Thanks to an outstanding performance by the members of its distance medley relay (DMR) team, the North Brunswick High boys winter track team finished a surprising second overall at the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Coaches Relays.
Kyle Davis (1,200), Dave Grau (800), JonAntigua (400) and Cullen Davis (1,600) finished in 10:49.5, narrowly edging out Old Bridge for first place in the DMR and setting a meet record in the process. Old Bridge won the meet with 48 points, while the Raiders had 38 points, three ahead of third-place South Brunswick.
The Raiders’ DMR foursome has been setting a high standard throughout the winter campaign, recording a time of 10:27 at the Marine Corps Holiday Classic during the school break at the New York Armory. That represents a team record and is currently the fourth best time in the U.S. for the winter season, said North Brunswick coach Kevin DiPane. “They’re all seniors and they’ve worked very hard to get to this point,” DiPane added. “They kind of came out of nowhere and now they seem to be getting better and better, and they deserve the success they’re having. It was four years in the coming and it’s been well worth the wait.”
In addition to winning the distance medley at the GMC, Kyle and Cullen Davis combined with Antigua and Luis David, another senior, took first-place honors in the sprint medley with a time of 3:42.62 to again edge out Old North Bridge. Brunswick
The Davis twins were part of yet another winning foursome, this time with Chris Pagan and Dave Grau, in the 4x 800with a time of 8:13.62, withDavis posting a personal best of 2:08 to help the Raider four down Piscataway by two seconds.
Cullen Davis, who anchored all three winning events, also anchored North Brunswick’s 4×400 relay, which gained valuable points for the Raiders with a second place showing. Grau, Pagan and Antigua combined with Cullen Davis to finish 2.38 seconds behind East Brunswick.
DiPane said that his team ended up tied with Edison for the top spot among GMC White Division teams competing in the event, noting that Melvin Gonzalez and Kevin Cajina picked up valuable points in the shot put.
“It really was the best meet
I’ve ever been to,” the coach said.
“We basically did it with five guys carrying most of the weight, but we got some other contributions and we needed every point we got.”
DiPane said his runners are gearing up for the upcoming GMC championships, as well as the state sectionals
“Coming in second at the Coaches Relays is a huge morale boost for us,” he said. “I think we can only progress from here.”
North Brunswick’s girls also took second, finishing with 38 points behind only South Brunswick’s 63 points. The Raiders won the high jump behind Breanna Nicholson and Yakira Carpenter.
South Brunswick’s girls, meanwhile, following a strong showing at the NJSIAA Group IV Track and Field Relay Championships, dominated the GMC meet, winning the 4×200, 4×800 and sprint medley, distance hurdles and shot put.
Janae Baker, Joy Spriggs, Cayla DelPiano andAlicia Osley won the 4×800 with a meet record time of 10:57.04; Osley, Baker, Mariah Browne and Rachel Johnson took first in the 4×200 in 1:47.22; Julia Bossert, Johnson, Browne and DelPiano were first in the sprint medley with a time of 4:23.65; and Baker, Johnson, Jen O’Laughlin and Savannah Barton were first in the shuttle hurdles in 34.64. In the shot put, the Vikings duo of Amber Brown and Chloe Hall won the shot put with a combined 68-7.
The South Brunswick boys won the shot put behind Dominick Padovano and Adam Dickert’s combined 100-6½; and Derek Forthun and Kaseem Davis combined to finish first in the high jump with an 11-10.