Weekend #2 of the New Jersey Outdoor Season started in the chill of Friday evening / night and ended in the sunny, cool , breeze of Saturday afternoon and before it was all over, the Garden State saw the beginnings of what will be another steller year. let's take a look at what happened at the meets.
Princeton University's Sam Howell Invitational saw a multitude of Jersey HS alumni toe the line for their College and Club teams, but 3 Jerser Prepsters took on the big boys and girls, coming away with some great performances. The the Elite Womens 1500 meters, Neptune senior Ajee Wilson opened her season with a PR 4:28.59 for 10th overall. A pair of juniors want to the line in the Elite Mens 10000 meters with Delsea's Nick Costello turning in an outstanding 31:29.85 taking 17th in the unseeded section (35th overall). Much later, when the tepertures had dipped drastically, St. Benedict's Prep star Edward Cheserek took down the long standing State Record for the event (30:25.0 by Matt Leddy of Delbarton in 1977) with a 29:42.31 for 7th place overall.
Also on Friday night, the Ridgewood Maroons traveled California to race at the Arcadia Invitational. with both the Girls and Boys running in the 4x800m Relay, the Girls hit a US #3 9:12.85 to take 2nd behind Redondo Union (Ca). The Boys ran 8:o7.55 for 15th in the Invitationalk section. Splits for theRidgewood Girls were:
Laura Weisberger '14 (2:18.3)
Hanako Shigenobu '12 (2:17.2)
Caroline Davidson '12 (2:20.4)
Catherine Pagano '15 (2:17.0)
On Saturady the action returned to High School tracks around the state as well as Jersey participation in a couple of out of state invitationals.
The 3rd Annual Metuchen Relays offered a number of NJRunners/MileSplit Elite Performances highlited by;
*US #2 400h mark of 1:03.13 by Meghan McMullin of Red Bank Catholic
*US #11 SMR time (4:10.31) by Red Bank Catholic
* US #3 191-6 Discus toss by East Brunswick's Sam Mattis
* US #11 Shot Put mark (61-1) by Chris Staton of Franklin Twp.
The 1st Georgian Court Girls Invitational held in Lakewood produced 14 NJRunners/MileSplit Elite Performances featuring;
* NJ #1 1600m time of 5:11.36 by Amanda Restivo of Lenape Reg.
* NJ #1 (Tie) HJ fom Tom River South's Elly Wardle
* NJ #1 3200m mark of 11:08.30 run by Ashley Carle from Jackson Memorial
Over 30 teams from around the state came to The Summit Relays with a number of NJRunners/MilkeSplit Elite performances resulting.
* NJ #2 mark 0f 12:24.03 in the DMR by Mendham HS
* NJ #1 Pole Vault mark established by Abby Nolte of Somerville HS
* NJ #1 4x800m Relay time of 8:05.16 by W Windsor-Plainsboro So.
* NJ #2 Javelin throw of 179-2 by Stephen Burk of Parsippany HS
* NJ #1 SMR time of 3:34.63 produced by Morris Hills HS
Last, but certainly not least, the action mobed to the Burlington Co. enclave of Maple Shsde for the lomg running Hall of Fame Relays where hot action, especially in the Field Events produce many NJRunners/MileSplit Elite Performances (19). Among them;
* NJ #1 toss of 140-9 in the Discus by Cherokee's Jess Woodard
* US #9 Javelin Throw of 153-6 by Faith Blamon of Cinniminson
* NJ #2 Vault of 11-0 by Alexandra Elder of Moorestown
* NJ #1 Shot Put mark on the double by Jess Woodard
* NJ #1 4x400m race of 3:22.69 by Timber Creek HS
* US #8 Javelin Throw of 187-10 by soph Chris Mirabelli of Holy Cross
* NJ #3 Shot toss of 57-7.75 by Timber Creek's Quanzell Lambert
* NJ #1 leap of 45-11.5 in the TJ by Josh Gray of Timber Creek
^ NJ #1 Long Jumo of 22-5.5 by Mikhail Micheaux of Eastern Reg.
Photo Gallery by Dennis Smythe
Also, on Saturday the out of state action continued with Ridgewood at the Arcadia Invitational, A small Jersey contingent at New York's Kings Relays. Newark Tech and the Girls of Trenton Central went south for the weekend to compete at the Beach Run Invitational in Myrtle Beach, SC, producing from fine results
Arcadia Invitational
* Girls DMR - Ridgewood Girls run 12:02.02 for a US #8 / NJ #1
* Boys DMR - Ridgewood get the NJ #1 with a 10:24.28
* Boys TJ - NJ #2 leap by Evan Bartlik of 45-1
* Boys HJ - Bartlik makes his Cali trip a success with the NJ #2 jump of 6-5.25
* Girls PV - Mimi DeVita scores NJ #3 with a 10-7.25 Vault
Beach Run Invitational
* Girls 100m Hurdles - Newark Tech's Iana Amsterdam with a NJ #1 14.89
* Girls 400m IH - Nichole Candelaria scores a US #2 1:02.81
* Girls TJ - Iana Amsterdam doubles back to hit 38-4 for the NJ #1 mark
Kings Relays
* Boys 400m IH - The Trenton Central duo of Jermaine Collier and Brandon Hill go 1/2 for the US #1 (tie) and #3 times (53.90 / 53.96)
* Boys LJ - Hakim Horton of Trenton Central gets the NJ #2 mark with a 21-4 leap.
* Girls 4x200m Relay - Columbia HS comes up with the NJ #1 time at 1:44.10
* Girls 4x400m Relay - Columbia HS scores another NJ #1 with 4:00.67
* Girls LJ - Amber Ballew of Columbia jumps to the NJ #1 mark with a 17-0.5 leap
*Note: As this article was posrted, the reults from the Highlander and Lyndhurst meets in Bergen County had not been reported. As soon as they are received, they will be posted and added to this article.
Cover Photo by: Dennis Symth from his Photo Gallery of the Hall of Fame Relays