One of the most impressive streaks in state history continued, three athletes made history, and Kaelen Mitchell turned in an electrifying quad at the Greater Middlesex Conference Championships on Tuesday at Frank Jost Field in South Plainfield.
In the team competition, South Brunswick reminded everyone that it's one of the best combined boys and girls programs in the state with a dominating sweep as both teams extended their winning streaks.
The South Brunswick girls stretched their amazing winning streak to 15 straight championships with a 100.50-58 victory over runner-up Metuchen. SB raised its county record total to 18 overall girls titles.
Meanwhile, the South Brunswick boys, who outscored runner-up East Brunswick, 158-95, won for the third straight time and have now captured eight of the last nine titles. The SB boys have now captured nine GMC titles, tied for second in county history with St. Joseph (Met.). Old Bridge owns the country record with 12 championships.
This meet had everything!
Three meet records went down, multiple athletes were double winners, Mitchell threw down one of the greatest performances in meet history, and several athletes dropped huge PR's!!!
If there was an award for the Most Outstanding Performer of the meet Mitchell would have gotten it after winning four gold medals in breathtaking fashion.
After winning the 100-meter dash on Monday in a personal best and NJ#8 10.95, Mitchell, a senior at Piscataway, anchored the winning 4x100, then he won the long jump (22-4.50), and then rallied to catch Jayden Phillip of East Brunswick right before the line to win the 200 in a personal best and NJ#10 22.34.
Mitchell, who owns a LJ PR of 24-3.25, talked about his epic performance in the video at the top of this story.
All three meet record were set in the boys competition by East Brunswick teammates Chris Serrao and Brian McSweeney, and by Vidhur Polam of South Brunswick.
After he won the 400 hurdles on Monday, Serrao, a junior, said he felt he had a great chance to break the meet record in the 110 hurdles on Tuesday.
He backed up those words by blasting his way over the barriers in 14.12 to break the meet record of 14.23 set in 2019 by Alan Broussard of J.P. Stevens.
Serrao's 14.12 placed him No. 5 on Middlesex County's All-Time list and is the fastest time in the state this season.
Serrao, who missed a couple weeks of training last month with a sore back, said his confidence stemmed from running a 13.9 in a dual meet earlier this month in his first race back from the injury
Serrao talked all about his record-breaking performance in the video above.
McSweneey, a senior, broke one of the oldest meet records on the books when he cleared 14-6 to take down the 37-year-old record of 14-5.50 set by Dan Bertolami of Woodbridge.
The West Point-bound McSweeney, who has a PR of 15-9, isn't just a vaulter. He's a rare all-round talent, who also placed fifth in the HH in 15.82, and competed in the javelin and the triple jump.
McSweeney spoke about his record performance, his versatility, and his quest to clear 16-0 in the video below-
The third record that fell came when the UPenn-bound Polam won the 3,200 in 9:20.53. Polam, who ran 4:37 for the second 1,600, broke the record of 9:21.81 set in 2004 by Ryan Williams of East Brunswick.
South Brunswick also picked up victories from its 4x400 crew (3:26.10), sophomore Damarion Potts in the HJ (6-6), and from Jaden Martinez in the discus (156-9).
Nick Medeiros of Old Bridge was his usual splendid self. After winning the 400 on Monday in 48.36, he ran a very controlled two laps on the way to capturing the 800 on Tuesday in 1:53.11.
The girls competition featured two double winners, some big breakthrough victories, and of course the remarkable total team effort by South Brunswick.
South Brunswick has always been just too deep and balanced for any team in the GMC to handle over their 15 year reign of supremacy, and that was the case once again this year.
While the Vikings scored their share of points on the track, highlighted by a victory in the 4x800 in 10:21.80, their work in the field events was once again a huge key to the victory. All three individual wins by South Brunswick came in the field. Khushi Gupta won the HJ (5-4), Renee Nartey captured the LJ (16-5.50), and Ava Hutchison won the the javelin (109-10).
Individually, senior Adelaide Asante of North Brunswick, who won the 400 hurdles on Monday in a NJ#2 62.59, completed the hurdles sweep for the second time in her career by capturing the 100 hurdles in a NJ #3 14.87. The Princeton-bound Asante pulled off the same feat as a sophomore in 2019.
Kaleia Arrington, a senior at Piscataway, opened lots of eyes with her hot sprint double. She won the 100 on Monday in a NJ#5 12.21, and then edged Asante to capture the the 200 in a NJ#11 25.54.
A rising star to keep an eye on is Metuchen junior Mary Malague, After placing second in the 1600 on Tuesday in 5:10.41, a seven second PR, Malague sliced nine seconds off her PR when she won the 3,200 on Tuesday in 11:09.97.
Watch the video interview with Malague above as she talks about her two great races.
