Melody Walthers, who won the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV javelin title, will be throwing the spear at the June 5 NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Frank Jost Field in South Plainfield. The final acts of the state high school track and field season will be played out on June 5 at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions (MOC).
Frank Jost Field in South Plainfield will be the site for the season-ending meet that brings together the state’s best track and field athletes.
To get to the MOC, athletes qualified through last weekend’s (May 31-June 1) state Group championships held at Egg Harbor Township High School and South Plainfield’s Frank Jost Field. The top six from each event at the Group meets advanced along with “wild cards” (the six best nonqualifying performances).
Leading the charge locally will be Freehold Township High School’s fabulous 4×800-meter relay quartet of Adrian Vitello, Caitlyn Poss, Abigail Faith and Emily Bracher, which won the Group IV state title at Egg Harbor Township. The girls bested Penn Relays winner Columbia High School, 9:11.68-9:19.30.
The Patriots took advantage of Vitello’s penchant for fast starts to take the lead on the opening leg and build on it from there.
“I like to get out fast,” she said. “I have so much adrenaline before a race.”
Vitello’s used that adrenaline to run the opening 400 in 62 seconds and to hand the baton off to Poss in the lead.
Bracher, the anchor, noted that all went according to plan.
“The goal was for Adrian to get us the lead and for us to keep extending it,” Bracher said.
Poss and Faith extended the lead to the point that Bracher had close to a 100- meter lead when she took the baton for the final leg.
“My team gave me a very big lead,” Bracher said. “I wanted to go out hard for the first 200 and extend the lead.”
Bracher did just that, and victory was never in doubt for the Patriots’ team.
“We were really happy with our performance,” Bracher said. “We’re so happy that we got the state title.” Vitello said that the state championship was one of the highlights for the Patriots this year and something “we wanted to accomplish.”
They will now go for the MOC crown.
“We have to focus and do what we do best,” said Vitello.
Leading the individual qualifiers was Manalapan High School’s Mary Grace Monahan, who lowered her school record to 56.72 in the 400 meters, placing fourth.
Freehold Township’s Deanna Johnson, who won the state sectional title in the triple jump, was sixth in Egg Harbor with a jump of 37-1.
For the boys, Ian Kirk matched his season’s best in the high jump at 6-6 and tied for second place.
Manalapan’s Saeed Blacknall ran his fastest 100 meters of the season, 10.93, and finished fourth in the finals.
Freehold Township’s Dylan Tarpey was third in the 3,200 (9:30.04).
Group II, Group III and Non-Public A events were at Frank Jost Field.
Colts Neck High School hurdler/jumper Mike Brown achieved his season-long goal at the Group III championships. The senior wanted to qualify for the MOC in his three events — the 110-meter hurdles, the long jump and the triple jump.
He had no trouble in the jumps. He was runner-up in the triple jump with his best jump of the year, 45-0. He also qualified in the long jump, finishing sixth after a jump of 21-3 1/4.
Brown made the 110 hurdles finals, but he finished eighth (15.11). However, he ran fast enough in the finals to get a wild card to the MOC hurdles
Colts Neck’s Riley Leder finished sixth in the Group III 3,200 (9:37.67). He was also seventh in the 1,600 (4:20.21), which was fast enough for a wild card.
Sprinter Jackie Wold qualified for the 100 and 200 dashes. The Cougars’ senior was fourth in the 100 finals (12.36) and fifth in the half-lap (25.54). Her 100 time was a personal best.
St. John Vianney High School junior Courtney Thompson, who lives in Freehold and graduated from St. Rose of Lima, won the Non-Public A 3,200 title in 11:20.35, matching her indoor title. She was also runner up in the 1,600 (5:09.50).
Those who earned wild card spots to the MOC were: Marlboro High School’s Kimberly McKinnnon, girls 100 (12.45); Colts Neck’s Victoria Zamarra, girls 100 hurdles (15.20); Colts Neck’s Colin Chehanske, boys 800 (1:56.51); Freehold Township’s Vitello (2:16.90), Bracher (2:17.14) and Poss (2:17.73) in the girls 800 (they may skip the race to be fresh for the 4×800); the Patriots’ 4×400 relay of Vitello, Domonique Panton, Bracher and Poss (4:00.15); Freehold Township’s Jessica Knobloch, girls high jump (5-2); and Howell High School’s Melody Walthers, girls javelin (117-4).
The MOC will begin at 3 p.m., with track and field events both starting at the same time.