What a night for our New Jersey competitors! Here are the best performances we had to offer Wednesday at the Armory as high school squads and individuals competed to advance to the Millrose Games.
New Jersey Highlights at Millrose Trials
55 Meter Dash
Aliyah Taylor won the Millrose Trials 55 meter dash! She ran 7:23 NJ#3 in the preliminary round and then 7.24 to win the finals by .03 over another New Jersey competitor Aaliyah Vandergrift of Paul VI in second at 7.27 NJ#5. Both of these athletes advance to the Millrose Games. Ciara French of Columbia also made the final placing fifth overall.
East Orange's Dominic Dazzell advanced to the big meet with his second place finish running 6.58 NJ#7. He had another teammate in the final as well with Al-Shadee sAlaam of East Orange placing eighth with 6.73. West Side's Isaiah Green was seventh with 6.69.
4x800 Meter Relay
Union Catholic destroyed the girls 4x800 meter field with a time of 9:27.45 that ranks US#2 this season and advances them to the Millrose Games!
In the boys race the national rankings were basically rewritten as St. Benedict's Prep finished second to automatically qualify for Millrose clocked in at 7:57.32 US#3. Rancocas Valley was fourth with the time requirement of 7:59.90 US#6, they also advance to Millrose!
4x400 Meter Relay
East Orange Campus 3:18.15 US#1, Union Catholic 3:25.67, St. Benedict's Prep 3:26.03, and Paul VI 3:27.33 all advance to the Millrose Games out of their Suburban 4x400 meter heats. East Orange's 3:18 was the fastest of the night and just missed their own meet record set last year at 3:17.45. That also puts them back to the top of the national leaderboard.
The girls side of things had Winslow Twp leading the meet with a 3:58.70, Woodbridge fourth among suburban schools with 4:04.59, and Columbia fifth 4:05.49. They all qualify for Millrose Games.
Mile Run
For the boys mile invitational New Jersey saw four under 4:20 led by Sean Dolan of Hopewell Valley running 4:16.68 US#8 for fourth. Chris Romero finished in sixth at 4:17.15, Justin Cornetta seventh 4:18.15, Derek Gess eighth 4:19.17. What a race!
In the girls mile Victoria Vanriele of Governor Livingston broke five minutes for the first time with her fourth place 4:59.87. Union Catholic's Jerika Lufrano also running strong in ninth with 5:06.16.
Pole Vault
Northern Valley Old Tappan had a day with two athletes clearing 14-08 and three in the top six finishers. Seth Kricheff won on vaults and teammate Tyler Hrbek was second with the leading heights of the meet. They both move on to the Millrose Games with their place and are now tied for the state lead this season. Their teammate Jona Kim was sixth clearing 13-02.
New Jersey boys Liam Landau of Pascack Hills, 13-08, and Conor Reilly of Union Catholic, 13-08 were fourth and fifth.
New Jersey HS Qualifiers for the Millrose Games
- 55m - Aliyah Taylor - Rancocas Valley
- 55m - Aaliyah Vandergrift - Paul VI
- 55m - Dominic Dazzell - East Orange
- 4x800m - St. Benedict's Prep Boys
- 4x800m - Rancocas Valley Boys
- 4x800m - Union Catholic Girls
- 4x400m - East Orange Campus Boys
- 4x400m - Union Catholic Boys
- 4x400m - St. Benedict's Prep Boys
- 4x400m - Paul VI Boys
- 4x400m - Winslow Twp Girls
- 4x400m - Woodbridge Girls
- 4x400m - Columbia Girls
- Pole Vault - Seth Kricheff
- Pole Vault - Tyler Hrbek