Deretchin vows to return and place
by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
SOUTH PLAINFIELD Track and field can be a game of inches, especially when a tape measure is involved.
Hillsborough High’s two best throwers couldn’t catch a break in last Thursday’s NJSIAA Meet of Champions. Junior discus star Danielle Deretchin and senior javelin standout Chris Tillotson qualified for the state’s most prestigious track and field event but came up short in their quest for medals.
Deretchin came agonizingly close seven inches to be exact. The HHS junior fired the discus within two feet of her personal record and sat in second place after the first two flights with a mark of 118 feet, 1 inch. Then, she had to sit and watch a flight of 11 throwers try to knock her out of the competition.
Things looked promising early as only the top two girls pushed Deretchin down in the standings. A few more clinched trips to the finals in the second round of throws with marks less than a foot beyond Deretchin’s best throw. Deretchin remained in eighth place until the last possible thrower who could eliminate her from the finals. Genevieve Rybicki of Our Lady of Mercy unleashed a 119-3 to knock Deretchin into ninth place, just seven inches behind Brick Township’s Kaitlyn Brunner.
”It’s difficult, but there’s nothing you can do but hope they’re not going to get you,” Deretchin said. “I was seven inches short.”
Deretchin started slowly with throws of 96 and 112 feet before hitting her second-best mark of the year at 118-1. That was two feet shy of the 120-1 she hit to finish second in the Central Jersey Group 4 Championships two weeks before.
”I can laugh it off because I threw 118 at the Meet of Champions,” Deretchin said. “It’s close to 120, so I’m happy with that. You can’t get yourself psyched out. You have to stay calm with what you’re doing and get your mark.”
Deretchin will use this year’s experience and work harder next year. She plans to break the school record and win a medal at next year’s M of C.
”I have another year,” she said. “For a lot of people, this is their last year. I know I’ll be throwing further next year.”
Tillotson also figures to throw the javelin further, but it won’t be in a Hillsborough uniform. The HHS senior finished his fine multi-sport athletic career in a fitting place but did not post a mark. Tillotson fouled on all three attempts on the slippery ground.
”It was the ground and my steps,” Tillotson said. “I was too worried about slipping.”
Tillotson hit 175-11 at the Raider Relays in April to set a school record in the rubber tip javelin. He’s been chasing that number since and came close at the State Group 4 Championships, when he qualified for the M of C with a 172-4.
”I just gave it my all and I tried my hardest,” said Tillotson, who plans to compete at Coastal Carolina University next year. “I just couldn’t pull through here.”