ED GRANT'S WEEKLY REPORT

With nothing more to conquer in the scholastic ranks, New Jersey (and now National) champion 
Danielle Tauro of Southern Ocean begins her open career this weekend, running in the 100 at the 
USATF Juniors with hopes of qualifying for the world championships later this summer in Beijing.

		Tauro’s victory at the Nationals climaxed a season which has also seen her win the Millrose 
Mile at Madison Square Garden in February and the Penn Relays event in April at Franklin Field. 
All three victories came by comfortable margins and, in the final one, Tauro broke the state record 
set in the same race five years ago by Erin Donohuie of Haddonfield as well as the national junior 
class marks for both the mile and 1600 meters.

		It was not only what Tauro ran, 4:39.25, but also the way she did it. Most fast HS miles in the 
past have been run with fast first halves and slower second halves. Tauro reversed this in style, 
covering her first two laps in 2:24 and the last two in 2:15 with a closing 31-second 200 that most 
top boys would find hard to match. This bodes well for her debut this weekend.

		Danielle is already assured of one international appearance this summer as she has been 
invited to run in Puerto Rico early in July.

		The National meet saw three other New Jersey winners, Ben Massam of Chatham in the new 
5,000-meter run, Leslie Njoku of Jersey City’s McNair Academic in the 400-meter hurdles and Roxbury 
in the four-mile relay where the Gaels narrowly missed Suffern’s recently-set national mark with a 19:58.07.

		Massam’s win, in 14:48.73, climaxed a great season for the lanky senior who has spent most of 
the year chasing Craig Forys of Colts Neck, finishing second to him in both the all-group cross-country 
meet and the recent outdoor all-group 3200. (Ben didn’t finish second indoors because he missed the 
meet after a flu bout, which also probably kept him away from the indoor national 5K race; he ran instead 
the 2M at the Nike Invitational, but was obviously not yet ready for an all-out effort.)

		Njoku proved an able replacement for the 2005 400H winner, Krystal Cantey of Winslow Twp, 
who was sidelined by a leg injury during the state meet. She lowered her PR to 59.28 in the process 
and still has a year to improve on it. A 2:12-plus 800M runner indoors, Njoku won three events in the 
Group I state meet and could have taken a fourth if not for a prom date on sectional weekend. Her 
cousin, all-group 100 and 200 champ Ogechi Nwaneri of Chatham, was eighth in the 100 in 11.90 after 
an 11.75 heat and seventh in the 200 in 24.16. 

		The Roxbury girls finished off their record relay campaign in style, not only winning the four-mile 
race, but also placing fourth about 10 hours later in the distance medley with a school best of 11:42.96. 
Even more satisfaction came from the victory in that one over Suffern, the team that had beaten them 
three times earlier: at the indoor Easterns and Nationals and the Penn Relays. Their only disappointment 
was that Suffern chose the 3200R over the 4MR at Greensboro, a race which probably would have seen 
both go well under 19:50. Roxbury, with 2:12 800 freshman Ariann Neutts on the anchor leg, would have 
been hard to beat in that one.

		Forys finished a disappointing sixth in the mile at 4:11.30, his third setback in major races this 
year: first in the 2M at the Nike Invitational, then in the 3K race at Penn and finally in this one where 
the winner was the same boy who had beaten him at Landover, Michael Coe of Cabrillo, Calif.

		Shaquan Brown of Paterson Kennedy, who had missed the last two legs of the state meet with 
a leg injury, came back in top form in the 400H, placing second in 51.68. Both all-group 400-meter 
champs placed in the top six in their events, Tiffany Grant of Ocean Twp 4th in the girls’ race in 54.68 
and Charles Cox of Monmouth 6th in the boys’ event in 47.20.

		Morris Hills also finished off a great year when its 4MR team placed third in 17:34.43. And 
Ridgewood, which had been troubled all year with various ailments, put it all together for the first 
Time as it finished 5th in the DMR in 10:06.57. Old Bridge, got a 6th in the boys; 1600-meter relay 
with a season’s best of 3:14.62, finishing two places ahead of Willingboro, which had upset the 
Knights in the all-group race.

		There were several pleasant surprises as well. The Willingboro girls finished sixth in the SMR 
in a season-best 4:00.34, anchored by Brittnee Bynoe who has made a late comeback from an 
otherwise ordinary senior season. And Joceyn McRae of Millville, last year’s javelin leader, was 
fourth in the javelin throw at 141-0 after missing the entire New Jersey season.

      Camden’s all-group champs were sixth in the 1600-meter relay in 3:51.73. The Pope John girls, 
who look forward to a great 2006-07 campaign had a great weekend with a 9:12.43 for fifth in the 
3200R and a 12:05.83 in the DMR.

		Tauro’s win in the championship mile was matched by teammate Jillian Smith in the freshman 
race at 4:59.08, which leaves one to wonder what the Rams might run in the DMR at Penn next April. 
(Smith has run a 4:51+ 1600 this spring chasing Tauro.)

		Two boys with New Jersey heritage did well in the pole vault. Mike Morrison of Virginia’s 
Chesapeake Bay won the PV at 17-3 and Casey Roche of California’s St. Francis was fifth at 
16-3 1/4. Morrison---no relation to future Florida teammate Michael Morrison of Willingboro---is 
the grandnephew of longtime NJ coach Dave Faherty, while Roche is the son of former Rutgers 
pole vaulter Gene (Casey) Roche and his wife, Rutgers hurdler Debbie Deutsch, as well as the 
nephew of Olympic steeplechaser Mike Roche.  

Junior distance stars Danielle Tauro of Southern Regional and Craig Forys of Colts Neck gave 
their future national rivals something to think about with their performances at the New Jersey 
all-group championships last Thursday at South Plainfield.

		Tauro won the 1600-meter run for the third year in a row in 4:49.17, took the 800 from a strong 
field in 2:10.88 and wound up the evening with a 56-0 anchor leg that gave her team a totally 
unexpected fifth-place finish in the 1600-meter relay in 3:53.72. Forys set the only meet record 
of the evening in the 3200 at 8:56.16, running his final four laps in 4:17 and his last 600M in 1:29.5.

		The meet was delayed one day by heavy rains and was held in 60ish degree weather with 
occasional sprinkles, ideal of distance runners, but not for the sprint crew which had already been 
decimated by a series of injuries that kept a dozen top stars on the sidelines, among them indoor 
national 600-meter record holder Shaquan Brown of Paterson Kennedy and 2005 national 400-meter 
hurdle titlist Krystal Cantey of Winslow Twp.

		Brown, who intends to run the intermediate hurdles next Saturday in Greensboro, had to 
watch that event won by junior Emmanuel Mayers of Lakewood in 52.78 and a close 400-meter 
flat race which saw Charles Cox of Monmouth Regional upset Bryant McCombs of Old Bridge in 
47.10. In the girls 400 hurdles, Leslie Njoku of McNair Academic of Jersey City matched the meet 
record of 59.48.

		The depleted sprint ranks did post some outstanding marks, however. Leslie’s cousin, 
Ogechi Nwaneri of Chatham repeated as 100-meter champ in the girls’ 100 in 11.66 and also 
took the 200 in 23.96. She thus shares with Tauro the chance of winning an all-group title four 
years in a row, something that has been accomplished only by such past legendary figures as 
Joetta Clark (800)), Carol Lewis (LJ), Jodie Bilotta (3200) and Christine Engel (1600), who was 
on hand to watch Tauro’s runaway victory in her present role as coach at the University of San
Francisco.

		Tauro’s relay leg may have been her most impressive outing of the night. The 1600 was 
conceded to her before the race began. Her chief 800 rivals, freshman Ariann Neutts of Roxbury 
and Georgetown-bound Renee Tomlin of Ocean City, both usually front runners, allowed 
Danielle to take the lead from the gun and respectfully ran behind her through a 65+ opening 
400 which gave full rein to her devastating kick.

		But in the relay, Tauro was touched off about four yards ahead of the runner-up in the 
earlier 400-meter race, Symone O’Connor of Franklin. O’Connor passed Tauro on the backstretch, 
but Danielle came back to finish five or six yards to the good in a race won by Camden in 3:47.55. 

		The Roxbury girls, who, at Greensboro, will face the Suffern team which recently broke the 
national four-mile relay record had a stunning night. Jenn Ennis and Kris Stevens ran 1-2 in the 
3200-meter run in 10:31.93 and 10:37.78 ahead of indoor champ Ashley Higginson of Colts Neck. 
Neutts took the state frosh record away from Jillian Smith in the 800 at 2:12.08 as the Southern 
Ocean yearling saved herself for the 1600R after placing second to Tauro in the 1600 in 4:42.56. 
And Lauren Penney joined her four mates in the sub-5:00 1600 ranks, placing seventh in that 
race in 4:59.01.

		The Gaels’ didn’t do badly in the boys’ meet as well. Jason Apwah capped a great season 
with a 1:51.51 victory in the 800 and Doug Smith broke Bryan Spoonire’s state frosh 3200-meter 
mark as he finished fourth to Forys in 9:14.61.

		The 3200 got a great sendoff when Nicolai Naranjo of Montclair Kimberley Academy won the
opening section in 9:20.52, a time that would have won the event eight times in the past. But the 
pace of the seeded race seemed slow as leaders Ben Massam of Chatham and Jeff Perrella passed
the half mark around 9:38 with Forys a few yards back. But Craig took over soon after that and 
quickly distanced the field, winning by about 60 yards. Massam ran 9:07.28 and Perrella 9:08.16, 
with Smith coming from behind, just as he had indoors, to grab the fourth spot.

