Andreyko, Friedman win sectional titles
By: Rudy Brandl
Jenizah Melendez was thinking positively after completing her outstanding two days of work at last weekend’s Central Jersey Group 4 Track and Field Championships.
While neither Hillsborough High team scored enough points to defend its sectional title, the Raiders advanced 11 individuals and one relay team to the State Group 4 Championships in Egg Harbor. Athletes who place in the top six this weekend will move on to the NJSIAA Meet of Champions June 2 in South Plainfield.
"We had some pretty good performances," Melendez said. "We would have liked to win again, but at least we’re still moving people on. We have a lot of people going to the states. That’s what you want to do."
Melendez led the HHS charge by placing in all four of her events for a team-high total of 18 points. The versatile senior scored in two events each day, finishing second in the javelin (121-0) and fifth in the shot put (35-11½) in Friday’s session and fourth in the triple jump (35-4) and fifth in the 100 hurdles (15.9) on Saturday’s second day of action.
The javelin mark represented a new personal-best for Melendez, who will spend the week weighing her options. She could compete in all four events since they’re evenly split between the two days. She’s often competed in four events on the same day, but it’s not easy to scramble around on the state level.
"I still care about all four events equally," Melendez said. "I was more excited about javelin because I got a p-r (personal-record) in that event. I like hurdles, so maybe I’ll run it for fun. I might just focus on javelin and triple jump because they’re my best events."
Melendez will have plenty of company from her HHS teammates this weekend. Most of those Raiders won’t be faced with the same decisions in terms of event entry.
Senior Franklin Andreyko made his first appearance in the long jump pit since the middle of April and wound up winning the title. Andreyko elected to take it easy, attempting only three jumps in the preliminary round, but his mark of 22-1½ still surpassed all competitors by at least a foot.
"It felt good to be back on the runway again," Andreyko said. "I just expected to qualify for the next round. That’s all I wanted to do. It didn’t really matter if I finished first or not."
Andreyko fouled on his first two attempts, leaving him with a do-or-die situation on his third jump. He executed under pressure as usual.
"I’ve been through this so many times," said Andreyko, who finished third at last year’s Meet of Champs. "I’ve been in this position before so I wasn’t worried about it. I just moved up a little."
Sophomore Robin Friedman had to beat her teammate to become the school’s only other sectional champ Saturday. Friedman and junior Eileen Cafferty remained tied after clearing 10 feet in the pole vault and entered a jump-off. Neither athlete could clear 10-6 but Friedman made it over 10-3 to take first.
"It was a lot more work and it’s really hot out," said Friedman, who hasn’t been able to eclipse her 10-7 school-record mark this spring. "This feels good after a bad season."
Friedman and Cafferty knew they had the 1-2 spots locked up, but it felt a little strange fighting for first.
"It feels different because you know how bad they want it, too," Friedman said. "With other people, you don’t see how hard they work every day and how hard they try."
Cafferty agreed.
"We have a really good team thing going," she said. "If she does well, I’m happy for her. If I do well, she’s happy for me. We both strive to win. If she wins, it’s OK as long as she wins and not somebody else."
Cafferty already had some hardware in her pocket after finishing third in the 800 with a personal-best time of 2:23.1. She finished the weekend with a solid total of 14 points.
"I’m so happy that I finally made it in a running event," Cafferty said. "It’s more prestigious to make it in a running event. Now, I can say I made it in track and field."
Senior Bryan Fox also qualified for the State Group 4 meet in multiple events. Fox didn’t defend his sectional high jump title, finishing third on misses. The top three jumpers all hit 6-0, but Fox had previous misses at 5-8 and 5-10.
"I’m disappointed because it’s something I’ve done a million times before," Fox said. "It was the same situation as last year and it came down to the last jump (at 6-2). Last year, I got 6-2 to win. This year, I couldn’t get it."
Fox was bothered by a sore left foot that he injured while competing in the triple jump. He fell about a foot short of his school-record distance but still qualified for the states in the triple jump, where he finished fifth (41-3).
"I have a better shot in high jump based on what I’ve been reading from around the state," said Fox, who made it to the M of C last spring. "I’d like to get my school record (42-1 outdoors, 42-8 indoors) out there a little bit more in the triple jump."
Hillsborough will be represented by two athletes in the 800 meters, where Roland Lane (1:56.3) and Fred Kain (1:56.8) ran fabulous races to finish third and fourth, respectively. Other HHS athletes who scored in CJ 4 to advance to the states were Tim Szwarc in the 400 hurdles (5th, 58.5), Chris Berezansky in the shot put (6th, 59-7), Nicole Humphrey in the pole vault (3rd, 9-0), Allison Hydzik in the high jump (6th, 4-10) and the 4×400 relay team of Yaneisha Warrick, Melissa Arango, Stacey Dzvileski and Cafferty (6th, 4:11.8).
The Old Bridge boys (68 points) and Jackson girls (103½) won sectional titles. HHS finished third in the girls’ meet with 50½ points and tied for seventh in the boys’ meet with 30 points.