Girls avenge recent defeat
by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
The Hillsborough High girls don’t like losing. They take tremendous pride in their track and field tradition and were not happy when neighboring rival Montgomery ended their decade of dominance at the Skyland Conference Relays.
They got mad, and they got even.
The HHS girls clinched the team title in Saturday’s rain-soaked Somerset County Relays on their home track with two events to be completed Monday. Hillsborough, which suffered a tough two-point loss to Montgomery the previous Saturday, roared back with seven first places and 106 points for a 24-point cushion entering Monday’s completion of action.
”The girls weren’t happy with how last week ended and they came back strong,” HHS head coach Rich Refi said afterward. “We moved people around and it worked out for us. We also ran better.”
Hillsborough clinched it with an easy victory in the 4×400 relay. Senior Ebony Young sprinted home to complete a 4:11.9 effort that beat Bernards by more than five seconds. Those 10 points put the HHS girls over the top.
”We knew that if we got first, we had it,” said senior Carlin Dunne, who ran the second leg on the winning relay that included Katelyn Sheridan and Allison Moran. “Coach Refi did all the math. We just knew we had to win.”
HHS junior Ashley Smolinka contributed to three first places, running strong 800-meter anchor legs on the 4×800 and sprint medley and the 1,600 finish on the distance medley. Smolinka and her teammates were motivated to avenge the disappointment of the previous weekend.
”We have the newspaper articles all over the locker room,” Smolinka said. “We lost that 10-year streak but we all said two points is nothing. We wanted to get it back. We put a lot into it today.”
”It was heart-breaking last week,” Dunne added. “We were much angrier this week. It was just fuel for us. We were much more prepared this week.”
The Raiders more than made up for many of the things that went against them at the Skyland Relays. Dunne returned to the 4×800 and helped that unit prevail after it finished sixth at the Skyland Relays. Instead of getting disqualified in the 4×100, the HHS girls placed fifth for two points. They also won the javelin after losing that event by a few inches at the Skyland meet.
Dunne, who was limited due to shin problems in the Skyland Relays, was happy to make a difference. She ran on the winning 4×800 and 4×400 teams in the rain Saturday.
”I’ve been doing everything I can to get back,” Dunne said. “The girls on the team work so hard. I had to try my best for everybody. I’m really proud of the team. It’s a great feeling.”
Dunne led off the 4×800 and was joined by Meredith Mayes, Maureen Lynch and Smolinka in the victory. Lynch, Julie Figard, Mayes and Smolinka ran well to win the distance medley (12:45.4). Young stars Sade Stanley and Ellie Ewere set the table for veterans Young and Smolinka in the winning sprint medley (4:25.8).
Hillsborough added three victories in the field events. Young and Moran combined for a meet record (33-3) to beat Montgomery in the long jump relay. Danielle Deretchin and Brittany Bennett contributed on two winning weight team relays. Nkolika Obi joined them in the discus (249-1½) and Rizza Tolentino helped them win the javelin (261-4).
”We started to get up by a few points and then we kept adding more points,” Smolinka said. “We were ahead and we just had to keep it. We know we can pull together as a team.”
Boys pushed hard in
repeat title effort
The HHS boys completed the home team sweep of Saturday’s Somerset County Relays, but rivals Somerville, Montgomery and Franklin weren’t far behind.
Hillsborough had to wait until Monday to clinch the title officially, since the high jump and pole vault could not be completed in Saturday’s inclement weather. The Raiders built an 18-point lead over Somerville entering Monday’s completion of action.
The Raiders certainly weren’t expecting to run away with the title, but Hunterdon Central was the only team close to them in points at the Skyland Relays. With Central not competing in the county relays, many people would expect an easier day for Hillsborough.
Due to a smaller field of teams and the scoring system in championship meets, it doesn’t work out that way. HHS head coach Dave deWolfe was aware of this and knew his team had to perform well to retain its hold on the championship.
”There were less teams here this week so Montgomery and Somerville moved up,” deWolfe said. “That made the meet a little bit closer.”
Hillsborough made up some missing points from the previous week to build up its point total. The 4×100 team of Dave Robinson, Quidi Chen, Dylan Sellar and Kyle Magliaro finished first in a time of 45.0, just one-tenth of a second in front of Montgomery, after getting disqualified at the Skyland Relays. Those 10 points were huge.
The Raiders also won the shuttle hurdles with Anthony D’Ovidio, George Cheng, Bryant Domitrowski and Matt Millemann combining for a time of 1:07.9. The intermediate hurdles relay of D’Ovidio (57.9), Cheng (59.3) and Millemann (59.1) took second in 2:56.3. The rain didn’t hurt the Raiders in those difficult races.
”The only thing I was worried about was the hurdling events,” deWolfe said. “Those are the riskiest events on a wet surface and we basically maintained what we did last week. As soon as we got past that, the rest of the meet fell into place.”
”It was a little bit harder today because of the rain getting in everyone’s heads,” D’Ovidio added. “I just didn’t let it affect me. Everyone has to go against it. Everything is equal.”
Senior Chris Tillotson hit 159-4 under horrible conditions to lead the javelin relay to a victory with a 400-8 mark. Cody Watts and Nick Ivone were also part of the trio that edged Somerville by just over three feet.
Hillsborough’s shot put relay of Frankie Jawidzik, Jason Jenkins and Jordan Marcus came back strong after a disappointing Skyland meet to take second with a combined mark of 118-2½. Sophomore Mike Shipley ran an impressive 2:04.5 anchor on the 800 leg of the sprint medley to lead that team with Robinson, Magliaro and Nick Perna to second place in 3:46.2. The distance medley team of Kevin Thorp, Sellar, Andrew Dooley and Jordan Magath (4:32 anchor) also finished second (11:00.8).
”The group is becoming very tight-knit because we have to step up together as a very young team,” deWolfe said. “They’re becoming more confident.”

