WEST WINDSOR: Pirates continue distance domination

Kotecha has larger relay role

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
   Spurred on by a bigger role for the West Windsor-Plainsboro High South boys track and field team, Zabih Kotecha is running new best times with every race.
   The senior came on strong in his leg of the 800 meters to give Nikhil Pulimood a great start as the Pirates won the distance medley relay at the Group IV state relays on Friday. Later that night, Kotecha anchored the 4×800, moving up steadily on Old Bridge’s anchor and overtaking him in the end to win by three-tenths of a second.
   ”I want to have these great races so the whole team gets noticed,” said Kotecha, who ran 1:59 in the DMR and came back for a new personal record 1:58 split in the 4×800. “I’d say I’m happy, but not satisfied. You should be happy with how you did, but not satisfied. I’d say we’re going in the right direction. We’re all progressing. Each race, we’re improving.”
   WW-P South won the DMR with Tim Bason, Raoul Dhulekar, Kotecha and Pulimood running 10:29.57 to win by five seconds over Old Bridge. Bason, Niall Clancey, Pulimood and Kotecha won the 4×800 in 8:06.73.
   ”I feel like we ran pretty well,” Kotecha said. “I don’t think we ran to our full potential. I always feel like we have a little left. I feel I could do a little better.
   ”We’re looking forward to future races,” he added. “We’re looking forward to getting our time down at Easterns. But overall, we’re really happy with how we ran. We went out looking for a win and a good time and I think we accomplished that as well.”
   The win gave WW-P South a sweep of the DMR and 4×800 in Group IV. On Thursday, the Pirate girls won the distance medley and the 4×800 relays. Deirdre Casey, Edlyn Gulama, Katie Kullman and Christina Rancan lowered their own national-best time by seven seconds when they won the DMR in 12:16.50. They also shaved off a few tenths in the 4×800 as Casey, Gulama, Rancan and Haley Rich ran 9:36.57 to win by almost 18 seconds over Southern Regional.
   ”Edwina (Gulama) didn’t run the DMR,” said Pirates head coach Todd Smith. “She was sick. Katie Kullman was an alternate. She ran the 400 leg. Last spring, she was a 62-63 second girl. So far, she’s run 66-67 and split 63. She’s a girl that stepped up when she had a chance.
   ”Everybody else shaved a second off. Deirdre dropped her time down to 3:40 on the dot. I think it was 3:44 or 3:45 before, and Rancan shaved two seconds in the mile. Edlyn dropped a second. That definitely qualifies for Easterns. We’ll see where we’re at between 4×8 and DMR. Haley had a real breakout race. She led us off in 2:23 and that set the tone. I think both times are fast enough for Penn Relays right now.”
   The Pirates also picked up a fourth place when Bernadette Cao, Casey, Gulama and Kathryn Schoenauer ran 4:15.92 in the sprint medley. The boys wins the next day capped quite a relays weekend.
   ”They ran fantastic,” Smith said. “The DMR did great. It mirrored the girls’ race. Tim Bason got us out in the lead and we never let it go. We kept pouring it on. The 4×8 was a little more dramatic. Zabih ran 1:58 to catch the Old Bridge kid at the line.”
   The Montgomery High School boys were third overall with 26 points behind Old Bridge and South Brunswick. The Cougars had three relays place.
   ”It was very awesome,” said MHS boys coach Sean Carty. “It’s really tough to score points at that meet. Going in, South Brunswick and Old Bridge were the pretty clear-cut favorites. After our Somerset County performance, I did feel we had a chance to be in the conversation again which is nice. I feel like our team exceeded our expectations by getting second in the 4×2 and sprint medley relay. To be second in both of these events is pretty special.”
   The Cougars’ Vlad Castillo Jr. and Nate Schembor combined to win the shot put. Castillo threw 54-feet-5½ and Schembor threw 45-3¾ to top Old Bridge. Castillo combined with Cooper Schembor last year to win.
   ”They threw very well,” Carty said. “Vlad is feeling good. He’s getting in his groove. He had an opportunity to repeat as state relay champion and he did that. Nate threw 45 and change. And he was able to help him get that second year as state relay champion.”
   Patrick Warren, Jabari Clemons, Michael Simonson and Tyler Young ran 1:34.18 for second in the 4×200. Clemons, Simonson, Young and Robert Dembinski finished second in the sprint medley with a time of 3:38.60 as they head into the Skyland Conference Championships this Saturday.
   ”It was awesome to almost win the SMR from the second heat,” Carty said. “They got pushed my Rancocas Valley so it was an exciting race.”
   The MHS girls picked up a pair of fourth-place finishes. Sara Boyer, Julia Hans, Alexandra Millett and Cara Schiksnis were fourth in the 4×800 in 9:56.14. Hannah Taylor and Calista Reynolds finished fourth in the high jump. Taylor cleared 5-feet-4 and Reynolds jumped 4-4. Reynolds cleared 8-6 in the pole vault.Princeton High School scored its only points with a third-place finish in the Group III state group relays Sunday. Maia Hauschild, Jordan Vine, Amy Watsky and Paige Metzheiser ran 4:18.56 for third in the sprint medley relay.
   Kotecha is in his first season as the top 800 runner for the Pirates. He showed he belonged with his recent performances.
   ”He’s our best middle distance runner,” Smith said. “There’s always been someone ahead of him. This is his year. He’s stepped up to the plate so far for us.
   ”He’s always been a solid runner for us. We decided to let him anchor and he did a great job. He picked up six seconds on the kid to win. Old Bridge stacked it fast to slow. We met together on that last lap.”
   Kotecha is enjoying his new role. He hasn’t anchored often before this season.
   ”I’ve had a lot of great other 800 runners from the school,” he said. “It’s only helped me to get better. I’ve always been there, it’s just I haven’t been as noticed because we had such great talent coming through South. I’m hoping it’s a year to get noticed for PRs.”
   Kotecha’s final year with the Pirates began with his in a bigger role on coach Kurt Wayton’s cross country team. He was a top-five runner consistently for a cross country team that overcame big graduation losses to place top six at the Meet of Champions.
   ”I was happy with my cross country season,” Kotecha said. “I definitely had a couple regrets, but it definitely put me in the right direction. When you get all that long distance training, it helps for the 800. It was good to get that in. I felt good coming into the track season.”
   His strength and confidence has shown in the indoor season’s early races. He answered a test with running even faster in his second race of the day to earn a win.
   ”Each lap, I was getting a little closer,” Kotecha said. “I told myself, don’t catch up right away. The last lap, it blurred out for me. In the last 20 meters, I caught up with him and I didn’t feel anything. It was a great feeling.
   ”The whole time I was racing, Coach Wayton was saying, look for stripes of the Old Bridge uniform, stay closer and move up. I wasn’t expecting a 1:58. I didn’t think I’d run a 1:58 after running the DMR. When you compete and compete well, the times come along with it.”
   Kotecha figures to go even faster as the season continues into spring. He has been using his training and experience to his asset this year. He’d anchored a Colonial Valley Conference batch meet last year and he was caught from behind when he went out too quickly. This time, it was him that did the chasing down to give the Pirates sweep of the 4×800 and DMR events.
   ”As I race more, I get more experiences,” Kotecha said. “My junior year, I got in more race experience. I was able to learn from my mistakes. I’ve been in that situation before, but not in that big a race. I was happy I was able to anchor well and help my team out and make the right moves.”