A big late surge propelled the Westfield boys to their third straight title and the Union Catholic girls dropped a flurry of sizzling performances and smashed multiple records on to their way to a 10th straight title and a meet record point total at the Union County Championships on Wednesday night at the Ocean Breeze Complex on Staten Island.
In a great battle between state powers the Westfield boys used a 1-2-4 finish in the 3,200 and a clutch win in the 4×400-meter relay, the final 2 events on the track, to edge Union Catholic, 85-79.
Westfield’s 1-2-4 finish in the 3,200, which put Westfield ahead, 75-68, was ignited by senior Avery Keith, who smashed the meet record and burned a NJ No. 1 time of 9:16.40. Tage Mehta was second (9:24.10) and Ryan Daly was fourth in 9:30.76.
Then in the 4×400, Westfield extended its lead to 85-74 when Rowan McMahill (50.92), Jimmy Gildea (52.07), Noah Petrassi (52.9), and Emanuel Gayanilo (49.27) combined to finished first in a NJ No. 4 time of 3:25.14. Gayanilo, a senior, also placed second in the 400 in 50.72, and Gildea placed second in the 800 in 1:58.31.
Westfield, using its top guns for the first time this season, also picked up big points in the 1,600 when Alexander Valencia (4:27.59), Eamon Mason (4:30.83), and Graham Korins went 1-2-6 in the 1,600.
The Blue Devils also picked up 12 points in the field with Noah Rubenstein (46-2.50) and Zac Wragg (45-2.25) placing 4-5 in the shot put and Charles Vanecek (20-0.25) and Andrew Amman (19-8) went 4-5 in the long jump. The other point scorers for Westfield were Peter Del Re, sixth in the 55 dash and the 200, and Kaleb Stoeckmann, fourth in the 800.
Union Catholic received several strong performances to keep the Vikings in contention right to the end.
Senior Marcus McCoy won the 55 hurdles with a big PR of 7.65, and was third in the 400 in 50.78.
Junior Noah Cooper, who won the LJ and TJ at the county championships last spring and was second at the Meet of Champions in the LJ last winter, soared a NJ No. 3 22-4.75 to break the meet record in the long jump!
Joey Kilgannon (10-6) and Josh Hunsinger (PR of 10-0) finished 2-3 in the pole vault for UC. Kevin Philistin was fourth in the high jump (6-2), Alex Saldano and Alessandro Alvarez-Tullo placed 3-4 in the 1,600, and Evan Weber ran a big PR of 9:26.72. to finish fourth in the 3,200.
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VIKINGS SMASH RECORDS TO PUNCUATE 10TH STRAIGHT TITLE
The Union Catholic girls brought the heat and left a lot of smoke as the Vikings produced the great performance in meet history by shattering three meet records and tying another, including the most points ever scored with 162!!!
That’s right, the Vikings rang up 162 out of the possible 274 points. That crushed the meet record of 122.50 that the Vikings set last year at the Bennett Center in Toms River.
Of the 162 points scored by UC, 139 came on the track, where the Vikings won seven of the eight events and finished 1-2-3 in two races.
In addition to the meet record for points, UC broke the meet records in the 1,600 when freshman Paige Sheppard led a 1-2-3 finish for her team with a winning time of 4:57.48, and the 200 when freshman Rhia Randolph ripped a NJ No. 2 56.36, and UC’s Taylor Cox tied the meet record in the 55 dash with her PR and NJ No. 4 time of 7.07. Randolph also won the 200 in a NJ No. 2 time of 24.44, and
Cox added a fifth-place finish in the high jump.
UC’s other 1-2-3 finish came in the 800 when the trio of Peyton Hollis (2:11.00), Sheppard (2:12.07) and Jimmiea King (2:12.74) ran the three fastest times in the state this season! King, a sophomore, came back later to light up the track with a 57.48 carry on the winning 4×400!
The Vikings also went 1-2-4 in the 3,200 with Courtney Kaiser (10:47.54), Cayleigh Kaiser (PR of 10:55.04) and Emmy O’Hearn (PR of 11:15.36).
Other big scorers for the Vikings included Taylor Aska, second in the 55 in 7.26 an second in the 200 (a NJ No. 4 24.72), Kayla Devine, third in the 1,600, Carmela LoStuto, third in the pole vaut, Leah Gould, fourth in the 200, Natalia Thompson (PR and NJ No. 3 17-9.75) and Vonya Gould (17-6.50), who went 2-3 in the long jump, Abriyah Thompson, third in the 400 in a PR of 58.63, and Ervnie Jules-Vincent, fifth in the pole vault.
MORE HIGHLIGHTS
Rahway had a pair of double winners. Junior Rolando Simpson cleared a PR of 6-3 to win the boys high jump in a jump-off, and finished first in the 400 in 50.55. And Saniyah Evans, a senior at Rahway, won the long jump with a mark of 18-5.75 and the 55 hurdles with a PR of 8.27. Evans, who has become of the state’s best all-round athletes, leads the state in the high jump at 5-8!
In the boys sprints, Elizabeth junior Joseph Desir and Ameen Zubair, a senior at Scotch Plains-Fanwood, clashed twice and traded wins. In the 55, Zubair was first with a PR of 6.55 and Desir was second in 6.58. They flipped spots in the 200 with Desir first with a PR of 22.75 and Zubair second with a PR of 22.89.
Cranford senior Ben Fossella won his third county title in the the boys shot put with a throw of 52-9.75. Fossella won the shot last year and captured the county title last spring.
