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CBA came up with some clutch performances when it mattered most to edge Toms River North in an epic battle to extend its streak to 13 titles in a row, the Toms River North girls captured their first championship in 30 years, and Clemmie Lilley burned up the track by smashing a pair of records at Thursday's red hot Shore Conference Championships at the Bennett Center
CBA had to dig down deep late in the meet to keep its winning streak alive and capture its meet record 28th title overall.
The Colts were trailing Toms River North, 59-56, with two events remaining, the shot put and the 4x400 relay.
In the shot put, CBA junior Albert Yodakis unloaded a 52-11 on his final throw to jump from fifth to third place, and CBA junior Cameron Feiler placed fifth with a 49-4 as CBA picked up a crucial 8 points to take a 64-60 lead heading into the 4x400.
In the meet-concluding relay, TRN won in 3:26.07 to earn 10 points and CBA secured the team title by placing second in 3:28.50. That gave CBA a hard-fought 72-70 win over TRN, who was bidding to win to win its second boys title ever. TRN captured the championship in 2010, which is the last time a team other than CBA finished first.
As usual, CBA scored most of its points in the distance races, piling up 47 points in the 800, 1,600, and 3,200 combined.
In the 1,600, Joe Barrett led a 1-2-4 finish for CBA with a winning time of 4:19.03. Conor Clifford was second (4:20.75) and Alex Mastroly fourth (4:22.47). Alex Kemp ran a NJ No. 1 time of 9:16.28, and Barrett (NJ No. 3 9:18.90) and Thomas Field (9:49.82) finished 2-6 in the 3,200 for CBA, and Clifford (2:00.20) and Mastroly (2:00.99) finished 4-5 in the 800.
TRN dominated the sprints and hurdles, racking up 58 points in the 55 dash, 55 hurdles, 400 and the 4x400.
In the 400, TRN went 1-2-3 with senior Lowrentzky Ambroise (50.43), and juniors Mamadi Diawara (50.78) and Camryn Thomas (50.93) sweeping the race. Thomas also place second in the hurdles in 7.75 to spark a 2-4-5 for Toms River North, and Diawara placed second in the 55 dash. Junior Taysaun Wilson also came up big for TRN with a victory in the 800 in 1:57.84
NICKELSEN'S TRIPLE SPARKS TRN GIRLS
Senior Olivia Nickelsen produced a dazzling triple to fuel the Toms River North girls to a 53-50 over defending champion Rumson, giving TRN its first title since winning a third straight championship in 1994.
Nickelsen scored nearly half the points for TRN as she racked up 26 points by winning the 55 dash in 7.36 (PR of 7.34 in trials), and placing second in both the 400 (58.52) and the 800 (indoor PR of 2:15.34).
TRN also picked up big points from junior May Hanlon and sophomore Jessica Abbott.
LILLEY SIZZLES
The two most impressive performances of the meet came from Lilley, the junior star at Rumson who left a lot of smoke on the track!
Lilley, who placed second in the 800 at the Meet of Champions last spring, torched the track twice by blasting her way to historic victories in both the 400 and 800.
In the 400, Lilley dropped a 57.18 to take down the meet record of 57.81 that was set in 2018 by Lily Orr of Rumson. Lilley came back later to throw down an indoor PR of 2:13.30, which is NJ No. 4 and US No. 15 this season, to shatter the meet record in the 800 held by one of the greatest track and field athletes in U.S. history, the legendary Ajee' Wilson of Neptune. Wilson set the meet record of 2:14.54 in 2010.
For those that don't know, Wilson won the gold medal at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in the 800, is a two-time Olympian in the 800, and is the current American record holder indoors in the 800 at 1:58.29!!!
Congrats, Clemmie!!
There aren't many track and field athletes who can say they broke a record held by an all-time great like Ajee' Wilson!!!
How cool is that!!
BOMBS AWAY
Julia Santos, a junior at Toms River South, took over the state lead in the girls shot put with a huge PR of 42-1.25. Her previous best of 40-2 at the Toms River Classic on Dec. 20.