		Jamil Benjamin of Cumberland, a novice t the sport, won the boys’ 100-meter dash in 10.80 
after a bad start, just catching A.J. Bunton of West Deptford who later took the 200 from Cox in 
21.53. Benjamin had run 10.57 in his earlier trial, fastest of the season. He blamed his slow start 
in the final to “stage fright.” He had only taken up the sport in April. 

		The girls’ 100-meter hurdles went to indoor Nike 60-meter hurdle champ Nia Ali of Pleasantville 
in 13.78, while the boys’ event was a runaway for indoor state champ Will Brown of Palmyra in 14.13. 
Indoor national winner Cory Nelms of Neptune had false-stared in the sectional trials and settled for a 
fourth place in the 100 meters. 

		The field competitors seemed more troubled by the weather conditions than the runners. 
Performances were generally down, but there were some exceptions. Penn Relays high jump 
champ soared over the bar cleanly at 6-10, but took no further attempts due to the rain. Devon 
Purves of Haddonfield, who had missed the indoor meet due to injury, won the pole vault at 15-0. 
Josh Butler of Delsea, the indoor high jump winner (when Bond was playing basketball) exchanged 
that title for a triple jump victory at 48-0 over favored Kyle Lindsay of Paterson eastside. Favorites 
Steve D’Arcy of Hanover Park in the shot put and Jamie Figueroa of Old Bridge in the discus had 
their best marks of the season at 58-8 3/4 and 182-5, as did Steven Pierce of Ridgewood, whose 
surprise win in the javelin came on his final effort at 202-0.

		The girls’ winners included four heavy favorites in their events: indoor champ Natalie Gengel 
of Princeton in the pole vault at 12-3, Celeste Holder of Parsippany in the long jump at 18-11 1/2, 
Deanne Hahn of Lakewood at 43-10 in the shot put and Kim Warren of Atlantic City at 138-10 in 
the discus. Anna Cook of Florence topped a closely-matched high jump field on fewer misses 
at 5-6 and Julie Cohan of Northern Highlands upset Indira Morton at 129-6 in the javelin.
	
		Perhaps the most surprised winners of the meet were the Willingboro 1600-meter relay 
runners who broke 3:20 for the first time, defeating Vineland in 3:18.50. Favored Old Bridge was 
third, minus its usual leadoff man, Jeff St. Florant, and season leader Irvington scratched because 
of a conflict with its prom.

      

	New Jersey’s two outstanding distance runners, Danielle Tauro of Southern Ocean and 
Craig Forys of Colts Neck dominated a sometimes rain-drenched group champions last 
weekend, leaving much anticipation about their plans for this Wednesday’s all-group meet 
at South Plainfield. 

		Tauro escaped most of the rain in the Group I, II and IV meet at Egg Harbor where she 
won the IV 1600 on Friday in 4:48.40 and came back the next day to take the 800 in a personal 
best of 2:09.54. Forys, however, has to dodge the drops as he won the Gr. III 1600 at South Plainfield 
in 4:15.58 and the 3200 in 9:14.85. In both cases, it was not what Forys ran that caused eyebrows 
to raise, but the way he did it. His 800 splits in the 1600 were 2:14 and 2:01; in the 3200, 4:45 and 4:29.

		Tauro was followed over the line by freshman teammate Jillian Smith who, in the process, set 
a pair of state class record, 4:51.48 and 2:12.16. (Tauro had held the 1600 mark; Smith herself had 
broken Giselle Harris’ 23-year-old record 800 record earlier this season.)

		These two 1-2 finishes put Southern Ocean right into the team picture and the Rams would 
probably have won had Tauro entered the 3200 where a fifth-place finish would have done the trick. 
But it had been decided months ago that she would run only the 1600 and 800 individually and come 
back in the 1600-meter relay where she anchored a sixth-place finish at 3:55.77 with a 57-second leg.

      This gave Jackson, which has had the state’s best all-around team for the last five years, its first 
outdoor state title. The hero of the victory was Nicole Castronuova with a pair of seconds in the sprints 
at 12.37 and 24.88 and a third in the 400 in 57.44, her 22 points exactly matching her contribution a 
week earlier in the sectional meet.

      Two other girls’ battles were equally close. Wilson was trailing by eight and a half points in Gr. III 
with only the 1600R left, but pulled out a 3:53.75 win over neighbor Camden while defending Hopewell 
Valley fell two-tenths of a second short of gaining the fifth place which would have given it a repeat victory. 
In gr. II< Celeste Holder carried Parsippany to victory, 36-33, over Rahway, winning the 400 in 56.50 and 
the long jump at 18-5 1/2, placing second in the triple jump and bringing her team from nowhere to third 
place for the winning points in the 1600R. Lashonda Carter and Andrea Butler scored all of Rahway’s 
points, but a bruised heel forced Lashonda to scratch from the high jump, an event in which she won 
the indoor all-group title. 
.
		The other victories wre a lot easier. Pascack Hills got 16 points from Julie Haledjian in the SP 
and DT and 14 from Kim DeLoreto in the 800 and 1600 as it defeated favored Palmyra and Butler in 
Gr. I, 61-43. The Parochial divisions were, as expected, no contest at all with Pingry taking a sixth 
straight B title, 117-67, from Mater Dei and Pope John, the state’s second best all-around team, its 
first A crown (it won seven straight B titles from 1984 to 1990), 129-64 over defending Bishop Eustace.
 
		Old Bridge ran to form as it defended it boys’ Gr. IV title, 77-39, over Ridgewood with Bryant 
McCombs doubling the 200 and 400 in 21.80 and 48.36 and anchoring a 3:19.60 relay victory. Jamaar 
Figueroa weight in with 16 points in the SP and DT, but not the way it was planned. He finished only 
3rd in the discus, an event in which he leads the state this spring, but won the shot put with a PR of 
55-9 1/2. 

		Monmouth also had some detours on its way to its first state title since 1980 (when computer 
maven Ed Scullion was the coach). As a result, Delsea, with Josh Butler and Will Washington scoring 
35 between them in the hurdles and jumps, held the lead most of the way, only to have Monmouth 
strike back in the last two events, placing second in the 1600R in 3:25.15 to get within five four points 
and then having Andrew Brown win the PV with a PR of 14-4. 

		Bridgeton ended a three-year reign by Somerville in Gr. II, defeating Indian Hills, 66-46, with Aaron 
Holden and Darnell Lamar sweeping the hurdles in 14.41 and 54.46 and Joe Bunton taking the HJ at 6-6.
 And Metuchen took Gr. I, 44-34, from Pennsville with Kyle Edmonds scoring 16 points in the hurdles and 
running the anchor leg in a 1600R which broke a 34-34 tie.
		Don Bosco won its first Parochial A title in 45 years, 76-48, over Msgr. Donovan, winning only the 
1600R, but scoring in eight other events with a 15-point bag in the pole vault, The Parochial B battle was 
close all the way with Mater Dei outlasting DePaul, 77 1/2-72, thanks to a strong weight contribution led 
by SP winner Ryan Lino.

		The meet had only one triple winner, Leslie Njoku of McNair Academic in girls’ Gr. I and she could 
have had a fourth for the asking in the 400, but for leaving early on Friday for a prom date. She won the 200 
in 25.39, the 800 in 2:14.08 and the 400H in a record 1:01.18, best time of the weekend. She might also 
have won the 100-meter hurdles, but the group time schedule makes an 800/100H double almost impossible.

		Now for a look at the all-group events.

BOYS

		100M: Jamil Benjamin of Cumberland, the Gr. III champ, appears the class of the field in this one. he ran 
11.61 in the trials on Friday and came back with a 10.71 in the finals, running in a downpour. The other winners 
were Bob Darby of Pennsauken in Gr. IV and A.J. Bunton of West Deptford in Gr. II, both at 10.85, frosh Bryant 
Fitzgerald of Highland Park in Gr. I at 11.00, Maurice Anderson of Holy Cross in PA at 11.10 and Donald Lee 
of St. Mary’s, Rutherford in PB at 11.17.

		200M: The question here is always who will run the race as many sprinters scratch to run the 1600R. 
McCombs, the indoor champ, was the fastest group winner at 21.80. Rashad White was an upset victor in 
III at 21.97 over Paul Fay of Central Ocean and Charles Cox of Monmouth, Bunton doubled back in II at 
21.87, Orion Woodard of Pompton Lakes took I and Garrett Ellis of Union catholic PA, both at 22.43 and 
Lee also doubled at 22.44.

		400M: Cox was the fastest group winner in III at 47.73 with McCombs running 48.36 and Garrett Kroner 
of Indian Hills hitting 48.46 in II. A side issue here will be the battle of the two freshman winners, Bryant 
Fitzgerald of Highland Park in Gr. I at 49.35 and Clayton Parros of Seton Hall in PA at 49.10. They should 
meet for the first time in the next-to-last section. Damon Markeson of St. Mary’s rounded out the group 
winners at 51.98.

		800M: This should be one heck of a race with Jason Apwah of Roxbury the favorite off his several recent 
sub-1:54 victories, including a 1:53.95 in Gr. IV. But he will get plenty of competition from Gr. III champ Chris 
Behre of Mt. Olive and runner-up Tom Friscia of Red Bank, the indoor champ, who ran 1:55.06 and 1:55.83., 
sophomore Maxwell Bruno of Indian Hills, who took Gr. II in 1:54.39, Ryan Malloy of Bound Brook, the Gr. I 
champ at 1:56.25, and Gigi Gibilisco of Notre Dame, the PA victor at 1:56.49. Nick Miehe of DePaul, better 
known as a 1600M man, won PB in 2:00.18.

