MORRIS COUNTY REWIND
Ready or not, track and field is back.
As has been customary in NJ for several years now, the state indoor track and field season opened up once again in Morris County as the 18th Jack O'Leary Lid-Lifter served as the first meet of the year last Thursday at Drew University in Madison.
Did you know that before Drew became home to the Morris County indoor meets, Morris County teams had to travel to East Stroudsburg University, located just past the Delaware Water Gap in Pa., to compete??
I have heard many stories about teams being snowed in at ESU over the years and having to crash at motels along the way because of the severe weather. Ask any of the veteran coaches who have been around for a while, like Wayne Valentine of Dover, Len Pietrewicz at Randolph, or John Barnicle and Dave Sulley at Delbarton.
ESU was the home for Morris County indoor track from 1975 through 1995. Drew has been used since 1996.
That was your Morris County track and field history lesson for the week.
Now on to the action in Morris County Rewind as there were some noteworthy performances turned in during the Lid Lifter and Saturday's Gardiner Relays, also at Drew.
SPRINT SHOWDOWN
Keturah Orji of Mount Olive and Bria Saunders of Parsippany, two of the state's top sprinters, renewed their rivalry at the Lid Lifter in the 55 dash.
Orji, more know for her prowess in the air (she won the national title in triple jump indoors and outdoors last year and is the state record outdoor record holder in the TJ), won Round One of what should be many battles between the two when she crossed first in 7.31. Orji, the county champ last year in the 55, actually broke the meet record in the trials (7.28). The old record of 7.29 was set in 2005 by the great Ogechi Nwaneri of Chatham.
Saunders, the county outdoor 100 and 200 champ and runner-up in the 200 at the outdoor M of C last spring, was second in 7.42.
MO-TOWN ROLLS
Morristown broke the meet record in the distance medley, won the 4x800-meter relay, and the 4x400 at the 31st Gardiner Relays on Saturday at Drew.
Senior Sean Lyons anchored the DM with a 4:28 carry to bring Morristown across the line first in 10:46.15, breaking the meet mark of 10:47.56 set by Cranford in 2005, and also anchored the winning 4x800 (8:25.45) and the first-place 4x400 (3:17.19).
"I saw where the clock was at with two laps to go, and I just went after it,'' Lyons said of the DM. ``I was pretty confident that we had broken the record."
It was a big opening weekend for Lyons.
On Thursday at the Lid Lifter, Lyons, the North Jersey, Section 2 Group 3 cross-country champion, returned after a sixth place in the 600 to win the 1,000 in 2:45.31.
MR. EVERYTHING MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF
When Nick Medway was a freshman at Whippany Park, his versatility led to the obvious comparisons.
``Everyone said I was the next Mike Fritz, '' Medway of the former Whippany Park versatile star. ``It was nice to hear, but I wanted to make name for myself. ''
Medway is doing just that.
At the Lid Lifter, Medway, now a senior, won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.10, and finished fifth in both the 55 dash in 6.89 and the high jump at 5-8.''
Medway said he rededicated himself to the hurdles.
``I
ran hurdles a little bit as a freshman and started to do them again
last spring because my team didn't have any hurdlers,'' he said.
``And I really started to like hurdling more, so I worked hard
to improve.''
One of the things Medway did was go to a track
and field clinic (Vertical Adventures in Medford, N.J.) this past
summer, where he received instruction from Roger Kingdom, a two-time
Olympic gold medalist in the 110-meter hurdles (1984 and '88).
``I learned a lot from him and that really inspired me
to work even harder,'' said Medway. ``I still have to clean up my
trail leg and some other things, but I am very happy with what I did.
I had a feeling I could win, and it's a great way to start off the
season.''
RUN FOR THE PRIZE
Both Christian Kildal-Brandt of Mendham and Kylene Cochrane of West Morris took a look at the big trophy that is awarded to winners of the 600 at the Lid Lifter, and immediately gained some extra motivation.
``I never ran a 600 before, but when I saw that trophy I knew I had to try it ,'' said Cochrane.
``That trophy was pretty nice,'' said Kildal-Brandt. ``I never won a trophy before, so when I realized I could get it if I won the race, it made me want to win even more.''
Kildal-Brandt and Cochrane got what they came for and were all
smiles when they posed for photos together with the trophies after
they finished first.
Kildal-Brandt, a junior, captured the
600 in 1:23.67, just off the meet record of 1:23.14 set in 2010 by
Pat Schellberg of Delbarton. Cochrane won the girls 600 in 1:41.07.
BIG SHOTS
Seniors Matt Kraemer and Ethan Weiss of Mount Olive placed first and second, respectively, with personal bests in the shot put at the Lid Lifter. Kraemer won with a 51-1 1/2 and Weiss was second with a 50-8 1/4. Kraemer's previous best was 47-0 and Weiss came into the meet with a best of 49-5 ½.
