By Justin Feil Assistant, Sports Editor
Paige Metzheiser was the lone Princeton High School runner to make it to the Group III girls track and field meet.
This year, the Little Tigers senior has plenty of company with her as she advanced one step further than the group meet to the Meet of Champions.
“This year, we had a whole 4×8 and 4×4 and so many more runners,” Metzheiser said. “And to send two relays to Meet of Champs proves to our coaches how much better we’ve gotten. I think we owe them. Coach (Jim) Smirk and (Coach Ben) Samara have done an amazing job bringing those times down. It’s helped our relays so much.”
The Little Tigers still had one field athlete who advanced to the Meet of Champions, which was scheduled to be run Wednesday in South Plainfield. The top six finishers in each event at the Group III meet automatically advanced to the Meet of Champions, plus the next best six finishers from among all groups statewide move on as wild card entries.
Noa Levy was eighth in the girls high jump, and her 5-feet clearance landed her a wild card. She was to be joined at the MOC by a pair of relays that both did well at groups.
The 4×800 of Lou Mialhe, Julie Bond, Anne Fleur Hartmanshenn and Metzheiser was sixth in 9:40.40. The 4×400 of Jackie Patterson, Metzheiser, Jordan Vine and Maia Hauschild was seventh, but their 3:59.46 was good enough to earn a wild card. It will give Metzheiser and Bond a chance to exit their New Jersey careers at the biggest meet in the state.
“It means everything,” Metzheiser said. “I had never even dreamed of Meet of Champs last year. Now I’ve gone for cross country, winter track and spring track now. And to be there on two relay teams with great athletes, it’s really nice. It’ll feel good to be there.”
On the boys side, PHS also has strong representation from a young foursome. The 4×800 of Noah Chen, Patrick O’Connell, Cy Watsky and Alex Roth was fourth in 8:00.17, a four-second improvement over sectionals. Roth also placed eighth in the 3,200 meters, and his 9:28.45 clocking earned him a wild card.
Metzheiser is the one piece the two girls relays share in common, though her roles are different for each.
“I have the fastest split in the 4×8 and the slowest in the 4×4,” Metzheiser said.
Metzheiser has been the fastest in the 800 meters for years for the Little Tigers. While her time hasn’t come down as much as she wanted, she is a consistent 2:20 runner.
“I’m really happy with what I’ve done this season,” she said. “I feel like this season is a last hurrah. My head’s been a million places, but running consistent 2:20s has been nice. I’m still hoping to break through. I’m hoping Wednesday to have a 2:18 if not faster.”
Metzheiser’s final Meet of Champions set her up for a big finish. She won’t have an event to do until the end of the meet, when the 4×800 and 4×400 are run back-to-back. It makes for a demanding ending.
“I think I’m going to run the first leg of the 4×8, so that gives me six extra minutes to recover,” Metzheiser said. “We’ll see how it goes from there.
“I’ve been doubling and tripling and quadrupling all season,” she added. “Hopefully that’s prepared me enough to double back.”
The Little Tigers’ relay success afforded her one more meet in the state after she missed out on her chance to qualify individually in the 800 after placing 11th Saturday in the open 800. She is thrilled to be sharing another chance to compete with her teammates.
“I definitely owe it to my teammates,” Metzheiser said. “They have done phenomenal this season. I’ve been running 2:20, which is nowhere near by PR. That’s not what’s been getting us through. It’s Lou, Anne Fleur, Julie dropping their PRs.
“And in the 4×4, I’ve always been the 1 or 2 number, but to now be the fourth runner, it’s amazing to be the slowest on a great team. I owe a lot to my teammates for that.”
At the group meet, the 4×800 lowered its sectional time from 9:43.58 to 9:40.40, while the 4×400 took its relay time from 4:00.16 to 3:59.46.
“Our 4×4, we knew it was going to be good, but not anywhere near what it’s been, not breaking 4:00,” Metzheiser said. “Our PR was 4:09 since I started running on it. To just have broken 4:00 was amazing. A lot of that came from Jordan Vine. She’s probably run it four or five times. Smirk threw her in to try it out. She broke 60 in her first race. She’s been a huge addition. And Jackie Patterson, she just broke 60. And Maia has been running consistent :58s.”
Patterson’s sub-60 finish qualified her for freshman nationals. Metzheiser is also setting her sights down the line to finish her high school career at nationals.
“I’m going to be racing at nationals, so I have ‘til the 20th of June then I’ll be ready to take a breather,” Metzheiser said. “It’s been a long three seasons, but I’ve enjoyed it.”
Metzheiser will continue running at Stevens Institute of Technology, likely in the middle distances that have become her strong suit for the Little Tigers. She has been steady through a busy senior year, a runner that PHS always has found reliable.
“My times, they’ve been good, they haven’t been great,” Metzheiser said. “I definitely haven’t accomplished as much as I did in winter track and cross country as far as moving forward and breaking my times. But I’ve been consistent. I’ve had an amazing senior year and an amazing team. I’m happy where we are and how we’re doing.”