		1600M: This race would seem to be Forys for the asking and, since he plans to run the 2M in 
Greensboro, he almost certainly will run it (and maybe the 3200 as well). His potential competitors include 
cross-country rivals Ben Massam of Chatham, who won Gr. II in 4:17.14, and Jeff Perrella of Westfield, 
who won IV in 4:18.66, and PA champ Anthony LaMastro of Pope John who won a slow-paced race in 
4:22.03. Parochial B winner Andrew Hanko of Trinity Christian (at4:22.91 with a 2:03 last 800) is like to 
choose the 3200, as is Gr. I champ James Bulnicky of Maple Shade who scored his unprecedented 
second straight distance double.

		3200M: Forys, Perrella (9:18.41 in IV) and Massam (9:14.55 in II) seem to outclass the field here, 
but Chris Horel of CBA and Hanko had impressive wins in the Parochial divisions at 9:24.29 and 9:28.63. 
Given the right kind of weather, it could go below 9:10.

		HH: A repeat of the close indoor duel between Cory Nelms of Neptune and Will Brown of Palmyra 
disappeared when Cory false-started in the sectional trials, Brown set a Gr. I record of 14.18, but Randy 
James of Irvington shaded that with his 14.15 in Gr. IV. Kevin Gauntt gave Seneca its first group winner 
in III at 14.55 and Aaron Holden became Bridgeton’s umpteenth champ in II at 14.41.Justin Chukumba 
of Notre Dame took PA in 15:05 and Rodney Oscar of Immaculate Conception repeated in B at15.27, 
both running in the rain.

		IH: With Shaquan Brown out of this event, the field is wide open as the winning group times would 
indicate. Tykeen Fulton of Trenton took IV in 53.87, Will Washington of Delsea II in 53.22 with Ray Davis 
of Monnmouth at 53.38, Darnell Lamar of Bridgeton, as already noted, ran 54.46 in II and Brown began 
his  double in 53.71. Chukumba also doubled in 55.41 and Matt Ratajcak of DePaul won PB in 57.94.

		HJ: The elusive 7-footer is still elusive though Justin Oliver of Pennsauken won Gr. IV at 6-10 with 
Marshall Akins of Egg Harbor at 6-8 and indoor champ Josh Butler cleared 6-8 in the rain to defeat 
defending outdoor champ Justin Frick of Freehold Boro in III. There were a slew of jumpers over 6-6, 
including Gr. II winner Joe Bunton. The other titles went rather cheap, Mark Jones of Lindenwold in I 
and Rick Simnor of PA at 6-2 and Greg Gillespie of DePaul in PB at 6-0, the last two also in the rain 
or off a very wet runway.

		PV: Devon Purves of Haddonfield was a foot better than the rest as he won Gr. II from soph Greg 
Stripe of Mahwah and Matt Mancini of Cinnaminson at 15-5. Brown, as noted, won III at 14-4, Mike 
Salera of Washington Twp won IV on misses from two rivals at 14-0, Eric Hutchinson of Pennsville took 
I at 13-0, Chris Favalaro was over 13-6 again for St. John Vianney in PA and Dan Yablonsky won PV at 9-6.

		LJ: Only five boys hit 22-0 or better including Gr. IV winner Hanif Kendrick of Franklin at 22-9 1/4 
and Gr. III champ Alex Bowers of Central Ocean at 22-1 1/2. Kyle Hayes of Pt. Pleasant Boro won II at 
21-1 1/2, Brandon Bowers of Boonton took I at 20-7 1/4, and the Parochial titles went to Nick Crosta of 
Msgr. Donovan at 21-7 3/4 and Brandon Bullock of Montclair Kimberley at 19-10 1/2.

		TJ: Kyle Lindsey of Paterson Eastside, the indoor leader who has been coming back gradually 
from an injury, really exploded one here, winning Gr. IV at a MR of 48-2 1/2. Gr. III had four boys within 
five inches of each other with Ted Lesher of Northern Highlands winning at 46-1. Corey Rosenbaum of 
Iselin also had a record in gr. II at 45-2 3/4 and Antonio Bundy of Penns Grove took Gr. I at 44-3. Both
Parochial winners were also past 44-0, Greg Francois of Holy Cross at 45-6 3/4 in A and Malik Brown 
of Immaculate Conception with a record 44-3 1/4 in B.

		SP: Figueroa was not the only discus thrower to win a title in this event. Vinnie Elardo of Lacey 
finished only fifth in his specialty, but won the SP in Gr. III from soph Mike Alleman of Scotch Plains at 
56-1. Steve D’Arcy of Hanover Park took back the state lead at 58-4 in Gr. II, Geoff Goidell of Pascack 
Hills had the final word in his season-long battle with Jeff Seidel of Hasbrouck Heights in I at 55-4 3/4, 
Eric Plummer of St. Joseph, Metuchen, won PA with a sub-par 50-9 and Lino took PB for Mater Dei 
at 46-6 1/2.

		DT: George Abyad of Passaic Valley topped the weekend in Gr. III at 170-1 over Chris Pantale 
of Wayne Valley, who had the nest best mark of 166-6, followed by Will Hendrix of Hamilton at 165-1. 
Soph Pat Park won IV at 163-5, James Stathopoulos of Mahwah took II at 153-7 and John Clark of 
Pennsville won Gr. I at 161-11. The Parochial titles went to Mark VanOrden of Delbarton at 152-7 
and Steve Hyatt of Immaculate Conception at 138-4.

		JT: Sean Biehn of Burlington, who had topped 200-0 at the sectionals, won his third straight in 
Gr. I at 199-11, with Penn Relays champ Jeremy Pennino of Watchung Hills taking Gr. IV at 195-6. 
Football star Joe Martinek won in II at 181-4 and Gary Johnson of Hamilton repeated in III at 175-7. 
John Zimmatore of Bishop Eustace defeated state leader Mark Paski of Delbarton in PA at186-8 and 
Mike Deatherage of Montclair Kimberley took PB  at 154-9.

		1600R: Of course, relay performances at the group meet give little clue as to what may happen in 
the all-group meet where the event takes front (or last) and center. But Old Bridge will be heard to beat as 
chief rival Irvington is one man down following Jaymark Bailey’s injury in the sectional race. Winslow Twp, 
chasing Old Bridge, had the next fastest time last weekend at 3:20.41 with Vineland at 3:21.81. Willingboro 
won Gr. III at 3:24.55 with Wilson being d/qed and thus out of the AG race. Bridgeton took II at 3:23.40, 
Metuchen won I at 3:24.09, while Don Bosco and Mater Dei were the Parochial champs at 3:25.55 and
3:38.42. Seton Hall, which has run near 3:20 this year, did not qualify.   

GIRLS

		100M: This could have been a rematch of the first five finishers from last year’s race, won by 
Ogechi Nwaneri, then at Columbia. But second-place Shavon Greaves of Lakewood was sick on the 
first day of the sectionals and couldn’t run, while fifth-place Racquel Vassell of East Orange pulled up 
in the NJ 2 Gr. IV race. This leaves Nwaneri, who won Gr. II in 10.96, third-place Carter who was second 
in that one at 12.02, and fourth-place Georgina Nembhard of Ocean Twp who won Gr. III at 11.91 from 
frosh ace Audrey Wilson of Deptford. Porshe Giddings of East Orange stepped in for Vassell---with 
whom East Orange would have walked away with team honors---to win Gr. IV in 12.11. Kim Moody of 
Woodbury took Gr. I at 12.27, Morgan Dennis of Holy Cross PA at 12.53 and Kathryn Stanley of Pingry 
repeated in PB at 12.56.

		200M: There were two big races here, one in Gr. III where Nembhard defeated Greaves in 24.24 
and the other in Gr. II where Nwaneri broke Amandi Rhett’s record by a hundredth of a second in 24.39, 
defeating Nia Ali of Pleasantville. Symone O’Connor of Franklin completed a double in IV at 24.63, 
Njoku took I in 25.39, Jen Seniszyn of Union Catholic won PA in 26.33 and Stanley completed her 
double in PB at 26.07.

		 400M This one will have three of last year’s top six, but missing will be indoor champ Kristen 
Mahon of Notre Dame who couldn’t make it back from a mid-season injury. Defending AG champ 
Tiffany Grant of Ocean Twp won III again in 55.41. O’Connor took IV in 55.47, Holder, as noted, 
scored in II, Regeana Marigna of Palmyra took I at 58.88. Alex Elkas of Holy Angels won PA in 59.01 
and Kesi Irvin of Kent Place PB in 59,37, 69 years after great-uncle Montre had tripled the Gr., III 
weights with a state JT record of 192-8.

		800M: This could be the most competitive race of the entire meet even if Tauro runs just the 1600. 
The field would include the four girls who trailed her in Gr. IV, all undr 2:13, lef by teammate Smith, as 
well as Libby Bliss of Princeton, who upset Gr. III defender Renee Tomlin of Ocean City in 2:11.78, 
Tomlin herself, aching the revenge, Njoku, who ran 2:12+ indoors, and Gr. II champ Maggie Lupinski 
of Haddonfield, who ran 2:16.67.Pope John had a 1-2 finish in PA from Lauren Bariexca (2:17.81) and 
Alex Bush and Erin Toner took B in 2:22.90.

		1600M: No less than a dozen girls broke 5:00 in the Gr. IV and III races, led, of course, by Tauro. 
Tomlin led from start to finish in III, just nosing out Kesley Ramsey of Ramapo in 4:56.34. Lara Heigis 
of Pope John ran 5:04.46 in PB with Elizabeth Campbell of Mt. St. Mary’s right behind her and frosh 
Marie Walsh of Mater Dei had a 5:09.96 in PB. Lindsay Ritchings of Pt. Pleasant Beach took I in 5:05.,55 
and Allison Tetreault of Cinnaminson won II in 5:14.34.

