ED GRANT'S WEEKLY ROUNDUP

  Once again, at the Penn Relays last weekend, New Jersey girls proved themselves the queens of the distance races as Katie 
McCafferty of Oak Knoll won the 3K in 9:37.15 and Roxbury finally broke through after four years of trying to take the DMR in 
11:42.16.

                                McCafferty’s win was a carbon copy of her indoor 2M victory at the Nike Invitational. She took the lead 
from the gun with Emily Jones of Bromfield School in Harvard, Mass., on her shoulder. This went on for seven laps until Katie 
began to pull away on the final turn to win by 15 yards, giving New Jersey a three-year string in the event.

                                Roxbury trailed favored Warwick Valley in the DMR until Ariann Neutts ran a 2:10.0 800 to hand off a slim 
lead to Ashley Cromartie with Saratoga Springs, Hannah Davidson anchoring, another 15 yards back. It was soon a three-girl race 
with Ashley holding off Davidson by two yards for the win, running 4:54.6.

                                What would have happened had Chelsea Cox run the opening 1200 for Southern Ocean is anyone’s guess. 
As it was, the Rams touched off Cox for the 800 leg more than 100 meters behind. Chelsea cut that by 25 yards or so and Jillian 
Smith’s 4:42.2 (fastest ever in this race) got Sou-thern home 4th, 25 yards behind Roxbury, in 11:47.67.

                                Ada Unachukwu of Marlboro added a third win for NJ in the TJ with a wind-blown 38-11 3/4. Third places 
went to Melanie Thompson of Voor-hees in the 3K in 9:44.87, Julie Alexander of Hopewell Valley in the IH in 1:01.60, Chrissy 
Finkel of Mount Olive in the PV at 12-1/2 and Maureen Laffan of Toms River North in the SP at 44-7.

                                Thompson had a busy weekend as she also anchored Voorhees at 2:11.8 into the 3200R final where the 
Vikings were joined by Haddon-field. The two were outclassed in the final, where Holmwood Tech won in 8:41.92 with Eleanor 
Roosevelt of Maryland setting a national record in 2nd at 8:43.12, but ran creditably, Haddonfield finishing 7th in 9:06.30 and 
Voorhees 8th in 9:06.80. Marielle Hall of Haddonfield matched Thompson on the opening leg this time at 2:13.6.

                                The two Camden teams ran 48.34 apiece in the small school 400R trials and Jackson hit 48.59 to lead the 
Jersey large schools. In the consolation races the next day. Wilson and Camden went 7-8 in 48.33 and 48.38 and Jackson was 
4th in its race at 47.79, fastest of the weekend. In the third round---the Tri-State event on Saturday---Jackson led a 2-3-4 NJ finish 
behind Swenson of Pennsylvania in 48.59, but Columbia might have been home first but for dropping the stick on the final pass.

                                It was the Cougars who led the NJ teams in the 1600R trials at 3:50.91, finishing 5th in a race won by Long 
Beach Poly in 3:39.72. Camden was next as it defeated Wilson in the large school South Jersey race in 3:53.88. The two ran 4-6 
in the Philadelphia Area race on Satur-day in slower times.

                                Haddonfield took the SJ small school event in 4:01.70 with three members of the 3200 team doubling there: 
Hall, Greta Feldman and Alyssa D’Orazio. Six schools took class races, the Irvington girls join-ing the boys in the winner’s circle. 
The others were Notre Dame, repeat-ing from last year, Hillsboro, Clifton, Monroe and Ewing, the last four on great anchor legs by 
Ebony Young, Sue Martinez, Nicole Ragucci, and Amirah Muneer.                                             

            For the boys, as expected the individual events proved far more profitable than the relays. And, as has been true since the 
beginning of the winter season four months ago, the spotlight fell on Morristown’s Nick Vena who not only became the first freshman 
to win a boys’ title, but also the first to be honored as the meet’s outstanding performer for individual events.

                                Vena upped his new outdoor frosh national record to 63-6 3/4 as he evened his outdoor score with Mike 
Alleman of Scotch Plains who hit 62-1 3/4. Both boys got their marks during the trials, then spent the finals fouling as they “went for 
broke.”

