ED GRANT'S WEEKLY ROUNDUP

                       The 2008 outdoor season in New Jersey might very well be filed under the title “unfinished business.”

                        It was not that the campaign did not have its high points---Roxbury’s surprising victory in the distance 
medley at Penn and a pair of victories at last weekend’s Nationals in Greensboro among them---but there was so much 
that didn’t happen.

                        A prime example of this was the Nationals themselves, with the late date, falling as it did in our state’s 
graduation week, forcing many of our athletes to attend to more important matters at home. Roxbury itself, for example, 
could well have taken the four-mile relay in Greenville, but half of its lineup---Lauren Penney and Ashley Cromartie---were 
among the many receiving diplomas.

                        The victors were repeating indoor National or Nike Invitational triumphs, though in different events. Jillian 
Smith of Southern Ocean, the mile winner indoor at Landover, ran away from the 800M field in 2:05.24, slightly under her 
all-group time of Jan. 4 and also under Joetta Clark’s former state junior record. Union Catholic, who had won the 800R 
indoor at the New York Armory, was a surprise winner of the short sprint medley, Garrett Ellis; anchor 400 giving it a 
narrow victory in 1:31.72.

                        The state’s other indoor winners did not fare quite as well, In the opening Thursday program, Chelsea 
Ley of Kingsway, the 5K winner indoors in New York, finished second in 17:12.08. Katie McCafferty of Oak Knoll, who 
won the 2M in Landover, was third in a tactical race the next day, running 10:22.47 and then went on to place second 
two days later in the 3K at the National Junior meet in 9:42.82.. Melanie Thompson of Voorhees, second to McCafferty 
indoors in the 2M indoors, finished third in the mile on Sunday in 4:50.68.

                        On the boys’ side, freshman Nick Vena of  Morristown had a brilliant series in the SP with four marks 
over 20 meters, only to have Brandon Pounds of Indianapolis snatch the gold away with a single throw that improved his 
PR by some two feet. Vena wound up with a best of  67-2 1/4, eight inches short of his national frosh and 15-year-old 
record.   

                        Thanks to the underclass domination of the all-group meet, a number of New Jersey champions were 
able to make it to Greensboro and most came home with all-American honors, i.e., a finish in the top six.

                        English Gardner of Eastern, who doubled the girls’ sprints at the AG meet in 11.88 and 24.34, confined 
herself to the shorter sprint at the Nationals and finished second in 11.82, following a wind-blown 11.56 heat. Indoor AG 
champ reversed the AG finish in the 400, placing fourth in a season-leading 53.64 with Michelle Brown of Seneca fifth in
 53.96, just off her PR of 53.91 in the Gr. III meet. 

                        Smith, as noted, outclassed the 800 field with teammate Chelsea Cox, the all-group runner-up, placing 
fifth in 2:09.87. But Southern Ocean, the 1006R winner on June 4, scratched from that race and also did not run the 
preceding distance medley, leaving everyone still to wonder what the Rams might do with Cox on the 200-meter leg. 
Well, maybe next year.

                        Samantha Sharper of Wilson, who had fallen while leading midway in the all-group 100H, was among 
the missing seniors in Greensboro, as was eventual winner Briana Barlow of New Brunswick, but third-place finisher 
Ugonna Ndu of Union placed fourth in Greensboro in 14.44. Melissa Bellin of Rumson who lost the AG race by a whisker 
to Julie Alexander of  Hopewell Valley, was sixth in the 400H in 1:01.67.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

                        Maureen Laffan of Toms River North was fourth at the Nationals in the shot put at 46-6 1/4, well off her 
winning AG meet effort of 46-6 1/4. Her longtime rival, DeAnne Hahn of Brick, who won the AG discus at 139-6, was 
among the missing seniors. Junior Shannon Sullivan of Immaculate Heart Academy, who completed a perfect season 
in the state with her PR of 144-3 at the AG meet, finished third in the javelin at 138-10.

                        Soph Emily Kianka of Hopewell Valley, involved in a four-way tie for second at 5-6 in the AG meet, 
had just one partner at Greensboro at 5-6 1/2 as she again earned silver. Lauren Calorel of Lacey, perhaps the most 
surprising AG champ, also at 5-6, was among the missing. Nicole Pompei of Hanover Park, the AG pole vault champ 
on misses, over defender Jen Holly of Barnegat at 12-6, finished 9th at Greensboro at 12-3 1/2 with her neighborhood 
rival, Chrissy Finkel of Montville, just ahead of her at the same height.

                        Josephine Kvist of Ridge, the AG long jump champion, confined her Greensboro action to the 1600R 
where Ridge led the New Jersey contingent in eighth place at 3:53.42. The state’s top relay finish came in the 300 
where Voorhees finished a distant second in 9:08.51, anchored by Thompson. Pope John had a pair of top six finishes, 
placing fourth in the sprint medley in 4:01.52 and fifth in the distance medley with an all junior team in 12:01.22. 

                        Aside from Vena and Chris Phipps of Lodi (who finished second in the triple jump at 49-4 1/2---almost 
exactly his state meet mark---the New Jersey AG boys’ champions did not fare that well. Sprint  winners Robert Page 
of Kingsway (100M) and Akeem Gauntlett of Roselle (200) were absent, 400 titlist Isaiah Gill of Plainfield was a second 
behind his all-group time in 12th at 47.16. Monroe Kearns of Jackson, runner-up in the all-group 800, had the best 
placing among the runners in fourth with a personal best of 1:51.81. Jason Walton of Hillsboro, the AG winner in 1:10.14, 
settled for seventh in 1:52.36. And Brett Johnson of Ocean City, who broken 4:10 twice in earlier June races, the AG at 
4:09.03 and a special invitational race at Monmouth College at 4:08.51, fifth in outdoor state history.

                        Hopes for a direct rematch of the 1-2 finishers in the pair of dramatic 3200M races at the all-group meet 
died when Thompson, winner of the girl’s event in a record 10:17.18, and McCafferty, a tenth of second behind her in that 
one, chose separate events, while Tyler Udland of Millburn and Doug Smith of Gill-St. Bernard’s were placed in separate 
sections of the boys’ 2M.

