Distance teams set records
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
It was a record-setting weekend for distance runners at the sectional track and field championships this past weekend.
But it was also a weekend that showed with enough depth in other areas you can win a sectional championship.
The West Windsor-Plainsboro North boys team received a pair of record-setting performances from Joe Rosa in the distance events, but also picked up three others wins and a bundle of other top six places to win its third straight Central Jersey Group III championship.
The WW-P South boys and Montgomery girls also received some record-setting performances from distance runners, but came up just short in their quests for CJ IV titles.
In addition to solid team performances from the Packet area teams at the sectional meets, there were also a number of athletes who won individual titles as well. All top six finishers advance to the state Group meets, which will be held this weekend.
”Winning a third straight sectional championship was our goal,” WW-P North coach Brian Gould said. “Ewing and Franklin are the only teams to win three in a row and that was something we wanted to do this year. That was what we talked about during the week and we made it our goal. I did not know if we had enough depth to do it.
”We had Joe, Jim (Rosa) and Corey (Abernathy) up front and Greg (Caldwell) had a great effort to win the hurdles. But to win a meet like this you need a lot of seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths and sixths and that was what we got.”
Rosa set a couple of records in winning the 1600 meters and the 3200 meters, while Abernathy pulled out wins in the shot put and the discus. Caldwell was the top finisher in the 100 hurdles.
”Joe had a great weekend,” Gould said. “He broke meet records in both the 1600 and 3200. His time in the 3200 (9:01.57) was a sectional record for every sectional in the state, not just Central Jersey. Corey winning the discus was huge. He beat a kid from Hopewell who had been beating him all year. The guys really rose to the occasion.”
To win the team title the Knights needed more than just the guys at the top, they needed some depth to score points and they got that. North finished first with 82 points, nine more than Ocean Township. Chris Banks was fifth in the 400 and sixth in the 100, Jim Rosa was second in 1600 and second in 800, Jon Squieri finished fourth in 1600 and second in 3200, Matt Kelly was sixth in the 800, and Jerrick Zhang was sixth in the javelin.
”Jim got a couple of seconds and Jon Squieri was second in the 3200, those were big,” Gould said. “We had Chris Banks do well in the 100 and the 400, Matt Kelly in the 800 and we had a freshman (Jerrick Zhang) place in the javelin, which was a surprise. All of the extra points that we were able to pick up make a difference.”
The Knights will take a shot at their first Group III title this weekend in South Plainfield.
”We’ve never won a state title in outdoor track,” Gould said. “We’ve done it in cross country and in indoor, but not outdoor. You have to have a lot of depth. We have a young team. We’ll look at how we stack up. Each one of our guys will go in focusing on what they’re capable of doing.”
The WW-P South boys finished just two points behind East Brunswick in the CJ IV meet. The Pirates also received some strong individual efforts from their distance runners.
”The kids gave it their all, we just came up a couple points short,” WW-P South coach Todd Smith said. “Sam (Macaluso) had an incredible meet. He broke the school record in the 800, the meet record in the 1600 and won the 3200. It was a good two days for him and for (Brian) Schoepfer.
”We did pretty well, but we also felt like we could have won. We had some kids come up big in some events. AJ Chaves was fourth in the 400, which was good for him and Dan Callahan scored points in the pole vault.”
Macaluso finished first in 1600, second in 800, and first in 3200, while Schoepfer was second in 1600, fourth in the 800, second in 3200. Max Margiotta was third in 3200, Alex Prieto third in the triple jump, Chavez finished fourth in the 400, and Callahan was sixth in the pole vault.
The Pirates went 1-2-3 in the 3200 with Macaluso and Schoepher each running three events in an effort to help the team try to win a CJ IV crown.
”We talked about it,” Smith said. “We wanted to see where we were after Friday night. We were fifth, but we were only down 10 points from first. We decided to roll the dice and have Sam run the 800 and then double with the two mile. He and Schoepfer had great meets.”
The Montgomery girls finished second to South Brunswick in CJ IV with Jillian Prentice leading the way with school-record performances in the 1600 and 3200.
”Prentice had a great meet,” Montgomery coach Jim Goodfriend said. “She ran fantastic. (Fiona) Paladino had a good meet. South Brunswick was really good. They had a terrific meet and we weren’t going to be able to beat them. Prentice broke the school record in both events. She had the best meet I have ever seen her have. She ran great.”
In addition to the two wins from Prentice, Paladino won the high jump, was fifth in the 100 hurdles, and sixth in the long jump. Laura Ng finished second in the pole vault, Lara Shegoski was third in the 1600 and third in the 3200, Addy Sonaike was third in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump, Erin Norris was third in the javelin, and Carlee Rosenthal was fifth in the javelin.
The Montgomery boys finished sixth in CJ IV and had a pair of individual winners as Rob Weimer won the high jump and Brandon Smith won the pole vault. Tyler Bobal was second in the pole vault and Robbie Robinson third in the 100.
The Princeton boys finished fourth in CJ III and had some strong individual efforts. Eric Shorter was second in the long jump and fifth in the high jump, Max Reid was third in the 400, Adjama Kambon was third in the 400 hurdles, Drew Reifenger was fifth in the shot put, Sean Pradham finished sixth in the 1600 and sixth in 3200, Zaid Smart was fourth in 3200, Gerhard Gengel was third in pole vault, and the 4×400 relay team was also third.
The WW-P North girls finished sixth in CJ III as Ryan Williams led the way with a win in the 100 hurdles. She was also sixth in the 100 meters. Christina LiPuma finished second in 400 hurdles, Emily Scott was fourth in the 3200, Marilyn Allen was fifth in 400 hurdles, and the Knights were second in the 4×400 relay.
The Princeton girls finished ninth in CJ III. Rebekka Voujolainen was second in pole vault and second in triple jump. Bryell Wheeler finished fourth in the 100 and fourth in the 200, while Chrissy Glover was fourth in the 400.
The WW-P South girls finished 10th in CJ IV as Caroline Kellner was second in the 3200 and sixth in the 1600. Emily Mauro was fifth in the 400, Ashleigh Delamos was fourth in the 100 hurdles, Paige Brown fourth in the high jump, and the Pirates were fifth in the 4×400 relay.