Petruch wins 55 hurdles; Pats’ girls take team crown

At Monmouth County Indoor Track & Field Championships

BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

 Freehold Township High School’s Emily Bracher (l) and Adrian Vitello sprint to the finish line of the 400-meter dash at the Monmouth County Indoor Track and Field Championships held at the John Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex in Toms River on Jan. 18. Vitello and Bracher went fifth and sixth, respectively, to help the Patriots secure the team championship.  ERIC SUCAR staff Freehold Township High School’s Emily Bracher (l) and Adrian Vitello sprint to the finish line of the 400-meter dash at the Monmouth County Indoor Track and Field Championships held at the John Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex in Toms River on Jan. 18. Vitello and Bracher went fifth and sixth, respectively, to help the Patriots secure the team championship. ERIC SUCAR staff Colts Neck High School’s Julia Petruch and the Freehold Township High School girls team were the big winners at the Monmouth County Indoor Track & Field Championships on Jan. 18.

Petruch won the 55-meter hurdles (8.55), while the Patriots edged Holmdel High School for the team title, 45-42, at the John Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex in Toms River. It was the second championship of the winter for Freehold Township’s girls. They had previously won the Monmouth County Relays championship.

Now that her focus is back on her hurdling, Petruch is posting the fastest times of her career. Back in December, the multievent standout set the Freehold Regional High School District record for the indoor pentathlon with a score of 3,234 points to win the event at the Track Universe Invitational at the New Balance Track & Field Center in New York City. Her goal was to score 3,200 in the five-event competition (55-meter hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump and 800 meters). The senior exceeded that and was rewarded with a district record.

Now it’s on to the high school season where in her first championship race of the season, she won her first indoor Monmouth County title.

“It feels good knowing all my hard work is finally paying off,” she said.

Petruch has been working on her hurdling technique, her starts and steps between hurdles, since her pentathlon victory, and it has helped her turn in a series of personal bests. She clocked 8.55 in the hurdles final, just .01 off her personal best (teammate Victoria Zamarra was fourth with a 9.00 mark).

“Everything is coming together,” Petruch said after her county championship. “I cut my steps (between hurdles) down from eight to seven and it’s made me faster.”

Petruch also finished in a second place tie in the high jump. Her 5-0 tied for the best jump of the competition, but she lost out to Holmdel’s Katerina Distler on fewer misses.

The multi-talented Petruch was part of Colts Neck’s 4×400 relay team that took third (4:08.96). She teamed with Jackie Wold, Zamarra and Kailee Bongiovi.

Colts Neck was fourth (37), just eight points behind the Patriots.

It says a lot about the wealth of talent at Freehold Township that the Patriots were able to win despite not having an individual champion. They won by scoring points in all but one event (hurdles) on the track.

In the sprints, Domonique Panton was fourth in the 55-meter dash (7.57), while Adrian Vitello (1:01.40) and Emily Bracher (1:01.52) were fifth and sixth in the 400, respectively.

Panton, Bracher and Vitello teamed with Gabriella Medina to take second in the 4×400 (4:06.73). In the 800, it was Bracher (2:18.77) and Vitello (2:19.73) going second and third, respectively, while Abigail Faith finished fifth (2:22.29).

Faith took sixth in the 1,600 (5:21.96) and in the 3,200, Ciara Roche was runnerup (11:20.33) and teammate Ciara O’Donoghue was sixth (11:52.49).

Scoring in the field was Alexis Barker in the pole vault (7-6), who came through with a personal best.

According to head coach Todd Briggs, there were several turning points for the Patriots, including Barker’s fourth place.

“The pole vault points were big, considering we only won by three points,” he said. “But I wouldn’t say that was the one thing that made it happen. It was a combination of those surprise points, multiple event stars Caitlyn Poss, Abi Faith, Emily Brachner and Adrian Vitello, and the huge 3,200- meter race [from] both Ciara Roche and Ciara O’Donoghue.”

Roche, a freshman, was running her first indoor 3,200 and O’Donoghue, a sophomore, scored the first varsity championship point of her career.

“Those nine points (Roche and O’Donoghue) and the second place in the 4×400 clinched it,” said Briggs.

This was the third county championship in the last four years for the Freehold Township girls.

Other scorers from the district include Colts Neck’s Wold (7.44) and Marlboro High School’s Kimberly McKinnon (7.52), who were second and third in the 55-meter dash. Colts Neck’s Samantha Hoagland was fifth in the 3,200 (11:50.52). In the shot put, Marlboro’s Cassandra Spano (33- 0) and Freehold High School’s Yameenah Mayfield (30-4 1/4) were fourth and sixth, respectively.

Highlights for the boys in Toms River included Manalapan High School’s Saeed Blacknall (6.71) and Dan Debner (6.95) going second and sixth in the 55 dash. Freehold’s Ian Curry (6.84) was fifth.

Marlboro’s Chaz Byrnes ran third in the 400 (52.47) with Colts Neck’s Frank Conforti finishing sixth (52.88).

Colts Neck’s Colin Chehanske was third in the 800 (2:01.68), while Freehold Township’s Dylan Tarpey (4:26.56) and Kevin Summonte (4:27.59) were third and sixth, respectively, in the 1,600.

The Cougars’ 4×400 team of Conforti, Steve Olmo, Chehanske and Matt Pari were fourth (3:36.93).

In the field, Freehold Township’s Alex O’Connor was fourth in the pole vault (11-6).

Next up are the Shore Conference Championships on Jan. 25 back at the Bennett Complex.