Randolph girls, Delbarton earn county indoor titles

MADISON – Before Wednesday night at Drew University, Delbarton hadn’t won the Morris County indoor track championship since 1982. Randolph hadn’t captured the girls’ team title in three years.

The Green Wave was expected to win the boys title — and did exactly that, outdistancing Morris Hills by almost 30 points. The Rams’ injury-riddled roster came together at the right time to sneak past the Scarlet Knights by six points without winning a single event.

The Green Wave scored early and often, capturing the Morris County indoor title just two weeks after taking the Morris County Relays team crown for a third straight year. They won gold medals in four events, led by Jordan Earlywine in both the 1,000-meter and 1,600-meter runs. Luke Mayer won the 55-meter hurdles and Brendan Kenny successfully defended his title in the 55-meter dash.

“It’s a clean sweep,” Earlywine said. “That’s what we wanted to do, win both the Relays and the individual. This shows that we not only have a lot of individual talent, but a great team as well.”

Randolph won the Morris County title for the 14th time in history and the first since 2011, when the Rams completed the last of a “three-peat.”

“This was totally unexpected,” veteran Randolph girls’ head coach Len Pietrewicz said. “I never thought this was possible. We just ran here today with the hope of running. But the girls all came together and ran well.”

Margaret Thomson earned medals in both the 1,600-meter run (second) and the 3,200-meter run (third). Elly Scherer also earned medals in the 55-meter hurdles (second) and the 55-meter dash (fourth).

Randolph outdistanced Morris Hills, which had a fine outing from Casey Lyness, who won both the 55-meter dash and the 300-meter dash, by a final total of 45-39. Roxbury was third with 34 points, with Mendham fourth with 32.

• Roxbury’s Olivia Viparina won both the 1,000 and 1,600 meters on Wednesday night.

Viparina won the 1,600-meter run first in 5:10.01, holding off a challenge from Randolph’s Margaret Thomson, then came back to win the 1,000-meter in 3:03.56 soon after, defeating Nora May McSorley of Randolph.

“I was really focusing on the 1,000, so after the 1,600, I wanted to save something for the 1,000,” Viparina said. “I felt more challenged in the mile (1,600), but I felt the competition coming after me in the 1,000. It’s just awesome.”

• Chatham junior Simone Kirton won the 55-meter hurdles, toppling Scherer in the final strides. It reversed the outcome of last year’s county final, when Scherer won and Kirton placed second.

However, Kirton won the event in 8.40 seconds, breaking the old meet record of 8.57 seconds set in 1995 by Vanessa Lewis of Morris Catholic.

“It feels awesome,” Kirton said. “It’s something I’m going to hold on to. I always can have that record. It gives me a lot of confidence moving forward. I haven’t been able to beat her this season. We always push each other. It always comes down to who can push themselves more and train the best. I wouldn’t say it was revenge, because it’s a really friendly rivalry. If she wins, I’m always happy for her.”

• In perhaps the most thrilling event of the meet, the boys’ 300-meter dash came down to a battle between Jihwan Yoon of Hanover Park and Greg Stickle of Randolph, who was battling a bad case of the flu.

Yoon went out fast and thought he had enough to hold on for the upset victory. Stickle came on strong at the end and hit the finish line at the same exact time as Yoon, 36.9 seconds, with both runners earning gold medals.

Yoon will have to wait a while to collect his, because there was only one to present Wednesday night.

“I looked to the side and saw him leaning,” Yoon said. “I thought he beat me. ... I’m happy with it, because I thought I lost it. I wish I beat him, but it’s still cool.”

Added Stickle, “I knew it was real close. I was just trying to get as close as I could. ... I can’t be upset. I do have a little bit of mixed emotions.”

Earlier in the meet, Stickle won the 600-meter run in 1:24.57, defeating last year’s champion Christian Kildal-Brandt of Mendham in the process. It was the second time this season that Stickle toppled Kildal-Brandt.

“I was just trying to think beyond how I felt and run through it,” Stickle said. “I just wanted to see what I could do.”

• Whippany Park’s Nickolette Dunbar broke the Morris County Championships meet record in the shot put by throwing 45 feet, three inches on her final attempt, breaking the old mark of 42-3 set by Rena Antanelis of Randolph in 1981.

Dunbar bested runner-up Jordan Wildermuth of Jefferson by almost seven full feet.

“The officials and my father (former Jets offensive line coach Karl Dunbar) told me what the record was, so it was in the back of my mind,” said Dunbar, who was also battling flu-like symptoms on Wednesday. “It’s cool to have it. I can’t believe it’s been so long. I don’t know if I feel all the way back, because I’m still not feeling well. But I’m comfortable with the way I threw.”

• Montville’s Leah Wis successfully defended her gold medal in the high jump by clearing a personal indoor best of 5-5.

“I was going to try for 5-6, but I said, ‘I’ll go to 5-5,’” said Wis, who also medaled in the 55-meter hurdles and competed in the shot put. “I wasn’t feeling 100 percent. I felt extremely old with all my aches and pains. In my mind, I was just going to push through and not think about it. Sometimes, my body is just not there with me. Sometimes, I have to tell my body to shut up and get through it.”