ED GRANT'S WEEKLY ROUNDUP

                       After quite contrasting results at the National scholastic meet in Greensboro, N.C., Danielle Tauro 
of Southern Ocean and Craig Forys of Colts Neck will complete their scholastic careers this weekend in the 1
500-meter runs at the national Juniors in Indianapolis.

                        Tauro anchored a state record of 3:54.37 in the sprint medley at Greensboro, running 2:07.3, then 
brought the Rams’ distance medley home with an 11:40.81 victory in the distance medley, second fastest in state 
history. Forys, on the other hand, lost his duel with Matt Centrowitz Jr. in the boys’ two-mile, while lowering his state 
record for that distance to 8:44.53 and also fell short in the distance medley where the Cougars were second in 10:04.15. 

                        Southern Ocean’s win was one of four recorded by New Jersey athletes at Greensboro, four of them 
in relay events. The only individual winner was Forys’ teammate Ashley Higginson who took the girls’ two-mile in 10:17.44. 
Willingboro won the boys’ 800-meter sprint medley in a state record 1:30.89 and Don Bosco the boys’ 1600-meter sprint 
medley in 3:27.30.

                        Tauro, of course, could have added a fifth gold in the mile which she had won in 2006, but chose to concentrate 
on her relay duties. The sprint medley just gave up too much on the opening 200-meter legs to Eleanor Roosevelt, but soph 
Jillian Smith opened with a 3:29 in the distance medley and Kate Bergin and Chelsea Cox kept Southern Ocean close enough 
so that Tauro had no trouble reversing the indoor Nike Invitational loss to the Maryland school, which finished third behind New 
York’s defending Warwick Valley.

                        Tauro’s split was “only” 4:51.4 which indicates that Bay Shore’s national record of 11:33.42 was well within 
the range of Danielle who had run under 4:40 in winning the mile a year ago. But, as in the Rams’ earlier win at the Penn Relays, 
victory was more important than time to Tauro, who said on that occasion: “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t screw things up 
after the other girls had run so well.” It was this same team spirit that prompted her decision not to defend her mile title.

                        Higginson completed a perfect eight-lap season with her 2M victory, adding this to her indoor victory at the 
Nike meet, her 3K triumph at Penn and her indoor and outdoor state all-group 3200-meter repeats. She easily outkicked 
Neely Spence of Shippensburg, Pa., posting a time only slightly slower than her indoor one. But a double attempt failed 
when she finished third in the 2000-meter steeplechase to Hannah Davidson and Shelby Greaney of New York in 6:46.67, 
lowering her own state record in the process.

                        Willingboro’s short sprint medley win was a slight surprise only in the fact that they ran with hurdler Jusson 
Boyd on the anchor 400 rather than state all-group champ Antonio who had the individual 400 ---where he ran fifth in 46.90---later 
in the day. Boyd for the stick in third and outran DeMatha of Maryland and Teaneck, which finished fourth in 1:31.21. The ‘Boro
would certainly have gone under 1:30 had Abney and Boyd switched legs.

                        Don Bosco actually finished second in the longer sprint medley, but winner New Bern of North Carolina was 
disqualified for two exchange zone violations. The finish then became a duplication of an earlier race at the East Coast Relays, 
but even closer, with Union Catholic chasing the Ironmen home in 3:27.36. This was, in a way, a duplication of the girls’ race 
with the two Jersey teams yielding ground on the earlier legs, but closing to within a few yards of defending New Bern on the 
anchor, state all-group champ Sharif Webb of Don Bosco running 1:52.4 and Brian Guterl of the Vikings about the same.

                        Other notable seconds for Jersey athletes started early with soph Doug Smith of Gill-St. Bernard’s finishing 
behind Matt Vess of Connecticut in Thursday’s 5,000-meter opener in 14:40.76. Monmouth was a close second in the boys’ 
1600-meter relay in 3:14.07 and Pope John’s girls completed a great 3200R season with an 8:56.45. The Lions also took over 
the state 1600-meter relay lead with a sixth-place finish in 3:48.66 and ran seventh in the sprint medley in 4:02.68. 

                        Willingboro posted two more outstanding marks as the same four boys who won the 800 sprint medley finished 
eighth in the more orthodox 4x200 event in 1:27.75 and then finished fifth in the 1600R in 3:14.79. And Ridgewood finished sixth 
in the distance medley in 10:07.94.

                        Two all-group winners placed third in their events, Manny Mayers of Lakewood in the boys’ intermediate hurdles 
in 52.15 and Stephanie McIntyre of South Brunswick in the girls’ triple jump at 39-6 1/2.

                        There were also several pleasant surprises. Though several of the state’s top distance medley teams skipped the 
meet, Voorhees joined the sub-12:00 club with a bang, finishing sixth behind Southern Ocean in 11:51.76, second-fastest New 
Jersey time of the season. Soph Melanie Thompson anchored this one and frosh Katie Petruzzellis led off, indicating that the 
Vikings could be a strong force next outdoor season, though qualifying for Penn will be a problem with Thompson playing basketball 
during the winter.

                        Even more astonishing were the huge PRs set by junior Katie McCafferty of Oak Knoll and the Millville girls’ 
1600-meter relay team, McCafferty took 10 seconds off her best 1600-meter time as she won the Emerging Elite mile in 4:56.32 
and Millville five seconds off its all-group performance as it placed eighth with an all-underclass team---none of them 400 
specialists--- in 3:51.68.

                        And then there was Eastern freshman English Gardner, the state all-group 100-meter champ. She was wll off her 
best in that event, running only 11.94 in the trials. But she came back in the 400---an event she had avoided outdoors after winning 
the indoor all-group crown---to place third in 54.00, only two-tenths of a second off Stephanie Saleem’s 23-year-old state class record.      

  




                        Craig Forys of Colts Neck said goodbye to New Jersey high school track and field in typical fashion Wednesday 
night at the state all-group championships, doubling the 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs in 4:09.59 and 8:52.58, the latter a meet 
record and also the fastest ever eight-lap race run by a Garden State schoolboy within the state.

                        His future Michigan teammate, Danielle Tauro, also said farewell, but in less spectacular fashion, coasting to her 
fourth consecutive 1600-meter title in 4:49.51 and then anchoring a third place finish for the Southern Ocean 1600-meter relay 
team in 56.6. She became the fifth girl to be a four-time winner in the same event (no boy has ever done it); two of the others, 
Joetta Clark of Columbia (800) and Chris Engel of Mt. Olive (1600) were present for the event. The others are Carol Lewis of Willingboro 
in the long jump and Jodie Bilotta of North Hunterdon in the 3200.

                        The boys’ 3200 was the race of the night with the first four boys finishing under 9:05. Forys had run the 1600 first and 
faced no serious opposition there, winning as he pleased, more than two seconds behind the time he had posted four days earlier in 
the Group IV meet. But, in the 3200, Andrew Hanko of Trirnity Christian set a strong pace, passing the halfway mark under 4:35 and 
then increasing the pace for the next two laps.

                        Forys, however, simply stay within two yards of the leader until the backstretch of the seventh lap when he unfurled 
his typical “long kick,” covering the final 800 in 2:03 and the last 400 in about 60 seconds. Hanko made a gallant bid to get under 
the 9:00 mark, but failed by half a second. He was quickly followed over the line by Kyle Soloff of Morris Hills in 9:01.76 and 
sophomore Doug Smith of Gill-St. Bernard’s at 9:04.52, a new class record for the distance. Another seven boys were under 9:20, 
two of them Morris County residents, as are the 2-3-4 finishers though Smith attends school in adjoining Somerset County.

                        The boys’ 3200 was run in perfect conditions, with 60ish temperatures and no wind. Earlier in the evening, the winds 
were quite brisk, hitting as high as 10 miles an hour aiding the 100-meter and hurdle runners, but definitely slowing the longer racers.

                        Despite that, both boys and girls turned in creditable marks, beginning with the 400-meter hurdles where Kristen Mahon 
of Notre Dame upset defending National girls’ champion Leslie Njoku of McNair Academic in 1:00.11 and Pen Relays winner Emanuel 
Mayers of Lakewood took the boys’ race from Aaron Younger of Delsea in 52.44. Both races might have been at least a second faster 
in calm conditions.

                        The boys’ 100-meter final, won by Mason Robinson of Somerville at 10.51, had excessive wind, but the girls’ race was
just legal as Easter frosh English Gardner repeated her indoor 55-meter victory defeating Shavon Greaves of Lakewood by two feet in 
11.62 breaking the state class record of 11.65 set in 2005 by defending champ Ogechi Nwaneri of Chatham who finished fourth this time 
after winning two years in a row.

                        The hurdle heats drew the highest winds of the night and the girls’ final also saw illegal breezes as indoor chaampion 
Racquel Vassell of East Orange repeated her indoor triumph in 14.07. But the boys’ race saw another 2.00 reading as Mike Cuppari of 
Hanover Park edged indoor champ Tykeen Fulton of Trenton by a hundredth of a second in 14.05, a finish that matched exactly his 
indoor Eastern victory.

                        Anyonio Abney of Willingboro repeated his Gr. III victory over defending champ Charles Cox of Mon-mouth in the 400 
at 47.35 as Clayton Parros of Seton Hall, matching Cox’ time of 47.50, barely missed the state soph record which is shared by Dennis 
Mitchell and Adian Sandersoon of Ewing. But Parros would have the last laugh later in the 1600-meter relay.

                        After years of second-place finishes in this meet and its indoor counterpart, Symone O’Connor of Franklin thwarted 
Mahon’s bid to become a double winner, taking the girls’ 400 in 54.91. The surprise of this race was the third-place finish by soph Vicky 
Caruso of Wallkill Valley.

                        The boys’ 800-meter run was perhaps the deepest race of the night and saw another dethronement as Sharif Webb of 
Don Bosco outkicked defender Jason Apwah of Roxbury in 1:51.07. The first five were under 1:53, including soph Robby Andrews of 
Manalapan who ran 1:52.56. In the girls’ race, Jillian Smith of Southern Ocean again showed why she is rated as a perfect successor 
to teammate Tauro, running away from Kim Standridge of Randolph in 2:08.80, making her the seventh-fastest two-lap runner in state 
history, just ahead of the legendary Erin Donohue.

                        The girls’ 3200 was run an hour or so before the boys’ race and did not enjoy the same wind conditions. Ashley 
Higginson of Colts Neck, running solo from the gun, made a gallant bid to break Bilotta’s 20-year-old record, but fell five seconds 
short at 10:23.29. This was the deepest of the girls’ events with the first seven under 10:45, including freshmen Chelsea Ley of Kingsway 
who finished sixth in 10:41.41, nine seconds of Bilotta’s class record.

                        The 200-meter dash also enjoyed windless weather and saw Sabli Gonnet of Eastern defeat Cox in the boys’ race at 21.46 
and Greaves reverse the 100 finish on Gardner in the girls’ event in 23.89. This was another unseating for Nwaneri who had doubled the 
sprints a year ago. Gardner’s time of 24.11 came very close to the state class record, a hand-timed 23.8 by Wendy Vereen of Trenton, 
who, oddly, won only two all-group sprint titles, missing her sophomore year because of injuries and her senior year because of a conflict 
with the Golden West meet, a common factor in those days.

                        The 1600-meter relays brought the meet to its usual smashing finish. In the girls’ event Southern Ocean posted a 3:51.14 
in the fourth of five sections with Smith running a sub-56 third leg to put Tauro in the lead. Kamice Smalls of Camden passed Tauro on the 
backstretch, but Danielle put on her usual fast finish to win by a dozen yards or more.