                                The event was totally dominated by New Jersey putters, who took five of the first six places with most of the 
others also reaching PRs. Brandon Heroux of Westfield joined Vena as a watch-winner, taking the JT at 202-0.

                                Silver medals went to Robby Andrews of Manalapan in the mile and Chris Pantale of Wayne Valley in the DT 
and Chris Phipps of Lodi picked up a third in the TJ. Andrews once again saw his finishing kick fall just short as he lost to Cory Leslie 
of Perkins, Ohio, by a slim yard or so, running 4:12.82. The race was a strange one with the first half in about 2:16.0 and the final lap 
around 55.0 for Leslie and closer to 54.0 for Andrews.

                                Pantale and Phipps both fell short of their season’s bests which would have brought them victory. Pantale was eight 
feet under his PR at 168-6, Phipps more than a foot short at 47-10 3/4.

                                Hillsboro turned in the top performance among the relay teams as it led the 3200R trials on Friday at 7:47.44 with 
Jason Walton anchoring in 1:51.8. Washington Twp was second overall at 7:51.07. Jackson also made the final at 7:54.13 and Indian Hills, 
West Windsor-Plainsboro North and Metuchen all ran under 8:00, going 1-2-3 in the first of the small school trials.

                                But none of the qualifiers could match their performance in the Saturday finals, Hillsboro finishing 5th in 7:48.14, 
the others well out of the money.

                                With Brian Leung of West Windsor-Plainsboro South and Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s both on the shelf with 
injuries, it was up to old standby Christian Brothers to lead New Jersey into Friday’s distance medley. The Colts had a good race, 
finishing 9th in 10:22.73, just ahead of Franklin, but well behind the winner, Germantown Friends, which became the first Philadelphia 
Inter-Academic school to win a major title at Penn, more than a century after this lead ran the first high school relay in history at the 
meet late in the 19th century.

                                New Jersey sprint teams were outclassed by the Jamaicans in the 400R, but Winslow and Teaneck made the 
large school consolation race, placing 5th and 6th in 42.88 and 43.00 and Pleasantville was 6th in the small school event in 42.89. 
Winslow had run 42.43 in the trials.

                                It was much the same in the 1600R. Again, Winslow was the leader as it won the South Jersey large school race 
in 3:17.87, a second or so short of a qualifying mark. But the Eagles had a disappointing race in the Philadelphia area event later in the 
day, placing third in 3:22.59.

                                There were nine Jersey winners in the set of class 1600R races with Absegami the fastest at 3:21.40. Pleasantville 
again skipped a sure win in the SJ small race and was second best at 3:22.53. Among the first-time winners were St. Joseph of 
Hammonton and Montville.                                                                  The in-state ancillary meets on Saturday produced a few 
interesting meets, chiefly at the Lion Invitational at Middletown South. In boys’ action there, John Bartlett of Matawan had a 14-0 
clearance in the PV and Chase Petrucci of Southern Ocean had a big PR in the SP at 55-9 1/2. Neptune dominated the track action 
with Eastern indoor 55M champ Mike Peavy winning the 100M in 10.9, Karan McDaniel taking the 200 in 22.3, and Tyquan Brown the 
400 in 49.6 before anchoring a 3:30.4 1600R victory.

                                Jillian Smith coasted to a 2:18.0 win in the 800 there and anchored a 4:07.0 victory in the 1600R. Melissa Bellin 
had a 400 double for Rumson, taking the flat race in 57.8 and the hurdles in 1:02.3. Southern Ocean had two other winners, Alexis 
Wachter in the HJ at 5-4 and Jessica Carlson the TJ at 34-7 1/2. 

                                The girls-only Rowland Relays at Haddon Twp saw Seneca, West Deptford and Schalick take team honors. 
Lenape and Millville, the top teams in South Jersey, made only token appearances, clashing in the SHR where Millville edged the 
Indians in 1:07.3, Brooke Kott leading off and Alyssa Barrow anchoring. 

