Girls' Track Team Takes Second at Sectionals

Competing in weather more suited for a classic gridiron matchup than a Memorial Day weekend track meet, the West Morris Central Track and Field teams endured the elements as they took part in the North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 Championships at Millburn High School. 

Despite the unseasonable conditions, many Central athletes had outstanding performances and advanced to the Group 3 Championships to be held this weekend in South Plainfield.

Overall, the girls’ team finished in a second place tie with Mendham with 72 points (Woodbridge won the Sectional title with 78 points). 

While happy with the result, Girls’ coach Jay Herrigel thought about what might have been, “I'm proud that we did better than expected and have so many girls moving on to Groups. On the other hand, we were so close to becoming Sectional Champions. The conditions were rough and we left some points on the table that we'd easily score any other day.” 

Nonetheless, the team’s second place finish qualified them to compete as a team in this weekend’s Group 3 event.

Leading the scoring for Central was distance standout Kylene Cochrane.  The talented junior completed an impressive double: winning the 1600 (4:59.35) on Friday in frigid, rainy, windy conditions and following that with an 800 meter victory (2:16.88) on Saturday, in only slightly better weather.

High jumper Kendall Ballotti was the other Sectional Champ for West Morris, making her first three jumps without a miss to win on jumps at 5 feet.  Her teammate, Meggie LaGueux, also cleared 5 feet to finish fourth and advance to the Group meet.

Senior thrower Carli Thurber contributed second place points in the shot put with a throw of 34-8 and will return to the Group championships for the second straight year.

Despite Friday’s miserable conditions for athletes and spectators, it was the pole vaulters that might have had it toughest of all as the girls competition was particularly stymied by the combination of rain and wind.  However, Central’s Marlena Paz, the Morris County champion, was able to tie for second with a vault of 8-6 and advance.

On Saturday, in the girls’ 3200, teammates Kylene Cochrane and Brennan Sharkey battled both their counterparts from Mendham (Mackenzie Barry and Abby Seel) and a strong headwind on the backstretch for 8 grueling laps.  Cochrane came up just short of catching Mendham’s Seel at the tape and placed third with a time of 10:53.71.  Sharkey held her fourth place position for the second half of the race and finished in 11:08.05. 

Freshman Sierra Castaneda continued to lower her personal best 1600 time, which she seems to do every time she gets on the track, with an impressive 5:09.09 to finish fourth and advance to Groups in her first year of high school track.  Senior Lauren Toth also claimed a fourth place finish, in the 800, with a time of 2:22.39.

Rounding out the scoring for WMC were two relay teams.  On Friday evening, the 4x800 team of Lauren Toth, Sierra Castaneda, Taylor Brown, and Meghan Lloyd ran a 10:03.01 to garner fourth place.  And, in the meet’s final event on Saturday, Central’s 4x400 team of  Abby Rec, Brigitte Rec, Toth and Katie Sabatino ran a time of 4:12.61 to finish 6th and earn WMC’s final team point.

While the first six finishers in each event automatically qualify for Groups, by virtue of the team’s second place finish, Central athletes that finished in the top 12 of their event also advanced to Groups. Junior Kelsey Cronin made the finals of the 100 Hurdles and finished 7th in a time of 16:70, Kendall Ballotti finished 9th in the Long Jump (15-4) and Meggie LaGueux finished 12th in the Triple Jump (31-5) to advance to this weekend’s meet.

For the boys, a pair of athletes excelled this past weekend and qualified for Groups.

Pole vaulter Max Maroney added a Sectional title to the County championship he won just last week.  Maroney cleared 13-6 and won on jumps over Mendham’s Adam Mszanski on Saturday.  His personal best vault puts him among the favorites in the boys Group 3 pole vault competition.

Distance runner David Reed advanced in both the 1600 and 3200, adding two more highlights to his outstanding senior season.  Reed finished 6th in the 1600 on Friday with a time of 4:30.07.  His 3200 on Saturday was even more impressive.  Reed and Mendham’s Justin Naselli broke from the pack on the 5th lap and opened up a sizable gap between themselves and the rest of the field. While Naselli was able to pull away on the final lap for the win, Reed finished second with a comfortable lead over the rest of the field in 9:48.96.

Junior Nick Kontos ran a blistering final lap and ran a personal best 10:07.07 in the 3200 to finish 7th and just miss advancing to Groups.

West Morris coaches Herrigel (girls) and Tom Lawrence (boys) are optimistic that they will have a number of athletes advance to the NJ Meet of Champions held on June 3.  Many athletes are seeded in the top 10 of their specialties and with strong performances could finish in the top six and qualify for the MOC.

Kylene Cochrane is a top 5 seed in all three of her races: she is seeded 2nd in the 1600; 3rd in the 800 and 4th in the 3200. Cochrane qualified for last year’s MOC in both the 800 and 1600.

Marlena Paz will probably surprise some in the girls’ pole vault as her seeded height of 8-6 is very much a product of the poor weather last Friday. Her PR of 10-6 is as good as any girl vaulter in Group 3.

The high jump duo of Kendall Ballotti and Meggie LaGueux could advance if they pop a personal best jump, as only four girls have a better qualifying mark in the Group 3 competition. 

Lauren Toth (800), Brennan Sharkey (8th seed in the 3200) and Carli Thurber (Shot) all have personal bests that could put them in the top six of their events if they have a strong day.

For the boys, Maroney’s 13-6 is the number two pole vault seed among the Group 3 boys.  And, David Reed will look to employ a combination of smart tactics early and finishing speed late in order to advance in the 1600 and 3200 meter races. His personal best times certainly give him a shot.

With a weather forecast predicting temps in the 90s this weekend, West Morris’s top track stars will have to quickly adapt to heat and humidity in contrast to last weekend’s biting cold.  But, with spots at the prestigious state Meet of Champions up for grabs, their focus, fitness and motivation should be sky high.

Information provided by Steve LaGueux.