                        The final section saw Pope John, which went into the event with the state’s fastest time, lose much ground on the 
opening legs, but make a strong comeback, only to run out of track and finish two yards behind East Orange which ran 3:49.07. The 
Lions also got under 3:50 at 3:49.28.

                        But this race was nothing to the boys’ event which followed as Monmouth’s indoor champs went at it with Seton Hall, 
the state’s lone qualifier for the title race at Penn this year. The Falcons used Chris Cox up from to gain the early edge with Seton Hall, 
despite a pair of just sub-50 legs from Grant Mayes and Leroy Alexander, trialing by some 15 yards into the third leg. Pat Blackie ran 
47.3 to get the Pony Pirates a slim lead at the last  touch-off and Parros then unfurled a 46.8 anchor to give retiring coach Mike Mielko 
a going-away present and a school record to boot of 3:13.83. In an anti-climax, Monmouth was disqualified for running off the track while 
passing another team on the inside earlier in the race.

                        Devon Bond of Trenton highlighted an upset-filled field event program as he doubled the high jump and triple jump at 
6-8 (going immediately to 7-1 after winning) and 48-10 (on his final effort). DeAnne Hahn headed the girls’ action as she repeated in the 
shot put with a record 47-6. A few other favorites won, notably Stephanie McIntyre of South Brunswick repeating in the girls’ triple jump 
and National indoor champ Hanif Kendrick of Franklin also repeating in the boys’ long jump at a probably wind-aided 23-9.

                        But, after that, it was a case of one surprise after another. Both state pole vault leaders not only lost, but didn’t even 
place in the top three. In the girls’ event, season-long leader (and indoor champ) Chrissy Finkel of Montville was sixth at 10-6 as 
unheralded soph Jenny Holly of Barnegat won at 12-0. In the boys’ two-time 15-footer Greg Stripe of Mahwah was a foot below that 
height at 14-0 as fellow junior Dan Batford of West Deptford edged Mike Steeg of Don Bosco on misses at 14-6.

                        Junior Pat Park of Toms River South took the boys’ discus at 176-7 with season-leader George Abyad of Passaic 
Valley almost 20 feet behind his best in fourth at 165-11. The girls’ event was already without its top hand, Kris Batts of Marlboro, 
who had fouled out at the group level, and then saw Hahn, now a heavy favorite to double the weights, go 15 feet below her best and 
finished second to Elena Faagai of Monmouth, the latter’s first major win of the career.

                        Jamie Walker of Haddon Heights, best known as a sprinter, had a much milder upset in the girls’ long jump, 
defeating Ashley Newby of Columbia at McIntyre at 18-2 1/4 and, while defender Anna Cook of Florence lost the high jump on 
misses to Priscilla Frederick of Paul VI at 5-8, this was not unexpected after Priscilla’s two 5-9+ efforts earlier this spring.

                        Mike Alleman of Scotch Plains, indoor shot put champion, needed a 59-4 effort on his final throw to defeat Mike 
Daniels of Highland who came up with a big PR at 58-9 1/4. There were no solid favorites in either javelin, where Brian Florek of Old 
Bridge defeated Joe Martinek of Hopatcong---the state’s all-time leader in rushing yardage on the football field---took the boys’ event 
and Tara Miluszewski of Hightstown edging Alex Kelly of Hanover Park in a battle of juniors for the girls’ crown.

                        Notice should also be taken of Brian Siemann of Notre Dame who, for the second year in a row, easily swept the 
program of four wheelchair races, ranging from 100 to 1600 meters.      

                         



                          New Jersey distance stars Craig Forys of Colts Neck, Danielle Tauro of Southern Ocean and Ashley Higginson 
of Colts Neck gave future national rivals an idea of what to expect with outstanding performances at the state’s group championships 
held this past weekend in South Plainfield and Egg Harbor.

                        All three were in the Gr. IV meet, which shared the field at Egg Harbor with the two non-public divisions. Forys won 
the boys’ Gr. IV 1600 in 4:07.36 and 9:14.93, while Tauro took the girls’ 800 and 1600 in 2:09.21 and 4:44.35 and Higginson the 3200 
in 10:52.49 after running third to Danielle in the 1600 in 4:47.71.

                        Forys’ 1600 clocking was a meet record and also the fastest outdoor boys’ schoolboy race ever run within the state, 
though still second to overall to Vince Cartier’s 1972 indoor standard of 4:06.6 for the full mile. Tauro matched Michelle Rowen’s Gr. 
IV hand-timed standard of 4:43.0.

                        The hoped-for match of Tauro and Higginson in the 3200 didn’t quite come off. Danielle actually checked in for the 
event, second to last on the weekend program, but scratched when it was apparent that her team had clinched the team title after 
East Orange, the last challenger, scored only eight points in the 200, leaving it 15 points back and with no entry in the 3200 to get 
it within striking range before the relay which it won in 3:55.46.

                        Weather on both days definitely favored the sprints, being in the high 80s with much humidity. The Egg Harbor 
meet also had occasional strong cross-winds on Friday which didn’t aid the sprinters, but definitely slowed the longer races. And 
two days of exposure to the heat didn’t help anyone.
            
                        Almost stealing the show from the distance runners was Devon Bond of Trenton. In leading his team to the Gr. IV 
boys’ title, he set a state record of 50-1/4 in the triple jump in only his third appearance of the spring. His high jump win was more 
routine as he cleared 6-6, a figure topped by two winners at South Plainfield, Ken Wise of Haddon Twp in Gr. II and Anthony Gregory 
of Salem, both of whom cleared 6-8 for the first time.

                        The state’s top two girls’ high jumpers were at their best. Anna Cook of Florence, the defending all-group champ, 
won in Gr. I at South Plainfield at 5-8 and Priscilla Frederick of Paul VI had a record 5-9 1/2 in non-public A at Egg Harbor. And the 
respective pole vault leaders, Greg Stripe of Mahwah in boys’ Gr. II and Chrissy Finkel in girls’ Gr. III, won handily at South Plainfield, 
Stripe clearing 15-0 and Finkel 11-6 in an event which lasted to 10:45 on Friday.

                        There were no team surprises in the girls’ meet. Southern was joined in the championship circle by Ramapo in 
Gr. III, Hanover Park and Haddon Heights in a Gr. II tie, Woodbury in Gr. I---overcoming a 38-point effort by National 400H champ 
Leslie Njoku of McNair Academic, who set a record of 59.96 in her specialty, Pope John, which tallied 127 points in non-public A 
and Pingry, which won its seventh non-public B title in a row, catching Sacred Heart of Vineland by winning the closing relay. 

                        It was a different story with the boys. Trenton and Metuchen in Gr. I were the only favorites to score clear-cut 
victories. Monmouth was tied by Morris Hills in Gr. III; Somerville won its fifth title in seven years over favored Pleasantville in Gr. II, 
thanks mainly to a sprint triple by Rutgers-bound (for football) Mason Robinson in 10.66, 21.81 and 49.09 and Seton Hall gave 
retiring coach Mike Mielko a fine going-away present with a 90-83 1/2 win over highly-favored Don Bosco whose strong distance 
crew scored only one point in the 1600 and 3200. Pingry made it a sweep in non-public B division with an 85-69 win over Mater Dei, 
the natural favorite, DePaul, having been pushed up to A.

                        Robinson’s 100 time was a shade the best of the day with relative unknown Robert Page of Kingsway taking Gr. III 
at 10.68 from favored Rashad White of Teaneck, Sabli Gonnet of Eastern edging Marquis Bonds of Millville in Gr. IV at 10.76.

                        There were two major individual upsets at Egg Harbor in the boys’ 800s. In Gr. IV, defending all-group champion 
Jason Apwah of Roxbury finished third to Manalapan soph Robby Andrews in 1:54.37 and, in non-public A, Gigi Gibilisco of Notre 
Dame also finished third behind Sharif Webb of Don Bosco, who set a division record at 1:52.44, and Brian Guterl of Union Catholic 
who had won the 1600 on Friday in 4:18.11.

                        The much-anticipated non-public B 3200 match of Navy-bound Andrew Hanko of Trinity Christian and Doug Smith 
of Gill-St. Bernard’s did not match their stirring Gr. I indoor race. Hanko, who won the 1600 in a stiff breeze on Friday in 94:21.08, 
came back to win the longer race by a comfortable 30 yards in 9:13.63, best time of the weekend. 

                        Matt Poskus of Cinnaminson, who entered his senior year as a 400-meter hurdler, was one the weekend’s sensations, 
doubling the Gr. II 1600 and 3200 at South Plainfield in 1:54.44 and a division record of 4:14.60, taking down the mark set three years 
ago by former Pirate star Jon Anderson, now at West Point. Another Gr. II doubler with a record was Rahdel Savage in the horizontal 
jumps with a 23-3 in the LJ and the new mark of 47-3 in the TJ. Aaron King, who led the Morris Hills co-win, went one inch further in the 
TJ in Gr. III, winning by hand an inch from Anthony Chisholm of Wayne Hills.

                        Antonio Abney of Willingboro evened the score with defending all-group 400 champ Charles Cox of Monmouth, taking 
the Gr. III 400 in 47.43 and also effectively producing the tie finish. Cox came back to win the 200 in 21.42. Sophomore Shawney Kersey, 
who contributed 28 individual points and a winning relay anchor to Woodbury’s Gr. I title, wiped out Tyrone Ross’ 400 record in Gr. I at 47.88 
and won the 100 in 10.76.

                        Topping all multiple winners for the day, however, was Da’Mon Merkerson of St. Mary’s, Rutherford, who became only 
the third boy to win four group titles, sweeping the distances from 100 through 800 meters in non-public B with a 48.97 in the 400, the 
race he will no doubt choose at Wednesday’s all-group meet at South Plainfield. This was the tenth-best time of the weekend so it will 
take two scratches from the top eight to get him in the seeded section. One is likely from Trenton sprinter Dean McCleese; the other 
might be Delsea’s Aaron Younger who is a 400M hurdle specialist.

                        Emanuel Mayers of Lakewood, the defending all-group 400H champ, swept the hurdles in the weekend’s best times 
of 14.04 and 51.98 and also had a fourth in the TJ at 46-3 1/2.

                        Another young star to emerge from the weekend was Toms River South junior Pat Park, who doubled the Gr. IV SP 
and DT at 56-1/2 and 175-1, a feat matched in Gr. III by state discus leader George Abyad of Passaic Valley, who upset Mike Alleman 
of Scotch Plains in the SP at 57-3 and took his pet event at 176-10. 

                        In the Gr. IV girls’ SP at Egg Harbor, defending all-group champ DeAnne Hahn of Brick avenged her sectional loss to 
Taryn O’Connor of Hillsboro at 45-4 1/2 with junior Maureen Laffan of Toms River North also slipping ahead of O’Connor with a huge PR 
at 45-0. Hahn also won the discus leader Kristen Batts of Marlboro fouled all three trial throws. “It’s a stinking way to win,” Hahn said 
afterwards. 

                        Indoor state sprint leader, freshman English Gardner of Eastern, was one of those who spoiled the Tauro-Higginson 
match, as she doubled the Gr. IV sprints against the East Orange girls in 11.68 and 24.40. But her times were bettered in both events 
by Shavon Greaves of Lakewood, who shared the weekend girls’ honors with Njoku and Tauro, tripling in Gr. III with an 11.61 in the 100, 
a record 23.69 in the 200 and a 55.26 in the 400. Both topped the times of defending all-group champ, Ogechi Nwaneri of Chatham who 
doubled Gr. II in 11.87 and 24.44, the latter, just missing her own record, with cousin Leslie cheering her on from the sidelines. 