                        Smith had led the AG race almost from the start, but, in his effort to break the 9:00 mark, hit the wall on 
the homestretch and barely managed to finish after Udland had swept past to win in 9:04.80. To add insult to injury, Smith 
also lost his state frosh record in that race to James Rosa of West Windsor-Plainsboro North, who finished sixth in 9:11.56. 
At Greensboro, Udland ran 9:25.80 in the unseeded section, Smith 9:11.48 in the seeded event.

                        Cody Unger of Jefferson Twp, who skipped his graduation to compete, finished third in the javelin at 197-8, 
well ahead of all-group champ Brian Florek of Old Bridge, who had completed his second undefeated campaign in New 
Jersey meets at 201-1, just 10 inches ahead of Unger. 

                        High hurdles champ Devon Hill of Trenton (13.89) was a late scratch at Greensboro, while 400H winner 
Demetrius Rooks oif Absegami finished seventh in a personal best of 52.87 and also helped the Braves placed third in the 
sprint medley in 3:26.25 and eighth in 1600R in 3:18.43 after winning the all-group race in 3:15.77.

                        Morris Hills, like Pope John running with an all-junior lineup, had a sixth-place finish in the distance medley 
at 10:08.46 while CBA won the morning division in 10:16.68 and finished eighth overall. 

                        Speaking again of what didn’t happen this past spring, the absence of AG cross-country champ Brian 
Leung of West Windsor-Plainsboro South and the brief appearance of Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s certainly tops the 
list. Their rivalry will, however, continue in the Ivy League, Leung heading to Princeton, Jarrett of Harvard.

                        Some of the other missing items will hopefully be part of the New Jersey 2008-09 season. Having spent 
this spring on the 800, Jillian Smith should return to the mile next year and go after former teammate Danielle Tauro’s state 
record and, as already noted, her Southern Ocean team could make it three in a row for New Jersey in the Penn DMR. 
And, perhaps, Millville will do what it didn’t this year and go all-out in the 3200R against a panoply of talented rivals: Voorhees, Haddonfield, Lenape, Seneca, Immaculate Heart Academy, etc. 

                        




Tight team races and some a flood of first-class individual performances featured the New Jersey group 
championships last weekend, with even a touch from “Chariots of Fire.”

                        Seven of the 12 championship battles went down to the closing 1600-meter relays and 
five of these were not decided until Sunday afternoon at Egg Harbor as a heavy rainstorm wiped out the 
last seven running events on Saturday afternoon, as well as delaying the finish of five field events.

                        The individual action was headed by another duel between shot-putters Mike Alleman of 
Scotch Plains and freshman Nick Vena of Morristown on Friday at South Plainfield. Alleman won this time 
with a big PR of 66-1/4 and he also topped Vena the next day in the discus as both had personal bests, 
Alleman in third at 173-8 and Vena fifth at 164-6, missing Glenn DiGiorgio’s state class record by less than 
two feet.

                        The South Plainfield meet was also hit by the weather, but resumed after a midday 90-minute 
interval. The storm didn’t get to Egg Harbor for another two to three hours, but proved decisive in at least one 
of the close team races.

                        Closest of these was in Gr. II girls where Rumson and Ewing finished in a 40-40 tie with pre-meet 
favorite Haddonfield just two points behind. Ewing led into the relay, 34-30, over the other two, but Melissa Bellin, 
who had won the 400H on Friday, anchored a 3:55.3 win for Rumson and Haddonfield got between the other 
two to force the deadlock.

                        Not far behind this was Gr. I where Robbinsville scored its first state victory, 43-42, over Verona. 
But has the 3200 been run on Saturday, things would probably have been very different, as Olivia Clyde of New 
Providence, who had already won the 1600 on Friday in 5:12.93 from defender Megan Flynn of Robbinsville and 
finished third in the 800, was an odds-on favorite to defeat Flynn again as she had in the Central Jersey 
sectionals a week earlier; had she done so, the Pioneers would have eked out a 42-41-40 verdict over the 
other two. Instead, she was making the same choice Eric Liddell did at the 1924 Olympics, attending services 
with her family at the Mormon temple in Short Hills. But there’s always next year for the promising soph and 
her largely-underclass teammates. 

                        In the Group IV girls’ meet, Jillian Smith personally escorted Southern Ocean to a 46-39 win 
over Jackson, tripling the distances in 2:08.23, 4:59.48 and 10:56.06 and running a 55+ anchor leg to bring 
the 1600R team home second to Millville in 3:50.8.

                        The Gr. III meet at South Plainfield saw Camden hold off a young Seneca team, 46-42. The 
two went into the relay tied at 36 points, but Camden won the race at 3:52.42 with Seneca third at 3:54.05, 
anchored by sophomore Michelle Brown who, on Friday, had broken the group 400M record at 53.92.

                        The Parochial Divisions at South Plainfield were less dramatic. An epic battle between two of 
the state’s best teams saw Immaculate Heart Academy defeat two-time defender Pope John in A, 106-95, led 
by a distance double from Sarah Pagano in 5:01.42 and 11:01.56, and Holy Cross score over Our Lady of 
Mercy in B, 94-68, as part of a sweep to match the one the Lancers scored indoors.

                        Five boys’ teams joined Robbinsville as first-time winners. Timber Creek, another young school, 
rode five individual wins to a 57-37 victory over Camden in Gr. III, and Absegami came from behind with a 
second-place finish in the 1600R to top defending Old Bridge in Gr. IV, 48-44. And, in Gr. II., Akheem Gauntlett 
anchored a 3:20.5 1600R win to give Roselle a 49-43 win over Bridgeton.

                        Both Parochial winners were also in this category. Holy Crsso, as already noted, won the B 
meet handily, 103-66, over Pingry, and Msgr. Donovan clinched the A title with a second-place finish in the 
1600R in 3:22.28. This was, however, no novelty for Griffin coach Jack O’Leary, who first won at Essex 
Catholic in 1971 and later took both cross-country and indoor titles at Morris Hills.

                        Winning, however, was nothing new for Metuchen which ran away with Gr. I for the third year in 
a row. The Bulldogs took their first state title tying Neptune for the Gr. II crown in 1940 and have seven now in Gr. I.