		3200M: The big race here was in Gr. III, won by Ashley Higginson of Colts Neck from Megan 
Fitzpatrick of Hopewell Valley in 10:42.19 with the first seven under 11:00. Jenn Ennis of Roxbury was 
faster in IV at 10:40.74, but only two girls behind her broke the 11:00, standard. Alexis Weiner of Caldwell 
topped Nicole Briggs of Haddon heights in 11:13.87 in II, Amy VanAlstine of Midland Park repeated in I at 
11:12.38, Heigis completed her double in 11:11.60 and Walsh did likewise in B at 11:25.36.

		100H: Another corking race shapes up here after indoor champ Na Ali won Gr. II in a record 11.95 
and Ashley Adams of Plainfield took IV in 14.01. The others are well behind that with Janee Sharoer of 
Wilson taking III in 14.73, Lailah Pratt joining the long family list of state champs in Gr. I at 15.97, Annie 
Taft of Bishop Eustace repeating in PA at 14.87 and Kathy Gibson doing the same in PB at 15.81. 

		400H: With Krystal Cantey absent, this one looks like a four-way affair among Njoku, Gr. III champ 
Shaquanda Meylor of Wilson (1:02.16) and her runner-up, soph Josefine Kvist of Ridge, who ran 1:02.51 
and Rolanda Bruce of East Orange, the Gr. IV champ at 1:02.34. Unfortunately, the late arrival of Wilson 
on Friday resulted in Meylor and Kvist running separate sections; a head-to-head meeting would probably 
have produced faster times for both. Alex Rosenberger of Ramsey took II in 1:04.00 and the Parochial 
races went to Laura Loechner of Pope John in 1:05.41 and Marissa Stock of Pingry in 1:07.76.

		HJ: No one bettered 5-4 at the sectionals, the wet South Plainfield runway precluding better marks. 
Sammy Howell of WW Plainsboro South was an upset winner in Gr. IV at 5-4, Lisa Shepherd of Oakcrets 
took III at 5-2, Laura Chance of Bridgeton defeated defending AG champ Briana Gray of Haddon Heights 
in II at 5-2, Anna Cook of Florence matched her indoor title in I at 5-4, Tyler Teaton of Immaculate Heart 
Academy took Parochial A on misses from Priscilla Frederick of Paul VI and Kaity Eppinger of Union 
Catholic at 5-4 and Megan Hiller of St. Rose added the PB HJ to her PV crown at 4-10.

		PV: Indoor AG champ Natalie Gengel of Princeton is the obvious pick here though the conditions at 
South Plainfield limited her winning Gr. III effort to 11-0. Cassie Wong of Ridgewood topped that with 11-6 
in Gr, IV, Ashley Acquilante of Manasquan won Gr. II on misses at 10-6, Jen Holly gave Barnegat its first 
state champ in I at 9-0, Megan Mahon became a second generation champ in the event with a 10-2 
clearance in POA and Hiller repeated in Parochial B at a record 9-7.

		LJ: Marks in this event, as with the boys, were subpar all the way, Holder and Gr. IV champ 
Sheniqua Jones of Passaic (18-2 1/4) being the only ones to top 18-0. Of the other 19-0footers, Asia 
Washington of Piscataway skipped Gr. IV due to a prom date and Lashonda Carter was hampered by 
the heel injury that took her out of the HJ. Brittany Clybourn of Oakcrest won III at 17-4, Camille 
Dickerson of Salem took I at 16-6 1/4, Erin Vanderhoof of Notre Dame (another second generation 
champ) repeated in PA at 17-6 and Valerie LaBanca of St. Rose won PB at 15-7.

		TJ: A great battle in Gr. IV even with Consandria Walker of Hackensack shelved by a late injury. 
Steohanie McIntyre of South Brunswick defeated Cora Dayon of Trenton at a record 39-7 3/4 with the 
first five over 37-0. Donna Alexander took III at 37-5, Alyssa Maier of River Dell topped Holder in II at 
37-7 1/2. Cary Planker of Pascack Hills won I at 35-6, Hannah Rogers of Bishop Eustace PA at 34-7 
and Amy Birkenstock of Pingry PB at 32-9 1/4.

		SP: Soph DeAnne Han of Lakewood left little doubt of her command in this event with a 45-8 1/4 
win in Gr. III. The At0lantic City pair of Kim Warren and indoor AG champ Mercedes Hicks went 1-2 in 
IV, Warren with a personal best of 44-8, Shamira Rothmiller of Glassboro also PRed with her 42-5 in 
Gr. II, Pat Tarpley of Paulsboro won Gr. I at 37-1/2, Stephanie Scaramella of Bishop Eustace was 
also at her best with a 41-9 1/4 in Parochial A and Tiffany Johnson of Immaculate Conceptio hit 34-4 3/4 
in PB.

		DT: Warren completed her double with a 138-1 win in Gr. IV with Jen Frank of Delsea taking Gr. III 
in 132-7, both repeat victories. Rothmiller also got double in II at 118-11, Jackie Philbin of Boonton won 
Gr. I at 120-9, Scaramella joined the doublers in PA at 104-4 and Danielle Conroy gave Sacred Heart, 
Vineland, a rare state title in PB at 105-6. 

		JT: Indira Morton of South Brunswick and Jaclyn Wypler of Ridgewood had big PRs as they 
went 1-2 in Gr. IV at 139-4 and 135-7. Melinda Levendusky of Butler was the only other one over 
130-0, taking Gr. I at 130-4. Laura Champignon of High Point won III over a soggy runway at 121-6, 
Valerie Carney of Raritan won II at 127-6, Brianna Brennan of Holy Cross took PA at 105-7 and 
Angela Christina of Mater Dei PB at 98-1.
		1600R: Piscataway got what it needed a week earlier when it won Gr. IV from Old Bridge, 
Franklin and East Orange in 3:51.31, but Washington’s missing points in the 400 and LJ took the 
Chiefs out of the team race. Wilson’s close win in III was also second best of the day at 3:53.75. 
Rumson won Gr. II in 4:01.67, Palmyra took I in 4:05.18, Pope John had a record 4:01.78 in PA 
and Pingry topped off its rout with a 4:11.51 in PB. 




As New Jersey track and field athletes prepared for the annual three-week 
search for statewide honors, the state was still buzzing over the performance of 
the Roxbury distance runners in a series of meets dating back to the Penn Relays 
where they finished second to Suffern. 
 
		The Gaels got a kind of revenge for that one when they won the DMR last Monday 
at the East Coast Relays in Morrristown, easily defeating a watered-down Suffern 
team with a meet record of 11:50.03. The New York team took Kara McKenna off the 
anchor leg, moving up Shelby Greaney, and had her run last on a SMR team which 
was also beaten, in this case by a 2:10.8 anchor 800 from Asia Washington of 
Piscataway. 
 
		The Roxbury string began on Penn Relay weekend when frosh Ariann Neutts 
anchored a 9:22.76 3200M meet record at the Randolph Relays. The next Saturday, 
at the county relays, they set a state record in the 6400MR at 20:18.94 and also 
won the DMR in 12:04.81 and a meet record 9:16.40 in the 3200R, the fastest such 
one-meet triple in state history. 
 
		The next week, the girls went into individual action at the Iron Hills 
Conference meet. Jenn Ennis had a pair of meet records in 1-2-3 finishes in the 
1600 and 3200 at 4:57.47 and 10:50.09, Neutts took the 800 in 2:13.82, but the 
64 points scored in the three events wasn’t enough to counter the domination of 
the sprints by East Orange which got 88 individual points plus a relay win from 
Racquel Vassell, Porsche Giddings and Rolana Bruce. (This rivalry will skip the 
sectionals, but be renewed in the Gr. IV meet the following weekend in Egg 
Harbor.) 
 
		But all this was merely a warmup for what happened in the 1600M at the Morris 
County meet on May 18 at Morristown where Ennis led a four-girl parade with 
times that added up to under 20:00. Three went under 5:00, Jenn at 4:56.66, 
Neutts at 4:58.68 and Kristen Stevens at 4:59.39, the first time this has 
happened in New Jersey. Ennis went on to take the 3200 from Stevens the next day 
in a record 10.47.66 and finish 2nd in the 800 to Neutts who also broke the MR 
at 2:13.33. 
 
		At the East Coast Relays, in chilly and blustery weather, Stevens gave Roxbury 
a big lead with her opening 3:38 1200 leg and Ennis brought the team home 125 
yards ahead of Colts Neck, one of its potential rivals at Penn next year. The 
Gaels also won the 3200R in 9:16.84 with Ennis leading off and Neutts anchoring. 
(they are still missing soph Ashley Cromartie who will be the 800 leg next year 
at Penn.) 
 
		But the team to watch in that race next year may be Southern Ocean Regional 
which had its own breakthrough in the Shore Conference meet last Saturday. A 
week earlier, at the Ocean County meet, Danielle Tauro and freshman Jillian 
Smith had run 1-2 in the 800 with the Penn Relay mile champ setting a meet 
record of 2:10.34 and her young teammate running 2:12.52. (Tauro also coasted to 
a 5:04.06 1600 win in that meet.). But at the Shore Conference, Tauro had a MR 
4:51.81 in the 1600 and Smith ran second, ahead of indoor all-group champ Amanda 
Marino of Jackson, in 4:54.58. (Tauro also defeated Marino in the 3200 in 
10:50.88 and won the 800 in 2:15.17.) Southern gave it a good run for the team 
title, but finally succumbed to Jackson’s all-around strength. 
 
