By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
With their scholastic track and field careers winding down, Deirdre Casey and Nikhil Pulimood came through with their best.
The West Windsor-Plainsboro South seniors made the Group IV state championships memorable with each winning two events apiece.
“I’m really happy,” said Pulimood, who won the boys 1600 and 3200. “I never doubled and won the mile and two-mile in a championship meet before. It was cool to have it done it in states. It was a testament to the training.”
Casey agreed. She won the girls 1600 and ran into the lead with the third leg of the 4×800 relay that won in 9:07.49, the top time in the state heading into the Meet of Champions.
“I’m really happy with how I ended this year,” Casey said. “I was disappointed in cross country and indoor track had good moments and some disappointments. I was still pretty happy. Spring track, I’ve been really happy. I’ve PR’d in every event. I’m happy to do this for my teammates and (Coaches Kurt) Wayton and (Josh) Siegel have done so much for me. I’m happy to have this as I stop running as a Pirate.”
The top six in each event at groups advanced automatically to the MOC that was scheduled for Wednesday in South Plainfield. The next six best finishers from across all groups statewide earned wild cards to the MOC.
The 4×800 of Katie Kullman, Christina Rancan, Casey and Edlyn Gulama won with Casey roaring to the lead on her leg and Gulama holding off Ridge’s anchor. Casey won the 1,600 in 4:53.51 with Rancan just behind in 4:54.95 for second.
“It was really nice,” Casey said. “I wasn’t really expecting it. For the past few meets, I’ve been second, third. I went into the race thinking, just PR. I talked to Katie Kullman. She said, just think about running fast. That’s all I was thinking about beforehand. When the top two seeds dropped out, it was just me and Christina. I was happy I PR’d. I hadn’t PR’d in a while.”
The PR edged her teammate, and it is Rancan that still holds the school record at about a second faster than Casey. The two exchanged the lead through the mile race with Casey pulling away for the win in the final 200 meters in a friendly rivalry that has gone back and forth.
“I think we’re used to it by now,” Casey said. “We practice together every day. It makes us better. I’m happy I have her to push me. It’s definitely made me a better runner.”
Rancan was fourth in the 3,200. Gulama was fifth in the 800. The 4×400 was fifth in 4:00.83. Casey also qualified as a wild card in the 800 after running 2:16.45 for 10th. Kathryn Schoenauer was ninth in the long jump and ninth in the 100 hurdles, but moved through to the MOC in both as wild cards.
“In the past, I’ve had ups and downs at the Meet of Champs,” Casey said. “When I was a sophomore, I ran a good groups and then a better Meet of Champs. I know I’m capable of running well. Then a couple years ago, I ran awful at Meet of Champs. I feel I’ve come so far. I’ve learned so much.”
Pulimood won the 1,600 in 4:12.82 and won the 3,200 in 9:14.67. Tim Bason advanced to the MOC by placing fifth in the 1,600. Bason and Pulimood also ran on the fourth-place 4×800 relay that included Sam Williams and Zabih Kotecha.
“I really wanted this to be my position now,” said Pulimood, who was set to focus on the 3200 at the MOC. “I’m happy where I am. I was really frustrated with my mile. I kept running 4:18, 4:19. It was really stagnant. I was frustrated with that. I’m happy to have broken the streak and leave high school with a mile I can be happy with.
“The two-mile, it’s something I’ve been preparing for, for a really long time. I want to go for a win Wednesday. I really want to run under 8:56.”
Pulimood was to be replaced in the 4×800 by Niall Clancey, who was sick for sectionals and missed the group meet. But the senior was looking forward to the MOC.
“It is a nice way to end it,” said Clancey, who will run at Denison University. “It’s my last meet as a high schooler. Coming back from injury and being able to do this is pretty special.”
Clancey has fought through some tough luck to get to the MOC. He was injured early in the spring and missed all the big meets except the Mercer County Championships — the only other time he ran on the 4×800.
“I mostly concentrate on the place,” Clancey said of his race strategy. “I just want to run hard the whole time, that’s the goal. I want to just run hard and catch the person in front of me.”
Clancey got a little later start to his track career, but after playing soccer and lacrosse, he was plenty accustomed to running.
“I felt like I was always in pretty solid shape,” Clancey said. “I played positions in lacrosse and soccer where I was running consistently. I played soccer this past season.”
Clancey first competed in sprints in track, but showed his ability to contribute to the team rested more in the middle distances. He continues to push himself to improve after already seeing lots of success since joining the team.
“Track’s definitely helped me become pretty successful as an athlete and student in school,” Clancey said. “It’s kept me more focused. I’ve gotten better grades since I’ve been running track.”
He is looking forward to his final race for the Pirates, just as Pulimood is set on doing big things to close his career before attending Duke University. Winning his final mile by dropping six seconds from his sectional time was a good start.
“The mile has always been difficult for me,” Pulimood said. “You have to be in a completely different state for the mile because it happens so quickly. It was easier this time. I didn’t have the lead so much. I took the lead the third lap. It was a lot easier mile than I’ve run, but it wasn’t easy. I felt really good during it. It was a lot more relaxed than I expected.
“It was around the time I was looking to run all season. I knew it was the last mile of my high school career. I was just going after it.”
Pulimood ran a little differently for the 3200. He ran to win the race and got out early to move away from a lot of the jostling that was behind him. He might have gone faster if his coaches didn’t tell him to ease up to save something for the MOC.
“At counties, we ran 9:05 and I basically led that entire race,” Pulimood said. “There will be a lot of fast kids in that race. The kid from Haddon Township is not going to do the mile and do the two-mile instead. We’re going to have some really fast kids, five kids who have run 9:06 or under. We all want to go under 9:00.”
Casey also comes off the group meet confident. She has been to meets all year where she has run multiple events, and her workload will be a little lighter after opting out of the open 800. She can focus on the mile and the relay. The relay will be her last race with a group that has gotten close over the years.
“I think it’s very exciting,” Casey said. “We’ve all grown up together. Me, Edlyn and Christina have been together since we were sophomores and Christina was a freshman, and Katie, she’s become such an integral part of the team. She got most improved sophomore and junior. She has such an impact on our team.”
Casey doesn’t want to think about the end of her career with the Pirates, but the relay will mark her final race with them before she graduates and begins preparing to run at William and Mary. She is looking forward to what could be a perfect ending with her closest teammates in the biggest meet of the season.
“We’re not going to nationals this year,” Casey said. “It’s way too late and it kind of conflicts with graduation. This is our peak and I think it should end here.”
