By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Karn Setya wasn’t exactly sure how his training would pay off come the championship portion of the indoor track and field season and going into the spring.
”I don’t know really how things will be looking,” said the West Windsor-Plainsboro South senior. “For the most part, I haven’t been too satisfied with the training this season. We haven’t been able to do some of the workouts that help get us moving. Two of our meets got cancelled. It’s been a lot more racing.”
Setya and his fellow distance runners have spent a lot of time circling the makeshift track that’s been carved around the WW-P South parking lot.
”It takes a toll on the shins,” he said. “It’s not as bad as an indoor track. It’s pretty tough running on the parking lot after a while.”
Setya, though, has been encouraged by what he has seen in the last two weeks. He enjoyed a pair of strong races at the Mercer County Championships, then came back to double at the Central Jersey Group IV meet on Friday. Setya won the 3,200 meters in 9:39.63. Nikhil Pulimood was second in 9:42.01. The two were fourth and fifth respectively in the mile earlier in the meet.
”At the end, it was me and Nikhil,” Setya said. “I don’t know how far away the other competitors were at the end. Me and Nikhil are pretty close, so it’s not a big deal (who won). We were both going for the win. I was lucky enough to come out with it this time.”
The two had had similar results at the Mercer County meet. They had gone 1-2 in the 3200 and finished in the top six of the mile.
”It was a huge confidence boost to have done it at Mercer Counties, and done the type of thing before,” Setya said. “The (sectional) race was similar to Mercer County, it was taken out pretty slow. At counties, it was taken out in 5:03 and I ran 9:45. This was taken out in 4:53 and I ran 9:39.
”It felt nice to go quicker this time. Last time, Nikhil took the lead. We wanted to go faster, but didn’t want to take the lead from the get-go. A lap or two after the one mile, I realized it was time to make a move. I passed one of the South Brunswick competitors at that point. When I felt it, I took over the lead. From there, me and Nikhil were working together.”
They used the experience of doubling up at counties two weeks later in the sectional. Setya took a short nap after the mile, and came back to capture his first sectional win.
”The two-mile race played out pretty well,” Setya said. “Me and Nikhil were both disappointed with our one-mile. We got stuck. We wanted to fix that for the two-mile. We thought we ran pretty well.”
The Pirates were third overall in CJ IV with 34 points, only one point out of second place. South Brunswick won. The top six individuals from each event advance to Friday’s Group IV state meet. The top six finishers plus six wild card finishers from among all groups will move on to the following week’s Meet of Champions.
”Group IV is loaded with talented, elite kids,” said Pirates head coach Todd Smith. “Even if you’re not top 6, if you finish top 9, you have a good chance of moving on for a wild card. We have a good chance for a number of kids to move on. They just have to show up and compete next week.”
Also advancing in two events for the Pirates was Jake Arbeiter, who was fourth in the 400 in 51.92 seconds and third in the 800 in 2:00.58.
The Montgomery boys advanced three individuals, all three were top finishers. Vlad Castillo won the shot put with a throw of 53-11¼. Cooper Schembor was second at 51-1¾. Dylan Petitto cleared 6-feet for second in the high jump.
In Central Jersey Group III, Princeton was fifth with 23½ points. Joe Gray took second in the 400 meters in 51.37 seconds. Conor Donahue was third in the mile in 4:31.68. Jacob Rist was fourth in the 3200 in 9:52.68. Peter Choi tied for sixth in the high jump at 5-4. Riley Kostowski placed sixth in the shot put at 43-1½. The Little Tigers’ 4×400 relay was fourth in 3:38.44.
West Windsor-Plainsboro North came in seventh with 19½ points. C.J. Markisz clocked 51.26 for fourth in the 400. Jamel Johnson was third in the 55 hurdles in 8;07 seconds. Aleks Rzempoluch jumped 5-feet-6 for second place in the high jump. Zac Meisel took sixth with a clearance of 5-4. Alan Wang tied for sixth in the pole vault at 10-6.
On the girls side, West Windsor-Plainsboro North was second in the CJ III girls meet with 36 points. Middletown North won its first sectional title. Pati Dziekonska won the 55-meter dash in 7.42 seconds. The senior also tied her own 55 hurdles record of 8.19 in the preliminaries before winning the final in 8.20 seconds. Simone Counts was third in the 800 meters in 2:21.84. Counts was fifth in the mile in 5:18.63, just ahead of teammate Manolya Altan, who took sixth in 5:21.27. Olivia Harpel was sixth in the 55 hurdles in 9.07 seconds. Annie Voltmer was third in the pole vault at 8-feet.
Princeton scored four points when its 4×400 relay ran 4:18.68 in the CJ III meet.
In the girls CJ IV meet, WW-P South was fourth with 37 points, one point out of third place. Edlyn Gulama was fifth in the 800 in 2:22.5 while Deirdre Casey was sixth in 2:24.8. Casey was second in the 1600 in 5:11.47. Christina Rancan took third in 5:14.51. Rancan was second in the 3200 in 11:08.47. Kathryn Schoenauer was third in the 55 hurdles in 8.65 seconds. The Pirates were third in the 4×400.
Montgomery was fifth with 25 points. Hannah Taylor won the high jump when she cleared 5-feet-4. Jessica Lee was sixth in the 55 dash. Lee was second in the 55 hurdles in 8.62 seconds. Allie Mannheimer captured fifth in the 55 hurdles in 8.78 seconds. Madeline Davidian was fourth in the pole vault at 9-6.
”This is the first year we had a couple kids finish seventh and they’re all underclassmen so they’ll all be able to take that into next year and into spring,” Smith said of the South competitors. “Jake Arbeiter had a great 400. He ran 51.9. We were really happy with Kathryn Schoenauer. It’s just the fifth time she’s run the hurdles, and she ran 8.65 and she got third so she’s really taken off with that.
”We were happy with Edlyn and Deirdre. Christina stepped up and ran 11:08 in the 3200. That’s only the second time she ran it. We think she can take it down from there. She dropped about 30 seconds from counties.”
The Pirates were not surprised to see their runners come out on top. Setya and Pulimood entered the sectional with the two top seed times.
”The only thing we were worried about were the limited opportunities we had to run,” Smith said. “We told them, you’re probably going to have rely on competitiveness rather than training wise. Both of those kids have turned it on for competing in a race.
”They were duking it out. Karn has been finishing races a little stronger than Nikhil. It was great to see them both go. It was a win-win for us.”
The Pirates have seen their distance runners build off of strong fall cross country seasons. Setya grew into a more comfortable front-runner in the fall, and has seen it carry over.
”This indoor season has been really different from all the others I’ve had,” Setya said. “The first indoor season I had was sophomore year. I didn’t really compete because of the talent around me. This is the first season where I’ve been actively doubling and racing and being a part of A relays and I don’t have the support of other runners. It’s me and Nikhil doing a lot.”
Pre-race strategic meetings with distance coach Kurt Wayton have helped him get in the right frame of mind for races this year, and he has been able to carry through most of the time. Setya ran 9:32 at last year’s indoor MOC, and he is hoping to move closer to his personal record at the group meet.
”I think I’ll be running the mile and two-mile at groups,” Setya said. “I’m looking at improving on those times and worrying about the place. If the place is good, I assume the time will be good.
”What I’m looking to do is keep racing the way I’ve been racing,” he added. “I want to fix the mile. I think the two-mile is going well, and I want to make sure I’m staying aggressive and running near the front and making sure I’m at the top.”
