The Washington Township boys, who racked up 40 points on the track and blasted the No. 1 time in the nation in the shuttle hurdles, won its first title in 14 years, the Toms River North girls captured its first championship ever, the two fastest girls DMR times in the nation were run, and Brian O'Sullivan and Samantha Strydesky put on remarkable shows in the air at Saturday's NJSIAA Group 4 Relays at the Bennett Center in Toms River.
In the boys competition, Washington Township, which won its only other state relay title in 2009, won the shuttle hurdles in a US No. 1 30.98, won the 4x200 in 1:32.35, finished first in the 4x400 in 3:31.42 on the way to a 46-35 victory over runner-up Westfield. Washington also picked up eight points with a runner-up finish in the 4x800, six points with a third-place in the high jump, and two points by placing fifth in the SMR.
Washington's red hot shuttle hurdle team consisted of Zach Kotel, Nico DiGiacomo, Yashahya Brown, the state leader in the 55 hurdle sat 7.46, and Kanye Mills. Mills and Brown also ran in the winning 4x400, and Mills was a member of the runner-up 4x800.
Individually, the Rutgers-bound O'Sullivan once again put on sensational aerial performance by clearing 16-6 in the pole vault! That's the third time this season that O'Sullivan has made 16-5 or better. He made a PR and US No. 4 clearance of 16-6.25 at the Skyland Conference Championships last Sunday at Ocean Breeze.
In the girls competition, Toms River North scored 44 points on track en route to a 50-35.50 victory over runner-up Eastern.
The biggest highlight of the girls meet was the blazing fast DMR's!!! TRN finished first in a red-hot 12:25.91, just edging Cherokee, second in 12:26.09). Those are the two fastest times in the nation this season!!!!!
In addition to its thrilling DMR win, TRN also won the shuttles in 32.87, won the SMR in 4:14.72, placed second in the 4x400 in 4:08.97, third in the 4x800, and picked up six points by placing third in the high jump.
The top individual highlight of the girls meet was provided by UPenn-bound Strydesky of Howell, who cleared a NJ No. 1/US No. 5 5-8 in the high jump. Strydesky matched her PR of 5-8, which she cleared last spring when she won the HJ at the Meet of Champions.