raiders will be gunning for their fifth straight Somerset County Relays team title this Saturday at Hillsborough. With the new young stars gaining confidence, this could be an exciting spring. Many athletes scored their first varsity points in a championship meet.
”It’s awesome,” D’Ovidio said. “It was a really good team effort. Everyone gave it their all. A lot of the underclassmen who had never scored before really stepped up.”
”That makes it very satisfying,” deWolfe said. “The coaches and I have taken the kids and have tried to get them as ready as possible. It says a lot that they’ve been able to step up and win a championship.”
Ten-year title run
ends for HHS girls
While the Hillsborough boys were celebrating an exciting victory, their female school mates were agonizing over a two-point loss that snapped their 10-year hold on the conference relay team trophy.
HHS head coach Rich Refi had predicted a 98-96 victory for his team over rival Montgomery, but the score turned out to be correct in the reverse direction. Refi knew it was going to be close and the Raiders and Cougars figure to battle each other to the wire several more times this spring.
A few bad breaks made the difference in Saturday’s Skyland Relays. The HHS girls were disqualified in the 4×100 and finished three inches out of first place in the javelin. They also weren’t at full strength in the 4×800, which cost them at least places in the race. If any one of those events had turned out differently, the HHS girls would have won their 11th straight team title.
”We should have won,” HHS head coach Rich Refi said. “We performed well, but they performed better. There were a few things we could have done and things would have been different, but you can’t point fingers. You win and lose as a team. All the events count the same. All the points are a team effort.”
Senior Ebony Young led the Raiders with an outstanding performance. Young set a new personal record in the long jump (18-1¾) and led all leapers in the triple jump (38-11¾) to ignite victories in those events. She also split 58.7 over 400 meters on the sprint medley, another winner for HHS.
”She had a great day,” Refi said.
Young joined Allison Moran (16-3) in the long jump and the duo set a school relay record (34-4¾). She teamed with Erica Reiss (32-3½) to prevail in the triple jump relay (71-3¼). The team of Sade Stanley (29.3), Ellie Ewere (28.2), Young and Ashley Smolinka (2:29.4) prevailed in the sprint medley (4:25.5).
The Hillsborough girls added a victory in the discus relay. Danielle Deretchin (104-6), Brittany Bennett (82-7) and Nkolika Obi (84-2) combined for a mark of 271-3 to beat Montgomery by almost 20 feet.
Montgomery dominated the sprints and hurdles and did enough elsewhere to pull out a tight victory and end Hillsborough’s decade-long win streak.
”My only words to the girls after the meet were that at least we have another chance at them next week,” Refi said, referring to the Somerset County Relays, set for Saturday on their home track and field at Hillsborough.

