Giordano's throw of 146-9 in the discus. (Video courtesy of Old Tappan T&F @nvot_track)
Full Results | MileSplit Elites
Some top marks in the long jump and star throwers shined in their opener during the Hasbrouck Heights Penn Qualifier field meet on Thursday.
In the girls long jump competition Alexandra Samperi of Hasbrouck Heights and Abigail Dennis of Old Tappan both made 19-0 (NWI). Samperi's next best was an 18-8.25 and Dennis also cleared 17-3.5.
Strong marks early for the New Jersey long jump, they would have the second best all-conditions mark of the entire 2022 outdoor season compared. Kailey Attali of NV Demarest also had an impressive long jump start with an 18-2 mark for third.
Abigail Dennis clearing 19-0 courtesy of NV Old Tappan, this is a school record.
Layla Giordano of NV Old Tappan opened 2023 with major PRs as well throwing a 146-9 mark in the discus to win and a 43-4 for the shot put victory. Both those performances currently sit NJ No. 1 ahead of opening weekend.
That 146-9 is a Bergen County record for the discus taking down the previous standard of 144-0 by Demarest's Casey Sullivan thrown during the 2022 NJSIAA Meet of Champions.
Giordano, entering her junior season, was over 130 feet in the discus just once last spring and had never thrown over 40 feet before for the shot put.
Top 3 All-Time Bergen County Girls Discus
| RANK | MARK | ATHLETE/TEAM | GRADE | MEET DATEPLACE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 146-9 | 2024 | ||
| 2 | 144-0 | 2022 | ||
| 3 | 143-4 | 1999 |
On the boys side Benjamin Shue, the star sophomore out of Bergen Catholic, opened his spring campaign with marks of 170-4 for the discus and 59-7.5 in the shot put.
Shue closed out the 2022 outdoor season with four 60-plus marks in the shot put as a freshman and also hit a massive 198-5 to win the Non-Public A state title. He's the top returner statistically in the discus for New Jersey this spring.
Jenna O'Malley of Hasbrouck Heights won the girls javelin throwing 130-11 the boys javelin went to Sean Coll of Bergen Catholic. Both marks take over the NJ No. 1 spots.
In the pole vault Nathan Park of NV Old Tappan cleared 14-0 to win the boys and has the state lead ahead of the weekend. Jamie Kim of Old Tappan made 10-8 during the girls competition for an early NJ No. 2.