By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Hillsborough High School athletes placed second, third, fourth and fifth in events at the Group IV track and field championships last Friday and Saturday.
By finishing in the top six, they earned medals and an automatic berth in today’s Meet of Champions that will be hosted by Old Bridge.
Dominating as they did through the indoor season, Marlena Sabatino and Emily Shipley remain at the top of the girls pole vaulting field outdoors. Sabatino, a sophomore, equaled the meet record with a 12-feet clearance to place second behind Southern senior Chelsea Vaughan, who jumped 12-6.
”It felt great,” said Sabatino, who will jump in her first Outdoor MOC today. “I really wanted to jump 12-6 that day, but I was still happy with 12. My second attempt at 12-6 was pretty close.”
Shipley, a senior, jumped 11-feet to finish tied for third place. She was 12th at last year’s outdoor MOC, and is looking for a big finish in her final scholastic meet in New Jersey.
”I’m excited for it,” Shipley said. “I’ve been having kind of a rough end of the season. I’m actually jumping from a five-step instead of a seven-step run. My run is better and I can grip higher from a five-step. It’s opposite of what you’d think. I was kind of disappointed with last meet. I am kind of hoping it goes better.”
Kelly Janokowicz continues to progress with each week. After surviving the heat of the sectionals, she moved on from a deep group field by placing fourth in the girls 3,200 meters Saturday. The junior’s 10:43.25 clocking bests her own school record, and the Raiders are hoping she can take a couple more seconds off today. She is seeded sixth after another strong effort at groups.
”She was in the lead pack at the mile,” said Raiders head coach Rich Refi. “They broke away a little bit at that point. For her to run 10:43, which considering last year 11:05 was her best, it was awesome. I still think she can make another move.”
Ryan Conway is the lone boy to advance for Hillsborough. The senior placed fifth in the javelin at 169-feet-8.
”At first, I was a little disappointed because I was hoping to do better,” said Conway, who will walk-on at Rutgers University. “I was seeded to finish third. The two ahead of me were definitely within reach. I underperformed a little bit. My first reaction was a little upset. Slowly after that, I realized I made it to the Meet of Champs, so I can’t be too upset about that for too long.”
Conway will be making his first trip to the MOC. He doesn’t have one of the top 20 seeds for the MOC, but he’s hoping to return to form against the top throwers in the state.
”I’m just going to go into it with not much expectation and go in relaxed and see what happens,” Conway said. “The one thing I’ll go for is the school record. If I throw 176, I’ll get the school record.”
New to the javelin, he won the sectional in his first time throwing there, and medaled in his first group appearance. And early on, he was in good position for another gold.
”In my trial throws, my first three were the better ones although I was inconsistent all the way through,” Conway said. “I was first going into finals, and four kids passed me. I couldn’t put anything together to pass them.”
Some of his inexperience may have caught up with him, but he still reached the MOC in his first try.
”Before Saturday, I would have said, experience doesn’t matter,” Conway said. “As it came down to it, it was the first time I felt pressure to perform. Maybe that led to my underperformance. Coming into this meet after Saturday, I’d say it does matter. I’m just going to see what I can do.
”It’s as far as you can possibly go,” he said. “That’s the end goal. I’m very happy to have reached my goal there.”
Sabatino is relatively new to pole vaulting, but she’s gained big-meet experience quickly. She’s already jumped at the Indoor MOC, where she placed second, Easterns and the Indoor Nationals before getting the opportunity outdoors to jump at Penn Relays.
”I think a lot of the experience I’ve gained in big meets makes it easier to just focus on jumping and not be nervous about how things are going,” Sabatino said. “I feel like there’s been so many now that I can just go into it and just focus on jumping and hoping to PR. I think I stress a lot less about the nerves and the little things that you normally focus on.”
Sabatino has been consistent in reaching 12-feet this season. She’s also reached a PR of 12-6 at the Skyland Conference meet. It may take that sort of jump to win the gold today.
”I feel like Chelsea can definitely jump 12-6, so 13 might be the winning height,” Sabatino said. “I would really like to hit 13 this season. I think that would be awesome.
”I’m definitely happy with how it’s gone because I would have hoped to have hit 12-6 earlier, but I’m really happy I can hit 12 consistently. Being consistent is better than PRing in some ways. If I can keep hitting 12, I’m sure I can PR eventually.”
Sabatino and Shipley both will competeg at the outdoor nationals after the MOC. They expect plenty of competition in-state before they look to nationals.
”This will probably be more like Penn than indoor nationals,” Sabatino said. “There’s a lot of girls that don’t jump in winter, or jump higher outdoor than indoor. There will be a lot of competition, but I’m definitely excited for it too. Even since Penn, I’m sure a lot of those girls have PR’d and are jumping higher now.”
Sabatino likes the idea of a strong field. New Jersey has some of the top girls pole vaulters, and they will be bringing out the best in each other.
”I feel like when there isn’t competition, you try to keep pushing yourself but there’s only so far you can do,” Sabatino said. “When you know there are other girls and they keep jumping higher, it pushes you to jump higher.
”I’m glad there’s competition,” she added. “If it was easy to get first, I wouldn’t feel like I deserved it anyway.”
Shipley figures that another few days of practicing her new five-step approach will make her more competitive today.
”When I go back to a seven-step, my run gets kind of out of control,” Shipley said. “When I go to a five-step, I can still run fast and it’s in better control. It doesn’t normally happen to people, but it’s been working for me.
”The week before, at sectionals, I jumped from a five for the first time. I wasn’t sure how it would go. I went from a five and I almost cleared 12-feet. I’m kind of hoping I can do that.”
Even if Shipley doesn’t hit 12-feet today, she still has nationals before she turns her attention to preparing to compete for Ramapo College next year.
”I’m kind of going into it more relaxed,” Shipley said. “It’s not like I can qualify for anything. It’s the last meet to kind of show how you’ve done this season. I’m going in more relaxed and not as nervous as the last couple meets. I want to have fun with it.
”It’s the last meet. I don’t want to end my meet being unhappy with myself.”
The four Raiders are happy to be making the trip out of a tough group. Several other HHS athletes had the chance to compete in groups, but did not advance.Nick McFarland ran 4:25.30 for the boys 1,600 meters, and the sophomore has two more years left in his scholastic career. Corey Reddington closed his career in 19th place in the Group IV boys javelin. Alexandra Cady closed her career by running 11:19.61 for 16th in the girls 3,200 meters, four seconds better than her sectional time. Abena Koranteng, Daija King, Aisha Jackson and Kelly Loebs ran 4:03.25 for 13th in the 4×400 relay.