Metuchen High School’s Jessica Harding, left, takes the baton handoff from teammate Ciara Sellers during the 4×400-meter relay at the NJSIAA Group I state championships held at Frank Jost Field in South Plainfield on May 30-31. The Bulldogs’ relay team finished second in 4:03.48. The Metuchen girls finished second behind Penns Grove High School in the team competition. ST. JOSEPH
I t wasn’t supposed to happen this way. The top-seed St. Joseph High School of
Metuchen volleyball team was on a roll and only needed to defeat Bridgewater-Raritan High School (second seed) in the NJSIAA Central Jersey sectional championship to advance to the state finals once again.
Only the Somerset County high school, which was shut out by the Falcons three weeks earlier, didn’t cooperate. The Panthers (23-6) knocked off St. Joe’s, 2-1, on May 30, and ended the Falcons’ hopes of revisiting the final four, as it’s called.
“Although [the loss] was not the ending we wanted, I am so proud of this group,” head coach Miguel Cabrita said. “We returned one starter, and this was expected to be a rebuilding year.”
Following a predicted slow start, the team jelled and the wins mounted. So did expectations. Winning the championship of its own Super Six Tournament on May 10 served notice the Falcons were more than rebuilding. A week later, St. Joe’s brought home the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) title, another worthy accomplishment since the quality of volleyball in the league is considered to be the best in the state.
Cabrita believes a major reason for the Falcons’ improvement as the season rolled on was senior leadership, led by Tom Burrell, George Witteman, Andrew Goyer, Michael Cintron, Tyler Pituk and Tony Haddad.
Looking ahead, Cabrita will count on junior Corey Ditmars, who was named to the All-GMC team. Setter Justin Dai, middle hitter Tyler Gerckens and libero Brian Gallagher will also be key players.
J.P. STEVENS
Mark Cooke, senior sprinter for the J.P. Stevens High School track team, continues to shine on the cinders, as he captured the NJSIAA Group IV 400-meter intermediate hurdles (53.41) and took second places in the 110 hurdles (14.59) and 100 dash (10.92). The meet took place at Egg Harbor Township High School on May 30-31. Cooke is now eligible to compete in all three events at the Meet of Champions (MOC) on June 4 at South Plainfield High School.
Based on the times he recorded in prior seasons, the senior knew his best event was the 400 hurdles, a race that combines speed and endurance. But he never thought he could excel at shorter distances.
“One day at practice, it just came to me that if I changed a few things, I could be looking at a decent time in [those] races.”
Cooke, who is headed to Eastern Michigan University when he graduates, believes he can cut at least a second off his group meet time at the MOC.
“I’m really proud of the effort I put in this season to get to where I’m at,” Cooke said. “I’ve always believed that commitment and dedication can be the sheer strength of any athlete.”
Baseball/Softball
In state tournament baseball and softball, area teams were eliminated from further competition.
In baseball, Metuchen High School (12- 12) was edged by New Egypt High School, 3-2, in Central Jersey Group I on May 23, while St. Joseph High School of Metuchen (21-9) lost to Paul VI High School, 14-0, in Non-Public A South on May 22. On the same day, Bishop George Ahr High School (10-9) ended its season with a 15-5 loss to Gloucester Catholic High School in the same group.
The J.P. Stevens softball team (12-10) was edged by North Hunterdon High School, 2-1, on May 27 in North Jersey II Group IV action, while Bishop Ahr (15-10) was eliminated by Notre Dame High School, 5-3, on the same date in Non-Public South A.
Finally, Metuchen’s softball team (19-8) saw its hopes for a sectional title vanquished by New Egypt, 4-2, on May 29, in the Central Jersey Group I championship game.
This was Melissa Jennings’ first season as head coach, but the former assistant under Jennifer Teffenhart at neighboring Edison High School was well aware of her new team’s reputation.
“I knew coming into this season we had the potential to be extremely successful,” Jennings said. “We prepared ourselves for GMC and state tournaments by scheduling several larger [Group IV] schools and used those games as learning experiences.”
Metuchen was led by the pitcher-catcher combination of Nicole Camera and Samantha Hoffman, which Jennings said worked like a machine on the field.
“Nicole has an array of breaking pitches, which kept batters off balance,” she said. “And Hoffman called most of those pitches.”
The infield was led by shortstop Liane Cifrodelli and Kaitlin Hueston, who played second or first, and the outfield was anchored by right fielder Christine Tackach.
Jennings also credited her assistant coaches, Rick Carter and Steve Jennings (her father), with helping her manage the program.