		The state’s various female all-round stars all had big days on in their 
various conference or county meets. Nia Ali of Pleasantville won four in 
Atlantic County, the sprints in 12.2 and 25.0, the 100H in 14.0 and the LJ at 
17-2. Krystal Cantey of Winslow Twp also ran 25.0 in the 200 at the Camden 
County meet, swept the hurdles in 25.0 and 1:00.2 and won the flat 400 in 55.2. 
(Annie Taft of Bishop Eustace barely missed taking four in the B division, 
losing the TJ, a new event for her, by one inch after winning both hurdles and 
the LJ.) Leslie Njoku of McNair Academic picked the 200 (25.90, 500 (56.8), 100H 
(15.0) and LJ (16-1 1/2) at the Jersey City meet. Lashonda Carter of  Rahway got 
four golds at the Mountain Valley Conference relays, showing new talents in the 
horizontal jumps and 800, then won the, HJ, LJ (19-4 3/4), TJ (a MR 37-3 1/3) 
and 100H in the MVC meet itself with records in the last three and a 
record-match (her own) of 5-6 in the HJ. (She missed another in th 
e Union County meet only because of a time conflict between the 400 and HJ; 
Rahway couldn’t quite catch Scotch Plains in that one, but will be a team to 
watch in Gr. II with Carter and soph Andrea Butler who doubled the Union County 
sprints. 
 
		Other teams which emerged as state group favorites from all this action were 
defending Pingry, which doubled the Colonia Hills Conference and New Jersey Prep 
A titles, led by sprinter Kate Stanley and distance star Erin Toner, in 
parochial B and Pope John , which won big in the Sussex County Relays and county 
championships, in Par0chial A. 
 
		Old Bridge confirmed its place as the state’s No. 1 boys team with an 
overwhelming win in the Greater Middlesex Conference meet, which featured a 
torrid 400 duel between teammates (and best friends) Bryant McComb and Allen 
Lukenheimer. It went down to the wire with McComb winning by .02 in 47.96. The 
Knights came at their rivals from all angles, scoring 134 1/2 points. 
 
		McComb’s 400 rival, Shaquan Brown of Paterson Kennedy, who has run 47+ in a 
duel meet, continued to down-size the event in open competition. At the Bernards 
Invitational on May 6, he won the 100 in a hand-timed 10.4 and came from nowhere 
in the last 100M to win the IH from Ben Copeland of Montgomery in 53.3. He then 
ran almost identical times for that event at the NNJIL and Passaic County meets, 
also winning the 200 in 21.4 and the 800 in 1:59.1 in the former. He did run the 
400 in the county meet, but coasted to a 50.2 victory after doubling the sprints 
in 10.7 and 21.6. The two will be in separate sections this week but their 
long-awaited meeting should take place in Gr. IV, though who would bet on it 
after what happened last year. 
 
		No boy won four individual events in the past two week, by Kyle Rowbotham of 
Scotch Plains came closest as he won the two hurdles and TJ at the Watchung 
Conference meet, picking up his fourth gold in the 1600R. He also tripled those 
events at the Union County meet, but was touched off too far back to do better 
than sixth in the relay there. 
 
		Anthony LaMastro also had a busy and successful pre-state season leading the 
Lions to close wins over Vernon in the two Sussex meets. After his 4:16.80 mile 
at {Penn, Anthony began to explore other events at the county relays, anchoring 
the 1600, 3200 and SMR teams, then doubled the 800 and 1600 and ran on the relay 
at the county festival. 
 
		A new star was born at the Iron Hills meet when Clayton Parrios of Seton Hall 
won the 400 in 50.05. He lost a close one to soph Brian Bucknor of St. 
Benedict’s at the Prep A meet, but came back to take the Essex County in 49.19, 
breaking teammate Pat Blackie’s freshman state record. Prep meet was quite a 
battle with St. Benedict’s, minus ailing distance star Brandon Jarrett, topped 
Lawrenceville and Seton Hall, 140-136-118. 
 
		There was another hot team race at the massive Bergen County meet where Gr. 
III contender Northern Highlands defeated Ridgewood and Parochial A favorite Don 
Bosco for the A title, 119-113-103. The Highlanders’ Nik Batarags upset Byron 
Williams in the 800 in 1:56.4 and Kwame Collins doubled the horizontal jumps at 
22-7 and 45-2 with teammate Ted Lesher picking up two 2nds and 2 3rds, split 
between the jumps and the hurdles. 
 
		Another state team contender to come out of this one was B winner Indian Hills 
which swept the flat running races, Garrett Kroner tripling the sprints in 10.9, 
218 and a MR 48.9 and soph Maxwell Bruno the distances in a MR 1:55.9, 4:29.8 
and 9:43.2. The Braves will go against Rahway’s Indians, who bolster their 
running aces, Watson Estelan and Paul Jones Burden with the weight points of 
Andre Neblett, and indoor champ Morris Hills which easily doubled in the Iron 
Hills and Morris County meets but may lack the up-front punch that wins outdoor 
group titles. 
 
		West Orange doubled the Northern Hill an Essex County meets thanks to its 
jumping strength which gave it 74 points in the first meet and 70 in the latter, 
including the last six in the pole vault which pulled the Mountaineers past 
Irvington. 
		The Camptowners had a stretch comparable to that of the Roxbury girls 
following their Penn disaster. In the Essex County Relays, they had one of the 
best four-way sprint/hurdle performances ever, 41.8 in the 400, 1:27.8 in the 
800, 3:18.2 in the 1600 and 59.4 in the SHR. Individually, Randy James won the 
Watchung Conference in 14.6, then really broke loose in the Essex County meet, 
taking the 100 in 11.25 against a stiff wind and the HH in 14.24. They wound up 
doubling the 400 and 800 at the East Coast Relays in 43.69 and 1:28.09, the 
latter in simply awful sprint conditions. 
 
		Some other items of interest were a pair of 1:53+ 800 wins by Jason Apwah of 
Roxbury at the Iron Hills and Morris County meets, a 202-2 JT by Mark Paski of 
Delbarton at the Morris affair, some hot sprinting at the South Jersey open 
meets where newcomer Jamil Benjamin of Cumberland won the boys’ 100 in 10.78 and 
A.J. Bunton of West Deptford the 200 in 21.78 at the boys’ meet while Shavon 
Greaves of Lakewood too the 100 from frosh star Audrey Wilson of Deptford in 
11.68 and Cantey the 200 in 24.21, a 46-2 SP by soph DeAnne Hahn of Lakewood in 
the Lions Invitational. a 146-0 DT by Kim Warren of Atlantic City in her county 
meet and a 19-0 LJ win for Asia Washington at Bernards (she will miss the event 
this weekend because of her school prom). 
 


As expected, it was the individual events that gave New Jersey a quite satisfactory weekend at the 
sun-drenched 112th annual Penn Relays with Danielle Tauro of Southern Ocean and Ashley Higginson 
of Colts Neck providing an unprecedented sweep of the girls’ distance events and Devon Bond of 
Trenton and Jeremy Pannino of Watchung Hills scoring in the boys; high jump and javelin throw, 
respectively.

For Tauro, it was the second leg on a hoped-for hat trick which will culminate at the outdoor Nationals. 
And, like her initial win at the Millrose Games in February, it came with plenty to spare as she finished 
20 yardsd ahead of Bridget Franek of Crestwood, Ohio, in 4:48.51. It was, to put it mildly, a cakewalk 
for the talented junior who covered her final lap in 68 seconds.

		Nor did this complete Danielle’s weekend exploits. On Saturday, she won the 800M at the Lions 
Invitational in Middletown in 2:15.5 and also anchored a 4:07.0 victory for her school in the 1600R.

		Higginson’s win came just as easily. The two-time indoor all-group 3200-meter champion made 
her move with a couple of laps to go and just gradually moved away from the field for another 20-yard 
win over Franek’s Crestwood teammate, Cassandra Schenck in 9:42.37, to give New Jersey its first win 
in the event since Monal Chokshi of Bridgewater scored in 1991.

		But Colts Neck’s hopes of sweeping the 3K races died the next day when Matt Centrowitz , Jr., of 
Broadneck, Md., kicked away from Craig Forys on the final lap to win by 10 yards in 9:20.09. Forys had 
to rally in the last few strides to save second from Jake Walker of Lincoln, Pa., his time of 8:21.82 being 
the third best outdoors in state history.

		Krystal Cantey of Winslow Twp, favored to win the girls’ 400-meter hurdles, showed the effects of 
her late winter leg injury as she tired in the stretch and wound up third in 1:00.05 with Shaquanda Meylor 
f Wilson fifth in 1:00.60. In Saturday’s boys’ race, Manny Mayers of Lakewood was a surprise second in 
53.15.

		Pennino’s win at 194-2 in the javelin was the first time a New Jersey thrower had won the event in 
16 years, an embarrassing experience for a state which has produced at least three world record-holders. 
And two more boys finished in the top six, Gary Johnson of Hamilton in fourth and Dominique Dixon of 
Morris Hills in sixth.

		Bond took the high jump at 6-10 1/4, then passed the next listed height of 6-11 3/4 and was faced 
with te bar at 7-1. It was the second time this year that he has been denied a chance at the 7-0 mark itself; 
the first came at the Kearny Relays where the six-jump rule cut him short after an easy clearance at 6-10.

		The Guyana-born junior has had quite an odyssey since being discovered last spring on an outdoor 
basketball court. Someone, seeing his amazing vertical jump, suggested he try out for the track team. 
It was already mid-season, but he cleared 6-8 to win the Central Jersey sectionals, then missed the 
rest of the state meet while he returned with his other to Botswana to clear up a visa problem before 
returning to Trenton in August.

		The state’s top relay finish came, as expected, in the girls’ distance medley which was simply 
a repeat of what happened indoors, the last time Roxbury met up with Suffern. This time, however, the 
Gaels stayed even for the opening 1200 leg as freshman Ariann Neutts ran 3:37.9. But Suffern opened 
a four-second gap on the two short legs and the 1600 anchor proved a standoff between Jenn Ennis of 
Roxbury and Kara McKenna of Suffern as both ran just under 4:59. The team times, however, were a 
bit slower with Suffern running 11:48.31 and Roxbury 11:52.07. The rest of the talented field was left 
far behind on the opening leg, vere Tech dropping the stick to negate a 54.8 400 leg. 