                                Vena and Alleman clashed again at the Randolph Relays with Nick leading a 153-9 win at 60-8 1/2. Alleman 
went 59-7 1/2 in the SP and 152-5 in the DT. Randolph and Ridge traded victories in the A division, the Rams winning the boys, 65-62, 
and the green-clad Red Devils the girls, 94-64, led by all-around star Josefine Kvist who had a 1:03.47 in the 400H and an 18-0 in the LJR.  

                                Post-Penn action provided one major item at the debut of the Ironman Invitational on Thursday at Don Bosco. 
Brett Johnson of Ocean City made the 125-mile jaunt up the Garden State Parkway to win the 1500 at 3:53.71, best in the nation 
this spring. He just totally validated his recent 4:10 1600-meter split in the DMr at the Woodbury Relays. Johnson, who won the 
Gr. III cross-country title last fall, had spent the winter on the basketball court and thus had no chance to qualify for the Penn mile 
where he certainly would have been a major factor. 

                                The Middlesex County Relays saw Old Bridge come from behind win a close team battle from South Brunswick, 
108-104 by taking the closing 1600R in 3:25.1 with the Vikings in 4th, one place away from a tie. The girls’ meet was no contest with 
South Brunswick defeating the Knights, 130-60, behind a bravura effort by soph Sophie Ginez who anchored wins the second day in 
both medley relays. 

                                    




Once again this year, New Jersey’s hopes for a Championship of America relay victory at the Penn Relays are pinned on the 
Southern Ocean girls’ distance medley team which is hoping to turn a hat trick in the event with a third straight victory.

                        Though Danielle Tauro, anchor of the 2006 and 2007 victories, has moved on to Michigan, the Rams will still 
have the No. 1 anchor in the race in the person of junior Jillian Smith, who had a hat trick of her own this past winter as she 
won the Boston Invitational Millrose Games and Nike Invitational miles by wife margins, in addition to taking the New Jersey 
all-group 1600-meter crown. Her sub-3:40 opening 1200M legs the past two years set the stage for easy wins and it is this leg 
which poses the big question mark this year.

                        Warwick Valley of New York goes into the race a solid favorite, having beaten Southern Ocean by a full 10 
seconds at the Varsity Classic indoors after taking a huge lead on the 1200 leg. Southern Ocean plans to use the same lineup 
for this one which puts a lot of pressure on sophomore Kate Armstrong to reduce that gap this weekend. Chelsea Cox, who ran 
2:12.42 for the 800 at the Nike meet indoors will have to cut the deficit further to give Smith a chance on the closing 1600.

                        New Jersey has two other teams that should finish in the top five: Immaculate Heart Academy which led the state 
indoors with an 11:55.24 at Landover, and Roxbury, which ran 12:10.31 at the Varsity Classic. The Gaels showed they are ready 
for this one as they won the 3200R at the Morris Hills Relays in Rockaway last Saturday in a record 9:15.99. Voorhees, with a 
12:01.98 there, has chosen the 3200R at Penn and prepared for it with a record 21:03.0 6400R at the Raider Relays in Hillsboro.

                        Garden State athletes figure to do a lot better in the individual events. Morris frosh Nick Vena, the indoor National 
shot put champion, and Mike Alleman of Scotch Plains will be dueling again in that event with hopes of a 1-2 finish either way 
(Alleman scored a narrow win in the Blue Devil Relays at Westfield, 61-11 ¼-62-8, where each boy had only three tries). Katie 
McCafferty of Oak Knoll, the 2M winner at Landover, is favored in the 3K and has shown great form in her few starts outdoors to 
date. The state has two 7-footers in the HJ, Adam Bergo of Westfield who cleared that height at the indoor Easterns, and basketball 
star Montez Blair of Timber Creek who cleared it this past weekend at the Woodbury Relays.

