By Christopher Hunt
Sometimes there’s calm before the storm. And sometimes there’s just a storm and then the storm gets worse. That was Morristown sophomore Nick Vena, blasting through the throwing circle like a bone-rattling thunder clap that got louder each time.
By his third toss, Vena unleashed a 68 foot, 11 inch blast that won the shot put at the Eastern States Championships, topped his own national sophomore class record and broke the Armory fieldhouse record that he missed by just an inch two weeks ago.
“I wanted to get the Armory record,” he said. “That was the first goal. I wanted that one inch. I was mad about that.”
Vena snagged that on his first attempt, throwing 67-7, then 68-5 before his setting the record at 68-11. He followed that in the final round with tosses of 68-8.75, 67-0 and 67-6.
“It was the best series ever,” he said.
Vena said the anger from missing the Armory record at the NJ Varsity Classic fueled him at first but the key was staying angry ever time in stepped into the cage.
“I feel like you have to get mad to throw well,” Vena said. “I just keep telling myself that I can do better so I’ll get mad about that.”
Although Vena wasn’t aiming specifically for a national record some athletes were. Morris Hills missed an opportunity at Syosset’s 4x800 national record of 7:42.22 set in 2005. But two mishaps cost the team major time in what turned out to be an otherwise impressive performance. Vinny Chiusano, Lucas Clyne, Tyler Hendrickson and Liam Tansey finished in 7:47.81.
But first Tansey an official’s signal and came out a lap early to take the baton for the anchor leg from Hendrickson. The official pulled him back but Tansey briefly interrupted Hendrickson’s stride heading into his final lap. Then with 40 meters left in Hendrickson’s leg, he stepped on the inside rail of the track and stumbled and fell.
“I thought I could regain my balance,” Hendrickson said. “But then my legs just gave out.”
He laid flat on the track for almost two seconds before struggling to hand off to Tansey on the anchor. Hendrickson still managed a 2:01.7 split followed by Tansey’s 1:54.8 anchor. Until Hendrickson stumbled Morris Hills was well on pace to challenge the national record.
“That’s track and field,” Morris Hills coach Sean Robinson said. “The good news is we got another shot (at nationals). I’m proud of my guys. I could be selfish and be angry. But I’m proud of them. You’re not going to get them all.”
Joe Rosa (3:08.8), Sean Reed (51.6), Tyler Corkedale (1:56.3) and Jim Rosa (4:11.3) of West Winsor Plainsboro North crushed a New Jersey state record, winning the distance medley relay in 10:07.21. They bettered a record of 10:12.3 set by Bernards High in 1983.
“The game plan was to break the state record,” Jim Rosa said. “Everyone did awesome. … This definitely gives us a lot of confidence but it also puts a target on our backs so we have to keep working hard.”
Shortly after word started to circulate that Manalapan’s Robby Andrews would take aim at Alan Webb’s national high school mile record of 3:59.86 set in 2001. But straight from the straight, Andrews was buried in a pack that was grossly off pace for his goal. Andrews took over after two laps but reached the 400 mark in 64 seconds.
“I was trying to stay comfortable,” said Andrews, who is headed to the University of Virginia. “Those first couple laps felt like they were rather quick but they weren’t.”
Andrews didn’t back off the pace but didn’t press the way he did when he broke the national record in the 1,000 at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational Feb. 6. He finished in a personal best 4:12.31. He said he believed though, that he is in sub-4 minute mile shape. Andrews said he just couldn’t handle a 30-second per lap pace Tuesday night.
“I was still going for it,” Andrews said. “I just didn’t have it today. It just wasn’t there.”
No records were threatened in the 800 meters but a physical, tactical race turned into a win for Iona Prep’s Sean Halpin. The pace started off slow with lots of shoving while the runners tried to force someone to take the lead while the favorite, Terrance Livingston of Great Neck South, bobbed along in the middle of the group. Halpin stayed out of the fray.
“Basically, I stayed back and watched them up front,” Halpin said. “They were pushing and tripping over each other and just making a lot of moves. So I figured I’d just stay out of that.”
It was a smart move. Halpin made his move on the third lap while most of the field was still tripping over each other. He won in a Westchester County record of 1:54.46. Livingston made a dash in the last 50 meters and came from fourth to second place finishing in 1:54.90.
“I think everyone was waiting for Livingston to lead,” Halpin said. “I just wanted to see what I could run for myself and once I didn’t see him up front I just knew I had to do it for myself.”
All the jumps provided solid performances as well. Maurice Easterling of Stepanic won the long jump in 23-1. Trenton Central’s Rolston Braithwaite won the triple jump in 48-5.25 and Glenn Scheideler of Randolph won the high jump in 6-8.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.