		Three New Jersey teams did qualify for the girls’ 3200R final, but none was a factor in the Friday 
race as they failed to even match their qualifying times. East Orange got to the 1600R final, beating 
out rival Camden Wilson by one-hundredth of a second, then ran seventh in a creditable 3:50.13. But, 
in the 400R trials, EO blew the second pass and failed to make even the consolation finals where 
Franklin posted the fastest NJ time of the weekend in the large school race, beating out Camden for 
fourth in 47.67. Wilson’s team, composed entirely of hurdlers, was fourth in the small-school event 
in 48.39, while in Saturday’s Tri-State race, won by West Catholic, the Tigers led a parade of NJ 
teams in second at 48.23 

		No New Jersey team placed in the top six in the four championship boys’ races, but Winslow 
Twp scored a 3:22.01 victory in the Philadelphia Area final 3:22.01, anchored by soph Derek Rogers. 
(Camden beat out Wilson for second behind West Catholic in the girls’ race in 3:51.45.)

		The highlight of the Saturday morning set of boys’ class races was a 46.6 second leg by Shaquan 
Brown of Paterson Kennedy. Brown almost didn’t make the meet as most of the Kennedy runners had 
slight injuries and he himself had felt some twinges on Thursday. He started off rather slowly, which 
may have cost him a second or so, but raced past the field on the backstretch and brought the stick 
home on top, only to see his team slip to eighth in a race won by Old Bridge in 3:18.46. The Knights 
were anchored by Brown’s long-distance rival Bryant McCombs (the two have met only once on the 
track with Shaquan ailing at the time), who ran 47.7.

		Three other NJ boys ran around 48.0, two of them being twins Charles and Chris Cox, who 
attend separate schools. Charles brought Monmouth Regional home for one of NJ’s 11 class victories, 
but Chris’ Southern Regional team finished only seventh in its race. A third Jersey Shore runner, Paul 
Fay of Central Regional, also ran around 48.0.

		Easily the best of the Jersey girls in Thursday’s class races was Kristen Mahon of Notre Dame 
who ran a 54.3 anchor to bring her team from behind for a 4:02.89, one of six NJ victories. Franklin 
was the fastest of this group at 3:51.43, with Toneisha Friday and Symone O’Connor in the lineup 
together for the first time this year. East Orange ran third in 3:50.80 against eventual winner Holmwood 
Tech with Wilson taking the South Jersey race in a tantalizing 3:50.81 (the field clock first showed 
3:50.79).

		The featured boys’ distance medley was quite a race, though the New Jersey teams were never 
relay part of it. Saratoga and Fayetteville-Manlius led home the first 1200, but the former simply 
collapsed on the next two legs and never finished, while the rest of the field vainly chased F-M which 
wound up a 25-yard winner in 10:06.71. Christian Brothers led the NJ finishers in eighth in 10:16.04.

		Saturday action in the state was headed by the Lions Invitational where, in addition to Tauro’s 
heroics, Shavon Greaves of Lakewood had a spring double at 12.1 and 24.2, and the Randolph Relays 
where the Roxbury girls had a meet record of 9:22.76 in the 3200R.

		Conference and county action got underway on Tuesday with the Mountain Valley Conference 
and Middlesex County Relays. The former saw Rahway sweep both titles with the versatile Lashonda 
Carter leading the field to four victories, three of them in events she usually does no compete in: the 
long jump, triple jump and an 800-meter anchor in the sprint medley. With no available teammate, 
the indoor state high jump champion skipped that event.

		The track feature were the boys’ 1600-meter events. In the sprint medley on Tuesday, Ryan 
Malloy of Bound Brook and Watson Estelan of Rahway were both under 1:55 on their anchor 800-meter 
legs with the Brook winning in a record 3:33.6. In the 4x400 race on Wednesday, Eastelan broke things 
open with a sub-49 second leg as his team won in a record 3:22.7 while Malloy nailed second with a 
48.0 anchor leg.

		In the Middlesex meet, McCombs anchored Old Bridge to a 1:28.3 county record in the boys’
 800-meter relay and brought the 400R and 1600R teams home in 43.5 and 3:23.6 as the Knights 
scored an easy team win. In the girls’ meet, Old Bridge and South Brunswick tied at 98 points while 
Piscataway  broke the county 800R mark at 1:41.4 and also took the 400R in 48.6, the 1600R in 
3:55.2 and the 3200R in 9:53.5, Asia Washington anchoring all four with a 55.9 in the 1600 and a 
2:14.2 in the 3200. Iselin surprised even 

WEEK FOUR
Individual rather team success is likely to be the story for New Jersey schools at the Penn Relays 
this weekend with three events taking the spotlight: the boys’ 3,000-meter run, the girls’ mile and 
the girls’ 400-meter hurdles.

		The 3K could turn into a private party for the Garden State contingent which is led by Craig Forys 
of Colts Neck, Ben Massam of Chatham and Jeff Perrella of Westfield. Forys placed second this winter 
in the Nike Invitational two mile at Landover, in the process setting a state indoor record for the shorter 
distance. Massam has already run 9:16.17 for 3200 this spring and Perrella has had a 4:15.6 1600-meter 
relay leg.

		Danielle Tauro of Southern Ocean seems a shoo-in for the girls’ mile title with her closest rivals all 
busy anchoring their teams in the preceding distance medley on Thursday. Tauro, who won the Millrose 
Mile this winter is looking to complete the hat trick in the event this year, winning at Penn and then at the 
outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C. (She anchored a distance medley victory at Landover.)

		Krystal Cantey of Winslow Twp took the outdoor national 400-meter hurdle title last spring with a 
state record of 56.85, but has done little hard running this spring after suffering a leg injury late in the 
indoor season. If she is not in top form, Leslie Njoku of McNair Academic of Jersey City may be an able 
reserve after running 1:00.09 last spring.

		The state’s top relay hope is Roxbury in the girls’ distance medley. The Gaels set a state record 
at the Nationals indoors, but will have a tough time with favored Suffern of New York, which won that one 
with plenty to spare. There is also the defending Warwick Valley, N.Y.. team which is still anchored by 
Aislinn Ryan.

		Ocean City, which finished fourth a year ago without Brittany Sedberry, is also in the field, but has 
only run the event once this year, a modest  12:24.8 at the opening Buena Relays on April 1. Sedberry 
and Renee Tomlin, who anchored the 2005 team and later chased Tauro to the state all-group 1600-meter 
title in 4:49.11 may be the best 1200/1600 combine in the race, but the Red Raiders could be hurt in the 
shorter legs.

		Colts Neck and Pope John could have given New Jersey two more strong entries, but the Cougars 
have chosen to wait till next year and enter their distance stars, Ashley Higginson and Briana Jackucewicz, 
in the individual 3K, where they will be a major factor. Pope John has chosen the 3200R since its indoor 
1200 leadoff girl, Lauren Bariexca, is still serving a 30-day penalty (her third of the year) for transferring last 
fall from West Morris. The Lions will also be a potent force next year with its entire team back.

		East Orange put itself in the picture for the girls’ 1600-meter final when it scored an impressive 3:52.97 
win over Boys and Girls at the New York Relays last Saturday at Icahn Stadium. The conditions, to say the 
least, were not the best, with most New Jersey meets canceling events in the face of the rain, wind and cold. 
For example, Camden Wilson, the No. 2 team in the state indoors, went home early from the Raider Relays 
at Hillsboro after setting meet records of 49.4 and 1:03.9 in the 400R and shuttle hurdles. Camden, the state’s
top 400R team was almost two seconds off its season best of 48.0 at the Woodbury Relays where they 
cancelled the closing sprint medley and 1600-meter relay in the four-division meet.

		Some of the state’s top sprint teams simply didn’t show up at all at the Willingboro Relays. among the 
absentees were the Irvington 400-meter relay team which has run 42.0 this spring, the Franklin girls, who were 
going to run for the first time all year with its two stars, Toneisha Friday and Symone O’Connor, together.in 
the 400R and 1600R, and the Piscataway girls in those same events.

		Old Bridge, which ran 3:18.38 for the 1600 indoors, has yet to make an all-out effort in the event outdoors, 
being very careful with the condition of its anchor, Bryant McCombs, who has been bothered year by a minor 
leg injury. Paterson Kennedy, which made the boys; 1600-meter final last year, has its entire team back, but 
most of them are also nursing injuries, with star anchorman Shaquan Brown, still suffering pain from a winter 
shoulder operation though he has posted a couple of sub-50.0 anchor legs under wraps and has run 54.4 in 
the intermediate hurdles.

		Despite last weekend’s awful weather, there were a couple of noteworthy marks in longer events. At 
the Woodbury Relays, Msgr. Donovan’s sophomore-dominated DMR team set a meet record of 12:36.3, 
indicating it will have to be reckoned with next year. And, at the rain-shortened Rebel Relays in Howell, 
Freehold Twp had a 9:37.5 in the 3200-meter relay.    

		The state’s largest meet last weekend, the Bergen County Relays, was a two-day affair and Friday’s 
weather allowed for some decent marks. Teaneck’s girls had a record 1:45.0 in the A division. The Teaneck 
boys ran 3:37.5 in the SMR and Ridgewood topped Northern Highlands in the 6400R in 18:01.4. The 
Highlanders came back to win the 3200R in 8:097 and the 1600R in 3:28.8, both anchored by Ben Diestel.