                        Kristen Mahon of Notre Dame should be a factor in both 400s on Wednesday. She will certainly challenge Njoku in the 
400H after setting a non-public A record of 1:01.84 and may also take a shot at the 400, which she won in the wins at 56.18. Her kid sister, 
Megan, won the “family” event, the pole vault, at 10-0. Their father and uncle were both state champions in that event. 

                        While the girls’ Gr. IV distance action at Egg Harbor naturally took most attention, the Gr. III events at South Plainfield, 
were nothing to sneeze at. In the 800, Kesley Ramsey and Erin McKenna gave Ramapo the big push to the title, going 1-2 in 2:11.63 and 
1:15.54. The 1600 saw Melanie Thompson of Voorhees outlean McKenna at the finish line in 4:54.31 and, in the 3200, Amanda Goetschius 
led a finish that provided the three fastest times of the weekend in 10:39.68, followed over the line by Thompson and frosh Chelsea Ley of 
Kingsway, both under 10:45.

 



                      The stage was set for one of the great confrontations in New Jersey track and field history as Danielle Tauro of 
Southern Ocean and Ashley Higginson of Colts Neck easily qualified for the Gr. IV 3200 race on Saturday at Egg Harbor.

                        The two All-American candidates have not raced against each other this spring---being good friends, they see 
each regularly at track meets and probably keep the phone busy as well---and their meeting is eagerly awaited by the New 
Jersey track and field community. But there is still a more than outside possibility it will not take place: should Southern Ocean
have the Gr. IV team title sewed up before the 3200 goes off, Tauro might well scratch and run the 1600R instead.

                        At the Penn relays in April, Tauro anchored Southern Ocean to an easy win in the DMR and Higgin-son repeated 
as individual 3,000M champ. They went their separate ways after that; their only possible meeting at the Shore Conference fading 
away when Higginson took that weekend off.

                        This past weekend, when 32 boys and girls public school sectional titles were decided around the state, Tauro 
tripled the distance to lead Southern Ocean to victory at the South Jersey Gr. IV meet, while Higginson won the 1600 and 3200 
at the Central Jersey IV affair. Tauro and teammate Jillian Smith went 1-2 in the 800 and 600 with Danielle running 2:20.54 and 
Smith 2:22.80 under pressure from Lenape soph Miya Johnson. Tauro then took the 3200 in 10:41.40 ahead of Theresa Cattuna 
of Cherry Hill East, one of a number of excellent NJ distance runners who have spent their careers chasing Danielle and Ashley.   

                        Higginson, meanwhile, ran a PR of 4:50.14 in the 1600 on Friday and, with no serious opposition, coasted to an 
11:01.95 3200 on Saturday. If they do meet this weekend, the 24-year-old state record of 10:12.8, held by now Dr. Michelle Rowen 
of Washington Twp is definitely in danger.

                        While the state action dominated the scene this past week, it was not all that engaged state runners. There was, 
as usual, no sectionals for the Parochial teams, but the 50th annual New Jersey Catholic Track Conference championships at 
Notre Dame provided a showcase for the Pope John team which is an overwhelming favorite in the A championships, which will 
share the field with Gr. IV at Egg Harbor. The Lions went on from there to run a pair of season-best marks at the Lenox Fast 
Time meet on Tuesday at Warwick Valley, winning the 1600R in 3:51.5 and running a close second to the hosts in the 3200R 
in 8:57.7, second-fastest in state history. Soph Emily Carrollo anchored both races in 55.2 and 2:13.9.

                        The same night, the Bergen County Meet of Champions was held at Backensack. The stars of that meet were 
Da’Mon Merkerson of St. Mary’s, Rutherford, who set a 400M mark of 48.07, and Cristina Law of Ridgewood, who broke the girls’ 
400H mark at 1:01.97 and anchored a 3:56.52 mark in the 1600R.

                        In the Central Jersey Gr. IV meet at Hillsboro, Devon Bond answered all questions about his physical condition 
as he led Trenton to a 116-72 defeat of defending Gr. IV champions Old Bridge in the Central Jersey meet, clearing the HJ bar at 
6-10 and taking the TJ wth a MR 48-2. The Tornadoes also had doubles from Dean McCleese in the 100 and 200 and from Tykeen 
Fulton in the LJ as 84 of their points came from first or second-place finishes.

                        In the same Central Jersey meet, Craig Forys of Colts Neck sailed through in defense of his 1600M and 3200M titles 
in 4:15.41 and 9:24.31. In North Jersey 2, Hanif Kendrick scored 36 points to lead Franklin to a 120-89 win over Irvington with a 10.90
 win in the 100 and a 23-4 in the LJ. West Orange won in NJ 1, where the feature was a MR 1:52.80 in the 800 by defending AG champ
 Jason Apwah of Roxbury, and Oakcrest took a tightly-packed SJ contest with Raimundo Leach doubling the HH and TJ.

                        Monmouth dominated the Gr. III sectionals as it repeated in CJ, 94-64, over Willingboro. Charles Cox again lost the 
100 to Kerone Rhoden of Red Bank, but won a sizzling 400 duel from Antonio Abney of the ‘Boro in 46.95, took the 200 in 21.54 and 
anchored a 3:15.97 1600R win, best of the weekend. He had to share individual honors, however, with defending AG IH champ Manny 
Mayers of Lakewood, who won that event in 53.50, took the HH in 14.01 and set a MR of 46-9 in the TJ.

                        The other Gr. III winners were Morris Hills in NJ 1 with Aaron King tripling the jumps and setting records in the LJ at 
23-6 3/4 and the TJ at 47-1; Scotch Plains in NJ 2 with Mike Alleman doubling the weights at 58-9 and 162-4 and Kyle Rowbotham 
the hurdles in 14.91 and 54.48, and Delsea in SJ with Aaron Younger doubling the 400s in 48.63 and 53.05.

                        No clear group favorite emerged from the Gr. II action where Hanover Park, Somerville and Pleasantville all scored 
impressive sectional victories. Steve D’Arcy doubled the weights for the Hornets in NJ 2 at 58-11 and 152-11; Mason Robinson tripled 
the sprints for the repeating Pioneers in CJ at 10.64 (a shade over the 10.63 posted by Sabli Gonnet of Eastern in the hot SJ IV race), 
21.87 and 48.58 and Duke Mack won the 400 and basketball star Ken Davis the HH for the Greybounds who won a three-way battle 
with defending group champ Bridgeton and Cinnaminson in SJ. The NJ 1 crown went to River Dell.

                        Matt Poskus tripled the distances for Cinnaminson with an impressive 800 win over Pleasantville’s Alan Laws in 
1:54.32. Joe Martinek of Hopatcong had the day’s only quad in NJ 1, taking the HJ, LJ, TJ and JT with a 195-9 in the latter and Greg 
Stripe of Mahwah cleared 15-1 in the PV there. Chris Phips of Lodi had a 47-3 1/2 win in the NJ 2 TJ and Kashif Moore of Burlington 
Twp tripled the sprints and LJ in SJ at 10.75, 22.02 and 22-8.

                        Defending group champ Metuchen had a big day in the Gr. I CJ meet as football star Dejuan Miller tripled the 
sprints in 10.81, 22.11 and 48.58 in a 143-91 defeat of Florence. Orion Woodard matched that triple in NJ 1 in 11.09, 23.35 and 
49.080 as Pompton Lakes edged favored Hasbrouck Heights, 65-62, for its first ever sectional crown and McNair also took its first 
sectional honors in NJ 2 as it tied Whippany Park at 100 with Reggie McLeod also sweeping the sprint and adding a second in 
the HJ with a prom squeezed in between.

                        In SJ, it was a Salem County neighborhood battle with Penns Grove topping Pennsville, 126-11, as Aaron Hayward 
scored a pair of sprint wins over Shawney Kersey of Woodbury in 10.88 and 21.90 and Juan Rodriguez doubled the 800and 1600. 
John Clark had a weight double for Pennsville at 55-5 1/2 and 171-8 and Ryan Caimi cleared 14-0 in the PV.

                        There were, as noted, no Parochial sectionals, but Don Bosco remains the clear favorite to repeat in A, despite 
its NJCTC loss to Notre Dame, and the much-weakened B division remains a major question mark with DePaul among the schools 
moving up to A this year. The main interest in this will shift to the renewal of the distance rivalry between Doug Smith of Gill-St. 
Bernard’s and Andrew Hanko of Trinity. 

                South Brunswick ended Jackson’s three-year reign in that girls’ CJ meet, 58-54 1/2, led by Indira Morton’s LJ/JT 
double at 18-6 1/4 and 126-7 and a 38-11 TJ win by defending AG champ Stephanie McIntyre. The weights were hot there with 
Taryn O’Connor of Hillsboro getting in first licks in the SP with a 45-11 win over AG defender DeAnne Hahn of Brick and Kris 
Batts of Marlboro hitting 147-8 in the DT.

                        The other IV winners were Ridgewood in NJ 1 and North Edison by a single point over Columbia in NJ 2, thanks 
to a hurdles-TJ triple by Lataya Dixon at 14.59, 1:03.48 and a MR 37-3 (she missed a quad as she lost the HJ on fewer misses 
to Ryan Olexson of Watchung Hills). That meet also saw Symone O’Connor of Franklin tripled the sprints in 11.98, 24.67 and 
54.45, breaking Mikele Barner’s record in the last one.

                        Ramapo, Hopewell Valley and Voorhees all won big in Gr. III to set up a fierce contest for the group title. 
Keslsey Ramsey tripled the distances for Ramapo in NJ 1 with MRs of 2:13.71 in the 800 and 5:00.92 in the 1600 and an 
11:12.67 in the 3200 with soph teammate Erin McKenna 2nd in all three. Melanie Thompson matched that for Voorhees in 
2:17.00, 5:04.14 and 11:07.43, the last two in narrow victories over Nicol Traynor of Ridge. Soph Clare Buck settled for a 
1660/3200 double for HoVall as Shavon Greaves of Lakewood stole the CJ individual spotlight with a sprint triple in 11.81, 
24.05 and 54.73. 

                        The SJ crown went to Kingsway with Tessie Allen doubling the SP and DT at 41-10 1/4 and 122-5. Audrey 
Wilson of Deptford tripled the sprints there at 11.97, 24.24 and 56.86 and Amanda Goetschius of Delsea took the 1600 and 
3200 from Kingsway frosh Chelsea Ley in 5:00.19 and 10:58.37.

                        Hanover Park’s well-balanced team continued its perfect season with a Gr. II NJ 2 win over Summit, 113 1/2-66, 
as Shadaya Bennett doubled the 400s and Dione Scala the 100H and TJ with a 37-3 MR in the latter. Indian Hills reversed a 
county loss to Ramsey in NJ 1, 86 1/2-79, despite a 28-point effort from Alex Rosenberger who doubled the 400H in a MR 102.55 
and led a 1-2 finish in the HJ. 
      
            Donna Alexander tripled the 200, LJ and TJ, with a MR 39-1 1/4 in the latter, to lead Matawan to a 70 1/2-56 win over 
Raritan in CJ and Haddonfield’s distance power helped retain the SJ title, 108-87, over neighbor Haddon Heights which got a 
triple in the sprints and LJ from Jamie Walker.

