FEATS of the WEEK
"Feats of the Week" is a new feature from NJRunners.com and will appear in this column weekly during the Outdoor T&F season. Every week we will highlight an outstanding performance by an individual or a team here.
GIRLS
Who: Ocean City Girls Distance Medley Relay Team
What: Won their event at the Colonial Relays
Where / When: The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg Va. on Frtiday, April 4th.
The Red Raider ladies made a strong opening impression with a convincing win in the DMR at The Colonial Relays on Friday afternoon. After enduring a 6 hour car trip from the Jersey Shore to historic Williamsburg, and seeing, what for NJ kids, sub tropical (75 degree) weather, the girls dominated the field en route to a 12:26.10 victory.
Race Video The margin of victory was a whopping 33.15 seconds! The mark, while slower than their 12:02.51 run at the New Balance Nationals in March, is the #1 time in NJ and the fastest time this young season for a team from the Northeast (#21 US).
Coach Kevin Greene helped us fill in some of the blanks about this week's Girls "FEAT of the WEEK"
Splits:
Devon Grisbaum (1200m) 3:47.72 - "Devon went out hard and lead the entire leg. Her time for the leg was a PR"
Cierra Granger (400m) 61.09 - " It was a smooth handoff from Devon and Cierra opened a wide gap on the rest of the field"
Rachel Stremme (800m) 2:21.67 / Bridget Flynn (1600m) 5:15.31 - "From here Rachel, and then Bridget, were never pushed. "It's a great early season time and they followed it with a steller 4x800m the next day (9:25.98). It was a long drive and they were not ready for the heat. They wanted the school record (12:00.22) and after their effort at Nationals, it is certainly well within their grasp.I think they would have run faster had they been pushed or if they were trying to catch someone."
Looking Forward - The team plans to run the DMR at The Penn Relays at the end of the month and will tune up for that effort at the Woodbury Relays on 4/19
BOYS
Who - Stephen Benigno (Cherry Hill East '14)
What - Won Javelin Throw at Jim Camburn Memorial Buena Relays with a US / NJ #1 toss of 203-6
Where /When - Buena Regional HS / April 5th
Throwing for the first time this year, Cherry Hill East senior Stephen Benigno put not 1, but 2 Javelin throws out over the 200 foot line to snag the honor of being the first athlete in the country to hit that mark this season. Stephen, who has made a giant breaktrough with this performance had a previous PR of 171-4 from the Group 4 meet last spring, credits his progress in part to an off season regimin that included lifting, he takes a lifting class at CHE in lieu of phys ed, increased drils and attention to technique. "I worked on correct throwing and not just hard throwing" Stephen said. "I also threw the Turbojav in the gym several times a week." He also competed as a sprinter durinf Indoor as an extension of his Javelin training.
Stephen is undecided recarding his college choice at this point, but he does plan to continue with the Javelin at the next level. Benigno concluded with "My season has just started, but with my recent throws, the season looks quite promising. That may be a bit of an understatement!
US Rankings - Boys Javelin Throw (4/7)
| Rank | Mark | Athlete Name | Team | C/O | Date | Meet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
203-6  |
Stephen Benigno | NJ Cherry Hill East HS | 2014 | 04/05/2014 | The Jim Camburn Memorial Buena Relays |
| 2. | 200-7 | Hunter Stelly | LA Notre Dame | 2014 | 03/21/2014 | Eunice Bobcat Relays |
| 3. | 199-7 | Jhett Janis | PA Cocalico | 2014 | 03/22/2014 | Tim Cook Memorial Invitational - 9th Annual |
| 4. |
198-6p |
Austin Kafentzis | UT Jordan | 2015 | 04/03/2014 | Alpha Invitational |
| 5. | 196-8 | Denham Patricelli | WA Tahoma Senior High School | 2014 | 03/20/2014 | Kent Jamboree |
| 6. | 195-5 | Jensen Lillquist | WA Ellensburg High School | 2014 | 03/29/2014 | Don Holder Relays |
| 7. |
192-4 |
John Nizich | OR Central Catholic | 2014 | 04/04/2014 | Laker Classic Invite |
| 8. |
191-3 |
Chris Mirabelli | NJ Holy Cross HS | 2014 | 04/05/2014 | Hall of Fame Relays |
| 9. |
190-8 |
Joshua Brown | PA Milton Area | 2014 | 04/05/2014 | Selinsgrove Classic |
| 10. |
189-10 |
Mike Budick | NM Volcano Vista High School | 2014 | 04/05/2014 | Rio Rancho Invitational |
Note: Stephen had a 209 ft toss at a dual meet vs Wasington Twp. on 4/2
Photo Credits:
OCHS Girls - Mary Ann Magnant (for MileStat.com)
Stephen Benigno - Dennis Smythe (For NJRunners.com)
Video Credit:
Colonial Relays Girls DMR - Nolan Jez (for MileStat.com)
<p> Check out previous posts from the Along the Fence Series written by Pat Montferrat</p>