		Ridgewood won a tough team battle from Don Bosco in the boys’ A division, 106 1/4-99 1/4 even 
though its Penn-entered DMR (with a lightened lineup) lost that event to the Ironmen. But Shenise Halsey 
of Old Tappan almost personally prevented a Maroon sweep, defeating the girls, 93-87, as she led wins in 
the SHR (1:05.2), HJR (5-5 1/4) and TJ (36-7). River Dell did doubled the B title, Ramsey’s boys and 
Pascack Hills’ girls split honors in C and Hasbrouck Heights and Waldwick did the same in D.

		The Woodbury titles were tainted by the early closing but, for the record, the boys’ titles were awarded 
to Winslow Twp in Gr. IV, Kingway in Gr. III, Holy Cross and Deptford in Gr. II and Penns Grove in Gr. I, with 
Cherry Hill East, Okacrest, Msgr Donovan and Palmyra the counterpart winners in the girls’ action.

		Atlantic City’s weight duo of Kim Warren and indoor all-group SP champ Mercedes Hicks had a great 
meet with Warren winning both the SP and DT (where she is a Penn entry) at 41-10 1/2 and 143-7 and Hicks 
hitting 40-2 1/2 for second in the SP and 128-5 for third in the discus behind Jen Frank of Delsea who threw 
138-11.



WEEK THREE
The short and the long of it took the spotlight in the third week of relay action in New Jersey with
Irvington’s boys posting a 42.0/1:27.9 double in the sprint events at the Hudson County Coaches 
meet in Kearny and Roxbury’s girls smashing the state 6400M with a 20:27.74 runaway at the 
Morris Hills Relays in Rockaway.

		Irvington had quite a day at Kearny even though it could not match Trenton’s depth in the 
team race, losing 104-75. The Camptowners also won the 1600R in 3:21.8 and averaged an earlier 
loss there to the Tornadoes in the SHR, running 1:02.4, but Trenton was second in all four of these 
races and won five on its own, including 2:52.6 in the intermediate hurdles team race, an 8:25.8 in 
the 3200R and a near sweep of the jumping events. The Trenton girls made it a perfect day, defeating 
Montclair, 82-72, with Cora Dayon showing her versatility by anchoring a 4:20.0 win in the sprint medley 
and leading a sweep of the horizontal jumps.

		Roxbury ran the 6400 almost as an afterthought. its principal goal being a warmup for the Penn 
distance medley. But it jumped into the longer race first and took out a 23-year-old Ridgewood record 
with Lauren Penney running 5:15.1, Kristen Stevens 5:05.8, Arianna Neutts 5:05.6 and Ennis closing 
out with a 5:01.6.The same four then won the DMR in a meet record 12:13.56 with Ennis anchoring in 
5:07.5. 

		Ridgewood had run its 20:34.4 in a four-mile race and retains its mark for that distance at least 
until Roxbury runs in June at the Nationals in Greensboro, NC. Hopefully, indoor national champs Colts 
Neck will also be in the race and efforts will be made to get the two teams together at the East Coast 
Relays in Morristown on May 22 at 6400M.

		The Morris Hills meet was easily the best of the lot in the state last weekend. The boys’ meet saw 
Penn entry Morris Hills take the SMR in 10:32.15 as part of its team winning effort in an very close battle 
which saw just five points separate the top four teams. Ted Galligan was the hero of the victory, running 
the 800 in that race and also leading wins in the two hurdle events.

		Two teams clinched berths in the Penn 3200R, Jackson winning in a meet record of 8:04.34 and 
Morristown placing second in 8:07.75. The Colonials also figured in a pair of close sprint relays, Doug 
Cloninger bringing the 400 team home ahead of St. Benedict’s in 43.53, but the Gray Bees taking a 
photo finish from Seton Hall and Morristown in the 800 at 1:30.46. Jason Apwah anchored a 3:33.72 
win for Roxbury in the sprint medley.

		Morris Knolls took girls’ team honors with only one victory, a 9:43.35 in the 3200R (where it was 
a Penn finalist last year) that featured the debut of another of New Jersey’s great running names, Breezy 
Rush, on the third leg. East Orange, which hopes to be a finalist in the 1600R at Franklin Field, tripled 
the sprints with meet records of 49.06, 1:41.63 and 3:59.21. Racquel Vassell anchored the 400 and 
800 wins, ran third in the 1600 and led a 3:18.3 win in the 400H team race.

		The relatively young Colts Neck Relays provided a pair of fast distance medleys with Northern 
Highlands skipping its own meet in Bergen County to win the boys’ event from Phillipsburg in 10:29.9 
and the home team taking the girls’ event in 10:31.8. The Cougars, who are qualified for both Penn 
events but will run their stars individually instead, took the boys; sprint medley in 3:37.6 with Penn 
3K entry Craig Forys anchoring in 1:57.1. 

		In field event action there, Brittany Gibbs of Old Bridge had a 36-8 in the girls’ triple jump, 
ustin DelPiano of South Brunswick a 14-0 in the boys’ long jump, Will Hendrix of Hamilton a 156-5 
in the discus and teammate Gary Johnson a 186-5 in the javelin.

		Jeff Perrella of Westfield highlighted his school’s Blue Devil Relays with a 4:15.6 anchor leg 
that brought him from well behind to win the distance medley in 10:33.9. This non-scoring meet 
also saw Rahway triple the 400, 800 and sprint medley relays in 43.9, 1:30.5 and 3:33.9 with Watson
Estelan anchoring the latter race in 1:57 and Paul Jones Burden, Doreace Santiago and Jerome Hills 
running on all three teams. 

		In the girls’ action there, Asia Washington anchored Piscataway to a sprint double of 49.8 and 
1:43.7, but wss outrun by Scotch Plains in the 1600R in 4:07.2. 

		Two Bergen County meets served principally as trial runs for this weekend’s county championship 
event. Don Bosco took boys’ honors at the Highlands Invitational at Northern Highlands and Immaculate 
Heart Academy the girls, with New Milford and Pascack Hills the respective winners at the small-school 
Lyndhurst Relays. Don Bosco posted a 10:43.0 DMR win which is an indication of what this all-underclass 
team might do next year.

		Visiting Roselle had sprint triples in both divisions at Lyndhurst, the boys running 44.4, 1:30.0 
and 3:34.8 and the girls 51.4, 1:48.4 and 4:19.6. 

		The boys’ division of the Somerset County Relays at Franklin was almost a repeat of the previous 
weekend’s Skyland Conference event, with one slight difference; this time, it was Hillsboro which prevailed 
by a single point over Franklin with Skyland winner Somerville back in third. The Raider girls made it a 
sweep with a 108-82 margin over Montgomery.
		But the big news of the meet was the return to the Franklin girls’ lineup of junior Symone O’Connor, 
who had run independently indoors. She led a sweep of the sprint events in 49.7, 1:47.3 and 4:02.9, not 
a bad showing with Franklin’s other ace, Toneisha Friday, away on a college visit. They will be united 
this weekend at the Willingboro Relays.

		Franklin also tripled the boys sprints in 43.8, 1:31.1 and 3:27.0 and took eight events all told 
with Pierre James heading victories in the shot put and discus with marks of 53 1 1/2 and 150-8. 
illsboro took only four events, but piled up the seconds and thirds and saved its slim victory margin 
with a second in the 1600R.

		In field action there, Rick Zamora of Bernards had the top paul vault of the season in the state 
at 14-7.

		There was a lot of wind at the two South Jersey meets but the boys at Bridgeton and the girls at 
West Deptford still produced some pretty fast times in the shorter events. Winslow Twp won in Gr. IV at
Bridgeton with a 42.8 in the 400R, a 1:29.0 in the 800R and 3:22.4 in the 1600R, sophomore Derek Rogers
anchoring all three for the all-underclass teams.

		In Gr. II< the host team also won handily with a 1:28.9 in the 800R, a 59.5 in the SHR and a close 
second to West Deptford’s 43.0 in the 400. Pleasantville had a 3:36.7 SMR in this division and an 8:09.5 
in the 3200R. Delsea’s well-balanced team topped Camden in Gr. III with a 1:29.3 win in the 800. The 
Purple Knights had a 43.0 in the 400R, but lost the 1600R in a close one with Willingboro, which ran
 3:26.1. Penns Grove was an easy winner in Gr. I.

		Washington Twp took Gr. IV honors at West Deptford, with a sprint triple at 49.7, 1:46.2 and 4:06.7. 
Danielle Tauro anchored a 12:56.8 distance medley win for Southern Ocean. The Gr. III meet went to 
Oakcrest with Camden having a sprint double of 50.6 and 1:44.6 (Wilson, a sure winner if present, did 
not enter.). Bridgeton made it a perfect weekend with a close win over Holy Cross in Gr. II and St. Joseph 
of Hammonton scored a rare win in Gr. I. Pleasantville had a 1:44.7 in the Gr. II 800, but lost the 400 to 
Haddon Heights’ 50.3.

		The big meets this weekend are the Bergen championships, Hillsboro’s Raider Relays and the two 
South Jersey meets at Willingboro and Woodbury. Now if only the weather will cooperate.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    



. 

WEEK TWO
Following Horace Greeley’s advice, several New Jersey teams headed to the Arcadia Invitational in 
California last weekend and thus escaped some of the worst weather Garden State athletes have 
ever encountered in their annual early April pursuit of places in the select fields for the 3200R and 
DMR at the Penn Relays.
    
Ridgewood, already a qualifier for either event, ran 8:02.70 in the 3200 and 10:26.30 in the DMR 
in both cases finishing behind Msgr. Farrell of Staten Island in possible previews of what could happen 
the last weekend of April in one of the two events. But it was Indian Hills who provided the big moment 
for the small NJ contingent when it outran the Golden State teams in the spring medley in 3:29.98.

