Freehold Township High School’s 4×800-meter relay team of Adrian Vitello, Caitlin Poss, Ciara Roche and Emily Bracher made its last race together a memorable one, finishing second at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals and breaking the Monmouth County record. This was the second straight year that the Patriots earned All-America honors at the outdoor nationals. I t was a bittersweet ending for the most extraordinary six months of their athletic careers. Freehold Township’s remarkable 4×800-meter relay team of Adrian Vitello, Caitlyn Poss, Ciara Roche and Emily Bracher finished off their 2014 season winning All-America honors at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., on June 14. They finished second and broke their own Monmouth County record with a time of 8:55.44, behind Western Branch High School (Chesapeake, Va.) at 8:52.38.
“A great way to end the season,” said Roche, who split a personal best of 2:10.7 in her race.
Vitello said it was “a great way to go out.”
The reason the race was so bittersweet for the quartet was that it was the last time that they will run together as a team. Roche is a sophomore and Bracher and Poss are juniors, but Vitello graduates this week and will be playing soccer at Lehigh University next year. Their motivation was to go out on top.
“We wanted our last memory together to be a good one,” Vitello said.
It certainly was, as they ran faster than ever before.
“Dropping our time down was so awesome,” Vitello said.
Motivated by this being their final race, Poss said, “We all ran our hardest.”
Vitello said that as she watched Bracher run the anchor leg, she did get a little emotional. It hit her that this was indeed the last time, and she reflected a bit on all the races they had run together.
After Bracher crossed the line and being All-America was secure (top six), Vitello recalled, “We all hugged. It was such a great moment.”
The secret to the success behind this special team is how much they care for each other.
“We are all best friends,” Poss said. “We’re not just a high school team thrown together. We run for each other. That’s our strong point.”
They ran their hardest one last time for each other. Vitello opened with a 2:13.9. Poss followed with her 2:15.4, Roche split her personal best of 2:10.7 and Bracher anchored at 2:15.0
Roche, who blossomed into a state champion this year, credited the competition for her big personal best.
“The reason I ran it is I had people in front of me to chase,” she said.
The strength of this Patriots team is that it has no superstar. It has four pretty even runners.
“On any given day, any one of us can be low,” Roche said.
It was her turn in Greensboro.
What has stood out in the last year since the Patriots were All-America at this meet last year is how the girls have handled their success and the expectations that go with it. No moment was ever too big for them. The reason they’ve stayed on top, according to Bracher, is their dedication. “Every day, we strive to be better than we were yesterday,” she said. “We’re always trying to get to the next level.”
The girls also gave credit to head coach Todd Briggs and the confidence they had in his training program. It called for them to run their fastest in June, and that’s exactly what they did.
Briggs marveled about how the girls never let up.
“The thing I will miss about this particular team is its consistency,” he said. “Never had a bad [race] since [the indoor] nationals the first time these four raced together.”
During the last six months, Vitello, Poss, Roche and Bracher won the New Balance Indoor Nationals, the NJSIAA Group IV and Meet of Champions titles, setting new meet records at state meets. They ran sixth at the Penn Relays Championship of America race. Vitello, Roche and Bracher teamed with Dominique Panton to win All-America in the Distance Medley Relay and the indoor nationals.
Bracher and Vitello are four-time All- Americans, and Roche and Poss are now three-time All-Americans.
Vitello said she will miss track and field.
Kirk earns All-America
Vitello wasn’t the only senior ending her high school career on a high note at the outdoor nationals. Howell High School high jumper Ian Kirk finished fifth.
“This was just the icing on the cake,” Kirk said. “It’s nice being state champion, all-state and All-America.
“In high school sports, I’ve won everything,” he added.
It’s been quite a six months for Kirk. He came into his own this past winter when he raised his personal best to 6-8 and won the Meet of Champions title.
Outdoors, he raised that personal best to 6-10. He lifted himself over the bar at 6-9 in Greensboro to finish fifth to become a high school All-American.
He called his three attempts at 6-11 OK.
“I’m happy with the way the season ended,” Kirk said. “In my last five meets I jumped 6-8, 6-10, 6-8, 6-10 and 6-9.”
That’s a mark of consistency that is very rare in this technical event.
Kirk said he will take a couple of weeks off and begin his training for college. He’ll be jumping for the University of Pennsylvania.
Competing in the Emerging Elite section, the Colts Neck High School team of Steve Olmo, Eric Gonzalez, Brandon Gold and Colin Chehanske set a new district record for the Sprint Medley at 3:32.65 in finishing third.