                        Hopes of a strong New Jersey finish in the boys’ distance medley have died with injuries to two of the state’s top 
trio of distance runners, Brian Leung of West Windsor-Plainsboro South and Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s Leung has been on 
the shelf all spring with a thigh injury; Jarrett dropped out of the 5K in the first mile at Acadia two weeks ago. Their teams had 
finished 1-2 at the indoor Easterns in 10:18.76 and 10:22.04.

                        The state’s top two 3200R teams showed great form last Saturday at the Morris Hills Relays, Jackson defeating 
Morris Hills in a meet record 7:55.04. Both should make the finals, but would have to run a lot faster to meet the challenge of the 
top Jamaican entries. 

                        At the classic 1600M distance, the best the state can hope for is success in the secondary races. No boys’ 
team has been under 3:20 as yet this spring, though a number are knocking on the door. Last Saturday, for example, Winslow’s 
indoor all-group champs won the Gr. IV race at Woodbury in 3:21.2 with Vineland second in 3:22.1, Trenton scored at the Mercer 
County Relays in 3:21.2, Old Bridge tied it own record at the Blue Devil Relays at 3:21.8, Teaneck hit 3:22.2 in the Bergen County 
meet at Demarest and St. Benedict’s triumphed at Morris Hills in 3:22.33.

                        Southern Ocean had the state’s best girls’ 1600 team indoors, but will not tackle the event at Penn in deference to 
its DMR bid. This leaves Millville, which defeated Columbia in the Gr. IV race at Woodbury in 3:54.6. The Cougars, despite their long 
bus trip, had a great day there with a 3:56.8 in that race and a 48.0 in the 400R, anchored by freshman find Kayann Richards. 
Wilson matched the latter time in Gr. III, giving both teams hopes of a consolation victory at Penn.

                        Both 400R races, as usual, will be dominated by Jamaican entries, but the Winslow, Teaneck and Trenton have 
hopes of cracking the championship field after running 42.2, 42.3 and 42.4, respectively, at the Woodbury, Bergen County and Mercer 
meets. And not far behind them were Englewood at 42.7 in Bergen, Irvington at 42.9 at the Hudson County Track Coaches Relays in 
Secaucus and Franklin with a record-tying 43.0 at the Blue Devil Relays.

                        

                        Two events not on the Penn program also received a thorough workout from the boys last weekend. Trenton lowered 
its state-leading shuttle hurdles mark to 59.1 at the Mercer meet, Egg Harbor clocked 59.7 ahead of Winslow’s 1:00.1 at Woodbury, 
Roselle had a 1:00.4 victory over indoor Nike champs Franklin at the Blue Devil affair and Irvington hit 1:00.8 at Secaucus.

                        Teaneck led a strong showing in the 800R when it defeated Englewood at the Bergen meet in 1:27.4 despite one 
bad pass. Winslow ran 1:28.2, Trenton clocked 1:28.4 in Mercer, Delsea won Gr. III at Woodbury in 1:28.9, Neptune took Div. II in 
1:29.5 at the Holmdel relays and Union ran 1:29.6 at Westfield. 

                        There was also some interesting action in the girls’ DMR from teams that are not in the Penn field. Pope John, which 
will run the 3200R there, had a record 12:21.9 win at the Raider Relays with an all-junior team. Millville ran the race for the first time,
 indoors or out, and set a Gr. IV record at Woodbury at 12:23.5 and Haddonfield took the Gr. II event there in a record 12:29.9. Mt. St. 
Mary’s also had a new standard with a narrow 12:33.8 win over Westfield at the Blue Devil meet and Msgr. Donovan defeated Red Bank 
Catholic in Div. 2 at Holmdel in 12:34.4.

                        Allison Linnell of Colts Neck prepared for her individual mile bid at Penn with a meet record 6:57.63 in the New York 
Relays at Icahn Stadium, 10 seconds off the state mark set last year by former teammate Ashley Higginson. The Colts Neck boys 
had a second there in the 6400R with a season-leading 18:09.28. 

