Personal bests turn to gold at Morris County Championships

BOONTON – Camille Carter "really really really didn't want to lose" the 100 meters at the Morris County Championships. After all, the Morristown senior had a family legacy to uphold.

Carter used her competition to propel her to first place, overcoming a "pretty bad" start.

"I knew if I had the two fastest girls next to me, I knew I'd be up there with them," said Carter, whose older brother, Jerry Carter, won the 100 and 200 in his senior year at Morristown in 2008, and still shares the county record in the 100.

"I could feel them on me. I hate losing a lot, and I knew if I let them get one more step ahead of me, I'd lose."

Morris Hills senior Isaiah Turner cleared a personal-best 6-foot-4 — four inches taller than he is — and won the high jump over Mendham senior Spenser Clouse on misses. Clouse rebounded to win the triple jump (43-7).

Turner credited a pair of high-jump shoes he'd tried last season and quickly put away again. After breaking them in at practice for four days, Turner felt more confident on Tuesday.

"Usually, I look at the bar and feel intimidated when it's over my head," Turner said. "It wasn't nerves kicking in. It was really calm. Even though it was a championship meet, I was just going to have fun. Jump, relax. Jump, relax. Jump, relax. Do what you're programmed to do."

Chatham senior Ed Dennerlein also had a personal best, 145-4 to win the discus after placing 17th in the discus and sixth in the shot put last spring. Dennerlein had watched a video of his disappointing performance at the Morris County Championships over and over, using it as motivation.

"I'm ecstatic right now," he said. "I may not look it, kind of that shock moment when you haven't realized it happened."

Randolph senior Greg Stickle doubled up in the 400 hurdles and open 400. Christian Kildal-Brandt, a Mendham senior, won the 100 in a meet-record 10.91 and finished second to Stickle in the 400.

The Mendham and Randolph boys are tied with 44 points apiece after eight events. Whippany Park's quest to take the county title back to a small school got off to a solid start. The Wildcats lead Mendham by six points, buoyed by Nickolette Dunbar's shot put title defense and Gina Dello Russo claiming the 400 meters.

The Morris County Championships conclude today at Boonton.

Chatham senior Will Mitchell edged Ben DeVenezia of Mountain Lakes by 11 hundredths of a second in the 1,600. West Morris junior Sierra Castaneda, who won the county cross country title, earned her first outdoor crown in the 1,600 on Tuesday.

"It's a big confidence booster," said Castaneda, who was troubled by allergies before the race. "I kind of forgot about it. Whenever I got tired, I really focused on my stride. I would take 10 hard steps, and it helped. It's something mental. You're just that much closer, and the pain usually goes away."

Staff Writer Jane Havsy: 973-428-6682; jhavsy@

gannettnj.com; www.daily

record.com/writerjane/

GIRLS RESULTS

100: 1. Camille Carter (Mt) 12.59; 2. Emma Schacht (Mend) 12.7; 3. Jen Ojukwu (MO) 12.79; 5. Elly Scherer (Rand) 12.85; 5. Tiffany Larusso (Rox) 12.95; 6. Krista Evans (MK) 12.96.

400: 1. Gina Dello Russo (WP) 58.41; 2. Alexis Smith (Rox) 59.05; 3. Sierra Tonnesen (Mend) 59.24; 4. Ashley Stewart (Jeff) 1:00.03; 5. Olivia Carter (Mt) 1:00.14; 6. Rose Ciriello (Mad) 1:00.14.

1600: 1. Sierra Castaneda (WMC) 5:01.37; 2. Liz Lansing (Rand) 5:03.49; 3. Olivia Viparina (Rox) 5:04.61; 4. Nora May McSorley (Rand) 5:14.42; 5. Kyra Velock (ML) 5:!5.27; 6. Christine O'Kane (Mt) 5:15.35.

Intermediate hurdles: 1. Anna Lazur (HP) 1:03.63; 2. Marlo Wehrer (Peq) 1:04.18; 3. Catherine Chen (PH) 1:05.66; 4. Sierra Tonnesen (Mend) 1:05.79; 5. Audrey O'Neill (Mend) 1:06.1; 6. Tymia Joseph (MK) 1:07.53.

