FEATS of the WEEK
Previous Weeks - 1 - 2
Morgan Harvey / Freehold Township Girls 4x800m Relay team take the National Stage
While there were a great many fine performances by New Jersey athletes over the course of Week 2 of the Outdoor Season, the 2 that jumped out at me were turned in by 5 young women who moved into the top tier of their respective events so early in the year. Morgan Harvey (North Hunterdon HS '14) and the Freehold Township Girls who make up their championship 4x800m Relay team. Lets take a closer look.
Who: Morgan Harvey (North Hunterdon HS '14)
What: US #4 time of 61.74 in the 400m Intermediate Hudles
When: Saturday, April 12th
Where: Skylands Conference Relay Championships @ Hunterdon Central HS
Morgan Harvey, a senior at North Hunterdon HS had a dominating win (2.16sec margin) in the 400m Intermediate Hurdles at the Skylands Conference Relays last Saturday. Harvey, who will be competing in HS Girls 400m IH Championships at The Penn relays next week commented on the race. "The weather was perfect for hurdles. I love racing in warm weather with not so much wind."Morgan continued, "As I was running, I felt really strong, so I started to pick up my pace." That pace carried her to the win and with it, the #4 time in the country. Regarding her time, Harvey commented "I wasn't really thinking that much about my time, all I really wanted to do was go out hard, leave everything on the track and have this race prepare me for Penn Relays".
Speaking of the prestigious Penn Relays. Morgan, who competed in this event last year at the meet, is looking forward to returning to Franklin Field. "I am so happy that I am going to be able to run in The Penn Relays again this year in the 400IH. I have been lucky enough to have been able to run in the Penn Relays since I was a freshman, but being able to run it again in my favorite event is something else"
As last year's runner up in her favorite event at the NJ Meet of Champions, Morgan's post Penn plans are to come out of Penn training hard until the start of the State Championship portion of the season. "I know that with coaching I have from Coach Walsh, but especially from Coach Berry, it will allow me to reach my goals for this season"
Morgan Harvey will continue her academic and athletic career next fall in Knoxville Tn. as a student/athlete at The Univerisity of Tennessee.
Who: Freehold Township Girls 4x800m Relay Team
What: US #4 mark in the 4x800m Relay
Splits: Adrian Vitello (2:18.7), Caitlyn Poss (2:19.9), Ciara Roche (2:19.5), Emily Bracher (2:16.1)
When: Saturday, April 12th
Where: The Husky Relays @ Matawan Reg. HS
The four members of the Freehold Twp. Girls 4x800m team seem to on a mission. Last year with an early season best of 9:23.04 (they had run 9:12.70 at NBIN), the team qualified for the Championship of America 4x800m Relay and ended up with an outstanding 3rd place finish with a time of 9:06.12. Quite a story!
Fast forward to 2014 and the Patriots, with Ciara Roache now in the line up are the winners of the 4x8 at NBIN, running 9:00.62. If week 2 is any indication, the foursome's performance at the Husky Relays (Matwan HS) bodes well for the last week of April. According to Coach Todd Briggs, the team ran as planned and put together a masterful performance. According to Coach Todd Briggs, each leg has a goal and a portion of a race plan to execute. "If they do all of that individually, they give themselves the greatest opportunity to succeed" Briggs continued, "If they are defeated, the wining team will have had to run an incredible race".
Looking forward, this is the same squad that will toe the line at Franklin Field next week. " After Saturday's race, I am confident they are ready to do their jobs at Penn." As for post Penn, Briggs will be changing the direction slightly. " After Penn, the runners will spend until after Memorial Day just attacking their individual PRs. The goal for each is to be competitive in championships at the County, Conference and State levels" Briggs went on to explain, "The plan is to have a month of individual sucess and then bring it all back together down in North Carolina (NBN Outdoor) in June.
Clearly, a team with focus and on a mission to succeed.
Credits
* Morgan Harvey: Photo by Jim Crossin
* Freehold Twp. Team: Photo by Robert Kellert for NJRunners.com
* Husky Relays Video: 4x800m Relay by Megan Ford / Robert Kellert for NJRunners.com
<p> Check out previous posts from the Along the Fence Series written by Pat Montferrat</p>