GET WELL SOON
Josiah Hanko of Trinity Christian, one of the state's premier distance runners, has been diagnosed with Lyme disease, his coach Brian Lee said last week.
The Duke-bound Hanko got checked out after having issues with his health in his last two races of the XC season.
After winning his second straight state Non Public B XC title in 15:39 on Nov. 16 Holmdel Park, it was obvious something wasn't right with Hanko at the Meet of Champions the following week.
Hanko got light headed and began wobbling over the final 400 meters at the Meet of Champions. He eventually collapsed right before the finish line and valiantly crawled across the line in ninth place. He was treated in an ambulance for over an hour after the race.
Hanko tried to race at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional the week after the M of C, but he was simply not healthy and dropped out near the midway point.
Lee said Hanko has taken some time off from training, but if things go well with the medicine that Hanko is taking, he could resume running soon. The hope is for Hanko to be fit and ready to rip at the state meets later in the season, but he could do some racing before that to get sharp.
Get well soon, Josiah!!!!!
KEEPING TRACK
Randolph, known for producing great hurdlers over the years, has another emerging star in sophomore Ellie Scherer.
Scherer opened her season at the Lid Lifter by winning the 55 HH in 8.88 after running a personal best 8.82 in the trials.
``I wanted to break Samantha Kral's personal best,'' Scherer said of her former teammatem who won the county title last winter in the hurdles. ``She is my inspiration.''
Soph. Leah Wis of Montville, the county discus champ last spring, was her versatile self at the Lid Lifter by winning the high jump at 5-2 and placing fourth in the shot put with a 33-2.
Junior Will Mitchell of Chatham scored an impressive come back win in the 1,600 at the Lid Lifter when the junior used a 30.5 final 200 to catch Evan Quinn of Morristown and cross the line first in 4:44.65. Quinn, a sophomore, was second in 4:45.47.
FUTURE PLANS
Parsippany's Bria Saunders, one of the fastest sprinters in the state, announced Thursday that she will attend Rutgers University next year.
Saunders, who also considered Maryland and James Madison, placed second at the Meet of Champions last spring in the 200-meter dash in 24.51, and was seventh in the 55 dash at the Meet of Champions last winter.
Chris Luciano of Mountain Lakes got his likely letter on Saturday from the University of Pennsylvania, si he will become a Quaker next fall.
Luciano won the state Group 2 XC title and ran a Holmdel PR of 15:55 to place 17th at the Meet of Champions last month.
Luciano will be joining Kylene Cohrane of West Morris on the UPenn campus next year. Cochrane, one of the state's best 800/milers, commited a few weeks ago.
Keturah Orji of Mount Olive, a two-time national champion in the triple jump and one of the greatest field event stars in New Jersey history, said earlier this month that she will attend Georgia next fall.
Air Orji also took visits to Missouri, Florida, Clemson and Kansas.
As a junior last year, Orji won the New Balance Indoor and New Balance outdoor national titles in the triple jump, and at the IAAF World Youth Championships in the Ukraine last July, she finished third in the TJ with a PR and state record of 44-11, No. 2 in U.S. history, and second in the LJ with a 20-11 3/4, No. 2 in N.J. history.
Why Georgia??
"I just got along with the team better, it's ranked high academically, it has a nice campus, it's warm, it's in the SEC, and I liked the coach,'' said Orji. `There are a lot of reasons.''
Before Orji heads to Bulldog Nation, she has some big goals for her senior season.
Orji's 44-11 is just 3/4 of an inch off the US high school record of 44-11 3/4 set by Brittany Daniels of West, Tracy, California in 2004. Becoming the first U.S girl to hit 45 feet will be one of Orji's biggest goals heading into the track season.
"I'm going after it,'' Orji said of the national outdoor record.
Orji won't be the only big track star from Morris County at Georgia.
Morristown High grad Nick Vena, the greatest shot putter in N.J. history, is a junior at Georgia. He transferred to Georgia after his freshman year at Virginia.
CROSS-COUNTRY WRAP UP
The Star-Ledger listed its All County and All State XC teams on Sunday, and it also honored Randolph as the state's top girls Team of the Year in New Jersey, and chose Randolph's Len Pietrewicz and Kevin Higgins as the State Girls Coaches of the Year.
Here are the links to the XC stories
Boys cross-country year in review -
Girls cross-country year in review-
NEXT UP
Drew University will be rocking again on Monday (Dec. 23) when the DeSchriver Invitational is held at 4:30 p.m.
If you have any information that you would like to see listed in this space, please email me at lambo2126@hotmail.com