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A lot of history was made at Friday's NJSIAA Non-Public A Track and Field Championships at the Bennett Center in Toms River.
The Christian Brothers Academy boys and Union Catholic girls each kept long winning streaks alive with record-breaking victories, Caroline Dannenbaum of Pingry broke the overall meet record (All Groups combined) in the girls pole vault, and Conor Reilly of Union Catholic pulled off a very rare feat.
In the team competition, CBA outscored Union Catholic, 83-56 to extend its state record to 10 straight titles and increase its state record total to 25 championships!
On the girls side, Union Catholic won its state record sixth straight title, 85-43 over Paul VI.
UC's six titles in a row is the longest winning streak for a girls team in meet history for all the groups combined. UC had shared the record of five in a row with Science (five straight Group 1 titles from 1989 through 1993), and Columbia (five in a row in Group 4 from 1994 through 1998).
Let's breakdown how CBA and UC continued its dominance.
For CBA, Shaw Powell won the 1,600 (4:22.27) and the 3,200 (9:29.44), Eros Bottino led a 1-2-6 finish for the Colts in the shot put with a winning throw of 57-6, Liam O'Hara captured the 400 in 49.95, Troy Hill was second in the 1,600 and third in the 3,200, Ethan Ferraiola, third in the 400, Ben Santos placed fourth in the 3,200, and Liam Miksic and Ben Skrincosky each cleared 11-0 in the pole vault to finish 3-4.
The UC girls were led by Temple-bound Chi Chi Nkulume, who came back from a sub-par race in the 400 (fifth) to win the 55 dash with a PR of 7.16 and capped off the meet with a 57.8 anchor carry on the winning 4x400 (3:57.82).
Also scoring for UC were Ajanae Thompson, who led a 3-4-5 finish for UC in the 55 HH, Morgan Williams, second in the 800, Abby Granrath, second in the 1,600 and fourth in the 3,200, Jada Mia Puryear, second in the shot put with a school record 38-9 3/4, Alexandra Kwasnik, second in the HJ, Zamira Ysaac, third in the 800, Isabella Gray, fourth in the vault, Sydney Tucker, fifth in the 55 dash, A'Liyah Thomas, 5th in the HJ, and Sadie Abood, sixth in the 3,200.
The biggest individual highlight of the meet came when the Vanderbilt-bound Dannenbaum won her second straight state title by clearing 12-6.5 on the her final attempt to take down the All-Groups meet record of 12-6/25 set in 2010 by Emily Urciuoli of Clifton.
Dannenbaum, who the Meet of Champions tilte last winter and is the state leader this season at 12-8, took three tries at equaling her PR of 13-0, and just missed on her last try.
Dannebuam wasn't the only vaulter to sparkle.
The Lehigh-bound Reilly also made history when he won his fourth straight boys pole vault title by clearing 13-6. Reilly, who has a PR of 15-6, went up to 15-3 to try to break his meet record, but couldn't quite get over it.
Mariah Fede of Paramus Catholic was the only individual double-winner in the girls A competition, placing first in the 400 in 57.72, the second fastest time of the season in the Bennett Center, and was first in the 55 hurdles in 8.19, which equals the fastest time on this track this season. Fede also placed fourth in the 55 dash.
MORE HIGHLIGHTS
Elijah Brown of Union Catholic, the Meet of Champions winner in the 800 last winter, won the 800 for the second straight year in 1:59.12 and split 49.9 on the victorious 4x400.
Nicole Vanasse of Pingry, the M of C winner in the 3,200 last indoor season, won the 3,200 in 10:52.37.
James Bivins of Donovan Catholic, made it two straight titles in the 55 dash, crossing first in 6.48.
Jules Kopec of RBC held off a furious charge from Granrath to win the girls 1,600, 5:07.92 to 5:08.09.
Bryanna Wilson of Donovan Catholic, who missed a lot of training time last week with the flu, repeated as Non-Public A shot out winner with a throw of 42-6.
Ahmad Brown of Holy Spirit, who won the Non-Public B state title in the 400 the last two years, captured his first state indoor title by winning the B Division 400 in 50.92.
Kambi Walker of Paul VI cleared 5-4 to win the girls HJ on misses.
Jordany Dely of Paramus Catholic captured the boys HH in 7.72, and teammate Andre Barrett cleared 6-2 to win the HJ.
Ryan Davi of Pingry rallied late to win the girls 800 in 2:18.00.