                        Joining Smith as triple individual winners over the weekend were Clayton Parros of Seton Hall, 
who swept the Parochial A sprints in 10.96. 21.82 and a meet record 47.62 and also had a 46.5 anchor leg for 
the Pony Pirate 1600R team; Gauntlett, a transfer from St. Jago in Jamaica, who took the same events in Gr. II 
at a wind-blown 10.67, 21.65 and 49.58; Carlton Bowers of Pingry, who won both Parochial B hurdles and, on 
the girls’ side, Rajeana Marigna of Palmyra, who swept the Gr. I sprints, and Serifat Juniad of Camden Catholic, 
who won the Parochial A 200, high jump and long jump.

                        The Parochial B division produced a pair of record distance doubles. Doug Smith of Gill-St. 
Bernard’s ran 4:14.23 and 9:12.04 in the boys’ races and Nike indoor 2M champ Katie McCafferty of Oak Knoll 
hit 4:56.46 and 10:43.14 in the girls’ events, both running without serious opposition in either case.

                        Another fine distance double at South Plainfield came from Brett Johnson of Ocean City who 
won the Gr. III 800 in 1:53.49 and the 1600 in 4:14.55, in both cases followed over the line by fellow junior Liam 
Tansey of Morris Hills. Johnson ran the last lap in the 1600 in 58.0. Tyler Udland of Millburn had a 9:11.86 win 
in that group, rabbited by older brother Myles.

                        Jason Walton of Hillsboro reversed his sectional 800 loss to Monroe Kearns of Jackson as he 
took the Gr. IV 800 in 1:53.49. Indoor all-group champ Robby Andrews of Manalapan failed to place in that one, 
but won the 1600 the day before in 4:19.44.

                        State cross-country champ Melanie Thompson of Voorhees warmed up for her all-group meetings 
with Smith and McCafferty as she doubled in the Gr. III girls’ distance races in 4:53.60 and 10:44.60, chased to te 
line in the latter by Claire Buck of Hopewell Valley.

                        Brown’s 400 record upstaged a 55.08 Gr. IV win by indoor all-group champ Nijgia Snapp of 
Oakcrest at Egg Harbor, a race probably slowed by the same winds that boosted defending all-group champ 
English Gardner of Oakcrest to an 11.49 in the girls’ Gr. IV 100 and Geoff Navarro of Absegami to a 10.57 in 
the boys’ race. At South Plainfield, minus wind, Robert Page of Kingsway won Gr. III boys in 10.64 and Audrey 
Wilson of Deptford 11.95 in Gr. III girls.

                        A classic HH race took place in Gr. IV at Egg Harbor with Devon Hill of Trenton scoring over 
Joshua Evans of Irvington in 13.80, avenging a loss to the Camptowners at the East Coast Relays. Hill was 
also scond the day before in the 4ooH, won by Demetrius Rooks in 54.04 to give his team a sendoff toward 
the team title. Rooks later ran second to Isaiah Gill of Plainfield, who won the flat 400 in 48.45.      

                         Last weekend’s action gave little clue as to most of the field events at the all-group meet. T
ypical was the boys’ pole vault where season-leader Rich Villanova of Toms River North was knocked out of 
contention by an injury while Greg Stripe of Mahwah, bothered all spring by hand problems, won Gr. II on 
Sunday at 14-6, a hight matched by Chris Wyckoff of Toms River East in Gr. IV and both defending champ 
Dan Batdorf of West Deptford and winner Eddie Zubrzycki of Highland in Gr. III.

                        The one exception may be the triple jump where Chris Phipps of Lodi continued his season-
long dominance with a meet record 48-5 1/4 in Gr. II, two feet short of his recent state record. But Rolston 
Braithwaite of Trenton came close to that in Gr. IV at 47-5.

                        Probably the most astonishing event of the weekend was the failure of indoor Gr. IV girls’ 
champion Lenape to score a single point after coming so close to defeating Southern Ocean at the South J
ersey sectionals a week earlier.  


                        The time had come for Jillian Smith to assert her position as New Jersey’s No. 1 distance 
runner and that it just what the talented Southern Ocean did in a big way at the South Jersey Gr. IV 
championships last weekend at Egg Harbor Twp.

                        With the exception of her record anchor 1600-meter leg at Penn, Jillian had been in a low 
profile this spring, content to win her few open and championship races with no concern for the clock. And 
even in her four gold medal performance this time, she has yet to break 5:00 for an individual 1600M race or 
11:00 for the 3200.

                        The 800M, however is a different story. In what was surely the top race of a busy weekend, 
Jillian won in a meet record time of 2:07.26, barely missing the state junior class record of 2:07.10 held by 
Janine Davis of Queen of Peace and, before that, by no less than four-time Olympian Joetta Clark. The first 
six finishers in this one ran faster than any of the winners at the three other sectional meets last Saturday.

                        Smith began on Friday with a 5:00.84 1600 win over Caitlin Orr of Lenape, which waged 
another torrid team battle with Southern Ocean, before bowing, 83 1/2-80. She also took the 3200 on Saturday, 
again from Orr, in 11:09.00 and finished up with the anchor leg in a 3:51.59 relay victory that clinched the 
title---Lenape had led by half a point going into the event.

                        The two teams will go at it again this weekend for the group title at Egg Harbor, the other 
sectional winners simply not having the firepower to come close to the South Jersey powers. Lenape hopes 
for a repeat of the indoor scenario when Southern Ocean also won the sectional title, but lost the group battle. 
However, that meet was a one-day affair and the time schedule made a four-way appearance by Smith impossible.

                        The Gr. III meet at South Plainfield will looks like a three-way affair among North Jersey 2 
winner Voorhees, Central Jersey champ Hopewell Valley and South Jersey titlist Camden. HoVall has the 
best all-around team, but may lose valuable points in the distance races which feature such stars as all-group 
cross-county champion Melanie Thompson of Voorhees, National 5K indoor winner Chelsea Ley of Kingsway 
and the members of Roxbury’s Penn distance medley champs: Ariann Neutts, Ashley Cromartie and Lauren 
Penney.

                        All of them had great meets last weekend. Thompson swept the distances at South Plainfield 
in 5:01.37 and 10:53.69. Chelsea scored in the South Jersey meet at Buena in 5:00.24 and 10:42.84 (fastest 
of the day) and each of the Roxbury girls won at the North Jersey 1 meet at Hackensack, Neutts taking the 
800 in 2:16.04, Cromartie the 1600 in 4:56.31 and Penney the 3200 in 10:57.50..