                        Defending all-group javelin champ Brian Florek of Old Bridge took over the state lead with a 206-0 at the Blue Devil 
meet and Kyle Elliott of Cresskill had a 200-2 in Bergen County. On the girls’ side in this event, Shannon Sullivan of IHA hit 133-0 in 
Bergen. Chris Pantale of Wayne Valley continued his hot streak in the discus with a 174-11 at Morris Hills, where Sarah Bella of 
Mendham took over the state lead in the shot put at 46-5, topping the 46-1/2 for defending state champ DeAnne Hahn of Brick at Woodbury. 

                        




While relays dominated the first weekend of action in the outdoor season in New Jersey, a pair of outstanding individual 
efforts just about stole the show. 
 
        One was simply a continuation of the indoor campaign as Nick Vena of Morristown chalked up a 
couple of national records with his 63-6 effort at the Kearny Relays, breaking both the freshman mark of 63-0 s
et by Kevin Bookout of Stroud, Oklahoma, in 1997 and the 14-year-old standard of 60-3 set by Arnold Campbell 
of Bossier City, La., 
in 1981. 
 
        Since it was a relay competition, Vena had only three throws and it was, almost typically, on the 
last of these that he got the records. He will undoubtedly improve the freshman mark several times by the end of 
the season, as he did indoors where his tops of 66-7 1/4 came in his final throw of the winter at the Nationals in New York. 
But he has only this coming weekend to add to the age record as he turns 15 on April 16. After that, his target will 
be Campbell’s mark of 67-3 1/4. (There is also the possibility that he might throw the 16-pounder this weekend to erase 
David Winkler’s year-old mark of 49-11 3/4.) 
 
        The other big effort of the first week came on the opening day of the season, April 1, when Chris Phipps of Lodi went 
49-1 1/2 in the triple jump at the Bergen County Field Classic. A basketball star, Phipps had taken up the event last spring 
and recorded a 48-3, second only to Devon Bond’s new state record of 50-1/4, a mark he may very well break by June. 
 
       Despite chilly and sometimes windy weather, as well as the absence of some of the state’s most promising teams, 
the relay action at half a dozen and more sites produced some outstanding opening week marks. 
 
       While two-time Penn distance medley defender, Southern Ocean, was on the sidelines, three other probable entries 
scored runaway victories to head the girls’ action. Roxbury was the fastest with a 12:27.6 at the Kearny Relays, Immaculate 
Heart Academy ran 12:32.52 at the King Relays at Icahn Stadium in New York and Voorhees had a meet record 12:32.8 at 
the Skyland Conference Relays at Hunterdon Central, anchored by AG cross-country champ Melanie Thompson, who also 
got the 3200R home first in 9:39.4. 
 
          Columbia posted a pair of fast sprint times as it ran away with the girls’ division of the Kearny Relays, 71-43, over Roxbury, 
taking the 400R in 48.9 and the 800R in 1:44.5. Bianca Stewart had a big day for the Cougars with four gold medals from the 400R, 
800R, 1600R and HJR and freshman Kayann Richards debuted brilliantly, anchoring the 400 team, running third leg in the 800 
and joining Tracey Fan Fan in a LJR victory. 
 
          Roxbury added victories in the 3200R and SMR, Ariann Neutts anchoring the latter in 2:16.6 as she caught Brittany Jackson 
of Columbia at the finish, both teams timed in 
4:15.0. 
 
                                   
          Lenape won no less than nine of 15 events in the Freedom Division of the Burlington County Hall of Fame Relays, including a 
4:15.4 in the SMR. Millville took six of eight running events in Div. 2 at the Buena Relays with the Kott twins, Brooke and Brittney, and 
Alyssa Barrow collaborating for a 1:47.4 in the 800R, a 4:05.7 in the 1600R and a 1:06.7 in the SHR. 
 
          Ashley Battle led a fast triple for Union at the Pawlowski Relays in Ramsey, the Farmers taking the 400R in 50.0, the 800R in 
1:48.1 and the SHR in 1:05.9, the latter win coming at the expense of Ridgewood’s national indoor champions. Clifton won at the Passaic 
County Relays at Passaic  Valley with Sue Martinez anchoring a 4:20.6 SMR and a 10:26.9 3200R. Amber Allen of Passaic Tech, winner 
of the overall 400 title at the Colgate Games this winter, led her team to a triple in the 400R, 800R and 1600R. 
 