                        Leslie Njoku had a typical meet with wins in the 200, both hurdles and the HJ to lead McNair Academic to its first 
sectional title since it won NJU 1 in 1999. Also involved in that prom date, Leslie led 1-2  200 finish with teammate Ally Hall who 
had earlier won the 400 and LJ to clinch a 116-94 win over Whippany Park.

                        Shannon Gantt tripled the sprints and LJ and Jacqueline Nisbitt the hurdles and TJ as Woodbury routed Paulsboro 
in SJ, 132 1/2-72, Metuchen outlasted Middlesex in CJ, 105-99, and Verona’s all-around strength prevailed over Kinnelon in NJ 1, 104-63.

                        The Parochial B meet has lost one contender in St. Rose, but six-time defender Pingry will face some stiff opposition 
from Mater Dei, Immaculate Conception and Kent Place. 

                        By coincidence, as I write this, I am watching the 1946 film, “To Have and Have Not,” which introduced Lauren Bacall 
to American film fans, as well as to Humphrey Bogart, whom she later married. The North Jersey 1 Gr. IV girls’ TJ champion this year 
at 36-0 was Brooke Bogart of Ridgewood, their granddaughter. 





                          The major item of news in the week before New Jersey began its three-stage state meet was the return of 
Devon Bond of Trenton, who had shared the indoor spotlight for boys with Craig Forys of Colts Neck, clearing 7-0 in the HJ, 
winning the Nike Invitational in that event, and also leading the nation for the better part of the season in the triple jump.

                        A stress fracture, which had first become a problem indoors, put him on the sidelines for the first eight 
weeks of the outdoor campaign, but he returned at the Eastern Regional Relays on May 21 at Willingboro, winning the 
individual high jump at a (for him) modest 6-6, but insuring that he will be a factor as Trenton bids for its first Gr. IV title 
since the “golden year” of 1978 when Darrell Jeffress, Aubrey McKithen and Co. pulled off the impossible feat of winning 
the 1600R and 3200R at Penn within a period of less than 20 minutes with only one lineup switch.

                        That the present team could give veteran coach Al Jennings another hour in the sun was evident when I 
won the Mercer County title without Bond on May 12. With Devon back in the lineup, the Tornadoes have a triple threat which 
no other team in the state can match: sprinter Dean McCleese and hurdler Tykeen Fulton joining Bond as potential gold 
medalists in the Gr. IV meet. And there is also soph Frank Thompson, who held the fort in the HJ while Bond was on the 
shelf and has filled in on the 1600R team the spot left  vacant when indoor star Devon Hill returned this spring to his first 
love, baseball.

                        While Bond was returning to action last weekend, Forys took a couple of days off to attend older brother 
Matt’s graduation at Bucknell. Despite all the ensuing partying, Craig was back in form at the East Coast relays on May 21, 
running a 4:07.2 anchor 1600 to bring Colts Neck home ahead of Christian Brothers in a season’s best of 17:57.05 in the 
6400M relay. 

                        As usual this year, Forys was touched off well behind in this one, but soon moved up with the leaders as he 
ran a 2:05.5 first 800, then really turned it on, completing his last lap under 60 seconds to win by 20 yards or so. The reverse 
splits were in contrast to his earlier 4:04.4 anchor at Penn where he went out fast and was unable to quite catch the leading 
Coatesville runner in the homestretch. (“We thought we would try it a little different this time,” said coach Jim Schlentz after 
the race.)

                        The East Coast Relays, plagued by rain and cold the past few years, received a break this time and the 
athletes of both sexes responded with a number of season’s best even though disqualifications took three top teams out 
of the running: the Trenton girls false-starting in the shuttle hurdles, the Roselle boys doing the same in the boys; event 
and Pope John losing out when its first stick pass between the two 200M runners went out of the zone in the sprint medley.

                        Ridgewood’s girls got the evening off to a fast start when they won that shuttle hurdles race, without real 
opposition after Trenton’s d/q, in 1:00.77. The distance medleys which followed saw Randolph join the state’s sub-12:00 
club as Kim Standridge ran a 4:54.3 anchor leg to catch next-door neighbor Roxbury in 11:58.43. Roxbury, already under 
12:00 finishing third at Penn, had three juniors on the longer legs who later came back to join a sophomore for a 9:18.28 
3200R win. 

                        The boys’ DMR saw Gigi Gibilisco of Notre Dame, a strong candidate for the all-group 800 title this year, 
run a 3:05.2 opening 1200 leg which, combined with Guy Castranovo’s following 48.6 400, left the rest of the field so far 
behind that it actually hurt the Irish time: Gigi’s freshmen brother Jamie on the 800 and Luke Fischer on the anchor 1600 
both running several seconds behind their best. They ran to qualify for the closing DMR at the Nationals.

                        Notre Dame’s absence from the sprint medley, which they had led indoors, did not hurt the event as two 
other parochial powers, Don Bosco and Union Catholic went at it in perhaps the night’s best race---not unusual for the event 
at this meet. Sharif Webb, who had won the Bergen County A title two days earlier, and Brian Guterl, who had done likewise 
at the Union County meet went at it and split the honors: Don Bosco won in 3:27.39, but Guterl had slightly the faster split: 
1:52.9 to 1:53.3.

                        This event also saw the welcome return to action after a year’s absence of Teaneck’s Tommy San George, 
who ran 1:56.0 in the second section of the event, only to lose out to Lacey soph Tom Pierson who ran 1:54.9.

This was the first race since last spring for Tommy, who had even skipped the Bergen County meet last weekend where the 
Teaneck sprinters returned in force after missing the Penn Relays for disciplinary reasons.

                        The Highwaymen were at the East Coast Relays in force, running away with the 400R and 800R in county 
record times of 42.08---slightly off Camden’s time at Penn---and 1:26.78 which beat its own season’s best of 1:27.0 at the 
opening Kearny Relays. With East Orange, the state’s top girls sprint relay team, taking the night off, honors were split 
between Jackson, which won the 400 in 48.81, and Trenton, which atoned for its SHR mishap with a 1:41.62 over visiting 
Mt. Vernon.

                        Ashley Higginson, who had, like Forys, skipped the Shore Conference meet, split even on the day, running 
a 2:11.7 anchor to bring the sprint medley home ahead of Pope John in 4:03.52, but losing out later in the 3200R to Roxbury 
as she ran 2:16.2. In the SMR, Emily Carrollo ran 2:11.3 for Pope John, but it went for naught because of the earlier relay 
zone infraction.

                        Jackson posted a season’s best of 7:50.77 in the boys’ 3200R, but it could have been well under 7:50 but 
for the absence of Kris Carle, who took the night off after winning the 3200 at Saturday’s Shore Conference meet.

                        The meet ended with two rousing 1600R races. Trenton survived an early bumping incident to win the girts’ 
race in 3:53.73 and Seton Hall rebounded from a dropped stick incident in the Essex County championships, to score a 
come-from-behind victory over Parochial A rival Notre Dame in 3:18.69 with sophomore Clayton Parros running 48.3 on the 
third leg and senior Pat Blackie 47.7 on the anchor. 

                        Individual action always takes second place at this meet, but Kristen Mahon of Notre Dame recorded a 
season’s best 1:00.48 in the 400H team race which saw Ridgewood post a winning total of 3:14.90, also best of the year.

                        The rival Eastern Regional meet boys’ action was dominated by the host Willingboro team which won the 
800R in 1:28.13, the 800M SMR in 1:30.87, the 1600R in 3:17.94 and the SHR in a season’s best of 59.10. Trenton had a 
42.63 win over Franklin in the 400R. Individually, Hanif Kendrick of Franklin, indoor national champion, won the LJ at 23-6 3/4 
and Donnell Hayden of Bordentown doubled the SP and DT. 

                        On the girls’ side, Cherry Hill East ran away with the DMR in 12:14.05, anchored by Theresa Cattuna, 
Camden took the 1600R from Wilson in 3:54.97 and Wilson the 800M SMR in 1:47.58. Individually, Shanna Campbell 
won the SP at 41-8 ½ and Kristen Batts of Marlboro the DT at 144-0.     

                        The array of local meets last week began on Tuesday, was interrupted by heavy rains on Wednesday, 
and was finally completed on Saturday with nine county titles at stake, along with the state prep meet and several South 
Jersey individual-only conference affairs.

                        The first to get its action finished was the state Prep B meet on Tuesday at Pingry where the hosts won 
their fifth consecutive boys’ title and Stuart Country Day its sixth straight girls’ crown. The most notable individual effort 
was a distance double for soph Doug Smith of Gill-St. Bernard’s at 4:21.8 and 9:38.5.

                        The A meet opened the next day at Peddie but was interrupted by rain and completer on Thursday 
which eliminated any contest for the boys’ title as St. Benedict’s had top take a day off before the Essex County meet 
began on Friday. Lawrenceville won both titles easily with soph Matt Gonzalez winning the boys’ 800 in 1:56.7 and Lauren 
Izard doubling the hurdles for the girls. Joe McCloud and Brian Bucknor doubled for St. Benedict’s the first day;    

                        The chief victim of Wednesday’s storm was the Olympic Conference All-Star meet which got in only 
a handful of events with the others still unscheduled. Eastern frosh English Gardner had a hand-timed 11.7 in the girls’ 
100 and teammate Savli Gonnet a 10.4 in the boys. Camden swept the IH events, Kamice Smith taking the girls at 
1:04.7 and Sherman Goree the boys in 54.9. 

                        On the other hand, the Wednesday postponement gave doublers at the distance-oriented Morris County 
meet a day off between races and Andrew Hanko of Trinity Christian responded with a pair of meet records, 4:14.26 in the 
1600 and 9:11.26 in the 3200. On the girls’ side Kim Standridge of Randolph ran big negative splits (2:35/2:21) for a 4:56.48 
1600 win, then surpassed that with a 72/62 in the 800 for a 2:14.90 win over frosh teammate Molly Higgins. Lauren Penney 
of Roxbury was 3rd in the 1600 on Tuesday, then 4th in the 800 and first in the 3200 on Thursday, running 10:56.35 in the latter.

                        Randolph won a close boys’ race there from Hanover Park, the decision waiting till the last strides of the 
1600R where Iam Tamakloe held off Greg Pristell in 3:25.1. Morris Hills lost any hopes when Aaron King, who set a TJ 
mark of 48 1 ¼ going against the wind on Tuesday, failed to score in either the LJ or DT. Hanover Park continued its perfect 
season in the girls’ meet with Shadaya Bennett doubling the 400s on Tuesday in 58.02 and 1:04.68 and Diona Scala 
taking the 100H and TJ on Thursday. Defending all-group sprint champ Ogechi Nwaneri continued her comeback from 
winter injuries with a double at 12.54 and 2555, setting a 200 mark of 25.06 in the trials.

                        The Passaic County meet, also moved to Thursday, had a big breakthrough by Steve Abate of Wayne 
Valley who upset teammate Tony Salvatore in the 1600 in 4:15.87. The Indians ran away with team honors in the boys’ 
meet and had a closer call against Lakeland in the girls. State discus leader George Abyad of Passaic Valley doubled 
at 55-3 and 179-2 while, in the girls’ meet, soph Arianne Bakelmun of Wayne Hills doubled the distances in 5:15.20 and 
11:26.85.

                        It makes little difference what day in the week they run in Sussex County these days; it always ends with 
a double win for Pope John with the only question being which team will hit the highest total. The girls did it this time, 183 
to the boys’ 152. Senior Lara Heigis and sophs Emily Carrollo and Sarah Bieganousky led the girls, Lara doubling the 
distances in 5:17.10 and 11:24.54, Emily taking the 400 in 57.24, placing 2nd in the 200 and anchoring a 4:03.77 relay 
win and Sarah setting a MR of 1:03.00 in the 400H. Vicky Caruso of Wallkill Valley doubled the sprints with a 24.66 MR 
in the 200. Football star Jeremy Tucker doubled the sprints for the Pope John boys in 10.95 and 22.71.

