The Woodstown boys won the meet-concluding 4x400-meter relay to clinch its first title in thrilling fashion and the Ramsey girls racked up 4 wins on their way to a second championship in a row at the NJSIAA Group 1 Relays on Thursday night at the Bennett Center in Toms River.
WOODSTOWN MAKES HISTORY
Woodstown, behind triple-winner Josh Crawford, was trailing defending champion Glassboro by six points heading into the meet-concluding 4x400 relay, so they needed to come up with a clutch performance to have a shot at pulling off the biggest win in the history of its indoor program.
They did exactly that, as Kyle Reitz, Karson Chew, Anthony Costello and Crawford combined to win the 4x400 in 3:32.59 to pick up 10 points. Glassboro was sixth in 3:41.42 to earn one point, giving Woodstown a dramatic 38-35 victory over the defending champs.
Woodstown, which scored all their points in 4 events, is the first team from Salem County to win a state relay title in 40 years. The last team from Salem County to win a state relay championship was the Penns Grove boys in Group 1 in 1986.
Woodstown also picked up wins in the 4x800 and SMR and placed second in the DMR.
In the 4x800, Chew, Marino, Farrell and Crawford finished first in 8:29.20. Reitz, Benjamin Lippincot, Costello and Crawford teamed up to win the SMR in 3:38.84.
Woodstown's runner-up DMR squad (10:45.69) consisted of Jacob Marino, David Farrell, Crawford and Chew.
BACK-TO-BACK
Ramsey flexed their depth and balance as 17 athletes combined to score 60 points in a total team effort as the Rams outscored runner-up Audubon, 60-48, for their second straight title and their second overall.
Ramsey, led by triple-winner Catherine Larsen, picked up wins in the shuttle hurdles, 4x200, 4x800, and 4x400!!!
Larsen, Grace McGhee, Chiara Vizzari and Charlotte Tinio teamed up to win the shuttles in 35.34. Larsen joined Emme Lockard, Gabriella Cardinali and Anna Steines on the winning 4x200 (1:50.95), and Larsen capped off her trifecta by strking gold in the 4x400 (4:17.60) when she shared the baton with Steines, and Kaylee Finnegan.