                        Camden may profit from all this internecine warfare as its points come from the sprints, hurdles 
and jumps, Kamice Smalls winning the SJ 400H in 1:02.45 and placing 2nd to indoor AG champ Samantha 
Sharper of Wilson in the 100H, Assante Johnson taking the LJ and unrelated Ryan Johnson the TJ and the 
1600R running a close 2nd to city rival Woodrow Wilson in the 1600R in 3:54.27.

                        The Gr. II meet at Egg Harbor could also go southwards with Haddonfield dominating the distance 
races with sectional winners Greta Feldman in the 800, Marielle Hall in the 1600 and Mia Spinelli in the 3200. Two 
of the other sectional meets couldn’t have been closer, Rumson and Clark tying at 82 points in Central Jersey and 
Hanover Park edging next door neighbor Madison by half a point in North Jersey 2.

                        Five teams have a shot at winning the Gr, I title at Egg Harbor. Palmyra seems assured of 38 
points from Rajeana Marigna who won four events in the South Jersey meet, the three sprints with easily the fastest 
times of the day in that group. But the other four---New Providence and Robbinsville, who tied in Central Jersey at 
120 points, and Verona and Waldwick, who ran 1-2 in North Jersey 1, could all finish between 40 and 50, if not higher. 
The CJ pair had a triple winner apiece, Amber Scott for Robbinsville in the 100, 200 and 100H and Olivia Clyde for 
the Pioneer in the distances. Verona and Waldwick depend more on a balanced attack with the potential to score 
in as many as eight events apiece.

                        There were no sectionals for the two parochial divisions which will fill out the South Plainfield 
card this weekend. Pope John, the defender in A, won big at Sunday’s New Jersey Catholic Track Conference 
meet at Notre Dame, but faces an almost impossible task against Immaculate Heart Academy whose only entry 
there, Shannon Sullivan, swept the three weight events with a season’s best of 140-9 in the SP and followed that 
by taking the SP and DT at Tuesday’s Bergen County Meet of Champions in Hackensack where teammate Sarah 
Pagano won the 1600 in 4:56.56.. Holy Cross won big at the South Jersey Parochial meet on Saturday at 
Stockton State College and could tend Pingry’s domination of the B meet.

 

                        With possible aid from wind in some cases, the top girl sprinters had a big week end. English 
Gardner of Eastern won in SJ Gr. IV in 10.79 and 24.27, Audrey Wilson of Deptford in SJ Gr. III in 11.81 and 
24.21 and Janay Mitchell of Teaneck in NJ Gr. III in 120.5 and 24.42. In the NJCTC meet, with no wind help, 
Dominique Booker of Immaculate Conception ran 11.81 and 24.92.

                        The AG 400-meter field also heated up as indoor champ Nijgia Snapp won in SJ Gr. IV in 
55.15, Michelle Brown of Seneca and Wilson ran 1-2 in Gr. III in 55.25 and 55.85 and Amy Salek of Ramapo 
set a meet record of 55.35 in the Bergen MC.

                        The Bergen meet provided the outstanding boys’ performance of the past week when Chris 
Phipps of Lodi who had doubled the North Jersey 2 Gr. II horizontal jumps at Parsippany on the weekend, 
stepped things up a bit with a 13 6 1/4 in the LJ and a state record of 50-5 in the TJ, adding a 2nd place 6-4 
in the HJ for good measure.

                        The top sectional team battle came in the CJ meet Gr. IV meet at Hillsboro where Trenton 
defended its title in an epic battle with Old Bridge, 81-75, thanks to a sprint double from Aramis Wiggins, a 
13.88 HH win from Devon Hill and a 47-2 TJ victory for Rolston Braithwaite. This established the Tornadoes 
as a solid favorite to also win again in the group meet at South Plainfield against challenges from Franklin 
and Irvington, the 1-2 finishers in North Jersey 2 and Absegami, which took its first South Jersey Gr. IV title 
thanks to Geoff Navarro’s sprint triple in 10.72, 21.97 and 48.55, a season’s best 400H by Demetrius Rooks 
and their collaboration in a 3:17.27 1600R win over indoor AG champs Winslow Twp.

     Group III remained as much a mystery as before with close competition for all the sectional titles and no 
team showing the kind of up-front power which prevails in group meets. Morris Hills edged Teaneck in NJ 1 
despite losing hurdler Bill Baird to a false start in the HH, Morristown scored over Millburn in NJ 2 even though 
frosh SP star was beaten by Mike Alleman in the SP, 63 11 1/2-63-9, both boys beating Bruce Heide’s 35-
year-old meet record, West Windsor North’s awesome distance strength prevailed over Neptune’s speed in 
CJ and Timber Creek won its first sectional crown over Delsea.

     Another tie featured the Gr. II, Somerville and Ewing finishing with 65 points apiece in CJ with Roselle just 
one point behind. Ewing and Roselle could be the teams to beat this weekend and it might come down again 
to the 1600R which settled the sectional meet, Ewing gaining two points there for the tie as Roselle’s 3:17.44 
just failed to gain it a share of the crown.

     Metuchen is a clear favorite in Gr. I, the return to action of sprint star DeJuan Miller heading a 139-point 
performance. Miller repeated his 2007 wins in the 200 and 400, while running under wraps after missing the 
greater part of the season due to injuries.

     Don Bosco split its action between the NJCTC and Bergen MC meets, showing well in both and will be the 
Parochial A favorite over Msgr. Donovan which won the former meet. Holy Cross took the South Jersey Parochial 
meet and seems to have no real rival for a Parochial B sweep.

                        Among those missing from all this action were the AG 3200-meter favorites, Doug Smith of Gill-St. 
Bernard’s and Nike 3200M winner Katie McCafferty of Oak Knoll. Smith had no meet to run in, while McCafferty 
skipped the NJCTC affair.

                        The NJCTC meet also had one interesting feature in the 1600 and 3200. Brian Siemann of Notre 
Dame, who has won 12 for 12 in AG wheelchair competition the past three years---and undoubtedly will add four 
more this year---was on the track in both events. He started both behind the runners, stayed to the outside lanes 
until he had a sufficient lead, then moved in and acted almost as a “rabbit” for Bob Molke of Don Bosco, who won 
the 1600 in 4:18.77, and Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s,. who returned to action to win the 3200 in 9:10.70. 
Brian’s times were 4:17.06 and 8:57.76.

