Whippany Park girls earn first Morris County Relays indoor title

MADISON – One program won its first-ever Morris County Relays championship Monday night. The other won for the 13th time, the fifth in eight years.

Whippany Park was the fortunate first-time winner Monday night at Drew University, capturing the girls’ team title with a thrilling finish in the last event of the night, the 4x400, as Gina Dello Russo moved up from sixth to second in the final strides to give the Wildcats enough points to surpass Randolph, 46-41.

“It was a great experience,” veteran Whippany Park head coach Steve Manni said. “We were counting up the points as we were going along. ... “I knew that Randolph would be our stiffest competition. We knew we had the ability to do it.”

The Wildcats won the gold medal — and 10 team points apiece — in the shot put relay, the high jump relay and the 4x200.

Dello Russo was part of three big relays to help the cause, as did Kristen Hall.

“We banked on the points that we knew we were going to get, but there were also a few surprises,” Manni said.

While Whippany Park was celebrating its first-ever county title, the Randolph boys steamrolled past Morristown, 59-40½ without the benefit of a bunch of champions. Chatham was third with 40 points, and Morris Hills fourth.

“We have that kind of team that can get points everywhere,” Randolph boys’ head coach Luke Suttile said. “We placed in almost every event. We went for everything and spread it out."