On Track - The Week in Review (4/17 - 4/23)

It's getting to be a habit - if it's the spring in New Jersey and there are track meets there's rain and lots of it. 

The schedule was shorter this week than last but still some nice results despite the conditions.

Wednesday, April 20

Viking Invitational (Staten Island)

• Dean Sullivan of Delbarton throws the javelin 189-0 for the win and a New Jersey #3 spot.  Teammate Hunter Daugherty was third.

Thursday, April 21

Red & Black Invitational (East Stroudsburg, PA)

• John Brinkerhoff of Veritas Christian wins the pole vault at 13-9 for a NJ #5.  Phillipsburg's Matt Deery was third at 12-6, won the 110 hurdles in 15.23 (#2 NJ) and won the 300 hurdles in 40.03.

• Phillipsburg crossed the Delaware to compete at this meet and had some nice results:

• Chelsea and Mikee Swick tied for second in the girls' vault.

• Eric Optiz doubled with wins in the shot and discus at 52-7.5 and 169-7.

• John Harper of won the 3200 in 9:31.53.

• In the hunt for the team title, Phillipsburg girls were second by two points and the boys team was fourth.

Friday, April 22

Larry Ellis Memorial Invitational (Princeton)

• The big news of course was Edward Cheserek's 14:02.33 a New Jersey state record, breaking Chris Hallinan's (Bernards) mark of 14:25.8 from 1975.  Cheserek's performance makes him the 9th performer among US high school athletes (outdoors) and is US #1 for this spring season.  He was third overall.

• Megan Lacy had a good night also as she timed 16:50.75 for 13th place and US #2 this season.  Lacy now ranks #2 in New Jersey all-time behind only Ashley Higginson's (Colts Neck) 16:38.51 in 2007.

Saturday, April 23

And then the rains came with a vengance.  The two big meets on Saturday   - the Old Bridge Invitational and the Monmouth County Relays - were negatively affected by a steady rain that only stopped once the meets were completed.  As a result fields were thinned out somewhat and at least one event - the pole vault - was cancelled.

Old Bridge Invitational

Marty Holleran, Rich Gebauer and Jack Campbell assembled excellent fields and the quality shone through despite the rain and some no-shows/scratches.

• Mount Saint Dominic girls won the distance medley and 4x1600, the later event taking place during some of the heaviest rain of the day.  MSD was also third in the 4x800.

• Lenape produced the #2 New Jersey time of the season in the girls' 4x800, winning in 9:36.70 with Hunterdon Central (9:55.40) and MSD (9:59.60) also under 10:00.

• Abraham Clark won the 4x100 and 4x200 relays.

• Fiona Paladino had the best long jump of the day (18-1.25 - NJ #3) leading the winning team.

• On the boys' side, Freehold Township won the 4x1600 (again in the hardest rain of the day) in a fine 18:27.46, the fifth best time in New Jersey this season.

• The unbelievable Jose Veras led Dickinson's winning 3x400 hurdle team with his 55.06.  Not far behind was Old Bridge's Christian Boateng in 55.87.

• Veras came back from at least 20 meters down on indoor MOC champion Justin Hill to anchor Dickinson to the 4x800 win.  Veras' split was 1:55.7 while Hill, in his first meet back since MOC (injured achilles) split a hair over 2:00.  Hill was a little tentative before the race but looked good during if just a bit short on sharpness and conditioning.

• Najee Glass split 47.8 with no one near him on the third leg of the sprint medley as St Peter's wins by almost 12 seconds in 3:35.20 (NJ #5).  Glass will run on St Peter's 4x100 and 4x400 relays at Penn this week. 

• Dickinson also won the distance medley (no, Veras wasn't on this team) by 16+ seconds.

• Veras anchored Dickinson's 4x400 in 50.4, coming up a bit short in their bid for gold as Willingboro's Rashaun Houston held Veras off for the win in 3:26.20.

• Matt McDonald brought North Hunterdon in second in the sprint medley, anchoring in 2:02.2 after his 4:24.2 split on the third place North Hunterdon 4x1600.

Monmouth County Relays (Middletown South)

•  Middletown South won the girls' title over Freehold Township.

• CBA won the 4x400, 4x800, 4x1600, sprint medley long jump, high jump (tie), discus throw and javelin relays to take the team title 101 - 91 over Matawan.

McNamara Mustangs Invitational (Forestville, MD)

• Trenton Central girls' team made the trip to this meet and were fifth in the team scoring with some notable individual and relay performances:

•  Kara Dayon won the 800.

• Zsa'Asia Horton was fifth in the 100 meter hurdles.  Horton was also fourth in the 400 hurdles.

• The 4x200 and 4x800 relay teams were second and the 4x400 fourth.  The sprint medley was fifth.

Cover Photo - Edward Cheserek @ New Balance Indoor Nationals in March (by MaroonNews)