By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
When it comes to sports, Sarah and Jason Knight both have a passion for the same activities.
The siblings, who attend Montgomery High School, both began their athletic careers excelling on the soccer field. But as they got older, both drifted toward track and field, where they have been solid contributors to the success of the Montgomery programs.
“Initially, I did soccer for a while and then he started doing soccer," said Sarah, a senior who plans to compete in track and field at Rider University. "In high school I was doing soccer and track and I had to make a decision and I chose track. After I chose track I think he chose track.
“I was trying to juggle school track and club soccer because the seasons were the same time. I just decided to stay with track.”
While Jason took a similar path from soccer to track, he doesn’t want to give his sister all of the credit for the switch in sports.
“I kind of chose soccer because I saw her doing soccer," said Jason, a sophomore. "But then she started doing middle school track and I chose middle school track because she was doing it. But then going into my freshman year I started club track with a club called Maximum Speed. I started training with them and my parents wanted me to make the same decision, they said I had to pick one.
"Sarah was struggling with club soccer and school track because everything would overlap. I made the decision before I got to high school and I decided to go with track. Sarah, in her junior year, decided to go with club track and stopped with soccer.”
The Knight siblings were part of a Cougar contingent that had a strong showing at last weekend’s Central Jersey Group IV meet, where the boys finished 12th and the girls finished 10th.
For the boys, Ryan Cashman was second in the triple jump and sixth in the 100 meters; Ajay Sarathy was sixth in the 3,200 meters; Zachary Tamuzza was sixth in the 110-meter hurdles; and Tobi Sonaike was fifth in the triple jump. In the relays, Montgomery was fifth in the 4×100 with Rydell Johnson, Alex Liu, Malachi Clemons and Cashman, as well as sixth in the 4×800 relay with Jeffrey Meyer, Austin Fan, Sarathy and Avinash Boppana.
On the girls side, Annie Hathaway was second in the pole vault; Abrianna Barrett was second in the high jump; Sarah McGowen finished fourth in the 3,200 meters; and Gianna Tedeschi was sixth in the 3,200 meters. In the relays, the Cougars were fifth in the 4×100 with Knight, Emma Raccaro, Sophia Sharpless and Camille Negron, as well as fourth in the 4×400 with Raccaro, Negron, Sarah Witt and Sharpless.
Both Sarah and Jason Knight have shown an ability to perform well in several different events. The ability to be used in so many different events has made them valuable members of the team.
“I started out doing the 400 initially," said Sarah, who finished 10th in the triple jump at the CJ IV meet. "I was doing the 400 and 100 and from there I got introduced to new events. My coaches pushed me to try long jump first and they thought I would excel in that so I tried that. And eventually I tried triple jump and then this year I started doing really well in triple jump. Now I have moved away from the 400 and 100 but I still compete in the 200.”
Like his sister, Jason also has shown an ability to be versatile with his events.
“I have been moving around a lot," said Jason, who was 10th in 110 hurdles and 14th in long jump at CJ IV meet. "In the beginning of the season, I was supposed to be doing the 400, 200, long jump, triple jump and high jump. And I wanted to start hurdling. But I had an ankle injury and I had to kind of for about month. So I stopped high jumping and I stopped triple jumping and sprinting. I was still doing long jump and the 110 hurdles. I started doing well in that and I am kind of sticking to it now.
“In my freshman year and the winter season, high jump and hurdles were more of a back-burner type thing. But now they are my main events. I am doing really well in the hurdles. I had a big PR in the county meet. I dropped a whole second from low 17s to 16.01. I finally had my three steps.”
The siblings push each other to do well and have a friendly rivalry when it comes to who is doing better. They are able to do some of their training together and have enjoyed being on the same team together.
“We train with our club track coach together," Sarah said. "We both push each other to do our best, especially in the jumping events because with that you can be a little more one on one. We always push each other to get our best jumps in.
“I just got a new PR in triple jump of 35-3. I was really happy about that. But then I hurt my hamstring again. Fo the most part I have been happy with the season.”