        At the Camden-Gloucester Relays in Pennsauken, city rivals Camden and Wilson traded wins in the Div. 2 sprint races, Camden 
taking the 400 in 30.3 and Wilson the 800 in 1:43.6. Camden then won the rubber match in the 1600 in 4:04.8. But team honors went to 
Williamstown, 97-67, over Washington Twp. Haddon  Heights took Div. I, 96-79, over Glassboro which swept the weight events, led by 
Sharon Rothmiller who spent the winter on the basketball court. 
 
       Three days later, Haddonfield held a Penn Relays qualifier and won both races, the boys clocking 8:07.3 and the girls 9:36.2 with 
arielle Hall anchoring in her first race since taking the cross-country season when she won the Gr. II title. Highland also had a qualifying 
time in second in the boys’ race at 8:10. 
 
         Fiour of the state’s top boys’ shuttle hurdles teams were in action at the Kearny, Buena and Skyland Conference meets. Irvington 
won at Kearny in the large school division at 1:02.1, while Roselle was disqualified in the small-school race after running 1:01.4, when 
its third man took off too soon. Egg Harbor ran 1:01.3 at Buena and, at the Skyland meet, Franklin, winner at the Nike meet in March, 
ran 1:01.3. Trenton, which set a national auto-time record of 29.38 at the Nationals in New York, was idle, but is welcoming the presence 
of anchorman Devon Hill who made a late decision to give up baseball this spring. 
 
          Irvington also won the 400R and 800R at Kearny in 43.2 and 1:31.1 at Kearny with Joshua Evans anchoring all three victories. T
eaneck was present, with football star Rashad White, but did not run the sprint races which the Highwaymen had swept a year ago. The 
meet also featured a 15-0 PV by Rich Villanova of Toms River North and a 1:55.6 anchor leg for indoor 800 champ Robby Andrews of Manalapan, 
anchoring a 3200R win. 
 
        St. Benedict’s the usual winner in the small school division, left its runners at home and that title went to Rahway, 58-42, over Delbarton 
with Ricky Draughn leading off a 3:26.3 win in the 1600R and anchoring a 3:40.0 in the SMR. 
 
        Wayne Valley scored a big win in the Passaic Relays, led by Chris Pantale, who hit 53-5 1/4 in the SP and 161-5 in the DT. Park Ridge 
upset the big boys at the Season Opener in Indian Hills, Matt Lingam leading off the 6400R and anchoring the 3200R. 
 
          Hillsboro had a sweep of the team honors at the Skyland Relays with Jason Walton anchoring the SMR in 3:37.4 and the DMR in a 
record 10:41.9. For the girls, Ebony Young anchored a 4:07.4 win in the 1600R and joined Erica Reiss for a 68-3 victory in the TJ, while 
cross-country ace Ashley Smolinka brought the SMR home in 4:21.6. Chiamaka Ukachukwu anchored a sprint double for Franklin in 49.9 
and 1:49.9. 
 
         Winslow Twp, indoor AG 1600R champs, swept the large-school sprint relays in 42.9, 1:30.3 and 3:22.6, while Absegami won the 
3200R in 8:13.8 and Ocean  City doubled the medleys in 8:13.8 and 11:01.4. Pleasantville, the state’s fastest 1600 team indoors, 
matched this in the small-school division at 43.4, 1:31.9 and 3:27.9.  
 
         Chris Steliga had a big day for Cherokee at the Hall of Fame Relays, anchoring a 1:31.2 win in the 800R, running third in a 43.8 400R 
victory and joining Major Mobley in a record 81-5 in the TJR. The Chiefs had four other wins in the unscored meet.                     
 
         The coming weekend is the busiest of the season with some 15 meets on the docket, led by the South jersey pair of the ancient Bridgeton 
Relays for boys and the West Deptford Relays for girls. There will be one individual meet among the flurry of baton affairs, the Wrobo Invitational at 
Notre Dame.