Paladino sets high jump mark
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
A week delay for weather only meant another week’s wait for nine Montgomery High School track and field athletes to move on in state competition.
Last weekend’s inclement weather pushed back the Central Jersey Group IV sectional one week, but it couldn’t stop the Cougars’ momentum.
Fiona Paladino won the girls high jump with her first clearance of 5-foot-8 this season Friday. She broke her own sectional record with the jump. The MHS senior also placed second in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.44 seconds, just two-hundredths of a second behind winner Kelly Berg of Freehold Township. Her big day helped the Cougars finish sixth in the team standings with 23½ points.
”She’s a pretty great athlete,” said MHS girls coach Tim Bartholomew. “Nothing she does surprises me. We were really happy she cleared 5-8. That was a goal this season. She’s been close a bunch of times, and finally got over it.
”She ran very well too,” he added. “It might have been her fastest time. She ran well. It was a photo finish. It was an impressive race. She didn’t get out as fast as she’d like to. But she came on and the last few hurdles, she made up ground and it was an exciting race.”
Another high jumper, Rob Weimer, enjoyed a big day for the boys. He placed third in the high jump on misses after soaring to a new school record of 6-foot-6. The Cougars senior is in his first year of high jumping indoors, and snapped a record that had stood since 1994. The Montgomery boys placed ninth with 12Ð points.
For the boys, Roland Lu was fifth in the 55-meter dash. Despite a slip at the beginning, he ran 6.66 seconds, just six-hundredths of a second out of second place, and he just missed out on the school record of 6.64.
Brandon Smith and Rob Heebner each cleared 12-feet, with Smith taking fourth and Heebner tying for sixth on misses. All four advance to the Group IV state meet that will be held on Friday at Toms River.
”Those were the four I thought could make out,” said Cougar boys coach Zoran Milich. “We did a real nice job. Will Joels just missed in the 400 meters. He also stumbled in the 55 meters. He was sick all week and just wasn’t at 100 percent. We were hoping he could possibly be the fifth kid. Overall, I’m very pleased. A lot of the kids had personal records. It’s all you can ask for at this point in the year.”
Four other girls will join Paladino at the Group IV state meet. Addie Sonaike was fifth in the 55 hurdles in 8.95 seconds to give the Cougars two qualifiers in the one event.
”She was ninth in the 55 (dash),” Bartholomew said. “She’ll go on in the hurdles, but she’s a spring athlete. They don’t have the jumps right now. Those are her strong suits.”
The Cougars also had two qualifiers in the pole vault. Julia Saltsman cleared 8-foot-6 for fifth in the pole vault. Erin Schiksnis was tied for sixth at 7-6.
”We had a freshman and sophomore both make it through,” Bartholomew said. “Julia is a freshman, who’s cleared 9-feet this season. She broke her wrist earlier in the year. She’s recovering from that, but it’s still painful for her to jump. Every time she clears, it’s impressive to me.”
Jillian Kelly was sixth in the 1,600 meters in 5:20.91 in a big breakthrough for the junior.
”She ran around 5:33 at our conference meet, then ran some 5:45s,” Bartholomew said. “Her best mile was 5:33, then she ran this 5:20 and got a PR by 13 seconds. I always knew she was a talented runner. She’s really ready for a good spring season. She was the surprise of the meet.”
Kelly gives the Cougars a new talent in the distance events to help make their team stronger all-around.
”It’s refreshing to have her,” Bartholomew said. “You lose Laura Shegosky and Jillian Prentice, and you think you might not see a sub-5:20 for a while, but then she runs 5:20. She’s obviously capable of it. She’s a second away.”
Against even stiffer competition at the state group meet, Kelly will get another crack at a sub-5:20. The Cougars are looking forward to their next chance to compete, with seniors like Paladino in their final scholastic indoor meets of their careers.
”She has the potential to go higher,” Bartholomew said of Paladino. “She cleared 5-10 outdoor. She had a couple good jumps at it (Saturday). It’s her goal going into spring.”
The winter weather has made sustaining any momentum in training hard for the state’s athletes. The Cougars are hoping that a consistent week of work will have them ready to send another nine onto the state.
”It’s been a difficult season in terms of being able to train,” Bartholomew said. “It’s hard to get out with the snow. What we’ve accomplished with what we’ve had, I’m happy with how the kids have done. We lost a lot of seniors. We’ve had Julia stepping up for Laura (Ng) and Jillian for Laura and Jillian. And we’re lucky to have Fiona and Addie.
”Anything can happen. It gets tougher and tougher obviously. The other ones got fifth and sixth places, so they’ll have to run their best race of the year to move on. But they can.”