The race was somewhat reminiscent of what happened more than 50 years ago at the Coliseum 
Relays when Fordham sprang the biggest upset in collegiate relay history with its world record performance 
in the 2MR against highly favored teams from Michigan and California, among others. And it came in 
much the same way---Indian Hills trailing badly after the first to legs, put into position with a 48.9 400 
leg from indoor Eastern champ Garrett Kroner and then going on to win by four yards from Upland of 
California.

Just as that 1954 race was the breakthrough for Fordham anchor Tom Courtney—who would 
win in Melbourne two years later---so this race put Bruno into the spotlight after an indoor season 
disturbed by an injury incurred while warming up at the state group championships. (Bruno would 
go on to break the state soph record with his 1:56.3 at the Easterns, but lost any chance to win the 
AG 800 which, as it turned out, might have been his for the asking.)

While Ridgewood and Indian Hills went west last weekend, Irvington’s sprint crew headed south to 
the Norfolk State Invitational where the Camptowners improved their 400R time to 42.33, also won the 
1600R at 3:25.39 and saw Randy James take the HH in 14.31.

Meanwhile, at home, the athletes, officials and spectators, shivered through a cold, wet Saturday 
which saw several meets go unfinished or (in the case of the Skyland Relays) wind up in more pleasant 
climes on Monday. The only meet that escaped the wintry weather was the Camden-Gloucester Relays 
which delayed action one day and saw Winslow Twp score a fast sprint triple in 42.8, 1:28.9 and 3:24.8 
in the boys’ action and Camden a 48.0, 1:42.5 and 4:02.0 in the girls.. (Wilson ran 42.9 in the boys’ 
400, with Camden and Delsea both posting 43.4s.). Josh Butler of Delsea added a6-8 in the HJ.)

Bishop Eustace was missing two top hands in the girls’ small-school division and still won 11 of 
13 events for a 126-36 win over Audubon with the boys defeating indoor Gr. I relay champs Haddon 
Heights, 128-74. Winslow Twp took the large school boys title, 110-74, over Delsea and Washington 
Twp and Delsea the girls’ crown, 106-82, over Camden.

In the Skyland meet, Somerville had a wing-ding team battle with Hillsboro, placing a close 
second to the Raiders in the 1600R from the Raiders to save a 83-82 win. Hillsboro topped Montgomery 
for the girls’ title, 102-88. Most of the running events were in Saturday’s wicked weather, but, on 
Monday, Hillsboro ran 3:27.6 in the boys’ 1600R and 10:50.7 in the DMR, while Voorhees---with all-state 
CC frosh Melanie Thompson back in action, won the girls’ DMR in 12:42.1, Montgomery took the 800R 
in 1:47.0 and Watchung Hills the 1600R in 4:09.3.

There were some remarkable efforts in other Saturday meets, however, At the Passaic County 
Relays, Shaquan Brown of Paterson Kennedy had a 55.3 in the IH and a 49.0 anchor for the 1600R 
only to see his team lose a close one to Wayne Valley, 77-72 Kennedy did salvage the girls’ crown 
with soph Kristen Crawford on four winning teams, including something new for her---the 400H team 
event.

In the non-scoring Wrobo Invitational at Notre Dame, several members of the host team also 
ignored the elements. Gigi Gibilisco took the boys; 800 in 1:58.8 and indoor state 400M champ 
Kristen Mahon won that event in 58.8 and also took the 400H in 1:04.9. The Irish also showed they 
are ready to challenge Indian Hills for SMR supremacy as Guy Castronova took the 400 in 50.7 and 
Justin Chukumba---one of their 200 legs on the state’s fastest indoor SMR---doubled the hurdles in 
15.2and 56.4.

Scotch Plains showed both depth and endurance as it ran away with both team titles at the 
Comet Relays in Englewood. The Raider boys scored in 11 events, including the closing 1600R which 
had only two entries. River Dell had a similar sweep at the BCSL American meet in Rutherford with 
hurdler Keith Brunner and weight man Zack Shapiro leading the boys and Kelly McDermott picking 
up four gold medals for the girls.

Colts Neck’s two indoor 3200M champs escaped the weather by competing on Friday evening 
against older runners at the first of three Princeton distance invitationals. Craig Forys ran 14:42.16 
in the men’s 5K and Ashley Higginson 17:54.22 in the women’s race. Frosh Briana Jackucewicz 
did not compete due to illness.     

Fortunately, there is one more weekend for Penn qualification in the distance relay with a lot 
of meets to choose from on Saturday: the Hudson County Coaches Relays at Kearny, the Blue 
Devil Relays at Westfield, the Morris Hills Relays, the Colts Neck Relays. the Bridgeton Relays 
for boys and the West Deptford Relays for girls, where Ocean City will try to solidify its place in 
the girls’ DMR, led by Brittany Sedberry and Renee Tomlin. 



WEEK ONE
Any doubt that the boys’ high jump would be one of the featured events of the 2006 
outdoor season in New Jersey vanished on the opening weekend with the performance of 
Devon Bond of Trenton at the Kearny Relays.

Competing under a six-jump rule in a relay event, Bond soared over the bar at 6-10 
with plenty to spare to win a personal duel with Ray Manning of West Orange who cleared 
6-8 before missing his only try at the higher level. Bond was unable to take a shot at 7-0 
because of the jump limit.

Devon was the “X” factor in the event after what happened to him last spring. Recruited 
off an outdoor basketball court, he won the sectionals for Trenton at 6-8, but went no further 
as he was forced to leave the country with his mother because of visa problems. This was 
straightened out in time for his return for the current school year and he played junior varsity 
basketball for the Tornadoes this past winter.

Trenton has a history of producing top jumpers with one high school 7-footer, Felix Davis, 
another at 6-11 and a number who topped 6-8. But Bond could become the best of the lot as he 
is only a junior.

Justin Frick of Freehold Boro, the outdoor all-group champion last spring at 6-10, was not 
in action over the weekend, but figures to compete this week at the Huskie Relays in Matawan. 
Indoor state champ Josh Butler of Delsea and Justin Oliver of Pennsauken will be at the Camden-
Gloucester Relays at the latter’s school and Joe Martinek of Hopatcong will be at the Ranger 
Relays at Wallkill Valley.

Shaquan Brown of Paterson Kennedy, a notable absentee from the past indoor season, 
got back in action last Saturday at the Sean Opener Relays at Indian Hills, helping his school 
the teams honors with a 55.7 leg in the intermediate hurdles team race and an eased-up 49.5 
anchor leg in the 1600-meter relay. The national indoor 600-meter record-holder had missed the 
winter campaign due a shoulder injury suffered in football last fall.

Irvington’s national indoor shuttle hurdles team was beaten on time by Trenton at the Kearny 
Relays, but scored a fast sprint triple at 42.5, 1:28.6 and 3:24.1, but was only third in the team race 
behind the Tornadoes and Morristown. St. Benedict’s Prep had better fortune in the small-school 
division with ample weight and distance points to back up its spring triple of 43.6. 1:30.3 and 3:27.1. 
The girls’ title went to well-balanced Hunterdon Central  which doubled the hurdle event and also won 
the pole vault event. Roxbury skipped the distance medley in this one, but took the 3200R easily in 
9:32.03. East orange, which had planned to run only the intermediate hurdles team race, changed 
gears after a disqualification in that event and doubled the 1600R and sprint medley in 4:04.0 and 
4:18.0.

Christian Brothers made its annual journey to the Pawlowski Relays in Ridgewood and won 
ix running events to defeat the home team and Don Bosco, 92-87-83. There were no notable times 
in the wind on the five-lap-to-a-mile track, but the good news for the Colts was the performance of G
reg Leach, another injury victim indoors, who ran on three of the winning teams. In the girls’ division, 
Jackson suffered its first relay loss in several years, 96-88, to Shaker, as it ran without distance 
stars Amanda Marino and Jen Clausen.

Indian Hills featured the Season Opener with an 8:03.3 3200R win that assured its presence 
at the Penn Relays. It would have been a couple of seconds faster but for an horrendous pass on 
the final exchange between Garret Kroner and Maxwell Bruno, who still ran 1:58.4 and 1:57.1. 
Visiting Montgomery ran away with the girls’ meet, 91-37, over Kennedy.

Two other boys’ 400R teams got under 43.0 on opening day. Old Bridge had a 42.8 at the 
Middlesex Conference Coaches Relays in South Plainfield and won six other events in the non-
scoring meet. Rahway had five wins in the small-school division with a 3:40.9 record in the sprint 
medley. In the girls’ meet, Piscataway won the large-school 400 in a record-tying 49.7 in a near 
dead-heat with Franklin and Plainfield set an intermediate hurdles mark of 3:24.2. 

Camden was the other team under 43.0 in the 400, running 42.9 to defeat city rival Wilson 
at the wind and rain-swept Buena Relays. The Camden girls also had a fast double there in 48.5 
and 1:45.1 without competition from the Wilson girls, who were at Icahn Staium on Randalls Island, 
taking the 800R in 1:43.09, as well as getting fast individual intermediate hurdle races in a 1-2 finish 
by Shaquanda Meylor and Tamara Jones in 1:03.71 and 1:04.89.

The Buena meet also saw the Bridgeton boys post a 1:00.6 in the shuttle hurdles and a 43.9 
in the 400R while sweeping team honors in the small-school division. The girls ran 1:49.5 in the 
800R. Ocean City took a shot at a Penn qualifying time in the large-school girls DMR there but, 
with the weather and little competition, managed only a 12:24.6 and will have to try again. Brittany 
Sedberry anchored that one and also brought the sprint medley home in 4:17.8. Lenape, however, 
had an easy team win over the Raiders, 62-40, placing in the top three in seven of eight events and
 winning the shuttle hurdles in 1:08.4 and the 3200R in 9:50.4.