                        Just as the 800 provided the feature of the girls’ individual action in the sectionals, so did the boys’ 
800 in the Cj Gr. IV meet head the boys’. This one matched the 1-2 finishers in the indoor AG race, Robby Andrews 
of Manalapan and Monroe Kearns of Jackson with Jason Walton of Hillsboro, who had a 1:51.8 anchor leg at Penn.. 
Andrews had won a slow-paced 1600 on Friday and the 800 also dawdled with a 58-scond first lap. Walton took off 
with 300M to go, opened a big lead and apparently had the race won until Kearns mounted a charge off the final turn 
and caught him 30 meters before the finish to win in 1:54.25 with Andrews a distant third. It may be a lot different this 
weekend, however.

 



  Once again, at the Penn Relays last weekend, New Jersey girls proved themselves the queens of the distance races as Katie 
McCafferty of Oak Knoll won the 3K in 9:37.15 and Roxbury finally broke through after four years of trying to take the DMR in 
11:42.16.

                                McCafferty’s win was a carbon copy of her indoor 2M victory at the Nike Invitational. She took the lead 
from the gun with Emily Jones of Bromfield School in Harvard, Mass., on her shoulder. This went on for seven laps until Katie 
began to pull away on the final turn to win by 15 yards, giving New Jersey a three-year string in the event.

                                Roxbury trailed favored Warwick Valley in the DMR until Ariann Neutts ran a 2:10.0 800 to hand off a slim 
lead to Ashley Cromartie with Saratoga Springs, Hannah Davidson anchoring, another 15 yards back. It was soon a three-girl race 
with Ashley holding off Davidson by two yards for the win, running 4:54.6.

                                What would have happened had Chelsea Cox run the opening 1200 for Southern Ocean is anyone’s guess. 
As it was, the Rams touched off Cox for the 800 leg more than 100 meters behind. Chelsea cut that by 25 yards or so and Jillian 
Smith’s 4:42.2 (fastest ever in this race) got Sou-thern home 4th, 25 yards behind Roxbury, in 11:47.67.

                                Ada Unachukwu of Marlboro added a third win for NJ in the TJ with a wind-blown 38-11 3/4. Third places 
went to Melanie Thompson of Voor-hees in the 3K in 9:44.87, Julie Alexander of Hopewell Valley in the IH in 1:01.60, Chrissy 
Finkel of Mount Olive in the PV at 12-1/2 and Maureen Laffan of Toms River North in the SP at 44-7.

                                Thompson had a busy weekend as she also anchored Voorhees at 2:11.8 into the 3200R final where the 
Vikings were joined by Haddon-field. The two were outclassed in the final, where Holmwood Tech won in 8:41.92 with Eleanor 
Roosevelt of Maryland setting a national record in 2nd at 8:43.12, but ran creditably, Haddonfield finishing 7th in 9:06.30 and 
Voorhees 8th in 9:06.80. Marielle Hall of Haddonfield matched Thompson on the opening leg this time at 2:13.6.

                                The two Camden teams ran 48.34 apiece in the small school 400R trials and Jackson hit 48.59 to lead the 
Jersey large schools. In the consolation races the next day. Wilson and Camden went 7-8 in 48.33 and 48.38 and Jackson was 
4th in its race at 47.79, fastest of the weekend. In the third round---the Tri-State event on Saturday---Jackson led a 2-3-4 NJ finish 
behind Swenson of Pennsylvania in 48.59, but Columbia might have been home first but for dropping the stick on the final pass.

                                It was the Cougars who led the NJ teams in the 1600R trials at 3:50.91, finishing 5th in a race won by Long 
Beach Poly in 3:39.72. Camden was next as it defeated Wilson in the large school South Jersey race in 3:53.88. The two ran 4-6 
in the Philadelphia Area race on Satur-day in slower times.

                                Haddonfield took the SJ small school event in 4:01.70 with three members of the 3200 team doubling there: 
Hall, Greta Feldman and Alyssa D’Orazio. Six schools took class races, the Irvington girls join-ing the boys in the winner’s circle. 
The others were Notre Dame, repeat-ing from last year, Hillsboro, Clifton, Monroe and Ewing, the last four on great anchor legs by 
Ebony Young, Sue Martinez, Nicole Ragucci, and Amirah Muneer.                                             

            For the boys, as expected the individual events proved far more profitable than the relays. And, as has been true since the 
beginning of the winter season four months ago, the spotlight fell on Morristown’s Nick Vena who not only became the first freshman 
to win a boys’ title, but also the first to be honored as the meet’s outstanding performer for individual events.

                                Vena upped his new outdoor frosh national record to 63-6 3/4 as he evened his outdoor score with Mike 
Alleman of Scotch Plains who hit 62-1 3/4. Both boys got their marks during the trials, then spent the finals fouling as they “went for 
broke.”

                                The event was totally dominated by New Jersey putters, who took five of the first six places with most of the 
others also reaching PRs. Brandon Heroux of Westfield joined Vena as a watch-winner, taking the JT at 202-0.

                                Silver medals went to Robby Andrews of Manalapan in the mile and Chris Pantale of Wayne Valley in the DT 
and Chris Phipps of Lodi picked up a third in the TJ. Andrews once again saw his finishing kick fall just short as he lost to Cory Leslie 
of Perkins, Ohio, by a slim yard or so, running 4:12.82. The race was a strange one with the first half in about 2:16.0 and the final lap 
around 55.0 for Leslie and closer to 54.0 for Andrews.

                                Pantale and Phipps both fell short of their season’s bests which would have brought them victory. Pantale was eight 
feet under his PR at 168-6, Phipps more than a foot short at 47-10 3/4.

                                Hillsboro turned in the top performance among the relay teams as it led the 3200R trials on Friday at 7:47.44 with 
Jason Walton anchoring in 1:51.8. Washington Twp was second overall at 7:51.07. Jackson also made the final at 7:54.13 and Indian Hills, 
West Windsor-Plainsboro North and Metuchen all ran under 8:00, going 1-2-3 in the first of the small school trials.

