Track & field: The boys and girls 4x100s Monmouth County relays
Track & field: The boys and girls 4x100s Monmouth County relays
MIDDLETOWN – The Manalapan and Colts Neck high school track programs are known for their standout distance runners. But they have sprinters, too, and that speed stole the show at the Monmouth County Relays.
Manalapan’s boys blazed to victory in the 4×100 and 4×200, while Colts Neck’s girls swept the 4×100, 4×200 and sprint medley gold medals. School records fell in the process.
The surprising performances were made possible by superb execution of a sometimes-elusive technical feat – superb handoffs.
“It’s the most important part of the race,” Manalapan anchor Kevin Zieba said.
Here’s how they scorched the track at Middletown High School North.
Manalapan boys are now ‘on the map’
Manalapan laid down the gauntlet in the 4×200 as Crue Brown, Jackson Pfister, Ethan Fogelstrom and Zieba broke the tape in a program-record time of 1:30.21, a full second ahead of runner-up St. John Vianney.
Then Brown, Fogelstrom and Zieba were joined by Michael Friscia for a 43.22 triumph in the 4×100.
“With all the hard work we’ve been putting in, I think this was just bound to happen,” Brown said.
Though the 4×100 quartet was racing together for the first, they’d worked on baton exchanges extensively in practice and during warmups at the meet. It paid off; the sticks were flawless.
“I thought we were ready for this,” Zieba said. “I think we can get a lot faster.”
Zieba and Brown are juniors, and Fogelstrom is a sophomore. There’s certainly room for growth.
“We’re up and coming,” Fogelstrom said. “We’re putting our sprint team on the map.”
Colts Neck girls: ‘We’re ready’
Colts Neck’s girls broke the Freehold Regional School District record – that’s seven high schools – in the 4×200 as Julia Maldonado, Mariel Reucroft, Makayla Currie and Natalie O’Connor clocked 1:43.05. That won the event by a whopping four seconds.
“We’ve known our potential this whole time,” Reucroft said. “We came in here with big expectations and we delivered.”
The same quartet triumphed in the sprint medley, with Reucroft (58.1 400 split) and O’Connor (2:20 800) doing the heaviest lifting. For the capper, Maldonado, Reucroft, Currie and Avery Wallace won the 4×100 in 50.42, with Rakoff breaking away from Long Branch and Red Bank on the anchor.
The performances stamp Colts Neck as a contender to once again rule Central Group III later this month.
“It shows we’re ready,” Currie said. “We don’t want to peak too early, but this a great starting point.”
Rumson-Fair Haven wins girls title
The Bulldogs withheld superstars Clemmie Lilley and Reese Reynolds Malone – and still defended its team title. It came down to the 4×400, and senior Cassedy Stypul rallied the unit from fourth to first with a 58.2 anchor. Charlotte Hall, Hannah Nitka and Allie Rude ran the first three legs on the 4:09.24 effort.
Those 10 points gave Rumson-Fair Haven 58 for the meet, enough to edge runner-up Colts Neck (50.33).
“I knew my team could do it – I was just super happy to bring it home for them,” Stypul said. “It shows how deep our team really goes.”
CBA’s reign continues
Christian Brothers won big as expected with 85 points, nearly 50 ahead of everyone else. The Colts punctuated the performance by winning the 4×400 in 3:27.17 with Gavin Brunelli (51.87), Kyle Fischer (51.44), Finn Sheehan (51.62) and Liam Wheeler (52.24).
They also prevailed in the distance medley with an extreme rarity: Three brothers on the same relay. Gavin, Liam and Ryan Schmitt were joined by Alex Mastroly for an 11:08 victory.
TOP BOYS PERFORMERS
1. Joe Seib, St. Rose
The senior posted the meet’s best throws in the shot put (63-0.5) and discus (169-7).
2. Lukas Lundh, Holmdel
The junior recorded the meet’s top distances in the long jump (21-6) and triple jump (43-6).
3. Kevin Zieba, Manalapan
The junior anchored the Braves to victories in the 4×100 (43.22) and 4×200 (1:30.21).
4. Daniel Fasano, Christian Brothers
The senior notched the meet’s top time in the 400 hurdles (a personal-best 57.86).
5. Joe Barrett, Christian Brothers
The senior anchored the sprint medley to a swift 3:34 victory with a 1:57.1 800.
TOP GIRLS PERFORMERS
1. Mariel Reucroft, Colts Neck
The junior earned gold medals with the 4×100, 4×200 and sprint medley, splitting 58.1 on the sprint medley’s 400 leg.
2. Hannah Nitka, Rumson-Fair Haven
The senior brought home three gold medals, posting the meet’s top 400 hurdles time (1:05.82) and contributing to the shuttle hurdles (1:09.28) and 4×400 (4:09).
3. Kennedy Miller, Red Bank Catholic
The senior posted the meet’s top throw in the shot put (36-5) and second-best heave in the discus (118-11).
4. Morgan Van Meter, Colts Neck
The junior threw the discus 126-10, eight feet farther than the rest of the field.
5. Julia McCormack, Red Bank Regional
The junior tied for the meet’s top pole vault clearance (9-6) best triple jump distance (34-0.5).
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com
