Weekend 4 - Woodbury Relays
By: Matt Ciociola - SJ Editor
Boys Team Preview
The 40th Annual Woodbury Relays will take place this weekend with the forecast calling for scattered storms and temperatures beginning in the mid 50s moving up to low 70s during the day. The large majority of the teams from South Jersey entered will be divided into four groups according to NJSIAA enrollment figures. While mostof the girls teams were at West Deptford last week, the boys teams have been scattered between the Bridgeton Relays, Moorestown Invitational, Hall of Fame Relays, Jim Camburn Relays, and Cam Glo Relays. As I mentioned with the girls preview, this meet is scored on the running relays with athletes in the field events having to meet qualifying standards. Even though I mentioned the weather in the girls preview, I do not claim to be a weatherman; However, here is to hoping the weather cooperates because the boys are going to put on a show.
We start with Group 1 for the boys and take a look at two teams who fared quite well at the two So. Jersey meets last week. Haddon Township was the highest South Jersey team in the small school division at Moorestown last week placing second to Lawrenceville Prep. They were also able to defeat Group 2 power Willingboro by three points in the process. Haddon Township, showing it is a complete team last week at Moorestown, is strong in the distance relays but can also score in the sprints as well. They will be in contention with Haddon Heights who drops down from Group 2 and also finished fourth overall at the Bridgeton Relays last week. The team competition could be open with Penns Grove, Woodbury, Glassboro, and Lindenwold in the discussion. Penns Grove who is strong in the sprint and hurdle relays placed behind Haddon Heights at Bridgeton last week. Woodbury who was the 2011 Group 1 champion looks to defend on their home track with Glassboro and Lindenwold historically having strong teams in the sprints and hurdles as well.
Moving onto Group 2, this looks to be a three team race between Willingboro, Pleasantville, and Bridgeton. While Bridgeton defeated Willingboro at the Jim Camburn relays, Willingboro holds a small edge on the track in the sprint relays. Along with Pleasantville, Bridgeton is not too far off of Willingboro in the sprint relays but can also score high in the distance relays. The three teams were all at different meets last weekend with Willingboro taking third in the small school division, Bridgeton taking third overall at their own relays, and Pleasantville taking third at the Husky Relays at Matawan High School. It looks like the champion will come from these three with Woodstown, West Deptford, Deptford, Sterling, and Haddonfield bringing up the pack by scoring high in a couple events.
Continuing on to Group 3, a knowledgeable track observer may wish to see Oakcrest go up against Egg Harbor Township for the second time in a week as Oakcrest won their dual meet by only nine points on Tuesday. As a brief aside, these two teams will be formidable due to firepower they showed as 21.8 took third in the 200m dash and 21’6” took third in the long jump. But turning back to Woodbury, Oakcrest drops down to Group 3 after being in Group 4 last year and is the favorite for the team title as a result of their victory at Moorestown last week and with how strong they looked indoors. Timber Creek is certainly going to put up a battle with Kingsway, who was the overall runner up at Bridgeton, also in the mix as they can cover just about any of the running relays quite well.
Wrapping up the preview with Group 4, its going to be exciting seeing Egg Harbor Township go up against Absegami, Cherry Hill East, Pennsauken, Lenape, and Cherokee. Egg Harbor who won the Bridgeton Relays by 27 points is nearly as strong as Oakcrest in the sprints and also has a couple strong distance relays. The other contending teams were all at Moorestown last week with Absegami finishing five points ahead of Cherry Hill East with Pennsauken 11 points off of their score and Lenape and Cherokee scoring more than 30 points. All of those teams can score in the sprinting relays with Absegami, Cherry Hill East, and Pennsauken scoring big last week. Lenape and Cherokee can also factor into the sprint relays to go along with their strengths in the mid distance and distance relays. Writing these previews and looking what has gone on thus far this season proves it will surely be an exciting weekend seeing all these teams go at it!
Girls Team Preview
The 40th Annual Woodbury Relays will take place this weekend and as we mentioned, the weather could be diceywith somme rain and temperatures beginning in the mid 50s moving up to low 70s during the day. Each team may enter a running relay, while athletes in the field events must meet qualifying marks and will compete as individuals. Judging by how South Jersey teams have fared at the Cam Glo Relays, Jim Camburn Relays, Hall of Fame Relays, Bridgeton Relays, and West Deptford Relays; if the weather is favorable we should all see some very competitive races.
The Group 1 Girls team race starts by taking a look at Woodbury and Schalick who finished first and second, respectively, at the 2011 edition of Woodbury Relays. These two teams look to be the top two again this year as Schalick won the West Deptford Relays in Group 1 with 95 points and Woodbury placing runner up with 63. Schalick used their strengths in the sprints and field events to take the victory while stealing a couple of points in the distance relays. With the field events not counting towards the team scores at Woodbury, this will even out the playing field and give teams like Woodbury, Haddon Township, Penns Grove, and Glassboro a shot at the team title. Clayton finished only two points behind Penns Grove at West Deptford so they could very well be in the mix once the scores are totaled up. It should be an interesting battle as after Schalick, Woodbury and Penns Grove can score high in the sprints and Haddon Township can score high in the distance events; although they also won the shuttle hurdles. On paper, it looks like the group one champion will come from one of these four teams.
Moving onto the Group 2 Girls, Haddonfield comes in as the 2011 Woodbury Relays Champion, as well as the 2012 West Deptford Relays Group 2 Champion. Last week, they defeated Buena, who finished 4th at the 2011 Woodbury Relays, by 16 points. 2011 runner up Camden has moved up to Group 3 so West Deptford, Haddon Heights, Sterling, and Willingboro are in the next tier of teams that will aim to be in contention throughout the day. Haddonfield scored in each running relay last week so they will certainly be tough to beat since teams like Willingboro who are strong in the sprints will have a tough time gaining an advantage in those events. Buena could also put up a challenge since they can score in the sprinting and distance relays, just as Haddonfield can do.
Last year, Winslow Township and Kingsway were separated by a mere two points with Winslow winning the title. It certainly looks like we’ll see the same thing this year as the two teams went first and second last week at West Deptford with Kingsway winning that battle. This could be the most competitive team battle of the day as Winslow won four running relays last week but Kingsway was right behind them each time. What could put Kingsway ahead is that they also have the firepower in the distance relays. Delsea should also be considered in this team race as they only lost to Winslow by two points last week. Delsea is one of those well-rounded teams that can score in just about any event. Other teams that look to finish in that next tier are Hammonton, Oakcrest, and Camden as all three teams are very strong in a couple different relays.
Rounding out the girls preview is the Group 4 Girls. Last year’s second place team, Millville, won the Group 4 title at West Deptford last week by 22 points over Williamstown. Cherokee will certainly be a factor in this race as well due to their ability to score in both the sprints and distance relays. These three teams scored in nearly every running relays last week at West Deptford so that indicates this team race will come down to these three. The fact that Millville and Cherokee scored a lot of points in the field events last week makes this one fairly tough to call at this point. This is also due to the fact that these three teams finished in a different order in many of the events on the track last week. What is apparent is that the team champion could very well come from one of these three with Egg Harbor Township and Rancocas Valley looking to make a statement. Should be a great day of racing and I know we all cannot wait!
Cover Photo by: Dennis Smythe for NJRunners.com
Weekend 4 - Woodbury Relays
By: Matt Ciociola - SJ Editor