Two years ago it was a big deal that the Red Bank Catholic High School girls distance medley relay team had qualified for the Championship of America race at the Penn Relays Carnival.
This year, being there wasn’t enough. Coach Rob DeFilippis wanted his team to leave its mark at the meet, and they did just that. The Caseys finished fifth at the High School Girls’ Distance Medley Championship of America race on Thursday night at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field. In winning a relay medal, the team of Michelle Capozzi (3:49.65), Lindsey Bellaran (58.60), Liana Marzano (2:15.06) and Molly McNamara (4:57.60) lowered their school record to 12:00.91.
“We all kind of surprised ourselves,” said McNamara. “We were really excited, it was really good for us.”
It was McNamara’s personal best 1,600 leg that brought the Caseys out of the congested pack (16 teams were in the race) and into the medals. She hooked up with Warwick Valley anchor Lillian Greibesland and the two “kept passing people.”
All the Caseys came through Thursday racing against the best teams from throughout the country.
Champion Blacksburg (Va.) broke the meet record with their winning time of 11:38.69.
The Caseys were first among the four New Jersey schools that had qualified for the race.
Capozzi started it off, running the difficult 1,200-meter leg, and Bellaran followed with her fist sub-1:00 400 of the spring. Marzano ran the 800 leg, and McNamara the finishing 1,600.
With Capozzi the lone senior among the quartet, the Caseys have their sights set on 2011 already.
“It’s a process, not just one year,” said McNamara, “Getting into Penn was an accomplishment my freshman year [she ran the 1,200 leg]. This year, finishing in the top five was an accomplishment. Next year, we want to be contenders.”
The RBC boys were 11th in their 4×800 heat (8:03.73) with Kevin Byrne running a 1:55.1 anchor. Kyle Clonan, Mike Quinn and Rob Napolitano ran the first three legs for the Caseys.
Christian Brothers Academy finished one place out of the medals in the High School Boys Distance Medley Championship of America held on Friday. Mike Mazzacaro turned in one of the fastest 1,600 splits of the day (4:15.1) in bringing the Colts up through the field into sixth place (10:17.61).
Dan Mykityshyn (3:10.5), Matt Rodio (51.6) and Mark Lee (2:00.2) ran the first three legs for the Colts, who were second among New Jersey teams, finishing behind fifth-place West Windsor-Plainsboro North (10:15.50).
The Colts’ Jim Tully did win a medal. He finished fourth in the High School Boys’ Javelin Championship, unleashing his best throw of the year, 202-6.
Monmouth Regional’s Stephanie Skove upped her outdoor best in the pole vault to 11-1 ¾ and finished eighth.
On the college front, Rumson-Fair Haven High School grad Melissa Bellin ran the 400 meters on the Harvard University team that won the College Women’s DistanceMedley in 11:21.31. The frosh ran her 400 leg in 55.62.
In that same race, former Red Bank Regional High School star Christina Nelson anchored the University of Maryland’s DMR team to an eighth place (11:41.55). Nelson, a senior at Maryland, ran 4:54.03.
Bellin finished fifth in her heat of the College Women’s 400-meter Intermediate Hurdles Championship, clocking 1:01.81.
Former Monmouth Regional High School standout Chris Cox anchored Seton Hall University’s men to the victory in the College Men’s 4×400 IC4A. (3:11.00). He split 46.23 in leading the Hall to its win.