There sure were several eye-popping results, breathtaking victories, upset specials, and dramatic team duels when the state's best track and field athletes grinded through one of the longest and most memorable Group Track and Field Championships in state history.
Here's a look at some of the biggest highlights in the girls competition.
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GROUP 4
There sure was a lot of smoke coming from the track and a big bomb was delivered in the field as the best athletes in Group 4 produced several red hot performances, and Elizabeth put an exclamation point on its historic season by winning its first ever girls state title ever!!
Let's get this started with the monumental victory by Elizabeth.
Fueled by the dynamic duo of Cynthia Boakye and Maisha Valme, who combined for 45 points to outscore every team in Group 4, the Minutemen won its first state title with a 59-44 victory over South Jersey champ Eastern, second with 44.
Boakye, the state leader in the 200 with a 23.98, won the 200 in 24.06, and placed second in both the 100 (11.91) and the 400 (54.71) for 26 points. Valme won the long jump with a PR land school record leap of 18-10, and placed third in the triple jump, and tied for fourth in the high jump.
"I am proud of how these girls fought to the last event to pull this historic win off,'' Elizabeth Head Coach Mike Penta said. "They got stronger at the end knowing what was at stake. Cynthia winning the 200 and Maisha winning the LJ breaking her own school record with an 18-10 jump. This showed how much they desired to achieve getting this job done for their team. They are all amazing, everyone one of these girls. They believed in themselves, came to this meet and never gave up. Give a special thanks to our coaching staff, Holman, Regha, Ziobro, Williams, and Vaughn. Also to our Athletic Department including our trainers. None of this could have happened without them.''
Now let's get into the amazing performance by freshman phenom Sianni Wynn of Pennsauken.
Wynn burned up the oval with three big PR's, highlighted by her NJ No. 1 time of 53.97 win in the 400, which just missed the state freshman record and is the third fastest time by a freshman in the U.S. this season. She also won the 100 in a personal best and NJ No. 4 time of 11.82, and placed second in the 200 with another PR of 24.38.
After she was done competing, Wynn said she's going to take down the state freshman 400 record of 53.78 at the Meet of Champions, which is owned by the legendary Sydney McLaughlin of Union Catholic. McLaughlin, the World Record holder in the 400 hurdles and a tw-time Olympic gold medalist, ran the 53.78 to finish first at the 2014 Non-Public A Championships. McLaughlin also owns the state record of 51.86, which she ran at the 2016 Meet of Champions.
There were several other highlights.
How about what Leah Howard did!!!
The senior at Millville unloaded a 151-10 to shatter the Group 4 record and win her second straight javelin title.
Howard's 151-10 broke the record of 150-5 set in 309 by Alianna Eucker of Bergen Tech.
Howard, who threw a NJ No. 2 all-time 163-1 at the Woodbury Relays in April, will be aiming for the state record of 163-8 set in 2019 by Brielle Smith of Oakcrest.
There is a new state leader in the 400 hurdles. It's Aaliyah Murphy of Morristown, who ran 1:00.39 to beat a stacked field. Murphy, a junior, edged Quaycian Davis of East Orange, second in a NJ No. 3 1:00.59, and Piscataway's Brooke'Lyn Drakeford, who won the Meet of Champions in the 400 hurdles last year, was third in a NJ No. 4 1:01.53.
Emma Zawatski of Freehold Township solidified her status as the favorite to win her second straight Meet of Champions title in the 1,600 by running a NJ No. 1 time of 4:49.31 to successfully defend her title. It's the fifth state group championship for Zawatski in the three seasons combined. Zawatski will be seeking the fourth M of C title of her career on Wednesday. She won the 1,600 at the M of C last spring, captured the M of C XC title this past fall, and won the 1,600 at the Indoor M of C in March.
GROUP 3
Naylah Jones ran wild in the sprints to fuel Timber Creek to its first state title, and Sophia Curtis of Ocean City was a triple winner to highlight the action in this meet.
Jones, a junior, ran a state-leading time of 11.75 by winning the 100 in 11.75, won the 200 in a NJ No. 2 time of 24.22, ran on the winning 4x100, and finished second in the 400 in 56.64 to lead Timber Creek to a convincing 76-42 victory over runner-up Ocean City. Winslow, the South Jersey champion, was third with 39.
Timber Creek also won the 4x400 and sophomore Ryan Jennings (second in the 100 and third in the 200), and junior Guerlande Pierre (second in the shot put), had clutch performances for Timber Creek.
The remarkable Curtis continued her amazing junior season by winning the triple jump (39-5.75), the 400 hurdles in 1:00.42, and she avenged her sectional loss to Jones in the 400 by winning the one-lapper in 56.61. Curtis is the state leader in the triple jump (40-10.25), and is NJ No. 2 in the 400 hurdles with a 1:00.42
GROUP 2
Nester Wea did it again!!
A week after she was the only girl in the state to win four individual titles at the sectional championships, the sophomore sensation was the only athlete in the state to sweep all three sprints as she collected four gold medals at the Group Championships!
Sparked by Wea's amazing quad, Willingboro defeated South Jersey champion Haddonfield, 72-61, to win its first state title since 2002 and its fifth overall.
