A ll winter, Freehold Township High School’s Kelly Pereira had been chasing Janel Parker’s school indoor record for the 800-meter run.
Pereira, a senior, had equaled Parker’s mark of 2:17.23 during the season, but now, after her fourth-place finish at the Feb. 26 NJSIAA Indoor Meet of Champions at the Bennett Indoor Complex in Toms River, she is not only the outright school record holder, but the Freehold Regional High School District record holder as well.
Pereira’s time of 2:15.84 in the 800 bettered the previous FRHSD record of 2:16.0 set by Colts Neck High School’s Meryl Wimberly.
“I was so happy, I was thrilled,” Pereira said of setting the school and FRHSD records.
Pereira said she had been getting “frustrated” at seemingly being stuck at 2:17 all season. However, she knew the caliber of theMeet of Champions field would give her the opportunity to run fast. She said a word of encouragement from coach Todd Briggs helped.
“After the Group IV meet (sixth place) my confidence was low,” she said. “The girls in the field were awesome runners. Coach Briggs told me, ‘you’re just like them. You are one of them.’ I had to run aggressive.”
At the Meet of Champions, Pereira started the 800 from the outside as the No. 7 seed. She spent the first 400 meters of the race maintaining her position and making sure she did not get boxed in. That strategy positioned her for a strong second 400 meters that took her up to fourth place and into the record books.
“They definitely pushed me,” Pereira said of the Meet of Champions field. “I needed to get out fast in the first 400. I made it through it and hung on. I did kick it in. I felt really good coming in.”
She felt even better when she heard her time for the 800 and won her first Meet of Champions medal. On March 1, Pereira was looking to run even faster at the Eastern States Championships in NewYork City. She said her performance at the Meet of Champions gave her confidence for the Eastern States Championships. Pereira’s Freehold Township teammate Kelly Berg was thankful for the wild card entry she earned to the Meet of Champions. Berg did not place in the top six at the Group IV championships in the 55-meter hurdles, but she ran fast enough in seventh place (8.83) to earn one of the five wild cards that go to the fastest non-automatic qualifiers.
Berg took advantage of her second chance by earning her first individual Meet of Champions medal as she ran fourth in the 55 hurdles (8.44).
“I had a really bad race at the Group IV meet,” she said. “I was just slow.”
Berg quickly put that bad race behind her and put her focus on the Meet of Champions.
“I had a pretty good week in practice,” she said. “I worked on my start basically.”
A good start in a race as short as the 55 hurdles is essential and all of Berg’s practice on her start paid off. She was over the first hurdle quickly and cleanly and that set her up for her fourth-place finish.
“Getting that (Meet of Champions medal) is exciting,” said Berg, who earlier this season set the FRHSD record in the event at 8.40.
If there is a gold medal for toughness it would go to Berg, who has run most of this season with a torn meniscus in her right knee. At this point the injury does not require surgery, but that prospect is still out there. Finishing fourth in the state under those circumstances is quite a tribute to Berg’s grit and determination.
Berg and Pereira added to their Meet of Champions medal haul as members of Freehold Township’s 4×400-meter relay team that was fourth in 4:00.56.
The Patriots changed the regular order of their runners in the relay because Pereira’s 800-meter run was close to the 4×400. Pereira ran the second leg instead of the anchor leg for the relay team.
Berg led off the relay, followed by Pereira and Sarah Morrison, and Pereira’s twin sister, Emily Pereira, brought the team home in its second fastest time of the season.
Freehold Township High School had two medal winners in the boys Meet of Champions. Dave Benjamin tied for fifth place in the high jump at 6-4 and his teammate Ryan Barrera tied for fifth place in the pole vault at 13-6.