                        The four-division Bergen County meet saw the Don Bosco boys and Ridgewood girls win the A division 
titles. Cristina Law doubled for Ridgewood at 2:16.8 in the 800 and 1:03.9 in the 400H, Ann Polcari set a PV mark of 10-6 
and Brooke Bogart returned to action with a 17-7 win in the LJ. (Yes, that Bogart family.) Amy Salek had a MR 56.6 in the 
400 and her DMR teammates, Kesley Ramsey and Erin McKenna, took the distance events at 5:05.8 and 11:10.3. Sharif 
Webb led the well-balanced Don Bosco team with a 1:53.9 win in the 800 and a 54.5 in the IH, while Dan Emont of 
Ridgewood tied Bob Keino’s MR of 9:15.8 in the 3200.

                        The boys’ D division produced an interesting sprint duel between Damon Merkerson of St. Mary’s, 
Rutherford, and Matt Bieszard of Midland Park. Merkerson, like Tucker a Division I football prospect took two out of 
three in record times, 10.7 in the 100 and 48.8 in the 400, while Bieszard set a mark of 22.0 in the 200. Matt Lingam 
of Park Ridge tripled the distances. New jumping star Chris Phipps of Lodi tripled in C at 6-2, 22-3 and 45-8.

                        Seton Hall soph Clayton Parros had a great weekend, tripling in 10.99, 22.00 and 48.06 to lead his 
team to a close win over Irvington in the Essex County meet. But it took a win by Chris DiLorenzo in the closing DT 
to pull out the 82-74 victory after a dropped stick cost the Pony Pirates six to eight points in the 1600R, where Parros 
did not run. St. Benedict’s distance star Brandon Jarrett doubled the distance in 4:22.47 and a MR 9:10.91. The girls’ 
title went to Columbia, despite a triple by Northeastern-bound Porshe Giddings of East Orange who went 11.92 in the 
100, 24.27 in the 200 and 57.14 in the 400. Kentucky-bound Ashley Newby matched that for Columbia, taking the 400H, 
LJ and TJ .

        Scotch Plains swept the Union County titles, Kyle Rowbotham leading the boys with a hurdles double, a second in 
the TJ and a leg on a third-place relay team and Carlaya Jones doubling the SP and DT for the girls. Brian Guterl had a 
1:54.7 800 win for Union Catholic, Rahdel Savage of Roselle set a TJ mark of 46-5 3/4 and Mike Alleman of Scotch Plains 
hit 59-6 in the SP. Andrea Butler of Rahway doubled the girls’ sprints over Kesi Irvin of Kent Place in 12.0 and 25.3 and Katie 
McCafferty the distances for Oak Knoll in 5:08.3 and 11:20.7. 

                        A major confrontation was avoided at the Shore Conference meet when Ashley Higginson of Colts Neck 
took the day off. (Craig Forys was also absent, as already noted.) This left Danielle Tauro and Jillian Smith of Southern 
Ocean to coast to 1-2 finishes in the 800 and 1600 as their team ended Jackson’s reign, 95-88. Tauro ran 2:13.72 and 
5:02.46. They then joined for a 3:55.83 win in the 1600R. Shavon Greaves of Lakewood had a sprint double at 12.17 and 
24.78 with Georgina Nembhard back in action for Neptune at 12.37 and 25.04. Donna Alexander of Matawan had a record 
38-9 1/2 in the TJ, DeAnne Hahn hit a season’s best of 45-8 in the SP and Kristen Batts of Marlboro a 152-4 in the DT.

                        The boys’ meet saw Monmouth win easily with Charles and Chris Cox going 1-2 in the 400 in 48.12 and 48.7. 
Charles was also 2nd to Kerone Rhoden of Neptune in the 200 and 3rd in the 100 and Chris 2nd in the 400H where Manny 
Mayers of Lakewood scored one of his three victory with a record 52.31. The Jackson trio of Monroe Kearns, Ryan Fenimore
 and Kris Carle took advantage of Forys’ absence to sweep the distance races.

                        Cinnaminson scored the upset of the weekend as it defeated Willingboro in the Burlington boys’ meet, 86-79, 
with distance stars Brian Tetrault and Matt Poskus each scoring doubles, Brian in the 1600 (at 4:19.81) and 3200 and Matt in 
the 800 (1:57.32) and IH. Jusson Boyd doubled for the ‘Boro at 21.93 in the 200 and 14.25 in the HH. The powerful Lenape team 
ran away with the girls’ meet with soph Miya Johnson featuring the victory with a season-leading 2:11.07 in the 800. Anna Cook 
of Florence cleared 5-7 in the HJ.

                        Aaron Younger of Delsea, headed for Rutgers, had a big day at the Tri-County individual meet, setting a Royal 
Division record of 52.8 in the IH and running a 48.9 anchor as his tam set a 3:24.1 mark in the 1600R. In the girls’ meet, Audrey 
Wilson of Deptford tripled the sprints in 12.0, 24.7 and 56.8, the last two meet records, and distance stars Amanda Goetschius 
of Delsea and frosh Chelsea Ley of Kingsway also set new marks of 5:03.4 in the 1600 and 10:44.9 in the 3200




  As if their performance at the Penn Relays weren’t enough, Craig Forys and Ashley Higginson of Colts Neck 
went on a re cord rampage in the two weeks following, as well as helping their teams achieve some long-standing goals.

                        In separate meets on May 4, both broke state records, Forys getting three in one race as he 
won an invitation 2M at Henderson High School in Westchester, Pa, in 8:48.99, breaking a 28-year-old mark set 
by Charles (Bucky) Logan of Bernards at the Golden West meet. En route, Forys was also timed at 8:15.5 for 3K 
and 8:46.04 at 3200M, the distance most commonly run at high school meets since it was invented in 1981.

                        The race had all the trappings of a record attempt, even to the point of two Henderson runners 
serving as “rabbits” over the first three laps. Their role proved inconsequential, however, as the race was run with 
negative splits, 4:27 for the first mile, 4:21 for the second. More important was the presence of Paul Springer of 
Unionville, Pa., who shared the pacesetting task with Forys until Craig took off in typical fashion with tow laps to
go. Springer ran 8:52.86.

                        Higginson settled for one record that night when she won the 3K steeplechase at the Rowan 
Invitational in 6:40.39, taking some 36 seconds off the mark set by Kate Willever of Hopewell Valley. She also 
broke the meet record set in 2005 by Danielle Tauro of Southern Ocean, who was also at the Rowan meet, but 
ran the 3K, winning in 9:47.10, as well as anchoring a 19:35.16 state record in the seldom run 6KR.

                        The next event in a momentous fortnight for the Cougars came the following Monday when they 
ended CBA’s 77-meet dual winning streak by a healthy margin. This was only the second such loss for the Colts 
in 33 years, the previous one having been inflicted by Middletown South whose coach at the time, Karl Torchia, 
is now part of the CBA staff.

                        Finally, there was the Monmouth County meet on May 10 and 12 at Neptune. Here Forys confined 
himself to the 1600, winning in 4:13.88 as Monmouth ran away with team honors, while Higginson led Colts Neck to 
a repeat victory, tripling the distances in 2:15.32, 4:55.21 and 10:57.66. Tauro was also in action there in the Ocean 
County meets, but, like Forys, ran only one individual race, defeating teammate Jillian Smith in the 800 in 2:13.15, 
then anchoring a 3:58.43 win in the 1600R.

                        Monmouth bolstered its hopes for a clean sweep of Gr. III honors this spring with its 86-76 win over 
Colts Neck. The Cougars, of course, could have won by tripling Forys and will likely be a stronger contender this 
weekend in the Shore Conference meet. Charles Cox had a 200/400 double for Monmouth in a windy 21.27 and 48.15, 
but lost the 100 to Kerone Rhoden of Neptune, who also had wind assistance in his 10.72 victory.

                        Rhoden’s was one of several new names to pop up in last week’s heavy conference and county action. 
The list was perhaps headed by a Paul VI basketball player, Pauline Frederick, who came off a pro9m night to win the 
HJ at the Camden County meet at 5-9 ¼, matching the South Jersey record. It also included football star Dejaun Miller 
of Metuchen, who upset Allan Lunkenheimer of Old Bridge in the Middlesex Cou7nty 200 in 21.7; Anthony Della Vecchia 
of Absegami, who won the Atlantic 400 in 48.5 and DaMon Merkerson of St. Mary’s, Rutherford, another football star who
won four events at the Bergen County Scholastic League National meet and earlier ran a 49.2 400 at the County Seat 
Invitational.

                        But some familiar names also shone in the local action. Leslie Njoku and Reggie McLeod of McNair 
Academic won seven events between them at the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association meet as their team. 
The McNair girls couldn’t quite end St. Dominic’s domination in Hudson County, but indicated that they will be serious 
challengers for Gr. I honors on the state level. 

Jason Apwah of Roxbury and Gigi Gibilisco of Notre Dame, thwarted in their bid for all-group 800 honors indoors, ran 
almost matching races, Jason taking the Iron Division race in the iron Hills meet in 1:52.30 and Gibilisco the Mercer 
County crown in 1:52.50 with his freshmen brother Jamie placing second in 1:58.27.        Chris Gonzales of Franklin 
had a string of 800 wins in the Skylands Conferenece at 1:57.45, the Bernards Invitational at 1:56.67 and the Somerset 
County meet at 1:55.49, adding 1600 victories in the county and conference meets as Franklin easily won both titles 
with indoor national lone jump champ scoring 36 points in one meet and 34 in the other.

                      Franklin and Old Bridge, an easy winner in Middlesex County, pose obvious threats to Trenton in Gr. IV, 
particularly if Devon Bond does not return to action for the sectionals next weekend. But the Tirnadoes won at the County 
Seat Invitational and the Mercer County meet without him as Dean McCleese, Tykeen Fulton and Frank Thompson took 
up the slack. McCleese tripled the sprints at the Mercer meet in 10.77, 21.70 and 48.35 and Fulton swept the hurdles in 
14.30 and 53.57.

                      Despite all his heroics, Forys does not have the individual 1600 leadership as the season moves toward 
the state championship phase. That honor belongs to Andrew Hanko of Trinity Christian, who ran 4:13.07 at the International 
Christian School championships in Bangor, Pa., on May 12. He followed that with a 4:14.26 at the Morris County meet. 
His rival for Parochial B distance honors, Doug Smith of Gill-St. Bernard’s, made his first appearance of the Spring at 
Bernards, winning the 1600 in 4:21.12, took the Somerset 3200 in 9:21.99, then doubled the 1600 and 3200 at the state 
prep B meet.

                      Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s came back at the New Jersey Catholic Track Conference Relays after 
missing Penn and the Essex County relays with a slight injury, then showed he was in top form with a 9:09.48 3200 
victory at the Glenn Loucks Invitational. He also doubled at the state prep meet, his last but one individual appearance 
in New Jersey since he is not eligible for that Parochial B race.

                      Also starring for Notre Dame at he Mercer County meet was Kristen Mahon with a 400 double at 55.17 
and 1:01.65. Her probable rival for the all-group 400 flat title, Symone O’Connor of Franklin won the event at Bernards in
55.46 from Middlesex champ Nicole Ragucci of Monroe after tripling at the Skylands meet in 12.26, 24.95 and 56.64, 
but skipped the Somerset meet.

