Union Catholic swept the team titles, Union won both 4×400’s in sizzling fashion, and both 4x,1600 records went down as sparks were flying at the 79th Union County Relays, which concluded on Friday at Gary Kehler Stadium in Westfield.
In the team competition, the UC girls continued their reign of supremacy by extending the winning streak to 8 in a row, and the UC boys overcame a DQ and received a clutch runner-up finish in the pole vault to edge Westfield by six points for their second consecutive title and fifth in the past six years.
COUNTY RECORD HIGHLIGHTS UC GIRLS MARCH TO TITLE
The UC girls blew open what was a close meet after Thursday’s first-day of competition by winning four events on Friday, including a meet and county record performance in the 4x,1600, to pull away for 112-74 victory over runner-up Scotch Plains-Fanwood.
UC loaded up the 4×1,600 to race the clock and see how fast they could go.
The result was a 20:48.04, which is not only a meet record, it’s also a Union County record and is No. 9 in state history. UC sliced nearly a minute off the meet record of 21:47.59 set by UC in 2015, and crushed the Union County record of 21:21.15 set by Summit at the 2012 East Coast Relays. It’s also the fastest time by NJ team since Mendham ran 20:47.64 at the Morris County Relays in 2013
UC’s splits were 5:19.33 for freshman Ella Solorzano, 5:05.36 for junior Peyton Hollis, 5:12.77 for junior Courtney Kaiser, and 5:10.56 for Kaleigh Gunsiorowski.
The Vikings also reset its NJ No. 1 time in the shuttle hurdles by burning a 60.53, which is No. 2 in meet history behind the 59.46 that UC ran in 2017. Taylor Cox (13.9), Vonya Gould (15.3), Ebony Turner (15.8), and Alexandra Bonn (14.9) combined on the win.
UC’s other two wins on Friday came in the 4×200 as Taylor Aska, Taylor Cox, Leah Gould, and Natalia Thompson ran 1:41.03, tied for No. 7 in meet history, and in the triple jump where Bonn (36-10), Gould (32-2.50), and McKenzie Johnson (34-4.75) combined for a 103-5.75.
THREE-TEAM BATTLE FOR BOYS TITLE
The boys team competition was a good three-way battle between Union Catholic, Westfield, and Elizabeth.
With two events left, Westfield pulled within four points of UC after taking the meet record in the 4×1,600 when junior Eamon Mason (4:32.94), junior Alexander Valencia (4:29.31), senior Jack McCormack (4:33.01), and junior Avery Keith (4:21.61) combined to run 17:57.87. The former record of 17:58.51 was set by Westfield last year.
But UC picked up a key second-place finish in the pole vault when Matt Schutz equaled his PR of 13-0 and Aidan Reidy cleared 11-0 for a total of 24-0. That gave the Vikings an 88-79 over Elizabeth with Westfield third with 78 heading into the 4×400. Schutz also ran the 400 leg on the DMR on Thursday that ran a meet record and NJ No. 1 time of 10:12.71.
Union Catholic then finished fourth in the 4×400 to clinch the title, 92-86 over Westfield. Elizabeth was third with 85
UC, which overcame a DQ in the shuttle hurdles, picked up a three big wins on Friday to help the Vikings earn the championship.
In the 4×800, Leo Wisnefski (2:00.32), Jimmy Wischusen (1:54.86), Sean Wilson (1:57.83) and Ryan Cichocki (1:59.81) finished first with a NJ No. 3 time of 7:52.83, which is No. 4 in meet history. Wisnefski, Cichocki, and Wischusen also ran on the DMR on Thursday that ran a meet record and NJ No. 1 10:12.71.
UC also won the triple jump as sophomore Noah Cooper (a PR of 43-1), senior Raheem Williams (42-2.50), and junior Max Gagneron (40-4) went 125-7.50.
The UC sprint squad made its presence felt with a victory in the 4×200 in 1:28.11, edging Linden (1:28.45). UC’s lineup consisted of Javon McKay, Avery Atexide, Al-Qamar Rojas, and Emerson McKindra.
BLUE DEVIL BROOM JOB, PART 3
Westfield flexed its power once again in the field by pulling off the throwing triple by sweeping all three throwing events for the third straight year!!! How impressive is that!!!
The Blue Devils completed the trifecta on Friday when junior Max Romano (48-8.50), senior Owen Paul (46-5.25), and junior Benjamin Abrams (PR of 45-2.50) teamed up to win the shot put. On Thursday, Paul (156-5), Phin Mindak (PR of 154-7), and Joe McGovern (PR of 142-11) teamed up for a combined winning total of 453-11 in the discus, and senior Mason Marino (156-4), sophomore Lincoln Meyers (134-1) and senior Gabe Dayon (126-2) combined to win the javelin for Westfield.
FARMERS BRING THE HEAT
The meet ended with a bang when Union blew up the track by sweeping the 4×400’s.
In the girls race, the Farmers ran an NJ No. 4 3:58.37 to capture the gold. Union’s splits were 60.26 for Chantal Castillo-Bautista, 60.82 for Cassidy Kidd, 56.15 for Sierra Latonnel, and 61.12 for Naomi Salters.
The boys finished off the daily double by burning a 3:17.83, No. 3 in meet history and No. 2 in the state this season. Oko Lokko ran 50.34, Daniel Momoh-Oare went 49.97, Gabriel Rodriguez blew the race apart with a 47.75 third leg, and Omar Ibrahim finished it off with a 49.76 anchor carry. Plainfield (3:17.10 in 1998) and Rahway (3:17.69 in 2012) are the only teams to run faster than Union in meet history.
The 47.75 by the Rutgers-bound Rodriguez is a PR and comes a day after he dropped a 1:53.3 anchor on the winning SMR. Could this be the year that Rodriguez wins his first Meet of Champions title after some near misses? Time will tell, but I wouldn’t bet against him!
Nate Rayan, the All-American hurdler from Scotch Plains-Fanwood who had been nursing a sore hammy, made his season debut one to remember.
The Clemson-bound Rayan, who finished second in the 60m hurdles at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in March, ran 13.5 to anchor SPF to victory in the shuttle hurdles in a national qualifying 1:01.26, the No. 3 time in the state this season. The Raiders won the shuttles after being granted a solo re-run after an official impeded their path while adjusting a hurdle. The first three hurdlers for SPF were ian Hopkins, Justice Larkin, and Ameen Zubair.
A ROYAL FINISH
Oak Knoll shocked itself by winning the girls 4×800 as Megan McCann caught Union Catholic right before the line to give the Royals the victory, 9:38.58 to 9:38.73. That was a 10 second drop for Oak Knoll from its previous season best time. The first three runners for Oak Knoll were Kate Cugno, Ella Hennessy, and Ally Sparno.
