By Justin Feil, Packet Media Group
The trio of Hillsborough High School juniors Kelsey Vieira, Lauren Smith and Brandon Tubby came up shy of their loftiest goals, but had plenty to build on after competing at the Meet of Champions last Wednesday.
Vieira medaled in both the long and triple jumps and is looking forward to finishing even better next year. The Raiders standout was second in the girls long jump at 18-4¼.
“I was kind of upset when it happened,” Vieira said of just missing out on gold. “I did go there to win. I still can’t complain about second place.”
Kaitlin Salisbury of Hawthorne jumped 18-5 to edge Vieira, who had opened the meet by putting all the pressure on the rest of the field with what would end up being her top jump of the day.
“I got that on my first jump,” Vieira said. “I was in the lead for a while until the girl that won popped out an 18-5.
“I still had a jump left and I still had finals. I kept getting jumps just under that which is what made it extra frustrating.”
Vieira was fifth in the triple jump at 38-2½. And even though it is the weaker of her two events, Vieira had hoped for a higher finish.
“After triple, I was a little more upset,” she said. “My coach said, you got two medals out of the biggest meet in the state, so I couldn’t complain.”
It’s a vast improvement over her first two years. This year, Vieira set herself up for huge expectations with a consistent season in which she proved impossible to beat through sectionals. Though she didn’t win at the Group IV meet, she saw the potential to do so at the MOC.
“In previous Meet of Champs, I never even went there expecting to place,” Vieira said. “I was younger and I wasn’t as good. My coach said, you have the ability to go in there and win both horizontal jumps. I went in there wanting to win.”
Smith had lowered the HHS school record for the 100 meters in each of her previous last two meets, then finished 11th in the girls 100 meters in 12.46 seconds at the MOC.
“It was good,” Smith said. “I felt I could have run better. A lot of the other girls didn’t perform as well as we did to qualify for the meet.”
Smith had come into the meet after back-to-back record-breaking runs in an event that she didn’t even consider her best. It all came together for her at the perfect time.
“I was very shocked by my performance,” she said. “At first the 100 wasn’t really my event. I never had a good start for it. All of a sudden, I broke the school record and got faster.”
Smith feels more comfortable running the 400 meters. She was able to do so at the MOC as she combined with Daija King, Casey Kelly and Paige Novak to place 11th in the girls 4×400 in 4:00.22.
“I’m happy we made it,” Smith said. “I felt like it was going to be hard to make it this year since we didn’t have the same group going to MOCs as last year. It was a little hard at first. I’m happy with our performance. We all surprised ourselves, especially at sectionals.”
Like Smith, Tubby had his top time before the MOC. The only Raider boy to reach the MOC placed 16th in the boys 1600 meters in 4:25.62.
Tubby had hoped to approach the 4:15 he clocked at sectionals: “I go into the races in really good mental state and I’m confident. My legs feel good. My body feels good. Somewhere around the midpoint, it falls apart.
“It was this weird slump that happened for a week,” he added. “It happened at the worst time. I didn’t have it. I watched the videos of me running, I look dead. My form was all off. My arms were too tight. I don’t know what happened.”
Tubby did not dwell on one tough day for long. At the New Jersey Invitational at Monmouth on Saturday, Tubby finished 14th in the men’s 800 meters in a season-best 1:56.03.
“It was a really fast race,” Tubby said. “Patrik Anderson (the Somerset County 800 champion from Gill St. Bernard’s) was in it, so I got to race against him. I’m glad I got to do that because I needed that that finish my season well.”
Tubby has been considering running in the outdoor nationals in a week. It would extend his year, and give him another shot at running the mile that he wanted to at MOCs.
“This year, I’ve run some great races,” Tubby said. “I ran a great race on Saturday. It’s just unfortunate that I wasn’t able to run my best at Meet of Champs. Most of my competitors ran really well. I know I could have been up there with them, around the same times that they did.”
Tubby has made the jump into some elite company over this year. Last spring set him up for a breakout junior year, and he is looking to build on some encouraging results as he eyes his final year of high school running.
“I’m satisfied with the times I ran this season,” he said. “I’m grateful for them and I’m thankful for how I did this year.”
The only other Hillsborough athlete to reach the MOC was a senior. Priscilla Senoo was 12th in the girls discus at 122-2 to close an outstanding season.
Vieira and Smith will have the chance to come back and build on their years. They both took big steps forward over the last month. For Vieira, it wasn’t much of question of if she could become one of the top jumpers in the state, but when. She arrived this year.
“I definitely think I’ve seen the potential I have,” Vieira said. “I know in the past, my coach said, you have the potential to jump 19, you have the potential to jump 18. After this season, I see what I’m capable of. I want more. I’m determined to reach for the stars.”
Vieira’s long jump has been her top event, and she was in the running this year to win it. Her triple jump has come on as well, and she has positioned herself to compete for a title in any meet. She is eyeing the 40-foot mark for triple and the 20-foot mark for long jump.
“For next year, I definitely think, now that I’ve gotten into higher jumping territory, I know the specific things to work on,” Vieira said. “Over the summer, I’ll be lifting and building up my strength and over the winter I’ll be jumping. Hopefully next year, I’ll leave Meet of Champs with both medals for winning.”
Smith also will be returning with higher ambitions. She already has the school record, which seems unlikely to stand through another year as she works at the sprinting event that she never considered herself that good in until this year.
“It’s way too short,” Smith said. “My starts are slow. By the time I get out, half the girls are halfway down the track.”
Plenty of practice at her starts helped move her into position to compete at the MOC. She also thinks an equipment change may have helped.
“I felt like it was a good year, but I felt I could have done better,” she said. “I didn’t really get to run a really decent time until sectionals. I guess it was because I didn’t switch out my spikes. I had these old spikes. I switched them out at sectionals and all my times dropped.”
Smith will be working out to improve her strength and quickness. She is coming back for her final year more determined.
“I hope that I can at least run an 11.9 next year,” Smith said. “I feel like I had it in me this year. Next year, I’ll have more time to work on my starts and I’ll be stronger so I can achieve my goal and run faster than that, or even a :55 for the 400.”
Smith has a newfound confidence after the end to this season. She saw what she was capable of, and is inspired to come back better.
“I think mentally I became more positive,” Smith said. “I know last year, I knew I could have run faster in all my events. Sometimes I wasn’t pushing myself hard enough. Plus I got stronger. I had more of a push. It is my junior year. I don’t have that much time left. If I want to run in college, I have to perform now.
“That just boosts me up for next year,” she added. “It has me walking into the season with a more positive light. Now I truly know I can run a lot faster.”