MONTGOMERY: Sonaike fifth, Cougars duo is MOC surprise

Tinsley, Hespe add to MHS medal haul

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
   OLD BRIDGE — Montgomery High School’s Addy Sonaike was expected to medal at the Meet of Champions.
   The Cougars senior didn’t reach her bid for a historic third straight triple jump crown, but did finish fifth at 39-feet-1½, just four inches off her personal best set at last year’s Group IV meet.
   Beyond Sonaike were pleasant surprises for the Cougars, who had two other medalists on the boys side, Nick Tinsley and Nicholas Hespe, and an encouraging showing by another, Ross Baginsky, in a debut trip to the outdoor MOC.
   MHS had three others compete in their first outdoor MOC. Madeline Davidian cleared 11-feet to place ninth and miss by just one spot a medal in the girls pole vault. There was only one non-senior ahead of her Monday. Joe Messick placed 12th in the boys 400 hurdles and Rob Heebner competed in boys pole vault.
   Tinsley reached the MOC as a wild card qualifier of Group IV, then enjoyed his best day to finish fifth in the high jump with a personal-record 6-feet-6 clearance.
   ”It’s a surprise,” said Tinsley, a senior. “I knew I had it in me. I just needed a good time to jump this high. This is the best time.”
   Tinsley reached the MOC last year as well, but could not get past 6-2. He came back determined to finish on a high note and used last year’s experience to help him.
   Said Tinsley: “Being here before, I kind of knew the area, but I was just as nervous as I was last year.”
   Tinsley cleared the same height as winner Daniel Jefferson of Oakcrest, but Jefferson had fewer misses than anyone else in the competition. Tinsley was one of the jumpers who kept the pressure on Jefferson as he looked to follow up MHS graduate Rob Weimer’s win in the event last year.
   ”It’s incredible,” Tinsley said. “I’m ecstatic about it, especially after Rob last year. It’s awesome. I really think I did great and I’m excited to keep jumping in college.”
   Tinsley will jump at Ohio Wesleyan next year. He’ll come in now as a 6-6 jumper, whose proven he can raise his level. He back from Thursday’s postponed start to the MOC to finish strong Monday.
   ”I felt better,” Tinsley said. “When we started Thursday, I jumped in the rain and I slipped and had one miss. I knew I had to make up for it. I came into today knowing I had to go big and I did that.”
   Hespe also came through with a strong showing in his first trip to the MOC. The junior jumped 13-feet-6 to tie for eighth place. The top eight in each event receive medals at the MOC.
   ”I’m really surprised,” Hespe said. “I think I was seeded really far down, like 17th.”
   Hespe had received the last automatic qualifying spot, sixth, out of the Group IV meet, but performed better under pressure than others in the field, even though he admitted to feeling nervous about being in such a strong field.
   ”A lot of people got out at opening height that I didn’t expect to,” he said. “It was kind of fate, I guess.
   ”I jumped really well my first height. I made it first try, and then I didn’t have such good luck with 14. I’m really surprised.”
   Hespe felt good through his warm-up attempts, then tried to set aside the magnitude of the meet to put forth a good showing. It capped quite a breakout year for him.
   ”It’s fantastic,” Hespe said. “I started this whole year at 11-feet. I PR’d three times. I’ve never been past sectionals before. To come to Meet of Champions and medal is fantastic.”
   Hespe had just missed a berth — in groups — indoors when he finished seventh. Only the top six make it out of sectionals. But indoor also saw his biggest improvements and sete him up for the spring season.
   ”Honestly, it just kind of clicked,” he said. “One meet, I PR’d three times. I went from 12-feet to 13-6. I don’t even know what happened. Something clicked and it just went so much better.”
   It continued through the spring and culminated in his first trip to the MOC and his first MOC medal. It sets him up for a big senior year with the Cougars.
   ”I’m going to work really hard over the summer,” Hespe said. “Hopefully I can place better. It’s great motivation.”
   The same holds true for Ross Baginsky. The junior had another personal record as he threw 167-7 to place 13th in the boys javelin in his first trip to the MOC.
   ”I thought it was really comfortable,” Baginsky said. “Having the adrenaline come up when you’re throwing on the runway at the Meet of Champs and it’s your last throw, that’s pretty much how I got it out there.
   ”The first throw wasn’t that great, the second throw was OK, and then the third throw, I realized it was going to be my last throw of the year. So I got it out there.”
   Baginsky has just four other competitors ahead of him that will not graduate this year. It puts him in the position to possibly contend for a medal if he continues to improve as he has this year. The experience of making the MOC is critical too his development.
   ”Just the experience of being here and the lay of the land,” Baginsky said. “Having this year, being at the Meet of Champs is good because next year I can get better with lifting and everything.”
   And he will return with much higher expectations than he had for himself at the beginning of this year. He went farther than he’d ever planned, something he credited in part to getting stronger under the direction of MHS strength and conditioning coach Jim Griffin.
   ”In the beginning of the year, I actually scheduled the SATs for during the state championships,” Baginsky said. “I had to make the decision to go to the state championships instead of taking the SATs. I came here and got sixth and PR’d (in the state group meet). I PR’d at sectionals, then states, then came here.”
   Baginsky threw farther each meet from sectionals to groups to the MOC. It gave him encouragement after a rough patch in the middle of the season.
   ”Beginning of the year, the second meet I threw 160,” Baginsky said. “From there until sectionals, I was throwing 140. I couldn’t figure it out. Then at sectionals, I got one out to 160, and I kept progressing.
   ”Coach (Zoran) Milich kept talking about keeping the tip down. I finally got that. It didn’t go straight up into the air. I think that’s what really changed.”
   With another personal best Monday, Baginsky has the experience and all the motivation he needs for a return trip.
   ”Maybe I can come back next year and get in the top three,” he said.