                                But none of the qualifiers could match their performance in the Saturday finals, Hillsboro finishing 5th in 7:48.14, 
the others well out of the money.

                                With Brian Leung of West Windsor-Plainsboro South and Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s both on the shelf with 
injuries, it was up to old standby Christian Brothers to lead New Jersey into Friday’s distance medley. The Colts had a good race, 
finishing 9th in 10:22.73, just ahead of Franklin, but well behind the winner, Germantown Friends, which became the first Philadelphia 
Inter-Academic school to win a major title at Penn, more than a century after this lead ran the first high school relay in history at the 
meet late in the 19th century.

                                New Jersey sprint teams were outclassed by the Jamaicans in the 400R, but Winslow and Teaneck made the 
large school consolation race, placing 5th and 6th in 42.88 and 43.00 and Pleasantville was 6th in the small school event in 42.89. 
Winslow had run 42.43 in the trials.

                                It was much the same in the 1600R. Again, Winslow was the leader as it won the South Jersey large school race 
in 3:17.87, a second or so short of a qualifying mark. But the Eagles had a disappointing race in the Philadelphia area event later in the 
day, placing third in 3:22.59.

                                There were nine Jersey winners in the set of class 1600R races with Absegami the fastest at 3:21.40. Pleasantville 
again skipped a sure win in the SJ small race and was second best at 3:22.53. Among the first-time winners were St. Joseph of 
Hammonton and Montville.                                                                  The in-state ancillary meets on Saturday produced a few 
interesting meets, chiefly at the Lion Invitational at Middletown South. In boys’ action there, John Bartlett of Matawan had a 14-0 
clearance in the PV and Chase Petrucci of Southern Ocean had a big PR in the SP at 55-9 1/2. Neptune dominated the track action 
with Eastern indoor 55M champ Mike Peavy winning the 100M in 10.9, Karan McDaniel taking the 200 in 22.3, and Tyquan Brown the 
400 in 49.6 before anchoring a 3:30.4 1600R victory.

                                Jillian Smith coasted to a 2:18.0 win in the 800 there and anchored a 4:07.0 victory in the 1600R. Melissa Bellin 
had a 400 double for Rumson, taking the flat race in 57.8 and the hurdles in 1:02.3. Southern Ocean had two other winners, Alexis 
Wachter in the HJ at 5-4 and Jessica Carlson the TJ at 34-7 1/2. 

                                The girls-only Rowland Relays at Haddon Twp saw Seneca, West Deptford and Schalick take team honors. 
Lenape and Millville, the top teams in South Jersey, made only token appearances, clashing in the SHR where Millville edged the 
Indians in 1:07.3, Brooke Kott leading off and Alyssa Barrow anchoring. 

                                Vena and Alleman clashed again at the Randolph Relays with Nick leading a 153-9 win at 60-8 1/2. Alleman 
went 59-7 1/2 in the SP and 152-5 in the DT. Randolph and Ridge traded victories in the A division, the Rams winning the boys, 65-62, 
and the green-clad Red Devils the girls, 94-64, led by all-around star Josefine Kvist who had a 1:03.47 in the 400H and an 18-0 in the LJR.  

                                Post-Penn action provided one major item at the debut of the Ironman Invitational on Thursday at Don Bosco. 
Brett Johnson of Ocean City made the 125-mile jaunt up the Garden State Parkway to win the 1500 at 3:53.71, best in the nation 
this spring. He just totally validated his recent 4:10 1600-meter split in the DMr at the Woodbury Relays. Johnson, who won the 
Gr. III cross-country title last fall, had spent the winter on the basketball court and thus had no chance to qualify for the Penn mile 
where he certainly would have been a major factor. 

                                The Middlesex County Relays saw Old Bridge come from behind win a close team battle from South Brunswick, 
108-104 by taking the closing 1600R in 3:25.1 with the Vikings in 4th, one place away from a tie. The girls’ meet was no contest with 
South Brunswick defeating the Knights, 130-60, behind a bravura effort by soph Sophie Ginez who anchored wins the second day in 
both medley relays. 

                                    




Once again this year, New Jersey’s hopes for a Championship of America relay victory at the Penn Relays are pinned on the 
Southern Ocean girls’ distance medley team which is hoping to turn a hat trick in the event with a third straight victory.

                        Though Danielle Tauro, anchor of the 2006 and 2007 victories, has moved on to Michigan, the Rams will still 
have the No. 1 anchor in the race in the person of junior Jillian Smith, who had a hat trick of her own this past winter as she 
won the Boston Invitational Millrose Games and Nike Invitational miles by wife margins, in addition to taking the New Jersey 
all-group 1600-meter crown. Her sub-3:40 opening 1200M legs the past two years set the stage for easy wins and it is this leg 
which poses the big question mark this year.

                        Warwick Valley of New York goes into the race a solid favorite, having beaten Southern Ocean by a full 10 
seconds at the Varsity Classic indoors after taking a huge lead on the 1200 leg. Southern Ocean plans to use the same lineup 
for this one which puts a lot of pressure on sophomore Kate Armstrong to reduce that gap this weekend. Chelsea Cox, who ran 
2:12.42 for the 800 at the Nike meet indoors will have to cut the deficit further to give Smith a chance on the closing 1600.

                        New Jersey has two other teams that should finish in the top five: Immaculate Heart Academy which led the state 
indoors with an 11:55.24 at Landover, and Roxbury, which ran 12:10.31 at the Varsity Classic. The Gaels showed they are ready 
for this one as they won the 3200R at the Morris Hills Relays in Rockaway last Saturday in a record 9:15.99. Voorhees, with a 
12:01.98 there, has chosen the 3200R at Penn and prepared for it with a record 21:03.0 6400R at the Raider Relays in Hillsboro.

                        Garden State athletes figure to do a lot better in the individual events. Morris frosh Nick Vena, the indoor National 
shot put champion, and Mike Alleman of Scotch Plains will be dueling again in that event with hopes of a 1-2 finish either way 
(Alleman scored a narrow win in the Blue Devil Relays at Westfield, 61-11 ¼-62-8, where each boy had only three tries). Katie 
McCafferty of Oak Knoll, the 2M winner at Landover, is favored in the 3K and has shown great form in her few starts outdoors to 
date. The state has two 7-footers in the HJ, Adam Bergo of Westfield who cleared that height at the indoor Easterns, and basketball 
star Montez Blair of Timber Creek who cleared it this past weekend at the Woodbury Relays.