                      Indoor all-group 55M and 400M champ English Gardner of Eastern was beaten badly in the 100 and 200 
at the Roan meet by Shavon Greaves of Lakewood who ran 12.14 and 24.26, but came back to double in the Camden 
County meet in 11.7 and 24.9, both hand-timed. Greaves went on to triple at the Ocean County meet in 12.05, 25.08 
and 56.15.with possibly wind-aided heats of 11.73 and 24.35 two days earlier.

                      Kim Standridge continued her hot running for Randolph with a double at the Iron Hills meet in a record 
4:55.93 and 10:51.63 and then ran just over 4:56 in windy conditions at the Morris County meet, her last lap in 66 seconds.
Freshman teammate Molly Higgins took the Iron 800 in 2:15.91. (She is a niece of the Stickle brothers who starred for 
Roselle Catholic under Frank Gagliano.)

                      Young Gibilisco was not the only frosh to catch the eye in the May 12 action. Haddonfield had two freshmen 
win distance titles at the Camden County meet, Colin Baker the 100 in 4:26.4 and Jon Vitez the 1600 in 9:53.2, maybe the 
first time this has ever happened in te state. Baker, the son of longtime Haddons coach Nick Baker, had missed almost all 
of the cross-country season and much of indoors with a leg injury, but is now showing the form he promised as a junior star.                                                                                                                                           






Mission accomplished and then some
 
                        That would be the best way to describe the New Jersey performance at the113th annual Penn Relays last weekend 
at Franklin Field, a meet that saw an unprecedented double delay of more than two and a half hours on Friday as well as the first Ivy 
League victory in a Championship of America relay in 33 years when Columbia scored an upset win on Saturday in the 3200R.
 
                        As expected, the Garden State effort was highlighted with two almost back-to-back victories on Thursday when Southern 
Ocean led a 1-2-3 New Jersey finish in the distance medley in 10:54.54, fifth fastest time in Penn history, and Ashley Higginson of Colts 
Neck in 9:37.91, ninth on the meet’s all-time list.

                        Sophomore Jillian Smith led off the DMR with a 3:33.5 1200 leg, second fastest in Penn history. This gave Southern 
Ocean a 12-yard lead over Ramapo, which was quickly wiped out when Amy Salek ran a 56.1 400 for the Raiders, but freshman 
Chelsea Cox put the Rams back in the lead with a 2:21.3 and, with Danielle Tauro on the anchor, it was simply a question of how 
fast the race would be. 

                        Tauro, who set the state mile record of 4:39.25 a year ago at the Nationals, made no attempt to go for the Penn record 
of 11:40.51, set by Vere Tech in 1992, but was content to pump out four 72+ laps, saying afterwards: “My job was not to screw things 
up for everyone else.” Ramapo held on to second in face of a severe challenge by Roxbury, both teams also going under 12:00.

                        It could well have been a 1-2-3-4-5 finish, had not Pope John chose to run the 3200R---where it led the trials in 9:03.56 
and was fourth in the finals at 9:07.49—and Colts Neck scratch because of an injury to its usual 1200 leg, Brianna Jackuciewicz.

                         A year ago, the Cougars had hoped to double the DMRS at Penn with Higginson anchoring the girls’ race and Craig 
Forys the boys. They almost got the second half of that wish when Forys ran a 4:04.4 anchor 1600, making up a huge deficit, but failing 
to catch Coatesville, Pa., which won in 10:08.51. His time exactly matched the classic mark which Marty Liquori turned in for the full 
mile distance in 1967 when Essex Catholic set the national record of 10:05.6.

                        Notre Dame’s boys team matched Pope John’s feat of leading the 3200R trials, running 7:55.18 in Friday morning’s 
pouring rain, the last race before the first delay of 90 minutes. But it could not quite match that in the finals which was dominated by 
the Jamaican entry. The girls’ race, however, saw Eleanor Roosevelt of Maryland get the first half of a double victory which helped 
the U.S. score a 5-3 edge over the Islanders in their annual rivalry for the eight relay crowns.

                        The “and then some” mentioned above came in the individual program where New Jersey athletes scored three victories 
even with Nike Invitational indoor high jump champ Devon Bond of Trenton still sidelined by injury. Manny Mayers of Lakewood, the 
defending all-group intermediate hurdles champion, won that event in an upset from Kyle Rowbotham of Scotch Plains in 52.81, the two 
running in separate sections.

                        Mayers ran head-to-head with indoor national HH champ Johnn Dutch of North Carolina. Dutch had a slight lead going 
over the final hurdle, but stumbled coming off after tipping the barrier and Mayers won handily. Rowbotham had already won the first 
section in 53.11 and Aaron Younger of Delsea took the third in 53.45, finishing fourth overall.

                        On Friday, Mike Alleman of Scotch Plains had won the shot put at 58-5 ½, and, on Saturday morning, George Abyad 
of Passaic Valley took the discus at 179-8. Indoor National long jump champ Hanif Kendrick of Franklin was only fourth at 23-4, but 
still earned his watch as the first three were all from Jamaica. 

                        The girls had no field winners, but indoor all-group champ Chrissy Finkel of Montville came very close, losing the pole 
vault on misses to Abigail Schaffer of Easton, Pa., at 12-3 ¾. Deanne Hahn of Brick, indoor Eastern shot put champion, was third in 
the shot put at 44-11 ½.

                        Essex County teams led the countless number of New Jersey 400R teams. After two years of frustration, Irvington won 
the large school boys’ consolation race in 42.54 and the East Orange girls finished second in the girls’ large school consolation final in 
47.39, then apparently won the Tri-State race the next day, only to be disqualified for exceeding the passing zone on the second 
exchange, Camden Wilson getting the gold.

                        Seton Hall coach Mike Mielko got his wish when his final Pony Pirate 1600R team qualified for the championship final, 
thanks to a 47.6 third leg by soph Clayton Parros, who had spent the winter warming the bench for the school’s JV basketball team. 
The team ran second in the final morning class race in 3:17.92 and was seventh in the finals at 3:19.50. Monmouth, the indoor all-group 
champions, just missed a berth at 3:18.31 in the previous race, despite a 47-0 anchor from Charles Cox.

                        Camden lost a hot South Jersey large school race by a shade to Delsea, which ran 3:20.34, but came back later in the 
Saturday program to win the Philadelpia Area race from Winslow Twp in 3:18.74. Winslow, with two sophs in the lineup, hit 3:19.74 as 
Delsea finished fifth.

                        On Thursday, Washington Two had been a surprise winner of the South Jersey girls’ large school race over Wilson in 
3:56.69 and, on Saturday, pulled an even larger upset, taking the area race in 3:52.88, both anchored by rising star Jackie Dim.

                        New Jersey alumni did very well in individual action over the weekend. Both discus titles went to Garden Staters, 
Jocelyn White of Delsea taking the women’s event for North Carolina at 171-7 and Adam Kuehl of Monmouth Regional the men’s for 
Arizona at 195-8 with Yemi Ayeni of South Brunswick second for Virginia at 192-7. Michael Morrison of Willingboro made his final 
collegiate trip to Penn a winning one as he took the LJ for Florida at 25-1 ¼. 

                        And the Olympic Development women’s race put on a final touch when, in a typical “devil take the hindmost” finish, Erin 
Donohue won from present North Carolina star Brei Feinagle in 4:35.70. Rutgers grad Julie Culley, stepping down in distance, ran fifth 
in 4:38.96, giving New Jersey at least four active milers under 4:40. 

                          

 





                      And now it’s on to Franklin Field with New Jersey athletes counting on at least two victories in major high 
school events from its girls on opening day and perhaps one or two more when the boys arrive on Friday.

                        The two on Thursday should come in almost back-to-back fashion from Southern Ocean Regional in the 
distance medley and from Ashley Higginson, seeking a repeat victory in the individual 3,000-meter run. Only the mile separates 
these two and the Jersey entry in that one will be muted with its top runners all involved in the DMR, two of them for Southern 
Ocean: Danielle Tauro and sophomore Jilllian Smith.

                        Southern Ocean’s chances went from probable to almost certainty when Eleanor Roosevelt of Maryland, as 
expected, chose to make its bid in the 3200-meter relay, the trials of which open the relay action on Thursday. The Maryland 
school scored a big upset over Southern at the Nike Invitational indoors, chiefly due to a major edge in the 400 and 800 legs. 
Now the major competition may come from an in-state rival Ramapo, whose well-balanced team went under 12:00 at Arcadia 
three weeks ago.

                        Smith is expected to give Southern a big lead on the opening 1200 leg, as she did at Landover, and the 
question then is how much Ramapo (and others) may gain in the middle legs. Southern is expected to use freshman Chelsea 
Cox on the 800 and senior Kate Bergin on the 400. At Landover, the Bergin sisters handled this assignment.

                        Higginson seems to have no real opposition in the 3K with the most promising contenders involved in the DMR. 
Ashley has already broken the state 5K record this spring with a race in which she averaged 3:20 for each 1K along the way. If 
she can reduce that to 3:10, she will shatter the state mark of 9:33.2 set by Meg Waldron of Bernards in an open race at the 
Rutgers relays in 1981. The all-high school race mark was set at Penn by Jodie Bilotta of Northern HunterdoN AT 9:37.1 IN 1987.

                        Colts Neck had plans for a DMR double this year, but injuries have kept its prospective 1200 leg, soph Brianna 
Jackucewicz on the sidelines this spring and even a 1-3 finish at the Blue Devils Relays last weekend in Westfield, with Higginson 
resting at home, did not shake the decision to let Ashley go individually. 

                        The Cougars will make a strong bid for the boys; title, chiefly based on Craig Forys’ presence on the anchor leg. 
They got a 3:11+ 1200 out of Brandon Krewer in the Blue Devil meet, but the 400 and 800 performances there were not promising. 
Forys may have as much as a 100M deficit or more facing him as it did indoors when he ran his third sub-4:06 anchor in two years 
at the New York Armory.

                        Old Bridge, the New Jersey leader indoors, ran a DMR at Westfield in 10:34.5, but this was with each of its runners 
taking a step down in distance. Usual anchor Matt Ciambriello led off with a 3:10+ 1200, 800 man Nick Carbone a 50+ 400 and leadoff 
man James Hauser a 1:56+ 800. The usual 400 runner, Allan Lunkenheimer, who should run around 47 at Penn, confined himself to a 
pair of 200 legs there, one clocked in 21.1 with a flying start.

                        St. Benedict’s, the third Jersey sub-10:20 team indoors entered at Penn, took the weekend off. The Gray Bees’ hopes 
center on keeping close enough for junior Brandon Jarrett to catch the leaders on the anchor leg. They key here is the 1200 leg, for the 
Newark school has a crack 400 man in junior Brian Bucknor and will get close to 2:00 from its 800 runner. Obviously, this is a team 
with plans for 2008.

                        With Forys and Jarrett in the DMR and Gill-St. Bernard’s soph Doug Smith still serving his 30-day penalty for 
transferring last fall, the state’s entry in the individual distance races will be light with Andrew Hanko of Trinity Christian its main hope 
in the 3K against defender Matt Centrowitz Jr. Hanko has had a couple of 1600 wins this spring in chilly weather, but was also 
resting last weekend.

