The boys distance medley relay certainly lived up to the hype as three teams went under the meet record to highlight an exciting first day of action at the 79th Union County Relays on Thursday at Gary Kehler Stadium in Westfield.
The second and final day of competition is scheduled to resume on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
Union Catholic, coming off a subpar ninth place finish in the DMR at the Penn Relays last Friday, got the redemption it was seeking by slicing 10 seconds off its time from last week with the greatest DMR performance in meet history, stopping the clock at 10:12.71. That's the No. 1 time in NJ this season, US No. 10, and it obliterated the previous meet record of 10:18.21 that UC ran last year.
There were several other sparkling performances turned in on the opening day of competition.
Linden's all senior lineup of Devir Britton, Rabae Smith, Kerdel Moses , and Kevin Jenkins teamed up to smash its school record by running 42.56 to win the boys 4x100, tied for NJ No. 4. Moses also soared a meet-best 22-3, tied for No. 4 in the state this season, to lead Linden to victory in the long jump.
The Union boys repeated as SMR champs by running a NJ No. 1 3:29.18. Rutgers-bound Gabriel Rodriguez NJ threw down a 1:53.4 anchor to rally the Farmers for the win. Todd Francis, Ramsey Lafond, and Oko Lokko set the table for Rodriguez.
Union Catholic was second in a NJ No. 3 3:33.18. Avery Atexide split 48.2 and Sean Wilson anchored in 1:58.1.
Westfield won the javelin and discus en route to the grabbing the first-day lead, 46-44 over defending champion Union Catholic. Elizabeth is third with 41.
Westfield had the top three throwers in the discus competition as seniors Owen Paul (156-5), Phin Mindak (154-7), and Joe McGovern (142-11) teamed up for a combined winning total of 453-11.
In the javelin, senior Mason Marino (156-4), sophomore Lincoln Meyers (134-1) and senior Gabe Dayon (126-2) combined to give the Blue Devils the victory.
Union Catholic picked up a win in the 400 hurdles as Marcus McCoy (a meet-best 56.10), Emerson McKindra (58.02), and Al-Qamar Rojas (58.52) teamed up for the Vikings.
On the girls side, Union Catholic, seeking an eighth straight title, won four events to take a 48-39 lead over Scotch Plains-Fanwood.
UC won the DMR in 12:21.49, the 4x100 in 47.80, the SMR in 4:08.22, and the long jump.
Emmy O'Hearn (3:50.5), Jimmiea King (57.7), Victoria Urbaez (2:23.7) and Peyton Hollis (5:09.5) shared the baton in the DMR for UC. In the SMR, Maameyaa Nyinah burned a 56.1 400 and Kaleigh Gunsiorowski ran a very relaxed 2:16.2.
Alexandra Bonn (17-7), Vonya Gould (17-2), and Natalia Thompson (16-8) combined to win the LJ with a school record total of 51-5. Thompson also anchored the winning 4x100.
Rahway junior Saniyah Evans soared a meet-best 18-0m tied for No. 7 in the state this season, in the long jump.
Scotch Plains-Fanwood captured the team 400 hurdles as senior Danielle Most (1:08.32), junior Zoe Hopkins (1:09.53), and junior Stephanie Agwu (a PR of 1:10.90) combined on the victory.
Elizabeth won the shot put as Elizabeth's Aniyah Murrell-Sanders (33-1.50), Daine Francoise (30-8), and Sakiyyah Brooks combined for a winning total of 93-0.25.
Ilana Kornacki (8-6) and Natasha Grandov (8-0) combined for 16-6 to give New Providence the victory in the pole vault.
Dayton junior Meghan Kreinberg had the top throw of the competition with a 36-8.50.