Greg Caldwell was slowed by illness around the Christmas holidays, and he and his Jackson Memorial High School indoor track and field teammates were hindered by winter weather. Now Caldwell is ready to lead his squad into the biggest meets of the season that began on Feb. 2 at the NJSIAACentral Jersey Group IV state sectionals at the Bennett Indoor Complex in Toms River.
Jackson Memorial won the Group III title last season, but the Jaguars were moved up to Group IV (largest enrollment) this winter. They will be bidding to earn their way to the Group IV championships next week.
“We’re starting to get back into it as a team,” said Caldwell. “The weather definitely did affect us more in the way we did our training. We were starting to get down our endurance work and going into our speed work, and then the snowy weather came and we were not on our [outdoor] track for quite some time. We hadn’t had a workout for a long time until a week and a half ago.”
Despite the setbacks, Caldwell has been nationally regarded this season in the 1,000- meter run and will run against nine other runners selected from across the country in the Junior 1,000 meters for high school runners in the Collegiate Invitational at the 168th StreetArmory in New York on Feb. 4.
Caldwell started to get recognition after he posted a winning time of 2:32.01 in the 1,000 meters at the Bishop Loughlin Games at the 168th StreetArmory in early December. He recaptured that form in his signature event — the 800 meters — where he clocked a winning time of 1:57.81 in the Shore Conference Championships on Jan. 29 in Toms River, the second fastest time in New Jersey indoors this season.
Caldwell last weekend had an official visit to Columbia University and has his college choice narrowed to Columbia, Lehigh and Rutgers.
The rest of the team has followed Caldwell’s lead as the Jaguars finished third in the Shore Conference meet behind Christian Brothers Academy and Jackson Liberty High School. That finish came after less impressive second-place showings in the Shore Conference A South and Ocean County relay meets and a fifth-place finish in the Ocean County meet.
“We had such a good December, and then we had time off with the blizzard and it took us two or three weeks to get back to our routine and get comfortable running,” coach Steve Theobald said. “Our confidence was down. I actually thought we would be running faster by now.”
Theobald was reassured in the Shore Conference meet as junior Brandon Eldershaw, who usually runs the 3,200, clocked a personal-best 4:35 in the 1,600 for sixth place. Junior Mike Kaba was fifth in the 55 high hurdles in 8.03. The 4×400 relay team clocked a season-best time of 3:32.30 anchored by junior Ruben Carvolho’s 52.0 leg. Junior Mike Rogers, Kaba and Caldwell also ran on that relay team.
Junior high-jumper Jason Poppe did not place in the Shore Conference meet, but he did leap to a personal-best 6 feet.
Freshman Justin Gullo also may be heard from in the state meets. He was seventh in the varsity 55-meter dash in 6.85 after winning the 55 and 200 in the freshman championships. Tom O’Brien ran a 4:59 in the 1,600 at the freshman meet.
“We are starting to bounce back,” Caldwell said earlier this week. “We are on an upward curve now.”
And Theobald said he “definitely expected this” type of performance from Caldwell after a strong cross country season in which he sped to a sixth-place 15:53 time in the Ocean County Championships at Ocean County Park, the fourth fastest time ever by a Jackson Memorial runner on that course in Lakewood.
Also worth watching in the state meets from Jackson Memorial is distance runner Jenna Dubrow on the girls team, after she won the 1,600 and 3,200 at the Shore Conference Championships.