Long jump: 1. Tymia Joseph (MK) 18-3.5; 2. Kristen Hall (WP) 17-6.25; 3. Lainie Seijas (ML) 17-0.75; 4. Jen Ojukwu (MO) 16-11.25; 5. Anjali Pai (MH) 16-11; 6. Grace Penders (VW) 16-5.5.

Pole vault: 1. Julia Msanski (Mend) 10-7; 2. Danielle Cozzarelli (WP) 9-6; 3. Madison Galascio (Kinn) 9-6; 4. Catherine Chen (PH) 9-0; 5. Gina Dello Russo (WP) 8-6; 6. Lisa Newman (MK) 8-6.

Shot put: 1. Nickolette Dunbar (WP) 48-10.25* (old record: 45-3.25, Dunbar, 2013); 2. Jordan Wildermuth (Jeff) 40-1; 3. Makayla Taylor (Rand) 39-9.5; 4. Helene Rowland (Mad) 38-11.5; 5. Katie Wisotsky (Mend) 37-1.75; 6. Chioma Eluemunor (MH) 36-7.5.

BOYS RESULTS

100: 1. Christian Kildal-Brandt (Mend) 10.91* (old record: 10.99, Adam Franklin, Mountain Lakes, 2013); 2. James Lienhardt (Rand) 11.05; 3. Josh Smith (Boon) 11.15; 4. Nicholas Ferrone (Ch) 11.34; 5. Marcquis Smallwood (MO) 11.34; 6. Kwaku Agyemang (Par) 11.35.

400: 1. Greg Stickle (Rand) 48.78; 2. Christian Kildal-Brandt (Mend) 49.56; 3. Stephen Bondurich (Ch) 50.52; 4. Daniel Xia (Mv) 50.91; 5. Brandon Hood (MO) 51.04; 6. Kwaku Agyemang (Par) 51.38.

1600: 1. Will Mitchell (Ch) 4:25.31; 2. Ben DeVenezia (ML) 4:25.42; 3. Alexander Pai (MH) 4:29.5; 4. Eric Clay (Mt) 4:30.11; 5. Ben Edwards (Mt) 4:30.3; 6. John Dennehy (MH) 4:31.03.

Intermediate hurdles: 1. Greg Stickle (Rand) 54.72; 2. Julian Montilus (Mend) 56.97; 3. Max Borchert (MB) 57.11; 4. Luke Mayer (Del) 57.12; 5. Dan DeBlieck (MK) 57.39; 6. Shawn Ohazuruike (Del) 57.41.

High jump: 1. Isaiah Turner (MH) 6-4; 2. Spenser Clouse (Mend) 6-4; 3. Connor Logyda (Rand) 6-0; 4. Michael Rowland (ML) 5-8; 5. Nathan Eluemunor (MK), Connor Kamp (Rand), Noah Marshall (ML) 5-8.

Triple jump: 1. Spenser Clouse (Mend) 43-7; 2. Noah Marshall (ML) 43-2; 3. Jason Alexis (Ch) 41-11.5; 4. T.J. Green (Boon) 41-10.5; 5. Brandon Rizzo (Rox) 41-5.5; 6. Chris Davanzo (Boon) 41-1.

Discus: 1. Edward Dennerlein (Ch) 145-4; 2. Jaylon Jorge (Mt) 141-8; 3. Alex Rodgers (Mv) 133-7; 4. Dan Jachera (Peq) 130-0; 5. David Vargas (Rand) 128-6; 6. Tim Guider (Del) 126-0.

Javelin: 1. Ryan Kim (WP) 177-0; 2. Dajon Chappell (MH) 165-8; 3. Connor Logodya (Rand) 165-2; 4. Joseph Gambetta (Del) 164-4; 5. Mike Thomas (MK) 161-6; 6. Elijah Rivera (Rand) 160-0.