Indoor Track: Whippany Park ties for 3rd place in Group I Relays
The NJSIAA Group Relays championship continued at the Bennett Center in Toms River Saturday night and Sunday morning with the Group I Relays (Saturday) and the Group III Relays (Sunday) and of all the local teams, the Whippany Park girls fared the best.
The Whippany Park girls’ squad finished in a tie for third place in the Group I team standings Saturday night, tied with Metuchen with 30 points. Weequahic of Newark won the championship with 56 points, edging out perennial favorite Haddonfield, which had 52.
Butler finished sixth in the Group I team standings with 14 points.
For the Wildcats, the tandem of Kristen Hall and Gina Dello Russo won the high jump relay. Hall’s jump of 5 feet, 2 inches was tied for top individual honors. Dello Russo cleared 5 feet even, which was tied for third overall, so their combined height of 10-2 was enough to capture the gold medal.
Dello Russo combined with teammate Danielle Cozzarelli to capture the pole vault relay. Cozzarelli’s height of 10 feet even was the top performance, with Dello Russo clearing 8 feet good for second.
The Wildcats also captured gold in the shot put relay, with standout Nickolette Dunbar throwing 43-113/4 and teammate Kathryn Matrisciano throwing 31-8. Dunbar’s throw was easily the best among all Group I competitors, with Matrisciano finishing third overall.
Butler, led by Mykalah Curry, earned three medals. The shuttle hurdle relay team of Curry, Ava Haley, Kathryn Iannuzzi and Melissa Mattson was second in 34.71 seconds. Curry and Mattson combined to jump 9-2, good for a tie for third place in the high jump. The 4x400-meter team of Curry, Mattson, Iannuzzi and Jennifer Heller was sixth in 4:22.16.
Among the boys, Whippany Park earned two medals. The 4x200-meter relay team of Michael Matrisciano, Robert Greenwald, Andrew Loth and Brian Stock placed fifth in 1:36.28 and the shot put tandem of Stock and Matrisciano placing sixth.
In the Group III Relays held Sunday morning, the Mount Olive girls placed sixth overall and Mendham was ninth.
The Mount Olive 4x800-meter relay team captured the gold medal. Alexandra Christian, Sarah Masukiewicz, Micaela Poggi and Jamie Tavalare crossed the line in 9:53.81 to win the event.
The same four competitors finished fourth in the distance medley relay, crossing the line in 12:44.32.
Mendham’s team of Julia Mszanski and Olivia Williams combined to finish second in the pole vault. Mszanski cleared 10-6, the best overall performance in Group III.
Mendham also won a medal in the 4x200-meter relay, with Audrey O’Neill, Sierra Tonnesen, Emma Schact and Maggie Wadley placing fifth in 1:51.82.
Roxbury also won two medals. The Gaels’ team of Tiffany LaRusso, Emily Silfies, Alexis Smith and Olivia Viparina placed fifth in the sprint medley relay in 4:19.52 and the team of Deanna Graziani, Catherine Larkin, Nina Trasente and Silfies placed fourth in the shuttle hurdles relay in 34.66 seconds.
In the Group III boys’ team standings, Montville finished in a tie for sixth, with Morris Knolls and Morristown tied for eighth and Mendham 10th.
The Mustangs’ tandem of Joosung Lee and Alex Rodgers combined to win the shot put relay with a combined distance of 98 feet, 11 inches. Lee threw 49-71/4 and Rodgers threw 49-33/4 for the fifth and sixth places overall.
Montville also placed third in the sprint medley relay, with the quartet of Steven Rizio, Daniel Xia, Col Anderson and Jenks Hehmeyer crossing the line in 3:43.78.
The Mendham tandem of Sam Curtis, Colin Hall, Dylan Heraghty and Christian Kildal-Brandt won the 4x400-meter relay in 3:29.67. The Minutemen’s tandem of Curtis, Brian Robinson, Jack Rebucci and Mitch Anderson finished sixth in the distance medley relay in 11:04.64.
Morristown also earned two medals in Toms River. The Colonials’ 4x800-meter relay quartet of Brian Cary, Ben Edwards, Evan Quinn and John Bickers finished third in 8:31.52. Cary, Edwards, Quinn and Joel Stennet placed fourth in the distance medley relay in 11:00.30.
Morris Knolls also won two medals, placing second in the shuttle hurdles relay and third in the pole vault relay.
The Golden Eagles’ quartet of Uche White-Thorpe, Tyler Simmons, Dan DeBlieck and Nathan Eluemunor finished the shuttle hurdles relay in 32.16 seconds, good for second. Simmons and teammate Dylan Shaw combined to finish third in the pole vault relay.
Roxbury was fourth in the shuttle hurdles relay in 32.37 seconds, with Marc Ruglio, Brandon Rizzo, William Suitt and Daniel Giuliano doing the honors.