                        New Jersey hopes of a boys’ 400R finalist took a boost at the Woodbury Relays last Saturday when Camden, 
which had been lying low in earlier meets, exploded with a 42.05 victory in Gr. III over Delsea, which itself had run 42.3 a week 
earlier in the chill at Bridgeton. Teaneck, which has run 42.6 this spring in cold weather, blew the stick in the Bergen County 
Relays, but ran a record 1:27.0 in the 400. A fourth New Jersey threat, Irvington, is still waiting the return of its top runner, Leonardo 
Wright and once again may see its Penn hopes doomed.

                        In the girls’ 400, East Orange is the only state team with a chance at one of the finals, probably the large school 
race. The Campus team had its third consecutive sprint triple last Saturday at Morris Hills and, in the 70ish weather turned in a 
meet record 47.94 in the 400R and a 1:41.94 in the 800R. 

                        Monmouth and Seton Hall are the boys’ 1600R teams with the best chance to make the finals, but each may be 
one runner short. Monmouth had a 3:17.8 at the Holmdel Relays last Saturday, with Charles and Chris Cox running 47.7 and 48.6, 
respectively. A third runner also got under 50.0. With the mass start at Penn, Chris Vox is likely to leadoff to provide a clear 
channel all the way.

                        Seton Hall had a 48.2 from Pat Blackie and a 48.7 from soph Clayton Parros to run a record 3:20.09 at the Morris 
Hills Relays. Parros was the missing figure indoors, preferring to sit the bench with the JV basketball team. Again, there will probably 
be a lineup switch at Penn with Blackie getting the leadoff assignment. The Leroy Alexander will handle the second or third leg and 
the other runner is still to be decided.

                        Rahway is not one of the Jersey favorites to qualify at Penn, but there is an aura of mystery about a new runner 
who will join the team that ran second at the Blue Devil Relays in 3:24.1. All Paul Jones-Burden, anchorman of that club, would 
say is that the newcomer bears a famous name in Union County annals, Since Renaldo Nehemiah lives out-of-state and Milt Campbell 
is into the grandfather stage, this would leave 1968 Olympic 400M bronze (and relay gold) medalist Ron Freeman.

                        Metuchen, a Group I school, which had a 3:12.41 team back in 1997, may be heading that way again in 2008. 
With three juniors in the lineup, the Bulldogs defeated Rahway at Westfield in 3:22.1 (and won the 3200R with four different boys 
in 8:07.8). The anchor of the 1600 team is one of the nation’s most highly touted running backs, Dejuan Miller, already besieged 
by 15 or so top Div. I teams.

                        Pope John, which set a record for the girls’ 3200R indoors, continued concentrate on other events with a 
1:47.6/12:26.5 double in the 800 sprint medley and the DMR at the Raider Relays. The other top entries in this event also 
aimed elsewhere, Voorhees running a 4:11.7 sprint medley at the Raider Relays with Hillsboro third in 4:13.2.

                        It was the same with the boys. Jackson split its forces and went 1-2 in the distance medley at Morris Hills, both 
under 10:40. Pleasantville did run an all-out 8:01.42 at Woodbury, but had a 3:20.72 in the 1600R and 3:33.24 in the SMR, a shade 
better than Seton Hall at Morris Hills or Old Bridge with its 3:34.5 at Westfield. Indian Hills’ boys, who ran under 8:00 at Arcadia, 
simply took the day off. 

                        The state’s 1-2 punch in the opening 400MH race on Thursday, defending national champion Leslie Njoku of 
McNair Academic and Villanova-bound Kristen Mahon of Notre Dame, both had notable warmups last Saturday. Njoku won the 
individual race at the New York Relays in 1:02.21 and Mahon had a 1:01.6 in the Mercer County Relays at Steinert. The boys’ top 
entries in the event, all-group defender Manny Mayers of Lakewood and indoor 55MH champ Tykeen Fulton of Trenton, have yet to 
show their proper form this spring.

                        With Nike indoor winner Devon Bond of Trenton still a question mark in the boys’ high jump, prospects for the 
boys’ and girls’ field events are not too sanguine. John Clark of Pennsville had a 174-5 in the discus throw at Woodbury, Stephanie 
McIntyre of South Brunswick hit 39-8 in the triple jump at the Raider Relays and Aaron King of Morris Hills hit 47-5 in the boys’ triple 
jump at Morris Hills. But King’s mark was topped by a newcomer, junior Chris Phipps of Lodi, at the Bergen Relays; he will, however, 
have to wait till next year for his Penn appearance sine this came past the deadline for approval this time.

                        The Bergen meet, named for legendary Tenafly and Northern Valley (Demarest) coach Jack Yockers---who had a team 
win the championship 1600R at Penn in the school’s initial year, saw Don Bosco confirm its position as the state’s top all-around team 
with a 108-69 1/2 win over Ridgewood in the A Division. Another strong entry in the 3200R at Penn, the Ironmen followed the general 
pattern of the day in that event with a mixed lineup of regulars and subs running 8:20.2, while going big in the 1600R in 3:21.8 the 800 
in 1:28.4 behind Teaneck.

 

                      
  
 


                   The best laid plans, as The Poet said, oft go astray and so it was for Craig Forys’ attempt to become the 
first New Jersey (and American) high school runner to run under 3:00 for a 1200-meter leg on a distance medley relay team.

                        April’s continued chilly weather and a strong wind on the backstretch combined to limit the Colts Neck star 
to a 3:04.2 effort at his school’s relay meet last Saturday. In fact, Craig did not lead the field home on the opening leg; the 
much more strongly built Paul Springer of Unionville (Pa.) ran 3:02.4. 9. The two had last met at the Cougar Invitational 
cross-country feet last fall with Craig winning easily. Craig came back from his disappointment to anchor a sprint medley
winner in 1:56.4.

                        With the inverted order of the distance legs, Colts Neck finished only third in a loaded field with Jackson 
winning in 10:34.9 and Cinnaminson a surprise second in 10:35.3. But neither of these teams will be in the Penn DMR field 
with Colts Neck; both will run the 3200R instead. Jackson also won that race last Saturday in 8:11.7; it ran 7:56.94 in this 
one indoors.

                        Craig’s teammate (and fellow indoor national 2M winner), Ashley Higginson had better luck, running a 4:58.8 
anchor leg to bring Colts Neck from 90 yards back for a 12:28.8 win over Henderson (Pa.) in the girls’ DMR. But, with soph 
Brianna Jackucewicz still on the shelf, the Cougars will run the 3200R at Penn without Ashley, who will be an overwhelming 
favorite to successfully defend her individual 3K title.

                        The girls’ 3200R at Colts Neck saw Ramapo defeat Randolph and Voorhees in 9:30.3 with both soph Erin 
McKenna on the leadoff leg and Kesley Ramsey on the anchor running under 2:16.0. This team, however, will be in the DMR 
at Penn along with Southern Ocean and Roxbury, while the next two schools in Saturday’s race, Randolph and Voorhees 
turned in Penn 3200 qualifiers in their last attempt, the Rams running 9:35.4 and the Vikings---who have made it to Franklin 
Field in this race for the past nine years—running 9:35.6.

                        Southern Ocean made the long trip to Hackensack last weekend to hand Ridgewood a 115-79 defeat at the
Comet Relays. They coasted through the distance medley in 12:35.0 with indoor state 1600 champ Jillian Smith on the 1200 
leg and national outdoor mile queen Danielle Tauro on the anchor 1600. Smith also anchored a 4:14.6 win in the sprint medley 
and a 22:40.7 victory in the 6400R, while Tauro anchored a 9:34.7 victory in the 3200R. This well-balanced team also won the 
shot put, triple jump and pole vault relays.

                        Despite the big team victory, it was obvious that the main object of the day was to decide who will run the 
800 leg on the DMR at Penn. Running with Tauro were sprinter Chelsea Cox (a younger sister of Monmouth’s Cox twins), 
Kate Bergin---who handled the assignment indoors and newcomer Alexis Patrick, who also ran the distance on the DMR team.

                        Wayne Valley and Old Bridge tied for the boys’ title at Hackensack, the Indians managing this without their 
ace weight thrower, junior Chris Pantale, taking an ACT test, and hurdler Alec Marshall, making a college visit. Old Bridge 
missed a chance to win outright when Bergen Catholic defeated the Knights in the closing 1600R at 3:27.0, despite a strong 
anchor leg by Allan Lunkenheimer, indoor state Gr. IV champ.

                        Some of the state’s best sprint teams ran well at the coldest and windiest meet of the weekly, the Ranger 
Relays at Wallkill Valley, a center of New Jersey’s “Ice Zone.” In the boys; meet, Trenton set a record of 43.07 in the 400R 
and Teaneck another mark in the 800R at 1:29.92. Trenton took the 1600R in 3:28.77, anchored by Tykeen Fulton who also 
brought the shuttle hurdles team home in 1:05.7. The surprise for the Tornadoes was their No. 2 high jumper, Frank Thompson,
who ran on the 1600 team and anchored a 3:41.59 victory in the sprint medley. 

                        In the girls’ meet, East Orange repeated its sprint triple of the week before at Kearny, running 49.04 in the 400R, 
1:43.67 in the 800R and 4:05.11 in the 1600R, all meet records and all anchored by Racquel Vassell. And, as at Kearny, Livingston 
topped Teaneck for the team title, 73 1/4-59 ¾. 

                        At the Haddonfield last chance 3200R race on April 12, the Southern Ocean boys team qualified for Penn, along 
with Cinnaminson and Haddonfield. Indoor all-group 800M champ John Gray anchored Southern Ocean to a 7:58.1, indoor 1600 
winner Brian Tetrault got Cinnaminson home in 8:06.2 and the hosts ran 8:12.1 with freshman Colin Baker on the opening leg and 
Mike Burke anchoring.

                        Hillsboro and Ridge, behind Southern Ocean possibly the state’s two best all-around girls’ teams, met again at 
the Somerset County Relays with the Raiders again scoring a narrow win, 111-1/2-109, with indoor state shot put champ leading 
a weight sweep at 44-1 ¾. Melissa Arango and Ebony Young combined for a 72-9 ½ record in the triple jump, both going over 36
 feet for the second week in a row. Nicol Traynor anchored a record 12:46.5 for Ridge in the distance medley and a 9:50.0 in the 
3200R. 

                        The boys meet saw Hillsboro defeat Somerville, 108-88, despite a sprint triple for the Pioneers, all anchored by 
Mason Robinson. Franklin had a record 10:34.7 in the distance medley, anchored by Chris Gonzalez. Tyler Szwarc anchored a 
1:04.6 win in the shuttle hurdles for Hillsboro and also sparked second-place finishes in the 400R and 800R.

                        Notre Dame’s two superstars, Gigi Gibilisco and Kristen Mahon set five records between them at the Wrobo 
Invitational, run in memory of the young Irish coach who died of cancer some years ago.Gibilisco showed a new talent, winning 
the 400H in a record 55.1 and also took his usual events, the 400 and 800 in 49.7 and 1:57.0. Mahon, who had a somewhat 
disappointing indoor season, being knocked out of the all-group 400 in a collision with national 400 hurdles champ Leslie Njoku 
of McNair Academic,.set new marks of 56.7 in the 400 and 1:02.8 in the 400H.

                        Mahon and Njoku will be two of six New Jersey entries in the 400H at Penn. Leslie, who had a 1:03.5 earlier 
this spring, did not run the event at the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association meet last weekend, but anchored 
wins in the 3200R and sprint medley and also headed a victory in the high jump as the Cougars finished third to St. Dominic 
Academy. Memorial won the boys’ title for the 11th year in a row despite taking only one event, the 6400R. Reggie McLeod of 
McNair matched Njoku’s performance almost exactly, anchoring 1600R and sprint medley wins, and going 6-0 in a high jump 
victory.