                        Hopes of a strong New Jersey finish in the boys’ distance medley have died with injuries to two of the state’s top 
trio of distance runners, Brian Leung of West Windsor-Plainsboro South and Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s Leung has been on 
the shelf all spring with a thigh injury; Jarrett dropped out of the 5K in the first mile at Acadia two weeks ago. Their teams had 
finished 1-2 at the indoor Easterns in 10:18.76 and 10:22.04.

                        The state’s top two 3200R teams showed great form last Saturday at the Morris Hills Relays, Jackson defeating 
Morris Hills in a meet record 7:55.04. Both should make the finals, but would have to run a lot faster to meet the challenge of the 
top Jamaican entries. 

                        At the classic 1600M distance, the best the state can hope for is success in the secondary races. No boys’ 
team has been under 3:20 as yet this spring, though a number are knocking on the door. Last Saturday, for example, Winslow’s 
indoor all-group champs won the Gr. IV race at Woodbury in 3:21.2 with Vineland second in 3:22.1, Trenton scored at the Mercer 
County Relays in 3:21.2, Old Bridge tied it own record at the Blue Devil Relays at 3:21.8, Teaneck hit 3:22.2 in the Bergen County 
meet at Demarest and St. Benedict’s triumphed at Morris Hills in 3:22.33.

                        Southern Ocean had the state’s best girls’ 1600 team indoors, but will not tackle the event at Penn in deference to 
its DMR bid. This leaves Millville, which defeated Columbia in the Gr. IV race at Woodbury in 3:54.6. The Cougars, despite their long 
bus trip, had a great day there with a 3:56.8 in that race and a 48.0 in the 400R, anchored by freshman find Kayann Richards. 
Wilson matched the latter time in Gr. III, giving both teams hopes of a consolation victory at Penn.

                        Both 400R races, as usual, will be dominated by Jamaican entries, but the Winslow, Teaneck and Trenton have 
hopes of cracking the championship field after running 42.2, 42.3 and 42.4, respectively, at the Woodbury, Bergen County and Mercer 
meets. And not far behind them were Englewood at 42.7 in Bergen, Irvington at 42.9 at the Hudson County Track Coaches Relays in 
Secaucus and Franklin with a record-tying 43.0 at the Blue Devil Relays.

                        

                        Two events not on the Penn program also received a thorough workout from the boys last weekend. Trenton lowered 
its state-leading shuttle hurdles mark to 59.1 at the Mercer meet, Egg Harbor clocked 59.7 ahead of Winslow’s 1:00.1 at Woodbury, 
Roselle had a 1:00.4 victory over indoor Nike champs Franklin at the Blue Devil affair and Irvington hit 1:00.8 at Secaucus.

                        Teaneck led a strong showing in the 800R when it defeated Englewood at the Bergen meet in 1:27.4 despite one 
bad pass. Winslow ran 1:28.2, Trenton clocked 1:28.4 in Mercer, Delsea won Gr. III at Woodbury in 1:28.9, Neptune took Div. II in 
1:29.5 at the Holmdel relays and Union ran 1:29.6 at Westfield. 

                        There was also some interesting action in the girls’ DMR from teams that are not in the Penn field. Pope John, which 
will run the 3200R there, had a record 12:21.9 win at the Raider Relays with an all-junior team. Millville ran the race for the first time,
 indoors or out, and set a Gr. IV record at Woodbury at 12:23.5 and Haddonfield took the Gr. II event there in a record 12:29.9. Mt. St. 
Mary’s also had a new standard with a narrow 12:33.8 win over Westfield at the Blue Devil meet and Msgr. Donovan defeated Red Bank 
Catholic in Div. 2 at Holmdel in 12:34.4.

                        Allison Linnell of Colts Neck prepared for her individual mile bid at Penn with a meet record 6:57.63 in the New York 
Relays at Icahn Stadium, 10 seconds off the state mark set last year by former teammate Ashley Higginson. The Colts Neck boys 
had a second there in the 6400R with a season-leading 18:09.28. 

                        Defending all-group javelin champ Brian Florek of Old Bridge took over the state lead with a 206-0 at the Blue Devil 
meet and Kyle Elliott of Cresskill had a 200-2 in Bergen County. On the girls’ side in this event, Shannon Sullivan of IHA hit 133-0 in 
Bergen. Chris Pantale of Wayne Valley continued his hot streak in the discus with a 174-11 at Morris Hills, where Sarah Bella of 
Mendham took over the state lead in the shot put at 46-5, topping the 46-1/2 for defending state champ DeAnne Hahn of Brick at Woodbury. 

                        




While relays dominated the first weekend of action in the outdoor season in New Jersey, a pair of outstanding individual 
efforts just about stole the show. 
 
        One was simply a continuation of the indoor campaign as Nick Vena of Morristown chalked up a 
couple of national records with his 63-6 effort at the Kearny Relays, breaking both the freshman mark of 63-0 s
et by Kevin Bookout of Stroud, Oklahoma, in 1997 and the 14-year-old standard of 60-3 set by Arnold Campbell 
of Bossier City, La., 
in 1981. 
 
        Since it was a relay competition, Vena had only three throws and it was, almost typically, on the 
last of these that he got the records. He will undoubtedly improve the freshman mark several times by the end of 
the season, as he did indoors where his tops of 66-7 1/4 came in his final throw of the winter at the Nationals in New York. 
But he has only this coming weekend to add to the age record as he turns 15 on April 16. After that, his target will 
be Campbell’s mark of 67-3 1/4. (There is also the possibility that he might throw the 16-pounder this weekend to erase 
David Winkler’s year-old mark of 49-11 3/4.) 
 
        The other big effort of the first week came on the opening day of the season, April 1, when Chris Phipps of Lodi went 
49-1 1/2 in the triple jump at the Bergen County Field Classic. A basketball star, Phipps had taken up the event last spring 
and recorded a 48-3, second only to Devon Bond’s new state record of 50-1/4, a mark he may very well break by June. 
 