Wea, running outdoors for the first time this season, won the 100 in 11.96, the 200 in 24.63, and the 400 in 56.05, which are all PR's, and she added another gold as the anchor on the winning 4x100 relay!. Willingboro also own the 4x400 and received a victory from sophomore Chanel Swain in the 4x400.
Clemmie Lilley of defending champion Rumson blew up the track with three sparkling performances. The sophomore star won the 800 with a PR of 2:11.22 (the fastest time among all the groups combined), placed second in the 400 in 56.32, and split 55.25 on the runner-up 4x400!! If Lilley elects to run the 800 over the 400 at the Meet of Champions on Wednesday, she would obviously be one of the favorites to win.
GROUP 1
Hasbrouck Heights rang up a total of 55 points in the field and Dea Jera sparked the squad on the track when the Aviators steamrolled the competition to capture its first state title ever.
Hasbrouck Heights, which finished with 77 points, was so dominate in the field that it didn't to score any points on the track to win. The 55 points in the field were eight more points than runner-up and 2-time defending champion Clayton scored.
Hasbrouck Heights picked up wins from Gaea DePass in the triple jump (35-3.75) and Maria Manis led a 1-2-4 finish in the javelin with a wining throw of 110-5. Elliot Eddy had a big day in the throws for Hasbrouck Heights, placing second in the shot put and fourth in the discus.
Jera, a senior, was the catalyst for Hasbrouck Heights on the track. She placed sixth in the 400 hurdles, ran a leg on the winning 4x400 and was a member of the fourth-place 4x100.
In other big highlights in Group 1, junior Alanna Woolfolk of Clayton, the state leader in the high jump, won her third straight high jump title by clearing 5-8, which matched her PR. She narrowly missed at 5-9.
Sophomore Delana Einreinhofer of Wallkill Valley won the 1,600 in 5:09.26 and the 3,200 in 11:03.40, and Kylie Castillo of Ridgefield Park won the 200 (24.88) ad the 400 (57.87).
NON-PUBLIC A
STATE RECORD ALERT!!!
The Union Catholic express added another huge milestone to its resume when the Vikings simply overwhelmed the field to win their eighth straight Non-Public A crown, and Cate DeSousa of RBC celebrated her birthday with two more state titles!
By winning its eighth straight championship, Union Catholic tied Notre Dame for the most consecutive girls state titles won. Notre Dame
also won its eight straight in Non-Public A from 1993 through 2000.
UC, led by sophomore sensation Taylor Cox, captured six of the 11 events on the track, smashed a meet and county record, and swept all three jumping events and all three relays on the way to a 195-77.5 victory over runner-up Immaculate Heart Academy. The Vikings narrowly missed breaking the meet record of 200 total points scored that they scored last year.
Cox was her usual spectacular self.
Cox led a 1-2-3 finish for UC in the 100 dash with a winning time of 11.97, led a 1-2-4 finish for the Vikings by winning the 100 hurdles in 13.72, and ran on a pair of winning relays, including the meet-record breaking 4x100 that dropped a smoking hot 46.40!!!! That's No. 5 in NJ history and a new Union County record.
Also on the 4x100 for UC were Taylor Aska, who won the 200, Ajanae Thompson, and Leah Gould. The Vikings also won the 4x400 in 4:02.18 and their B team won the 4x800 in 9:35.76, the fastest time of all the groups combined.
In the field, senior Alexandra Bonn, who has captured three Meet of Champions titles (2 indoors and one outdoors) won her second straight triple jump title, junior Vonya Gould exploded for a massive PR of 19-0, which is tied for NJ No. 3, on her final attempt to win the long jump, and freshman Ebony Turner cleared 5-2 to win the high jump. UC also picked up a pair of runner-up finishes from Peyton Hollis in the 400 and 800. Hollis led a 2-3-4 finish for UC in the 800.
The Virginia-bound DeSousa gave herself a pair of gold medals for her 18th birthday, winning the 800 in 2:12.60 and the 1,600 in 4:55.40. DeSousa, who won the 3,200 at the Indoor Meet of Champions, raised her career total to 11 state titles in the three seasons combined!
NON-PUBLIC B
Another squad that won its first state title in school history was Wilberforce, led by sophomore star Gwen Mersereau. It's the second time this school year that Wilberforce made history. It also won the State Non-Public B girls XC title in the fall.
Mersereau won three gold medals by leading a 1-2-3 sweep for her team in the 800, and running on the victorious 4x400 and 4x100 relays. She also finished fourth in the 200 to lead Wilberforce to a dominating 83-59 win over runner-up Montclair Kimberley, who finished with 59.
Wilberforce also received impressive runner-up performances from its 4x100 relay team, and from Laura Sallade in the 800, Adeline Edwards in the 3,200 and Maria Madigan in the 400.
St. Rose senior Tilly O'Connor raised her career total of State Group Championships to 13 by winning the 3,200 in 11:06.93. O'Connor has won all 13 of her titles within the last two years, 2 in XC, 7 indoors, and 4 outdoors! That's incredible!!!
