ROBBINSVILLE: At MOC, Hunter first, Jancewicz second

Ravens’ juniors make history

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   Noel Jancewicz made history as the highest Robbinsville High School finisher at the Meet of Champions when she finished second in the girls high jump at 5-foot-8 Saturday.
   Barely 10 minutes later, Craig Hunter did her one better when he won the boys pole vault at 14-feet-6 to become the first Ravens champion in school history.
   ”Craig has been doing awesome,” said Jancewicz, a junior. “He improved a lot this year. It was really great for him. I think for the spring, I really have a good shot of winning Meet of Champs.”
   Hunter, a classmate of Jancewicz’s, wouldn’t doubt it. He knows that both have a good chance to win any meet they enter.
   Said Hunter: “I think it’s amazing that our school could have two people in the same class doing so well in the field events.”
   Hunter, who was fifth at last year’s indoor Meet of Champions, entered this year as the top seed and lived up to the expectations, though he’d hoped to jump higher and perhaps challenge the meet record of 15-6. It was his lone goal after he won the meet as the only jumper to clear 14-6.
   ”At that point, I was just jumping to jump,” Hunter said. “The one that killed me this meet, I was too focused on trying to jump the meet record, I wasn’t focused on clearing each height.
   ”That’s the first and last time it’s going to happen to me. I’m going to focus on the heights that I’m jumping. If I focus on the heights I’m jumping, I’m hoping that will eventually give me PRs.”
   Hunter had already hit 15-1 this season, and still had two meets to go after the MOC. He was scheduled to compete in Tuesday’s Eastern States Invitational at The Armory in New York, and he is heading to the indoor Nationals.
   ”I’m excited to meet new vaulters I can compete against,” Hunter said. “I’ll go in and compete at a new place. I’ve never jumped there at The Armory. I’ve heard it’s fast. I’m hoping to get on some big poles and clear some huge heights and have some fun with it.
   ”I’m going in to nationals to have fun and clear some heights. It’s for experience. I can come back next year and know how it works and the lay of the land. Hopefully I can come back next year and make an imprint in that meet.”
   He learned a lot from this year’s MOC. It wasn’t his best day, but he was still able to win with just two jumps. He came in at 14-feet and then cleared 14-6 to win. He did not miss.
   ”It’s amazing to say that I won on not my day,” Hunter said. “I was walking around kind of in a neutral mood. I was happy I won, but down I didn’t clear 15-feet. I didn’t know how to feel.
   ”If I had a 14-6 clearance in winter last year, I’d probably go crazy. It’s amazing how much each year progresses you. When you break it down, every year adds so much to you with experience and athletic ability. It’s amazing how you improve through high school.”
   Hunter’s progress has brought him a gold medal that will find its spot among his most prized medals in a box in his room. It’s a new title he will have to adjust to as he competes now as the reigning New Jersey boys pole vaulting champion, and the first MOC titlist in Robbinsville school history.
   ”Actually, it feels really, really great,” Hunter said. “I didn’t realize until a couple hours after I did it that I was the first.”
   Jancewicz almost had him beat by minutes as she chased her first MOC title. Jancewicz cleared the same height as champion Kyaira Wright-Harmon, but the Franklin senior had fewer misses.
   ”I knew once she cleared it on the first attempt there was a chance I wasn’t going to win unless I cleared 5-10,” Jancewicz said. “I think it pushed me more. I thought, if I didn’t clear this, I knew she definitely won the meet. I had to try.”
   Jancewicz cleared 5-6 and 5-8 on her second attempts, and looked stronger than Wright-Harmon in their attempts at 5-10.
   ”Some of the attempts, it was really the back of my leg hitting it,” Jancewicz said. “I need to work on my approach a bit by speeding up at the end. Once I do that, I think I do have a good shot of clearing it.
   ”I was actually really happy with the results of Meet of Champs,” she added. “This whole season, I felt I hadn’t improved. Finally hitting that 5-8 mark showed I had improved from last year.”
   Jancewicz had cleared 5-6 at the Group I state meet to put herself in position to reach her personal record. It helped to have the MOC environment.
   ”I think having the competition and just knowing the season is coming to an end and I need to pick it up, it does push me more,” Jancewicz said. “I think that’s why I was able to clear 5-8. I’m feeling good for spring. I think I have a good shot at clearing 5-10 for the spring.”
   Jancewicz also was scheduled to compete at Easterns and will go to nationals, two more chances to clear 5-10 before the spring.
   ”I still think I can do it,” she said. “It’s just a matter of everything coming together at the right time.”
   At nationals, Jancewicz will be taking a look at her future as she also competes in the pentathlon. She’s added the hurdles to her repertoire this winter, and has been practicing the shot put. She heads into the final meets of the winter feeling strong after her silver medal at the Meet of Champions.
   ”This definitely does make me feel better,” she said. “Before states, I was really disappointed with how the season has been going. This made everything a lot better knowing I improved on my height and improving on place. Clearing 5-8 was mainly for myself. It made me feel better to know I’m improving.”
   The Ravens can only marvel at their junior standouts. Both Hunter and Jancewicz has raised the bar for their school.
   ”It was good,” said Ravens boys coach Jon Hutchinson. “It was really fun watching him. I was watching Noel high jump, and then watching for when Craig would go. We were constantly jumping back and forth. We didn’t want to miss anything.
   ”Those two, they’re all track all the time,” he said. “Especially as juniors, it’s a great accomplishment. They do a lot on their own to make themselves better. They’re a good example to our younger kids if you work hard and love the sport, this is what can happen. It’s neat to see.”
   Hutchinson has been as impressed as anyone with what he has seen out of Hunter, who doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.
   ”With Craig in the pole vault, the progression has come quick,” Hutchinson said. “Usually you see kids plateau a bit. To get to 15-1 indoors, that’s really tall. You usually hear about that outdoors when you have a little more time to practice. I’m excited to see how he is in the spring. As he gets more time, I hope he can continue to progress. It’s one of those things – you see it and see it and see it, and all of a sudden he’s with the top guys.”
   Jancewicz’s 5-8 clearance also shows progress. It’s higher than she’s ever jumped indoors.
   ”She had a rhythm going,” said Ravens girls coach Mike Walker. “She looked good the whole meet. It came down to one miss. That was her best finish at Meet of Champs. She has a fifth place, a fourth place, a third place, and here’s her second. She’s pretty excited about it.”
   Walker’s girls team was sitting around watching Jancewicz compete. They were hoping she could pull out a gold medal as well.
   ”They were all excited for Noel,” Walker said. “They were sitting there watching Noel try to get the win.
   ”It was coming down to whoever could grab the last jump,” he said. “Noel looked good at 5-10. Each of her attempts were solid. She didn’t bring the bar down by much. I think it’s just a matter of time for her. She has a few more cracks at it this season.”
   Myana Morris-Bullock was 22nd for the Ravens in the girls 55-meter dash in 7.52 seconds. Lisa Leszcynski was 28th in the girls 1,600 meters. Julian Jiggetts ran 6.82 seconds for 25th in the boys 55-meter dash. He was 24th in the boys 400 in 51.51 seconds. Hunter did not place in the boys high jump, but he ended up with something better and a significant piece of Ravens history.