       Despite chilly and sometimes windy weather, as well as the absence of some of the state’s most promising teams, 
the relay action at half a dozen and more sites produced some outstanding opening week marks. 
 
       While two-time Penn distance medley defender, Southern Ocean, was on the sidelines, three other probable entries 
scored runaway victories to head the girls’ action. Roxbury was the fastest with a 12:27.6 at the Kearny Relays, Immaculate 
Heart Academy ran 12:32.52 at the King Relays at Icahn Stadium in New York and Voorhees had a meet record 12:32.8 at 
the Skyland Conference Relays at Hunterdon Central, anchored by AG cross-country champ Melanie Thompson, who also 
got the 3200R home first in 9:39.4. 
 
          Columbia posted a pair of fast sprint times as it ran away with the girls’ division of the Kearny Relays, 71-43, over Roxbury, 
taking the 400R in 48.9 and the 800R in 1:44.5. Bianca Stewart had a big day for the Cougars with four gold medals from the 400R, 
800R, 1600R and HJR and freshman Kayann Richards debuted brilliantly, anchoring the 400 team, running third leg in the 800 
and joining Tracey Fan Fan in a LJR victory. 
 
          Roxbury added victories in the 3200R and SMR, Ariann Neutts anchoring the latter in 2:16.6 as she caught Brittany Jackson 
of Columbia at the finish, both teams timed in 
4:15.0. 
 
                                   
          Lenape won no less than nine of 15 events in the Freedom Division of the Burlington County Hall of Fame Relays, including a 
4:15.4 in the SMR. Millville took six of eight running events in Div. 2 at the Buena Relays with the Kott twins, Brooke and Brittney, and 
Alyssa Barrow collaborating for a 1:47.4 in the 800R, a 4:05.7 in the 1600R and a 1:06.7 in the SHR. 
 
          Ashley Battle led a fast triple for Union at the Pawlowski Relays in Ramsey, the Farmers taking the 400R in 50.0, the 800R in 
1:48.1 and the SHR in 1:05.9, the latter win coming at the expense of Ridgewood’s national indoor champions. Clifton won at the Passaic 
County Relays at Passaic  Valley with Sue Martinez anchoring a 4:20.6 SMR and a 10:26.9 3200R. Amber Allen of Passaic Tech, winner 
of the overall 400 title at the Colgate Games this winter, led her team to a triple in the 400R, 800R and 1600R. 
 
        At the Camden-Gloucester Relays in Pennsauken, city rivals Camden and Wilson traded wins in the Div. 2 sprint races, Camden 
taking the 400 in 30.3 and Wilson the 800 in 1:43.6. Camden then won the rubber match in the 1600 in 4:04.8. But team honors went to 
Williamstown, 97-67, over Washington Twp. Haddon  Heights took Div. I, 96-79, over Glassboro which swept the weight events, led by 
Sharon Rothmiller who spent the winter on the basketball court. 
 
       Three days later, Haddonfield held a Penn Relays qualifier and won both races, the boys clocking 8:07.3 and the girls 9:36.2 with 
arielle Hall anchoring in her first race since taking the cross-country season when she won the Gr. II title. Highland also had a qualifying 
time in second in the boys’ race at 8:10. 
 
         Fiour of the state’s top boys’ shuttle hurdles teams were in action at the Kearny, Buena and Skyland Conference meets. Irvington 
won at Kearny in the large school division at 1:02.1, while Roselle was disqualified in the small-school race after running 1:01.4, when 
its third man took off too soon. Egg Harbor ran 1:01.3 at Buena and, at the Skyland meet, Franklin, winner at the Nike meet in March, 
ran 1:01.3. Trenton, which set a national auto-time record of 29.38 at the Nationals in New York, was idle, but is welcoming the presence 
of anchorman Devon Hill who made a late decision to give up baseball this spring. 
 
          Irvington also won the 400R and 800R at Kearny in 43.2 and 1:31.1 at Kearny with Joshua Evans anchoring all three victories. T
eaneck was present, with football star Rashad White, but did not run the sprint races which the Highwaymen had swept a year ago. The 
meet also featured a 15-0 PV by Rich Villanova of Toms River North and a 1:55.6 anchor leg for indoor 800 champ Robby Andrews of Manalapan, 
anchoring a 3200R win. 
 
        St. Benedict’s the usual winner in the small school division, left its runners at home and that title went to Rahway, 58-42, over Delbarton 
with Ricky Draughn leading off a 3:26.3 win in the 1600R and anchoring a 3:40.0 in the SMR. 
 
        Wayne Valley scored a big win in the Passaic Relays, led by Chris Pantale, who hit 53-5 1/4 in the SP and 161-5 in the DT. Park Ridge 
upset the big boys at the Season Opener in Indian Hills, Matt Lingam leading off the 6400R and anchoring the 3200R. 
 
          Hillsboro had a sweep of the team honors at the Skyland Relays with Jason Walton anchoring the SMR in 3:37.4 and the DMR in a 
record 10:41.9. For the girls, Ebony Young anchored a 4:07.4 win in the 1600R and joined Erica Reiss for a 68-3 victory in the TJ, while 
cross-country ace Ashley Smolinka brought the SMR home in 4:21.6. Chiamaka Ukachukwu anchored a sprint double for Franklin in 49.9 
and 1:49.9. 
 
         Winslow Twp, indoor AG 1600R champs, swept the large-school sprint relays in 42.9, 1:30.3 and 3:22.6, while Absegami won the 
3200R in 8:13.8 and Ocean  City doubled the medleys in 8:13.8 and 11:01.4. Pleasantville, the state’s fastest 1600 team indoors, 
matched this in the small-school division at 43.4, 1:31.9 and 3:27.9.  
 
         Chris Steliga had a big day for Cherokee at the Hall of Fame Relays, anchoring a 1:31.2 win in the 800R, running third in a 43.8 400R 
victory and joining Major Mobley in a record 81-5 in the TJR. The Chiefs had four other wins in the unscored meet.                     
 
         The coming weekend is the busiest of the season with some 15 meets on the docket, led by the South jersey pair of the ancient Bridgeton 
Relays for boys and the West Deptford Relays for girls. There will be one individual meet among the flurry of baton affairs, the Wrobo Invitational at 
Notre Dame. 
 
 

                      

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