TRACK & FIELD

Cross training the key to Hanover Park track and field

Jane Havsy
@dailyrecordspts

EAST HANOVER – When Logan King joined the Hanover Park track team as a freshman, he thought he was a sprinter. DeVon McGriff planned to run the 400 meters, nothing more. So did Jihwan Yoon.

This season, all will be cross-training and multitasking as the Hornets try to cover every event with a smaller roster. Nearly everyone has at least tried the hurdles, including a dozen freshman boys. Head coach Bill DiMauro started sizing athletes up during the indoor season. Height makes many events — hurdles, distance running, javelin — easier, and he also did basic jumping drills “to see who has springs in their legs” and quick-feet drills “to see who trips over themselves” or shows coordination.

Just a sprinter? Not anymore.

“I didn’t think I was going to do hurdles at all, and it’s my favorite event now,” said King, a junior who runs the 100 and 200 meters, and high hurdles. “It’s not about raw speed. It’s about technique.”

Yoon might argue that point a little. He saw Dan Barreira, one of his Hanover Park soccer teammates who is now sophomore at Montclair State, run the open 400 and 400-meter hurdles and thought, “Maybe my speed can help me, even though I don’t have the best form.” Flexibility has proved problematic for Yoon, a Hornets senior, but it’s all about getting points any way possible.

New head coach Rachel Maggioncalda, a second-generation track and field athlete herself, has been studying up on track events. A thrower at Cherry Hill East, Maggioncalda has been trying to apply Portuguese scoring tables from 1936, and the Purdy performance-point model to present-day Hanover Park. This system, which estimates future performances based on current times, has helped the Hornets coaching staff to at least guess which athletes might be able to step up. Others, like Yoon, have volunteered to try something different.

The Hornets are already looking ahead to North 2 Group II, where they’ll line up against sister school and indoor sectional champ Whippany Park. McGriff, in particular, kept an eye on Mendham senior Christian Kildal-Brandt and 2014-15 All Daily Record Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year Greg Stickle of Randolph. They had stellar battles on the track indoors, and both stepped up to the 800 meters. After veteran Hanover Park coach Jerry Brocail told McGriff he should be a miler, the 800 didn’t seem quite so intimidating.

McGriff’s top 800 indoor time is about two minutes, but that was a relay split.

“It’s a hard race, but if I keep training I’ll have the stamina for it,” said McGriff, who verbally committed to Rhode Island on Friday, where he hopes to go pre-med. “I hope they know what I can do. They’re going to push me to be the best.”

Staff Writer Jane Havsy: 973-428-6682; jhavsy@dailyrecord.com; www.dailyrecord.com/writerjane/

Morris County Athletes to Watch

Monica Benz, Villa Walsh senior: Don’t leave the first day of a championship meet early, because Benz and Mendham junior Julia Mszanski will likely be going head to head in the pole vault all year.

Sierra Castaneda, West Morris junior: The always smiling distance runner had a breakout cross country season, winning the Morris County title and placing fifth at the Meet of Champions. After spending the winter in the pool, Castaneda’s goal is to challenge for a middle-distance MOC title.

Ben DeVenezia, Mountain Lakes senior: A double gold medalist last spring, DeVenezia will have to catch up since Mountain Lakes has no indoor program.

Nickolette Dunbar, Whippany Park junior: Her shot put personal best is already more than two feet further than the Morris County record, and a couple of inches short of the best in New Jersey history.

Christian Kildal-Brandt and Paul Ehmann, Mendham seniors: Between them, Kildal-Brandt and Ehmann can cover every track event from 200 to 3,200 meters. Will this be the year they win individual Morris County titles?

Simone Kirton, Chatham sophomore: Morris County is becoming a haven for young hurdlers. Kirton and Randolph’s Elly Scherer should continue to put on a good show in the shorter race.

Julia Murawinski, Jefferson junior: Already committed to Syracuse for volleyball, track and field might be Murawinski’s No. 3 sport — and she’s the defending county high jump champion.

Christine O’Kane, Morristown senior: After breaking multiple school records indoors, O’Kane is poised to stand out in a stellar distance-running county.

Audrey O’Neill and Sierra Tonnesen, Mendham seniors: The leaders of the powerful Minutemen can challenge in any track event from 200 to 800 meters, plus hurdles and the 4x400.

Alex Rodgers, Montville senior: The top returnee in shot put and discus, Rodgers made significant progress during the winter, winning the indoor county shot title.

Margaret Thomson, Randolph senior: Thomson is quietly the most consistent runner in the Rams’ recurring distance dynasty.

Olivia Viparina, Roxbury senior: The 2014-15 All Daily Record Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year, can Viparina keep up her torrid pace?

Leah Wis, Montville junior: A future heptathlete, Wis is recuperating from a torn quad but expected to warm up in time for championship season.

Carlo Zarro, Randolph sophomore: Everybody already knows about Rams senior Greg Stickle, the 2014-15 All Daily Record Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year. But Zarro, the next member of his family’s sprint-jump dynasty, will get a chance to make a name for himself this spring.