The Westfield boys and Union Catholic girls continued their supremacy by repeating as champions, and Lindsay Hausman and Jimmy Wischusen took down the meet records in the 3,200 at Sunday’s Union County Championships at the Bennett Center in Toms River.
VIKINGS SMASH MEET RECORD, ROLL TO NINTH STRAIGHT TITLE
In the girls team competition, the Union Catholic girls added to their remarkable history with the greatest performance in meet history as the Vikings rang up a meet record 122.50 points on the way to a ninth straight title!
The Vikings won six of the eight events on the track, Courtney Kaiser broke a school record, and the squad flexed its amazing depth as 17 different athletes scored points to lead the powerhouse program to a runaway victory. UC finished 77.50 points ahead of runner-up Westfield, and its 122.50 points is nearly half of the maximum number of points possible in the meet, which is 250.The UC boys finished a strong second to defending champion Westfield, 85-64.
The winners for the UC girls were Taylor Aska in the 55 dash (7.17), Leah Gould in the 200 (25.97), Maameyaa Nyinah in the 800 (2:21.59), Kaleigh Gunsiorowski in the 1,600 (5:11.83), Taylor Cox in the 55 hurdles (8.10), and the 4×400 relay squad, which consisted of Gunsiorowski, Jimmiea King, Victoria Urbaez, and Nyinah, finished first in 4:09.10. Cox also finished fourth in the 200. Kaiser’s record came when she finished second in the 3,200 in 11:05.93, which took down the school record of 11:08.94 that Jerika Lufrano ran to finish first at the 2018 Union County Championships.
The other points for the Coach Mike McCabe’s Vikings were scored by Ajanae Thompson, second in both the 55 dash (7.24) and 55 hurdles (8.20), Seton Dill, second in the pole vault (8-0), Emmy O’Hearn, third in the 1,600 (5:29.55), Urbaez, fourth in the 1,600 (5:29.62), Ella Solorzano, fourth in the 3,200 (11:33.47), Caitlin Toy, fifth in the 3,200 (12:02.13), Alexandra Bonn, fifth in the 55 hurdles (8.82), Ebony Turner, fifth in the high jump (4-10), Carmela Lo Stuto, fourth in the pole vault (8-0), and Natalia Thompson, fifth in the 200 in 27.20. ,
BALANCED BLUE DEVILS GO BACK-TO-BACK
The boys team competition featured a great all-round performance by coach Chris Tafelski’s Westfield Devils.
Westfield scored in eight of the 11 events and finished with 57 points on the track and 28 in the field to capture its second straight championships, 85-64 over runner-up Union Catholic.
The Blue Devils lone victory came in the high jump where senior Eamon Collins cleared an indoor PR of 6-0. Senior Leo Schwartz added a fourth for Westfield in the HJ by clearing 5-10. Westfield also scored 14 points in the shot put as senior Owen Paul (48-10.75) and senior Jon Boufarah (a big PR of 47-8) finished 2-3.
On the track, Westfield senior Joseph Pierro placed third in the 55 dash (a PR of 6.72) and second in the 400 (a PR of 51.30), senior Jonathan Scalia (indoor PR of 1:58.84), senior Liam Maurillo (PR of 1:58.93), and junior Jimmy Gildea (indoor PR of 1:59.61) went 2-3-4 in the 800, junior Tage Mehta (4:26.31), and sophomore Ryan Daly NJ (4:29.85) finished 2-4 in the 1,600, junior Avery Keith (9:26.39) was second in the 3,200, and the Blue Devils placed fourth in the 4×400 relay.
GOING THE DISTANCE
Kent Place’s Hausman and Union Catholic’s Wischusen, two of the top distance runners in the state, put on great shows in the 3,200’s.
The Duke-bound Hausman, who was chasing her own meet record in the 3,200, got much more than that as she threw down a 10:33.41. That’s the fastest time in the state this season, a PR, and it sliced more than 28 seconds off the meet record of 11:01.61 that she ran last year at th JC Armory. Hausman has a shot at breaking the Union County indoor record of 10:24.53, which was set in 2008 by Kathleen McCafferty of Oak Knoll
In a great matchup in the boys 3,200, Wischusen, a junior, blasted a a NJ No. 3 time of 9:22.89 to take down the meet record of 9:25.36 set by Avery Keith of Westfield last year. Keith was second to Wischusen on Sunday in a NJ No. 6 9:26.39. Wischusen is No. 3 in the state this season.
G-ROD TRIPLES
One of the biggest stars of the meet was senior Gabriel Rodriguez of Union.
Rodriguez, one of the state’s top half milers, won the 400 in 50.62, finished first in the 800 in an NJ No. 5 1:57.20, and ran a leg on the victorious 4×400 relay (3:29.77).
MORE HIGHLIGHTS
The Linden boys had a big day in the sprints!
Junior Devir Britton of Linden outleaned Jared Lee NJ of Gov. Livingston to win the 55 dash as both sprinters were timed in 6.71, and Linden senior Kerdel Moses ran 23.42 to capture the 200.
Scotch Plains-Fanwood senior Nathaniel Rayan, who is the No. 2 ranked hurdler in the state (7.45), won the boys HH in 7.53.
Cranford junior Ben Fossella won the boys shot put with a throw of 52-6.25.
Villanova-bound Colin Riley of Dayton, one of the state’s top distance runners, won the boys 1,600 in 4:24.42.
Senior Joe Alves of Elizabeth cleared a PR of 12-0 to win the boys pole vault.
On the girls side, senior Sierra Latonnel of Union won the 400 in 1:00.21.
Junior Natasha Grandov of New Providence cleared a PR of 5-2 to win the high jump on misses over Rahway junior Saniyah Evans.
Senior Ava Billotto of Scotch Plains-Fanwood captured the shot put with a big PR throw of 35-10.50!
Cranford senior Rose Deeb cleared a personal best 8-0 to win the pole vault.
