Led by state champions Ciara Roche and Rachel Kern, it was another big year for girls track and field in the Freehold Regional High School District (FRHSD).
School, district and meet records fell by the wayside throughout the season, highlighted by the continual excellence of Freehold Township High School’s Roche and the emergence of Howell High School’s Kern.
Roche won both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races at the NJSIAA Group IV championships for her first outdoor state championships, while Kern captured the Group IV javelin title.
There were other winners and record-setters, including Marlboro High School’s 4×100 relay team and Colts Neck High School’s 4×800 relay team.
Roche heads up the News Transcript’s 2016 All-FRHSD Girls Track and Field Team. Roche, Howell’s Niamh Hayes and Manalapan High School’s Raeann Giannattasio are the distance runners. The sprinters and hurdlers are Marlboro’s Danielle Spano and Brianna Mullan and Freehold High School’s Chisolm Chinedu.
The field team is led by Kern. The other throwers are Howell’s Stephanie Bock and Marlboro’s Antoinette Gyles. The jumpers are Marlboro’s Alicia Zhou and Gianna Gomez, Freehold’s Kathleen Ciccarone and Howell’s Jada Covington.
Roche’s lists of accomplishment says it all about the Cornell University-bound athlete who leaves as one of the three best distance runners in district history, joining Howell’s Lindsey Gallo and Colts Neck’s Ashley Higginson at the top. Her goal was to leave her mark, and she did that everywhere. She won the 1,600 at the county meet all four years, tying Gallo’s record. This spring, Roche ran the fastest times in the state in the 800 (2:09.88) and 1,600 (4:47.90).
As for titles, she won the 1,600 and 3,200 at the county (her lone 3,200), the 1,600 in the conference, and the 800 and 1,600 at both the Central Jersey, Group IV (bringing her career total of state sectional titles to 10) and overall Group IV championships. She lost the Meet of Champions (MOC) to defending champion Briana Gess from Haddonfield High School in the final steps to the tape. It hardly diminished her season that concluded with a victory in the Emerging Elite 1-Mile Run at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals. Her winning time of 4:49.95 was a new district record, as was her 2:09.88 mark in the 800.
Roche will surely be missed, not just for the championships and fast times, but also for her grit and last-lap kick that she could summon as if by sheer will alone.
One of Roche’s rivals who will look to take over her mantle is Hayes. The Rebels’ junior put together her best outdoor season, which included school records and her first MOC medal.
Hayes won the 3,200 at the conference championships and was runner-up in the South Jersey sectional. She was fifth in the 3,200 at the MOC, finally breaking Gallo’s 16-year-old school record of 10:41.6 with her time of 10:37.72. She was second in the 1,600 to Roche at the county championships and ran her first sub-5:00 time in the 1,600 (4:59.77). She is looking forward to what could be a special senior season.
Spano is the best and most complete sprinter in the district. She turned in the fastest times of the year in the 100 (12.40), 200 (25.67) and 400 (59.81) dashes and anchored the district’s best 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams.
The junior won the 100 dash at the county championships (12.41) and followed with a fifth-place showing in the Shore Conference championships and a sixth-place finish in Central Jersey, Group IV. She was third in the 200 at the county meet and sixth in the state sectional.
The Mustangs’ 4×100 team of Zhou, Labeeqa Khizir, Lauren Newman and Spano won the Monmouth County Relays, took fourth in Central Jersey, Group IV and set the district record of 49.25 in finishing eight at the Group IV championships, qualifying for the MOC.
Marlboro’s team of Mullan, Khizir, Spano and Anna Palermo ran the swiftest 4×400 of the season, finishing in 4:05.79.
Mullan, also a junior, was the top 400 intermediate hurdler with a fourth-place showing in the county (1:06.06). She also ran fourth in the conference in the flat 400 (1:00.69), showing range of her own.
Another junior, the Colonials’ Chinedu dominated the 100 hurdles. She was fourth in the county and sixth in Central Jersey, Group IV, and she posted a mark of 15.58 during the season. She finished 10th in the 400 at the state sectional.
Bock was easily the best thrower in the district this season. She was a contender in every championship meet in both the shot put and discus, and she medaled in them all, including the MOC, where she was eighth in the shot put. During her outstanding senior year, she established Howell school records in the shot put (41-7½) and the discus (128-1). She won the South Jersey, Group IV discus championship and was the county champion in the shot put. She was the best combination shot put/discus thrower that the district has seen in recent years. Bock is headed to Georgian Court University.
It would be an understatement to say the Kern enjoyed a breakout year. The junior began the season with a personal best of 123-10 in the javelin and ended the season breaking the school record several times, stopping at 139-10 to win the Group IV state title, making her the first Rebel since Gallo to win a group championship. She also ended the season as the second best thrower in the state, finishing second at the MOC. Kern threw more than 130-0 in seven of her meets in a display of remarkable consistency. In addition to her state title, she won county and conference golds as well. A fourth-place finish in the South Jersey, Group IV sectional motivated her for the overall group championships and her record throw.
A quality sprinter in her own right, Kern has been able to put that to use in her javelin throws.
Any other year, Marlboro junior Gyles would have stood out with her personal best of 38-5 in the shot put and solid performances in the championship meets. Away from Bock, who was in South Jersey, Gyles was fifth in Central Jersey, Group IV.
Gomez, a sophomore, virtually came out of nowhere this fall. Concentrating on the long jump for the first time, she kept improving her personal best with every meet until she soared 17-11¼ to break the school record and win the Shore Conference title. She was second in the county and fourth in the state sectional.
Although her teammate, Zhou, broke her school record with a leap of 18-2 at the Eastern States meet, Gomez’s consistency made her the best long jumper this year.
The district had a number of outstanding all-around track and field athletes this spring, and the Colonials’ Ciccarone was one of them. Her 35-8 mark in the triple jump was the best in the district. She long jumped 16-11 and has a high jump personal best of 5-0. She also did some sprinting for Freehold.
On the subject of versatility, there is Zhou. Not only was she the top pole vaulter with a personal best of 10-0, but she also had a tremendous 18-2 mark in the long jump and was a superb sprinter as part of the district’s best relay teams. She’s off to the United States Naval Academy.
Giannattasio was overshadowed by Roche and Kern. However, the junior had a very solid season running the 800 and 1,600 and establishing herself as someone to watch next spring. Her personal best of 2:16.25 for the 800 was second only to Roche this season. She ran 5:00.21 in the 1,600, qualifying for the MOC via her fifth-place showing at the Group III championships. In Central Jersey, Group II, she was second in the 1,600 and third in the 800.
Colts Neck put together the best 4×800 team. The team of Kayleigh Hoagland, Eva Gibson, Stephanie O’Horo and Colleen Megerle won the the Central Jersey, Group III title in 9:43.27. The fastest edition of the team was Hoagland, Gibson, O’Horo and Giannattasio, which ran 9:32.70 and qualified for the MOC.
Yet another in what could be the best junior class the district has had is Howell high jumper Covington. She had the best high jump of the season, 5-2, in winning the South Jersey, Group IV crown.