                        Pope John made its season’s debut at the Nanuet Relays. The Lions won the boys’ division, 85-61, from 
Ramapo of New York, but passed up a chance to take the girls as well, limiting it runners to one event apiece with a 4:04.3
victory in the 1600R and a second-place 4:18.1 in the sprint medley. One bright spot was the return of Casey Keller, idled by 
injury since last spring, who ran with the 6400R victors. 

                        The tiny Cranford Relays saw Roselle Catholic---a three-time 3200R victor at Penn---qualify for the event for the 
first time in many years, winning the event at 8:15.0. Scotch Plains had three wins in the boys’ meet and two in the girls with a 
3:27.8 1600R in the former and 12:57.7 in the latter. Union tripled in the girls’ meet at 51.1 in the 400, 4:14.0 in the 1600R and 
1:07.12 in the SHR.

                        The new Moorestown Invitational, for boys only, saw Haddonfield take the small school 3200R in 8:11.03 and 
Pennsauken triple the sprints in the large school division in 43.92, 1:32.90 and 3:30.46. In the 67-year-old Bridgeton Relays, 
also for boys only, Delsea more than matched this when it won the Gr. III events in 42.3---best of the season---1:29.4 and 3:26.5, 
Freddie Lavan anchoring the two sprint races. Camden was present, but used B teams in these events, concentrating on a 3:41.6
 win in the sprint medley.

                        Vineland topped Winslow Twp in Gr. IV at this one with a 43.4 in the 400R, an 8:16.9 in the 3200R and a 3:39.2 
in the sprint medley. Winslow won thye 800R in 1:30.3 and the 1600R in 3:27.2. Host Bridgeton took Gr. II and visiting Metuchen 
won in Gr. I.

                        The counterpart girls’ meet at West Deptford, Haddonfield edged Haddon Heights in Gr. II, despite a sprint double
anchored for Heights by Jamie Walker in 50.4 and 1:47.2. Amanda Goetschius, who will run against Higginson in the Penn 3K, 
anchored a record 12:41.9 win for Delsea in Gr. II and brought the 3200R home in 9:57.6, but Kingsway’s well-balanced team 
won easily over the Crusaders, 108-70.          

 





                New Jersey track and field action last weekend could have done with a little “global warming” as winter-like conditions 
prevailed throughout the state, reaching the point in the southern end of the state where light snowfalls forced three meets to 
be postponed until Easter Monday.

                        But, despite the conditions, some notable marks were recorded, principally at Friday night’s Sam Howell 
Invitational open distance races at Princeton University and by the three Bergen County schools who made the cross-country 
journey to the Arcadia Invitational in California.

                        At Princeton, national indoor two-mile champion Ashley Higginson of Colts Neck set a state record in the 5K, 
finishing second in 16:38.51 and, in the process, defeating several of her future Tiger teammates. Craig Forys, who won the 2M 
for the Cougars at the Nike Invitational indoors, just missed the boys’ 5K mark as he placed 6th in 14:28.95 after leading the 
race through the 3200-meter mark in 9:13. Sophomore Doug Smith of Hill-St. Bernard’s, who is sitting out his 30-day ineligibility
 for scholastic competition for transferring from Roxbury last fall, was 3rd in another section of the race in 14:54.03.

                        Heading the NJ action in California was a second-place finish by Ridgewood in the girls’ 400-meter shuttle 
hurdles relay in 1:02.55. Ramapo was 4th in the both the sprint medley and the distance medley. Kesley Ramsey anchored 
the sprint team to a 4:05.40 with a 2:11.9 anchor and also brought home the baton for the distance team in 11:57.44. Ridgewood
was 6th in the SMR in 4:09.21 and Indian Hills posted a 12:28.38 for 3rd in another section of the DMR with Lindsey Jeltes 
anchoring in 5:05.9.

                        The Indian Hills boys were 4th in the 3200R in 7:57.31, thanks mainly to a 1:52.9 anchor by Maxwell Bruno, 
while in the distance medley Ridgewood placed 6th in 12:23.99 and Indian Hills 10th in 10:30.70, again anchored by Bruno.

                        Quite naturally, the top performances in the chilly East came in the sprint relays with Teaneck having a 
42.6/129.5 at the Kearny Relays and Trenton winning the 400R at the King Relays on Randalls Island in 42.98 before dropping 
the stick in the 800. East Orange tripled the girls’ sprint events at Kearny in 48.8, 1:46.3 and 4:10.9, all anchored by Racquel 
Vassell. In South Jersey, Winslow Twp and Camden split honors, the Purple Knights taking the 800 in 1:30.6 and the Purple 
Knights the 400 in 43.8.

                        The Kearny races matched Teaneck and Irvington, which ran 43.0 and 1:30.9 minus its top sprinter Leo-nardo 
Wright, who aggravated an indoor injury a few days earlier. The Highwaymen have gotten a big boost from the return of Rashawn 
Wright, who had spent the winter sitting the bench for the basketball team. He ran with Damian Miles and Dave Butler in both 
wins, newcomer James Williams leading off the 400 and indoor ace Akeem Thomas the 800.

                        Trenton is running this spring without the services of Devon Hill who has returned to his first love, baseball, after 
clocking 7.53 in the 55H this winter and also running on the Tornadoes crack 800R and 1600R. But new talent has turned out to 
join indoor 55M hurdle champ Tykeen Fulton and Dean McCleese and Al Jennings’ team also cleaned up at Monday’s St. 
Dominic Invitational with Fulton doubling the hurdles at windy Lincoln Park in 14.9 and 57.2, Rashawn Bailey the 200 and 400 
in 23.4 and 51.3 and McCleese leading a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 in 10.9. A watered-down 400R also won in 44.4 and Frank 
Thompson took the HJ at 6-2 in the absence of Nike indoor HJ champ Devon Bond, who is nursing a stress fracture and may 
miss Penn.

                        The Trenton girls, who had won six events in tying Colts Neck for the Div. III title at Saturday’s lightly-attended 
Rebel Relays, had a field day at the St. Dominic affair. Janica Austin doubled the hurdles in 15.4 and 1:09.6, Leola Spotwood took the 200 in 27.8 and the HJ at 5-0, while sister Citella won the DT at 91-1 and Cora Dayon captured the 400 in 59.4. 

                        Two of the state’s top Penn individual entries won their events, national 400H champ Leslie Njoku of McNair 
Academic taking the girls’ 800 in 2:24.1 and Andrew Hanko of Trinity Christian the boys’ 1600 at 4:27.4.

                        St. Benedict’s and Morristown were the boys’ divisional winners at Kearny and Livingston edged Teaneck in 
the girls’ competition. Brandon Jarrett anchored wins for the Gray Bees in the 3200R and DMR. In addition to her track triple, 
Racquel Vassell of East Orange had a 17-6 1/4 in the long jump, her Penn event. Roxbury, a Penn entry in the distance medley, 
won that event in 12:38.2.

                        The Passaic County meet at Wayne Hills, saw Wayne Valley take the boys title and Clifton the girls. Tony 
Salvatore led a distance triple for the Indians, while Sue Martinez brought the baton home for Clifton in the 1600R, 3200R and 
sprint medley. Her 800 legs were 2:24 and 2:25 and the 400 a 60.4 all excellent under the windy conditions.

                        Christian Brothers made its annual journey to the Pawlowski Relays held in Ramsey for the first time, and used 
its distance depth to score a 99 1/2-84 win over Scotch Plains, going 1-2 in both the 3200R and 6400R. Host Ridgewood topped 
Jackson, 69-65, for the girls’ title even with its top runners out in California. Jackson pole vault star Samantha Brady showed 
some new talent, leading off a sprint double of 51.1 and 1:48.2. 

                        Winners at the Season Opener Relays at Indian Hills were Hasbrouck Heights for the boys and Immaculate 
Heart Academy for the girls. Brandon Melchior led a SP/DT double for the Aviators with a 52-4 in the SP. He also competed 
without success in the pole vault where Greg Stripe of Mahwah cleared 13-0 despite the almost impossible conditions.

                        Hillsboro swept the deck at the Skyland Relays at Hunterdon Central, defeating Franklin in the boys’ meet. 
102-78 ½. And Ridge in the girls, 96-91. Its triple jump teams set records in both divisions, with Melissa Arango going 36-6 1/4 
and Ebony Young 36-3 ¼. Indoor state shot put champ Taryn O’Connor led a shot put win at 41-1/2 and also had a 120-6 in 
the discus. 

                        Mason Robinson of Somerville, one of the state’s top sprinters, made his senior debut (the Pioneers do not 
have an indoor team), anchoring victories in the 400R and 800R and leading off a 1600R victory. Chris Gonzalez of Franklin 
anchored victories in the 3200R (8:18.9), sprint medley (3:40.6) and distance medley (10:55.9).

                        As already noted, the Rebel Relays at Howell had a small entry, but provided a showcase for the Cox twins 
who led Monmouth to a 114-104 win over Monroe in Division II. Matawan took Division I and Freehold Twp and Manalapan tied 
in Div. III. The other girl winners were Raritan in I and Monroe in a dual meet with Monmouth in II. Eastern indoor shot put 
champ DeAnne Hahn of Brick had a 43-11 in that event and a 123-7 in the discus. 

                        The Burlington County Hall of Fame Relays at Maple Shade had no team titles, but Lenape’s well-balanced 
girls’ team completely dominated the large school division, winning 10 of the 15 events with freshman Caitlin Orr anchoring 
victories in the 6400R at 23:33 and the sprint medley at 4:18.5 and Miya Johnson bringing the 1600R home in a record 4:04.8 
and the 3200R in 9:51.1. The Indians also had a 50.4 in the 400R, a second-place 1:47.8 in the 800R, a 13:02.7 in the distance 
medley and a 1:08.2 in the shuttle hurdles. 

                        The Pratt sisters led Palmyra to a sprint double in the small school division where host Maple Shade took 
five of the six field events.

                        In the boys’ competition, Holy Cross had five wins in the small school division and Willingboro and Cherokee 
four apiece in the large schools. Willingboro’s wins included a 1:31.5 in the 800R with Antonio Abney leading off and Jason 
Boyd anchoring. 

                        Two of the state’s top sprinters, Jamie Walker of Haddon Heights led the girls’ action in the Camden-Gloucester 
Relays at Pennsauken. Walker headed a 112-88 victory over Haddonfield in the small school division, anchoring a sprint double 
of 51.1 and 1:48.9. Kamice Smalls anchored the Purple Knights to an 800/1600 double in 1:46.0 and 4:13.8, but Washington 
Twp took team honors, 87-71, from Paul VI.

                        Haddon Heights also won the small school boys’ division, 115-100, over Haddonfield, while Winslow Twp, its 
indoor ranks supplemented, topped Eastern, 101-95, in the large school action. In addition to the 800 win, the Eagles also took 
the 1600 R in 3:33.1 and the SHR in 1:06.1.

                        At the Buena Relays, which gives separate titles for track and field in each division, Pleasantville ran away 
with the small school running, winning six of eight events with a 44.6 in the 400R and an 8:21.9 in the 3200R. 

                        There will be another slew of relay meets around the state this weekend, almost a dozen in fact, with some 
individual action at the Wrobo Invitational at Notre Dame. The most intriguing event will be the distance medley at the Cougar 
Relays at Colts Neck where teams have been asked to run their usual anchor leg in the opening 1200 as Forys attempts to 
be the first Jersey to run that distance under 3:00. Most of the New Jersey Penn qualifiers will be on hand.